Hot damn! I may have to do this!

Pavel Tsatsouline and Dragon Door are offering a new entry-level kettlebell instructor certification option, the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification. It's a one-day workshop designed for athletes, trainers and coaches who want to be able to incorporate the most essential elements of kettlebell training into their programs but aren't necessarily willing or able to commit to the full RKC certification, which frankly is demanding and not for everyone.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.dragondoor.com/hkc001.html

For me, what's great about this option is that it will give me a set of tools I can start using with clients right away while building my own proficiency to the point where I feel ready for the full-monty RKC certification, which remains my ultimate goal. The focus at this workshop will be on only three exercises, the swing, the get-up and the goblet squat, but those really are the essentials & the ones I anticipate using the most. There's an initial test of strength designed to weed out the truly unfit candidates, but it's nothing like the 5 minute snatch test horror show required of aspiring RKCs: men must do 3 pullups from a dead hang, and women must hang with flexed arms, chin over the bar, for 15 seconds. And, of course, to get the certification I will need to demonstrate technical proficiency in the swing, the get-up and the goblet squat. But I think I can be there by late September.

Of course there's a cynical little part of my brain that's wondering whether this new certification is really worthwhile or just Pavel/Dragon Door's response to the current state of the economy. For all his "comrades" talk, Pavel strikes me as no mean capitalist :) Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

I need to think about it a wee bit more, but I'm 90% sure I'm going to go for it.