Medal of Honor Recipient

Recieved this in an email from client:

PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, Seals were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.



The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.



This should be front-page news instead of the garbage about the military that we see every day in the media.



Since the media won't air this news, I choose to by forwarding it onto you guys. I am PROUD of our military. If you are proud too, please pass this on. If not then rest assured that these fine men and women of our military will continue to serve and protect.

Seperated at birth?

          Dee Snyder

                                  kObA from Japan

More Pics

Some pics from Tokyo Seminar

Japan Rocks!

   

Lost in Translation

Participants from Kettlebell Seminar

held in Tokyo on 7th July.

First and foremost I want to thank Taikei for all his hard work in organizing this Seminar. It was an amazing experience . Also special thanks to Nazo.

The day before John Wild(OKC) held a kettlebell demonstration. It was a great day and John did an excellent job of introducing the participants to kettlebell sport.  

That night Taikei took me to watch his kettlebell class at his martial arts school. Seeing how far he has come since we first met about two years ago was amazing. He has really progressed a long way since then. 

The next day was my seminar. Thanks John you were a great assistant. Translating for the 21 people attending it was a huge task! Taikei and Nazo did an amazing job. The seminar went so smoothly and there was a lot of positive feedback from the participants. 

I want to thank all those involved as this was by far my favorite seminar. Maybe it was the coffee bar  beforehand;)

Dinner afterwards was a great way to wind down and get to know the attendees. 

Looking forward to doing another one soon. I'll post some more pics soon.

Sledge levering in Japan

I recieved this picture in an email from Mr. Katsutoshi Kobayashi. There was also one of him bottom up cleaning the beast(48kg kettlebell). Stong stuff!

Pennywise - Free to the People

Pennywise formed in 1988 in the south bay of Los Angeles in the same small coastal community of Hermosa Beach that produced three of the most infamous hardcore punk bands of all time, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks and the Descendents. The four band members, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, original bass player Jason Thirsk, drummer Byron McMackin and vocalist Jim Lindberg, began playing local backyard keg parties to increasing crowds, and with the help of friend Marc Theodore of Theologian Records, recorded a five song E.P. A Word from the Wise. A college radio DJ liked what he heard and gave it to Brett Gurewitz, guitarist and songwriter for L.A. punk legends Bad Religion, who was also starting his own label, Epitaph Records. Epitaph was already putting out Bad Religion albums as well as those of hardcore acts NOFX, Insted, and Down By Law. The band gave Brett a ghetto blaster recording of some new songs and he signed them to their first record deal. The result was their heralded, eponymous 1991 self-titled debut which immediately struck a chord with hardcore fans and action sports enthusiasts alike. In defiance of grunge, the disc helped to define the then-emerging West Coast punk movement. Astoundingly, 1993's Unknown Road sold a few hundred thousand copies and rather typically at the height of the punk resurgence of 1994 the major labels came calling. But the four-piece elected to stay put and released another Epitaph smash with 1995s About Time. When the tragic death of Thirsk the next year put the future of the collective in serious doubt, they rallied and regrouped with new bassist Randy Bradbury for Full Circle. The popularity of Pennywise continued to swell as the 20th Century ended, first with the success of 1999's Straight Ahead, followed by the riotous 2000 concert disc Live at the Key Club and the groups highly praised 2001 disc Land of the Free? An ensuing tour was highlighted by a sell-out gig at the 14,000-seat Long Beach Arena. After taking a year off for introspection, the group reemerged stronger than ever in 2003 as evidenced by the glowing accolades From The Ashes received. In early 2005, as Epitaph reissued remastered, content enhanced versions of the groups first four albums, the band reconvened to craft what would ultimately become The Fuse. After performing the more shows worldwide than they’ve played in recent years to support The Fuse, including a string of sold out House of Blues shows in L.A. and Orange County, the band again headlined the Vans Warped Tour in 2007, an entity they and a handful of other influential artists help turn into the longest running and one of the most successful American Music Festivals. As of now the band is hard at work on their yet to be titled next album, scheduled for a march 2008 release.

New additions

Atlas Stones 16" #182











18"#238










A lot of room for improvement. Still have to make a lifting platform.
Good times!

The Usual Suspects

Sunday visitors

Humans crave violence just like sex

For the experiments, the researchers placed a pair of mice, one male and one female, in a cage. Then, the female was removed and a so-called male intruder mouse entered the cage. That triggered aggressive behavior in the resident male. The tell-tale signs of aggression included tail rattle, an aggressive sideways stance, boxing and biting.


After the initial scuffle ended, the resident male mouse was trained to nose-poke a target to get the intruder to return. Results showed the home mouse consistently poked the target and fought with the introduced mouse, indicating, the researchers say, that the aggressive encounter was seen as a reward.

Link

Happy New Year

I will be back to blogging in the new year. Blog will be a new format/style.

Ken

Training

"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds."

Henry Rollins http://www.comeinandburn.com/archive/details193.htm

This weeks training

Lots of volume and some improvements this week. Been playing around with technique and enjoying the training a lot. Must have eaten something bad yesterday and so taking today off. Apart from that everything is going great.

