Have you ever had an experience that ended up meaning a lot to you? perhaps even seemingly out of proportion with the thing itself? You know, like getting a particularly complicated peice on the piano right, or completely reciting a poem without mistakes, or getting a dance step right, or just saying the perfect thing at the perfect time, or getting a wee prize or note of recognition, and having it mean the world. Those kind of experiences where response does not *seem* proportionate to the thing inspiring the response.
That kind of thing happened to me recently after completing the RKC, the Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor certification course. i'd been training for this for the better part of a year. So ok, you say, naturally, that kind of effort, one's going to feel pleased with its successful completion. Ah ha, i say, granted. But there seems to be something else going on - and i hadn't gotten my head round what it is. But i knew for sure, Something Happened.
In the following post i walk through some of what i think that Something may be - and that it has a whole lot less to do with the thing itself - the specifics of what the course was teaching (though that was grand) - than the principles that seemed to be embodied in the way the course was delivered.
Technorati Tags: kettlebell, Pavel Tsatsouline
A single kettlebell in rest state
The Basics: the course itself as part of the experience
My first question is why would a three day certification course in a fitness center's gym and field somewhere outside Copenhaggen have engendered what might be refered to as a Profound Effect?
I've come to the view in thinking through this experience that the material for the course is almost immaterial to getting at what i'm trying to get at, but for the sake of information and complete context, it might be worth reviewing what the RKC Cert is about. It's about refining one's own technique in basic kettlebell swings and learning how to teach, analyze and tweak the technique of others for these same moves.
Kettlebells, just to get that clear as well, are more or less round iron bells/balls with handles on them. The movements with these things are particular because they are *movements.* The handle is used to enable these things to be swung - with one or two hands - from between one's legs to over one's head. There are skills to learn to do this well - so as not to wrench shoulders or dislocate spines. It sounds intense, but the thing of it is, practiced right, these moves are excellent for what ails ya - i've writen more on that elsewhere.
The purpose of taking the course: because of all the good these things can do, and because they take up little space and so can be used anywhere one can swing a cat, i happen to have a couple at work, and i want to be able to show folks how great these are - and show them safely.
Now if one wishes to teach another how to do something, it's generally seen as a good idea (a) to make sure one knows how to carry out the process correctly oneself and (b) understands how to address at least the common problems that come up when showing other folks the same. Hence the desire to take the course.
Two Kettlebells from the first kettlebell division of the kb mitosis process
Why the RKC?
As with anything, there is more than one way to swing a cat or a kettlebell. So why *this* course? There are at least a few styles of kettlebelling, and many more weekend certs. Where i live alone there are at least three organizations - and these not including the one i went to nor one other large one in the states - that offer courses that say you are a certified instructor upon successful completion.
I wanted to do the RKC in particular because of its provenance / pedigree. Elsewhere i've charted how i found kettlebells, via trusted sources like Clarence Bass who has nothing but good things to say about the lead instructor of the RKC, Pavel Tsatsouline. Now, i have as many DVDs (and reviewed 'em) of as many other KB heros as a person probably can have, and if their authors showed up in town, i'd surely take a class with them, but for teaching, which includes not only the technique but the analysis of and solutions for problems with that technique, i keep coming back to the RKC. It seems over a period of years of developing the approach, the technique for getting at the basics and doing those key moves clearly, effectively and well in order to achieve strength and conditioning has been thought through extremely well. And *most* of the other Big Boys on the KB scene got their initial training from this very same source, this very same person. So, decision made on that one. RKC for me.
ASIDE: I should make clear that health and fitness is a passion; it is not my main gig. As i've been asked on more than one occaision, therefore. "so why are you doing this?" since the majority of RKC participants are people for whom their livelihood is training of one form or another. Me, i'm an academic; and on really good days, perhaps, a scholar. I schol, sir. When i''m interested in something, i love to learn about it, study it, and especially communicate what i find back to others (often by courses taught or via papers). My students know that of late my research has been looking at Quality of Life and how computer science may be able to do something to support enhancing it (short paper outlines some of this if you're interested). Understanding how we move, can move better; understanding how our bodies actually work to support our minds seems a signficant part to approaching questions of how computers may actually be able to help us make the space for rather than steal time from what is important about being brains in bodies. So, for me i hope to develop the research connection, but fundamentally as well, it feels increasingly like a responsibility as a teacher to be able to offer a more wholistic approach of brain/body to the learning/supervision of students. More on that some other time.
Technique Adjustment
Ok, that said, what about this profound certification experience?
So, yes, prepped for it since last summer. so yes, makes sense passing the thing would be important. That would be a Happy Thing to have worked towards a goal and have the validation of the certificate at the end to say You Did It. Fine.
