American Kettlebell Club Blog

We received an email this week (actually it’s not the first time we’ve had this comment) suggesting we open our Forum to the public. They explained how much smarter it would be for our marketing and otherwise further our cause. The challenge is we aren’t yet fully operational (you know, like the Death Star Space Station in Star Wars?!) so we’re not really “marketing” outside of the email list and this Blog, and our “cause” is maybe a bit unclear to the public. Let me accept the opportunity to at least explain why our Forum is private.

Forums (or actually “Fora” the plural) are a powerful and unique phenomenon of the Internet. Actually they are what the Internet was truly intended to be. I remember in the 80’s when my friend’s dad had the first modem I had ever seen. He connected to “bulletin boards” at a baud rate of 2400 and could not wait for the new 9600 baud modem coming soon so he could communicate 4x faster! Wow! He was so excited about the connection speeds that would force us to call customer service these days! It’s amazing how times have changed. Now we have high-speed Internet and Forums with all kinds of functions, like picture uploading, private messages, and video linking. It has changed the speed at which knowledge can be exchanged.

The Forum idea is said to have originated in Roman times for the expression of ideas within the Citizenship. Can you imagine trying to explain the Internet Forums to Caesar!? I’m sure he’d still enjoy the power of both public and private Forums, and that brings us to our choice for the American Kettlebell Club Forum. It’s actually not fully private… Private gives the impression that someone has to be special to enter. It’s simply not the case with the bulk of our Forum. We operate on a Club “Membership” basis. That is not much different than the Fora for “Citizens” of Rome. Keep in mind, our Forums are not intended for advertising or public ranting. We see nothing wrong with these types of Forums, but since there are many already in existence, why double up? Actually, it’s more than double up… I subscribe to 8 private forums and frequent more public ones than I care to count. I’d personally like to see Forums like IGx get more popular since it’s true Freedom of Speech and everyone knows that a company/organization Forum is bias. With everyone having their own public forum these days, it seems it just waters down the content, reduces the frequency and doesn’t expand anything. The current breakdown of our Forums is as follows…

MEMBERS FORUM- This Forum is open to the “public” that are current Members of our Club. Anyone can join… We originally offered a new member 3 month free access with the purchase of a kettlebell, but we have extended that offer indefinitely while our sites are being developed. Below is a direct paste of what has been written in this Forum since Feb 26, 2007:

“This Forum is provided for the Members so that they can have a respectful place to share experiences, ask questions, meet and learn from the Coaches, and otherwise move America in a better direction both mentally and physically though the use of the Kettlebell.

For the sake of time, please keep posts related to Kettlebells. There is no shortage of open Forums on the Internet to discuss Politics, Religion or Entertainment, so keep Freedom of Speech confined to Kettlebell related topics here.

This Forum is Rated PG-13, meaning no one under the age of Thirteen is permitted, and anyone under the age of Eighteen must have approval from their legal guardian to participate in discussions on this Forum. Keep the content of your posts appropriate for a minor so the youth of our Country can benefit from the Members of the American Kettlebell Club.”

COACHES’ CIRCLE- This Forum is for our Coaches only. To gain access you must go through a Kettlebell Lifting Coach Certification with Head Coach Valery Fedorenko. I was going to say no one is special here, but everyone is! It’s the only place I know of that has the top Lifters/Coaches in the country ready to share their experiences freely with anyone who enters, no matter what level or station in life. There have been a few debates, but 99% of the conversations are on point about Coaching and Training.

TEAM AMERICA- This Forum is in every respect considered private. By special invitation, Coach Fedorenko is building his large team of lifters, and here is where we all discuss team business. Go Team America!

ADVISORS- This Forum is also in every respect considered private. Advisors are chosen by Administration of the AKC based on their experience in certain areas that could be very useful to our Club. The discussions are very confidential, but decisions impact every member of our Club. Due to the direction the AKC is heading we get the feeling that these Advisors offer their information to us freely for some noble goal. We appreciate every piece of advice we get from these top-notch experts. We consider their input a unique and valuable addition to our Club that the members might not otherwise be able to attain on their own.

Our forums are crucial to, and a continuation of, our Kettlebell Education, Certification and Philosophy. We truly value our membership and want them to have a direct way to speak to us and to each other. We disagree strongly with the public forums in which the forum owners often delete posts they don‘t agree with. We feel that action cheapens the forum to mere advertising and promotion. Our Forums have become so much more than that to our membership within just 1 year and it‘s only the beginning!

Eric Liford, Editor
American Kettlebell Club

The unassuming Kelly Moore quietly stepped into the big hall in Miami where the World Kettlebell Liftng Championships were taking place. Make no mistake, she’s a fierce competitor, but I get the feeling she’s competing with herself and no one else. Nothing but positive words came from Kelly as she watched, waited and prepared for her lifts. Her Coach, Catherine Imes (our first Master of Sport), is just as unassuming. At that moment she was the lone American Master of Sport in the room, and as great as the accomplishment is, you can just tell that she and her student were there to do two things. 1. Learn from the greats in the room, such as Denisov, Kroftsov, Ginko, and of course her Coach Valery Fedorenko. Valery has said Catherine is his most intellectual student, meaning she listens to what he says, thinks about it, practices it, analyzes it and explains it to others. That’s why you’ll find her assisting Valery in several of the Coaching Certifications in 2008! 2. Show up and prove the principles and methods that have been talked about throughout 2007. Not only would Catherine and Kelly accomplish their goals, but they showed up big time! Kelly Moore walked away Master of Sport World Class!

In order to attain Master of Sport “World Class” a 50kg athlete must complete 352 reps total in the Biathlon (Jerk/Snatch) at the World Kettlebell Lifting Championships. Kelly totalled 365… You can’t do this in the corner of your basement, in your barracks or at your gym. You must perform in competition, counted by judges, before a crowd at the big show! Kelly has the lone distinction of World Class all year until someone else gets the chance in Toronto 2008! Congratulations Kelly!

Kelly first completed Snatch with 178 reps, followed by 1 Arm Jerk of 187 with one switch of hands. This was the first World Championship in history that had Women’s Jerk, so this was a very special performance and we couldn’t be more impressed with Kelly’s conditioning and athleticism. The next day she also competed in the 1 Arm LongCycle (112reps) and the Chair Press (106 reps), all with a 16kg/35lb Professional Kettlebell. She is truly World Class!

Eric Liford, Editor

American Kettlebell Club