Success Stories

Dragon Door Interviews Gabriella Katschthaler, RKC Team Leader, CK-FMS

By Adrienne Harvey, RKCII, CK-FMS

Aug 07, 2012 07:50 PM

Dragon Door: How did you first discover kettlebells in Hungary? Gabi Katschthaler: It’s a long but interesting story. My kids decided that they wanted to study and train in Kyokushin karate. I went with them and was curious after seeing some of the weird looking (to me at the time) stretches they were practicing. On an internet search, I found the book Relax Into Stretch by Pavel Tsatsouline. After looking at just the first few pages, I immediately had to find and read everything else he h

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Dragon Door Interviews Sean Greeley, RKCII, President & CEO of NPE

By Adrienne Harvey, RKCII

Jul 18, 2012 07:00 PM

Dragon Door: When did you first discover kettlebells? Sean Greeley: I first discovered kettlebells through Dragon Door and John Du Cane. I met John and Nicole in Cleveland at Dan Kennedy's Influential Writing workshop in 2007. It was a small group of 15 primaries for a three-day event. I’d heard of Dragon Door and Pavel Tsatsouline, but didn't know much about the company. After being paired up with John and Nicole for parts of the workshop, they told me about Dragon Door. I'm a wakeboarder​

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Dragon Door Interviews Master RKC, Iron Tamer David Whitley

by Adrienne Harvey, RKCII, CK-FMS

May 02, 2012 09:30 PM

Dragon Door: How did you originally find kettlebell training? David Whitley: In 2002, I was a massage therapist and trained “normally” in a gym. One of my clients bought a 16kg kettlebell and asked if I knew anything about it. Around the same time I read an article that Pavel wrote in Muscle Media. Next to the article was a full-page ad for the original RKC book and Dragon Door kettlebells. I didn't know much about them but I had seen kettlebells in pictures with old-time strongmen...

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Dragon Door Interviews Al Kavadlo

by Adrienne Harvey, RKCII

Apr 19, 2012 04:30 PM

Dragon Door: What originally attracted you to pull-up bar calisthenics? Al Kavadlo: As a teenager, pull-ups were the first exercise that I really caught my interest. I never thought they would lead to a career path, it was just fun. I feel really lucky that I can help people with their fitness, because I really feel passionately about it.

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Dragon Door Interviews Paul “Coach” Wade

by Adrienne Harvey, RKCII

Apr 18, 2012 10:00 PM

Almost reluctantly, Paul Wade agreed to be interviewed via email. Normally he doesn't grant interviews, but made an exception this once. We had a great email conversation, most of which is represented below.

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Managing Injury, Improving Fundamental Movement and Building Strength—Through Tai Chi, FMS and the RKC

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door interviews Senior RKC, Dr. Mark Cheng

Jan 24, 2012 07:00 PM

Dragon Door: Dr. Mark Cheng, it's good to talk to you. How did you first discover kettlebells? Dr. Mark Cheng: I first discovered kettlebells through one of my patients, a gentleman by the name of Dan Inosanto. He's the senior most student of Bruce Lee. One of his senior students (an RKC) set up a training session for him to train with Pavel. Inosanto asked me, "Doc, would you mind coming to this workout—one of my students arranged a workout with a Russian weightlifting coach...

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How to Get Stronger and Stronger and Stronger—By Building a Safer, More Scientific Foundation for Effective Movement

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door Interviews Master RKC, Brett Jones

Dec 14, 2011 11:00 PM

Dragon Door: How did you first get involved with fitness and movement? Brett Jones: I have a Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine from Highpoint University, and was a graduate assistant athletic trainer (and an ATC certified athletic trainer through the NATA) at Clarion University in Pennsylvania. I completed my graduate degree in 1995 and took my first job as an athletic trainer at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. That’s Gray Cook's hometown. He had just moved home and...

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The birth of the Functional Movement Screen—and how and why it is the perfect complement to the RKC School of Strength

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door Interviews Gray Cook

Nov 30, 2011 04:00 PM

Dragon Door: How did you get started with CK-FMS? Gray Cook: In undergraduate school, I had a major and two minors—studying sports medicine as my degree along with exercise physiology, athletic training, and psychology. I always had the intention of becoming a physician or physical therapist. But the more I studied, physical therapy seemed to be a lot more in line with what I wanted to do. I wasn’t really interested in the chemical/pharmaceutical approach, I wanted to learn how to...

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45 Seconds, 1 Kettlebell Exercise and a 37% Boost in Power—Senior RKC Secrets from the Frozen Tundra

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door Interviews Senior RKC, Jon Engum

Nov 19, 2011 12:00 AM

Jon Engum: I discovered kettlebells through flexibility training. I’ve been a martial artist since age 8, and opened my own gym in 1991. I got my first black belt at the age of 12. It’s all I do, it’s all I’ve been doing, it’s all I know. Dragon Door: What style of martial arts? Jon Engum: Tae Kwon Do, Korean style martial arts... I study three different ones. Early in my career I was a competitor and I liken it to being a rodeo cowboy. You train really hard all week long, then travel...

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How a 44-Year Old Chiro Beats the Butts Off 22-Year Olds in Semi-Pro Football—And Other Tales of Kettlebell Power and Glory…

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door interviews Senior RKC, Dr. Michael Hartle

Nov 10, 2011 04:00 PM

Dragon Door: How did you discover kettlebells? Dr. Michael Hartle: Through a colleague in the strength and conditioning world. We talked about it and he had mentioned Dragon Door, so I looked into it around 2002-2003. I bought a 16kg and a 24kg, then they sat in my gym. I have my own facility for physical therapy and rehab with our patients; it also doubles as our training center. The kettlebells sat in the corner gathering dust...

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