Within the cert there's a strong focus on one's own technique development. It was both a surprise and a joy to find that my technique was improving throughout the progress of the weekend; things were clicking. In other words, it wasn't just going in, learning a new skill and being tested on early mastery; it was also getting something i'd been working on for some time and cared about was getting better - i was seeing more - that was also a joyful thing. It was also a scary thing to see how much there is to see about another person's technique and without that deep knowledge, we're sufficient to teach. wow. This is not unique to fitness: there are a range of expertises equally qualified to teach the same intro material, and some Newbies do better than experienced hands, but generally, i wonder if say professional drivers wake up in the middle of the night in fear thinking about how little the rest of us know and we're entrusted with these 2 ton beasts.
I'm digressing, and still ain't even at the good part.
kettlebell mitosis continues rapidly
Organization
The structure of the weekend is based around teams with assistant instructors on each team, and team leaders on each course, working with the key instructor. The notion of team is important: it's an easier unit to manage than a whole huge group to make sure that practice of drills is going well for each candidate. While the model is designed for efficacy, the effect is a certain development of team spirit; team identification. The teams however come into the main circle frequently enough for key instruction sessions that there is also a group feel. I was not aware of inter group rivalry. This may be because each of the team leads also lead parts of the course as a whole and were regularly supported by each other without reference to team. So good vibe on the ground.
So, so far, we have a feeling of happiness from passing a course after much practice. A good feeling on personal technique improving and new things to share. A good enviroment for work and support in the field. For instance, there was a terrific warm up/recharge in QiJong lead by the company founder John Du Cane on the last day of the course. That was awesome. And that certainly shows a thoughtfulness and caring about the design of the program that each morning we were treated to a slightly different style of warm up to help us increasingly worn candidates continue. But these program approaches do not quite get at that uber-compelling component.
Interaction
I think the ghestalt effect that takes the course beyond the excellent approach to training, practice and technique is the how the interaction within the teaching team is modelled. There is an obvious respect from the members of the team for each other. As said, they support each other when one of the other is leading part of the course. By support i mean literally support. They fetch and carry, anticipaing what the other may need; they are obviously impressed by each other's own skills; when you hear them talk with each other there is playfulness, and respect respect respect and admiration. This is not just the team leads' response for Pavel Tsatsouline, though that is plain; it's for each other. It's also plain that respect had been earned.
In my own case, i went from observing this phenomenon among the team thinking that's cool, to starting to feel it within my own team and self. My team lead, Will Williams is an awesomely powerful Big Ex-Marine Guy and someone i would likely be too afeared to approach in any other context. And yet in the course he was not the typical big guy stereotype marine bad ass at all (though heh, i bet he could be). He was just bloody *nice* - he was positive, encouraging, very good at spotting technique points and offering ways to address them. That all sounds great - and really we've all i hope had experiences where a good teacher makes the difference between getting it or getting bummed, but i had my own Ah Ha moment when he actually demonstrated a particular technique for me. It was SO gorgeous and graceful - it was completely unexpected. Admiration hit right there. Why? becuase this is not someone just doing a move; this is someone who had plainly worked on the technique and acheived grace with it: when a process moves from technique to art, to expression of something else beside the move, that's amazing to behold. It's like the difference between someone playing a piece of music with technical proficiency, and someone else with that same piece breathing LIFE into it - that's art, no? I hadn't expected a front squat with a kettlebell to reach artistic expression - mine sure hasn't - but Will's did. AND he's a NICE guy, who can teach. That's what you call Role Model. That's Inspiring. Someone who not only talks the talk - and a great lecturer he is - but clearly walks the walk. Respect. Have you ever had that experience where someone makes this kind of connection for you, and you just look at them differently, like something special has been revealed in that moment? It's an insight, to be sure, isn't it.
On reflection, therefore, it makes sense why these guys have these kinds of responses to each other that i was having about Will Williams: they've seen each other up close like i saw will. They've had this experience of the support, encrouagement and personal expertise, carried with respect that i saw. No wonder their eyes seem to shine a bit.
Compare and Contrast: RKC with Any Other Professional Gathering
And now we're getting closer to what i think was the particularly special bit for me at the course. I go to conferences all the time. At these conferences i see many many colleagues, all of us toiling away at pushing the boundaries of our wee part of the field a little further out. As with any community ya get to know each other; you may even work with subsets of these folks on committees so even more up close and personal. I can't think of a time where i've seen people's eyes light up overjoyed at seeing *each one* of their colleagues in such settings. Can you? When was the last time you saw that? Or when people really wanted to be in the room to hear what someone else had to say *even if* that person had been asked to give a similar talk previously, and they'd heard it before. You know, what is THAT?
