Iron Tamer Clan - The Instructors Who Got Us Where We Are Now

Hello again everyone! It has been a terrific September as an offical RKC instructor. I have to say I have been able to apply all that I have learned at the RKC Instructor Certification Course everyday with my clients as well as my physical therapy patients.
As I promised, I am writing a 2nd installment to the Iron Tamer Clan Post from last week. This week I am giving props to the instructors and others who helped us to prepare for our success at the RKC.

David Whitley, Senior RKC
It all began when I returned from a Functional Movement Screen Seminar where one of the presenters (Gray Cook, PT, RKC) introduced me to some kettlebell exercises. I was very interested and ended up finding out that David (aka the IRONTAMER) held classes in Nashville and is also FMS certified (CK-FMS). For the next month I was blown away by how much he knew about movements and how the kettlebell itself can be used as a tool to work on mobility and stability at the same time. On my first day of Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp I performed turkish get ups and could not believe how much I was working on mobility of my joints as well as stability of my joints with one exercise! I decided to give 4 weeks of my bootcamp workouts and retest my FMS score. Note I did not do any other corrective exercises other than bootcamp. My FMS score went from a 15 to an 18! My wife went from a 14 to an 18 in the same time and can now do a very good push up.

After 3 months of bootcamp and about 20 pounds of fat loss later I was hooked. Nikki and I proceeded to let the Irontamer know that Iwe were interested in training for the RKC Instructor Certification Course. He told me that he would be happy to train Nikki and I and that we should continue to come to bootcamp to prepare. And boy did we prepare! David was tough on us but in a very good way. He knew what the RKC cert was like and was preparing us for the grueling days that would be the RKC. He did not sugar coat things. We heard things like "quit your whining and swing!" and "if your clean is like that at the end of RKC you WILL fail the course". It was exactly what we needed to hear. He motivated us very well.
I owe David everything. He introduced me to kettlebell training and what the RKC is about. He reiterated that the RKC is not just about the kettlebell, the kettlebell is only a tool. Its the movements and the concept behind the RKC that makes it so successful. Thanks to his knowledge and teaching, I am a much better Certified Athletic Trainer and FMS specialist at correcting movement imbalances. Thanks David! I will always introduce myself as being a decendent of the Iron Tamer Clan and you as my mentor.


Matt McBryde
Matt just received his RKC instructor certification last year (2008). We met Matt as he was one of David's instructors that covers his class when David is out of town. Matt is a terrific instructor from the very first day we met him. He put his own spin on class but the RKC techniques were always the foundation. Matt was gracious enough to come to our RKC prep days at 6am to help us with technique and also gave us some killer workouts, including the VO2 Max protocol from the Viking Warrior Conditioning. The VO2 practice we had with him very much helped us at RKC to improve on our snatch technique but also to prepare us for the grueling workouts. Matt now currently owns and runs Tennessee Kettlebell Bootcamp along with his cool wife, Kristen (the Hardstyle Diva part of the Irontamer Clan!) in Franklin, TN. Thank you for all your wisdom, Matt. Not only did I learn so much from you but I also gained 2 friends. I know that Kristen and yourself did not have to drive 20 minutes every Saturday to come train with us, but you did for the sake of helping us become as prepared as we could be. I will never forget your generosity.

Dennis Breckey
Dennis is the first RKC that we met in Nashville after working with the IronTamer and he also subbed for David from time to time. He teaches a very structured class and gave a different point of view with corrections and cues on our technique. Dennis was also showed up to almost every Saturday morning RKC prep class. He had nothing to gain from coming. He did not have anyone close to him prepping like Matt did. He just came to help us out. I was truly blown away that he would come so early in the am to come help us out. Dennis is currently working on his Z Health certification and when Nikki spoke to him about her tricep issues, he made the time to research and ask other Z health professionals about what drills would work best to alleviate her problems. Dennis is just a whole lot of awesome in my book.
I would also like to give a quick shout out to some other important people who played a role in our RKC certification. Mandy (with a Y not an I) Whitley is a wonderful friend of ours who let us borrow her husband on many accounts to have him work with us. She was the first person I saw when I passed my snatch test and she was jumping up and down in excitement. She put up with our Vibram Stank in the hotel room for 3 days. And was there to give me updates on who all passed since I was the last one. She made the whole process fun and well worth it.
I would like to thank Gray Cook for steering me in the correct direction of the RKC. Also to Brett Jones for all of his articles and information who has helped me out. Brett and Gray have a terrific DVD series "the secrets" and "Kalos Sthenos" which provides important corrective exercises to help improve on asymmetries in your body. I would like to say that thanks to them I am a better informed and prepared RKC and athletic trainer.