Mon
AM
Snatches #24 6/6 mins @ 10rpm x 2
Swings #32 20/20 x 2 , 30/30 x 1
1 arm jerks #32 2 mins @ 6rpm x 3
1/4 squats w/purple bands 50 x 3

PM
Jerks #24's 3 mins @6rpm x 3 sets
1 arm jerks #32 2 mins @ 6rpm
Swings 20/20 x 2

Tuesday
AM
Snatches 4/4 mins @ 11rpm, 2/2 mins @ 27/27 x 2
Swings #32 30/30, 20/20
1 arm jerks 4 mins @ 6rpm, 2 mins @ 6rpm
1/4 band squats 50 x 3

PM
Jerks #24's 5 mins@ 6rpm
1 arm jerks #32 2 mins @ 6 rpm x 2
Swings 20/20 x 3
1/4 band squats 100 x 3

Wed
AM
Sledge levering #16 choked x 1
#12 1/2 1 x 4
Zercher jump squats #60 sandbag 50 x 5

Thurs
AM
Snatches #16 20/20
#24 40/40 @ 6 mins, 36/40 @ 4 mins
Swings #32 20/20 x 3
1 arm jerks #32 4mins @ 6rpm x 2
1/4 band squats 100 x 3

PM
Jerks #24's 5 mins @ 6rpm, 3 mins @ 6rpm
1 arm jerks #32 2 mins @ 6rpm
Swings #32 20/20 x 2
Zercher jump squats #60 sandbag 100 x 2

Fri
AM
Snatches #16 20/20
#24 8 mins @ 12rpm, 4 mins @ 12rpm
Swings #32 30/30 x 2
1 arm jerks #32 1min @ 8rpm x 3
1/4 band squats 100 x 5

PM
Jerks #24's 3mins @ 6rpm x 3
Zercher jump squats #60 sandbag 50 x 3


Thanks for reading:)

Happy Mothers Day

My Mum. One of the strongest people I know!

This weeks training

I am happy with the progress I am making. I am not looking to increase reps at this stage just trying to learn and unlearn as much as I can. The goal is proficency in the exercises. I gotta say this is tough training but I am enjoying it a lot.

Monday
AM
Dbl Jerks 24kg 5 mins @ 8rpm
Swings w/32kg 40 (done in two sets of 20/20)

PM
Snatch 24kg 6mins @ 12rpm
1 arm jerks 32kg 4mins @ 6rpm

Tuesday
AM
Dbl jerks 24kg 5 mins @8rpm
Swings 32kg 40 (done in two sets of 20/20)

PM
Snatch 24kg 6mins @ 12rpm
1 arm jerks 32kg 2 mins @ 6rpm

Wednesday
Sledge levering #16 (4" from end) x 1
#12 1/2 1 x 2
Tire flip #600 5 x 3

Jump stretch 1/4 squats 100 x 2

Thursday
AM
Dbl jerks 24kg 5 mins @ 6rpm
2mins @ 6 rpm
Swings 32kg x 40 (done in two sets of 20/20)

PM
Snatches 24kg 3mins @ 10rpm

Friday
AM
Dbl Jerks 24kg 5 mins @ 6rpm
2mins @ 6 rpm

Swings 32kg 20/20, 24kg 20/20, 32kg 20/20

PM
Snatches 24kg 8 mins @ 12rpm
1 arm jerks 32kg 4 mins @ 8rpm

Saturday
Dbl jerks 24kg 6mins @ 6rpm

Change in training direction

My training was not heading the way I wanted it to so I have made changes to bring it back on course. I have way too many toys to play with and my goals were not focalized.

The things I needed to change were to have specific goals, limit the tools I need to use, a balance of strength & conditioning and also to have carry over to other activities in life.

I can remember when I first started training sports competitively. Running was very simplistic and fun. No two days were the same but the movement was basically the same day to day. We mixed it up doing sprints, 400 meters and longer runs. Also hill runs were one of my favorites! The same as when I first started training with kettlebells. I really only worked with the basic movements. I felt good and definitely noticed nice carryover to ther aspects of daily life. I remeber at the time I only had a few bells.

When I was at the Fedorenko cert of course I was impressed with his abilities. WOW! The main thing that fascinates me is his carryover to other lifts(without specifically training them). I have a much better understanding of what GS is about. It will be a tough road but will suit my needs well.

Anyways blah blah blah.... here is this weeks training:

Mon:
AM Jerks #50's 25 reps @ 6 rpm
1 arm swings #70 20 x 1

PM Snatches #50 30/30 @ 10 rpm
1 arm jerks #70 9/9 x 2 @ 6rpm

Tues:
AM Jerks #50 x 24 @ 6rpm ; x 12 @ 6rpm
1 arm swings #50 x 50/50

PM Snatches #50 x 40/40 @ 10 rpm
1 arm jerks #70 x 10/10 @ 10rpm; x 9/9 @ 6rpm

Wed:
Squats #100 100 X 1

Thurs:
AM Jerks #50'S X 24 @ 6rpm
1 arm swings #70 20/20 x 2

PM Snatches #50 x 40/40 @ 10 rpm
1 arm jerks #70 x 12/12 @ 6rpm

Fri:
AM Jerks #50's 24 @6rpm
1 arm swings #70 20/20+20/20 (no rest)

PM Snatches #50 L50 R55 @ 10rpm - 10 mins
* at 9.30-10.00 on right side did 10 reps, first time doing 10 mins
1 arm jerks #70 12/12 @ 6 rpm

Nothing glamorous but that ain't what I'm about;)

I am still alive

Just have a lot on my plate at the moment. Training is going to take new/old direction. I will post more next week when I get a chance. Hope you are all doing well and life is good.

Updates

Had a great Kettlebell Seminar over the weekend. Tom Shook came down to help out. Much thanks to him for doing so. I always enjoy doing seminars and meeting new people. No pics as I forgot to take any!

Tom's friend Podunk came down with him and we hit a little workout after. All the usual fun and games. "Good Times"

Taking it easy this week doing mobility and little bit if this and that;) The wife is on holidays and so enjoying some extra time with her.

Might go for a run tommorow and loosen out the cobwebs.