It's the Code
The sytle of an organization is framed by its leadership. Such, it became increasingly clear, is plainly the case in the RKC space. One of the things i really liked about the prereqs for the RKC course was to be ready to abide by the posted code of conduct: in becoming certified, a candidate is agreeing to uphold this code of practice. It includes things like.....the very things modelled throughout the course by the leadership team. It's taken seriously: an entire teaching session was dedicated to this Code in what it means to be an RKC and Team Leads Jon Engum and Doug Nepodal gave powerful presentations around and about this code.
The RKC Code of Conduct (from the RKC cert page)
I am an RKC therefore I shall:
1. Represent my school with honor in my professional and personal life.
2. Treat my ‘victims’ with respect and tough love.
3. Carry my strength with modesty. Remember that my job is to teach, not to impress.
4. Never overstep the boundaries of my expertise and be humble enough to say, “I don’t know.”
5. Never stop improving my instructor skills and enhancing my own strength.
6. Conduct myself as a gentleman or a lady in public places, including the Internet. Exhibit restraint, the hallmark of a professional.
Should I violate the code my RKC certificate may be revoked.
The RKC program is not a just trainer certification program but a school of strength. A school proud of what it stands for: the gold standard of instruction, integrity, and quiet professionalism.
Prior to the course i thought the code was a good idea because of the tennor it seemed to help set in the discussion forums hosted by Dragon Door, where folks ask a lot of questions about technique or share recent personal bests. It is *far more* respectful in its exchanges than many similar such spaces on the net.
After watching the team leads interact throughout the certification, however, the code became something more to me, and it's also where i got a little worried. I began thinking "i'm an RKC: i have a responsibility to this group to carry myself a particular way because, as they said, this is a small community, and one RKC's conduct reflects back on the group, and the group will also react to that, because they value their reputation."
And that's what got me worried: i could feel myself thinking as i stood talking with the hotel desk staff discussing a list of problems with my room "i'm (about to be) an RKC: i have to deal with this person humbly and respectfully while addressing this problem as i am representing the School in this interaction while here for this cert."
WHAT??!! Good greif. When i heard part of myself talking like that i *knew* there was something funny going on that i needed to unpack, which motivated this post. I had to think, well, what if i wasn't "an RKC" , would i be interacting any differently? I hope not, but there was certainly an extra omph there because of that talk about The Code the day before.
So the profound question of how do i define myself started to press: i do not want to define myself as an RKC and be motivated to act from that, because what happens if something takes that away (nihilistic or what, eh?) - suppose something happens and i can't swing again, or recertify (yes, as with any pro certification there is a requirement for renewing one's skills every two years) or whatever. Does that mean i would feel like a lesser person? I try to ask myself this about any accomplishment - am i defined by it such that if they were lost i would think of myself as less than i am now?
I think what occured to me as i heard this inner voice bursting with pride about "being an RKC; i uphold the code!" is that fundamentally (yes, we're there at last) it's the code of the RKC and how i found it embodied in the leadership team, their interactions with each other and their interactions with us candiditates that inspired me.
Walking the Walk - Really
The final straw here (in a good way) was the last effort of the day: the grad walk. We had heard this was gruelling, and were encouraged by instructors to just "grit it out." The description felt horrible. The reality was that it was instructor lead. Team Lead Jon Engum *lead* this walk, did every step with the whole group, and every person on the team was out on the field encouraging and supporting their team across the field and across the line. That (a) a team lead did the actual event with us and (b) everyone supported everyone else again just walked the walk. Carry your stregnth humbly. Respect each other. I was completely blown away by this participation approach rather than, what is clearly not part of the code, you're on your own go crawl across the field on your own. model model model.
Thinking about Steven Covey's Principle Centered Leadership, or really any of his work, he speaks of leadership - of oneself or of others - as being based on principles. The principles of the RKC, fundamentally, are what resonate with me and what i think is important. I don't demonstrate these traits all of the time - perhaps not alot of the time - but they're where i want to be. For example, carrying strenght humbly. Now, what is my strength? Compared either to the extremely wirey and strong guys or the very powerful gals at the cert, i am but a wee white woman with a bad back. But there's other stuff where i'm strong that is important to carry humbly. Again, if i lost it, what would happen? is that how i define myself? Humility is important. Any of the things by which we define ourselves can be taken. Principles, ways of being in the world, these cannot.
Principles are fine, in principle. Embodying them is challenging. And yet, this is what was happening during the cert. Principles rarely expressed explicitly except for those discussions about the code and what it means to be an RKC, but demonstrated, constantly, repeatedly, on a variety of levels. These guys were not just turning it on for a show and turning it off at the end of the day and telling folks to bugger off while they powdered their noses.
Turtles all the way Down
Indeed, it's a credit to the leadership, that the modelling among the team leads themselves and with their team had such a profound effect on us (well me, for sure but it seemed to be an "us") - that the experience may be remembered more for this interaction than solely in the individual engagement with the Russian (as one team lead references him) himself. This is not to sell Pavel short: as Senior Instructor and Team Lead Mark Reifkind put it after one session pavel lead working with a candidate on tuning a performance issue "That was a master class in strategies of working through techniques" - and it was - but Pavel did not get in any Team Lead's way; indeed he was as supportive of them as they were of him and each other. again taking notes from Covey, Covey asks of Leaders, are you grooming your successor, or is there this sense that once the Leader is gone, that's the end of the organization. The way that this group demonstrated its interactions and expertise, it's cleat that the RKC *is* a school or organization or whatever one might wish to call it that is a ghestalt, or Covey's term, synergistic. While it obviously strongly flows from the vision of a leader, it is also nuturing leaders. In one of Covey's more recent books - the 8th habit - he talks of this practice as empowerment by finding your own voice AND helping others find theirs. There seemed to be a lot of that at play here. Clear vision, solid principles. It's compelling
Here's an example: In the evening on that last day in Copenhaggen, i was chatting with Team Lead Dr. Mark Cheng - he went to the Cert in the capacity of a Team Assistant even though he's a Team Leader, just to be there. He works with Pavel a lot - and he was saying how much he trusted Pavel, and where he leads, and i thought wo. that's pretty intense. But, i have to confess, i had my own nervana experience, as said, with Team Lead Will, where ya, if he was doing something and needed a hand, and i could be there, i would work to make that happen. And i don't even know this guy. And this is just swinging a kettlebell, right? right? so what's with that? The power of the 8th habit? Of finding your own voice and helping someone find theirs? That that also inspires trust?
That that happens in such a setting again is the testament to the model mirrored out from the top. (If he hasn't, Steven Covey ought to do an RKC cert).
It's the Model Embodied
So i think, i hypothesize, that it's those principles embodied in the Team and its interactions that created that warm bright eyed vibe observed among the instructor pose that gets at that gestalt effect where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It's those Code principles modeled or enacted that, it seems, implicitly inspires these folks themselve to keep up and refine their skills, not as something to show off (only), but as a responsibility to hold up their end of the experience among each other as a benefit of the School, the Team, the Organization, the overall strength of the RKC. The kettlebell is incidental to the Way. Did i just say that? yes i did. What Way? I dunno but that way, and i want more of it.
As i've said before, (and it seems with noticeably increased frequency) life is short. Being among a cadre of people who not only had this love for each other but were also open to their students is pretty cool. These was no clique feeling from the leadership team: anyone was welcome to sit down with a group of instructors over lunch, and they were made to feel just as much a part of a discussion as anyone else. When was the last time you went to a group event in your professional community where you felt that kind of unstratefied easy-going-ness?
You might say well perhaps this was a unique event of everything aligning under the stars; it's a fluke. Maybe, gut the responses from participants from other certs would seem to suggest otherwise.
This entry may sound, well, i was going to say flakey, but flakey to me generally means wishy washy. A pal of mine referred to psycho-emotional discourse as "urfy flurfy" - perhaps this is sounding all aglow and agog with urfi-flurfiness. But it's real urfy-flurfiness, dam it. it is trying to get at the sorts of things that cause us to be willing to trust, to follow, to be lead, rather than about, oh, i don't know, 6 new ways to do a swing. Not that 6 new ways to do a swing aren't important, but they're just a way of getting there. There is no spoon; there is no kettlebell. What there? plainly more unpacking to do, eh?
So the biggie here, is about what these folks (mainly men at this event - but that is changing) model while also happening to teach kettlebell technique. And it's a precious thing, to see this kind of respect. Life is short, and in a usual professional day that is so rarely enriched by anything approximating persistent, joyful interhuman interaction, getting three days of it in a row full on is rather a profound experience. i think, i hypothesize, that that sense may be something that moved all of us. Yes there was the bonding among the candidates of working concurently through a tough experience, but there was this Other Thing, this modeling of the such interaction. I want that. I want to be around something like that more, and more often.
So in the interim, this experience may suggest that my task, again drawing on Covey's notion of effecting one's own circle of influence, is to see what i can do to bring that experience into my own zone. Which is a new reason for taking the cert: i now have some new strategies, i think, to help do that, and in particular some new (role) models of how to do that, of how to help create a space where people are glad to see each other, motivate and inspire each other.
in the right environment, such as we see here, kettlebell asexual reproduction proceeds at a rapid rate. Mature kettlebells here seen taking on nutrients- all photos j.du Cane, May 2008
i'm sorry this is so long. I need to think about how to make the message shorter and pithier, but the take away seems to be, at least for me, that if you want to be inspired by a model of how a successful group full of anachronistic idividuals interacts effectively, the RKC is where it happens. The cert, while the instruction is great, the environment super, has more to offer than only this level of excellence. It's a model of principle enacted leadership.
mc, phd, cscs, rkc