Reviews

I was fortunate to have Dan John as my team leader for the San Diego RKC in August 2011. Everything he did that weekend was great. Whether it was using humor to illustrate a point, or taking us to a shady area to review because the team was tired. He did it all. Most impressive was he was doing it on crutches after hip replacement surgery. In my opinion this made the learning experience even better. You have to convey clear cues when one of your senses is taken away. The Coach showed the way to do it.

Dan John has 40 years of experience but at the same time is always looking to learn more. I've truly adopted his "permanent beginner" philosophy and will always look for ways to improve myself as a result.

2 CLAPS! 2 CLAPS

Dan is truly a master. Just being in his presence is a life-changing experience. I walked away from HKC not only with a good swing, but with a better understanding of how to train the human body, coach clients, and create seriously fun and effective exercise plans. I've been kicking serious butt since...6 new clients this week, and working "miracles" with all of them. Thanks to goblet squats, bat wings, weighted carries, and Dan John!!!

On this antepenultimate day of 2010, I have just arrived home from a three-hour event that was the catalyst for this review.

Last week, I was quietly following a thread on the Dragon Door forum that began with a post titled, "Is Dan John Over-Hyped?" I had heard of Dan John before, but had never met him. I found the original post (later retracted) tactless and disrespectful, but the thread really kept my attention because of all the responses from respectable members speaking up positively about Dan. It was that thread that led me to learn more about who Dan John is. I didn't even know he was in my area.

Today, I had the great pleasure to meet Dan John in person at his weekly Coyote Point Kettlebell Club gathering. You can often gauge the quality of a teacher by the attitude and morale of his/her students. It was obvious from the first moment I walked in that I was in good company. Everyone was wonderful, kind, and welcoming. They were there because they are passionate about learning, having fun with kettlebells, and enjoying a great practice session with Dan.

Dan is the "real deal", an excellent teacher, passionate, experienced, kind, generous, and a genuinely nice human being. He spent three hours with us, teaching us and freely giving fantastic tips because he loves what he does, not for anything else. But as Dan wrote in response to the post questioning his reputation, "Whether I am the 'real deal' or not doesn't matter really. Many people trust me and my suggestions to improvement." One look around the room will show you the respect and trust people have for him. I found myself trusting him almost immediately (and I'm not one to warm up to people quickly), and he has my respect. I am so happy I had the opportunity to meet Dan in person. Dan is a class act, and truly "under-hyped".

Today's practice session with Dan and company was the absolute best way to say goodbye to 2010. After the practice, we sat around sharing lunch together, enjoying conversation and each other's company. I am very grateful and consider myself extremely fortunate to have met Dan, and had the opportunity to learn from him.

If you ever get the opportunity to learn from Dan, DO IT! You will be in the presence of greatness, you will have a great time learning, and you will not want him to leave.

apoligies for the late review. WOW what a weekend in Orlando. Coach Dan's approach to teaching comes across with plenty of humor only to surprise his victims with simple yet "Not Easy" practice drills. Thanks to you & your assistants{ Juan, Laurel, Carrie },I was able to clean out alot of trash an practice more efficiently,also really impressed in the way you structured the practice drills all the way to the GRAD WORKOUT. Learned so much from you& will be my go to guy for further help & assistance.

I had the opportunity to work along side Dan (My Team Leader) at the RKC in Orlando. He is truly a great teacher not only for the RKC students, but for me as well. His knowledge, professionalism, and teaching techniques were top notch. I felt honored to have him as my team leader. I couldn't of asked for a better one. I hope to team up again with him in the future. Thanks Dan!

I met Dan in the elavator on the morning of day one of my RKC. He immediately made me at ease feeling such anxiety prior to starting the intense weekend. He appeared to be just a normal guy with a demeanor of a huggable teddy bear. As the weekend progressed I was thrilled to see that this friendly man had such a wealth of knowledge, awesome sense of humor with an ability to effectively teach and share this knowledge. My fellow RKC attendees who had the honor of having Dan as a team leader could not say enough positive things about this man. From the way he organized his assistants and planned for the events of the weekend to his contructive criticism and his ability to motivate and correct weaknesses, Dan is truly an asset to the RKC, sports and the fitness industry. I am glad I had the priviledge to meet Dan. I am regularly inspired by reading his blog and look forward to learning more from him and hope to see him again!

I hade the honor of assisting Coach Dan John at the Sept 2009 RKC. He is an outstanding coach/teacher. His personality and style made it a great experience for me as an assistant and for the candidates. He takes things that are very complicated and teaches them in such an easy way and shows you how to make it easy too. There were many moments while assisting him that things became even clearer for me. He easily relates the principle of the RKC system to athletic movements which again, helps make it easier to see the importance of it and how it all ties together.

He also spoke to the whole group about what the RKC is. Again, it was outstanding. He is a great speaker and I would highly recommend that if you get a chance to listen to him speak, that you do, you won't regret it.

Dan, thank you for making my experience as an assistant the best it could have been.

Thank you Coach! Your experience and ability greatly enhanced my experience at the Sept '09 RKC. You simplified the complex making learning more digestible. Nothing was easy, but your support made it all bearable - even fun! I can't imagine having a better Team Leader; you have forgotten more than many can or will learn. You have this wonderfully distilled knowledge base that is incredible, complete and pertinent to all athletes; and we are all athletes. Top it all off with humor, delivery and directness - The Coach of coaches.

It was an honor to be your student! I can't thank you enough!

Coach Dan John is one of the most personable, amiable, and entertaining of teachers I have ever had the pleasure of being taught by. He has a remarkable ability of taking complex movements/concepts and repackaging them in a more simplified manner for his students/clients. What is also so amazing about working with Coach Dan John is his ability to illustrate the crucial subtleties of apparently simple movements that are so important for an instructor to effectively train his/her client. His instruction and guidance is well worth the trip to Utah and I eagerly look forward to training with him again.

That is one of the highest complements that I can give any person as an instructor. I was on Dan's team at the fall 2009 St Paul RKC certification. As someone who has been both a student and a teacher myself in several capacities, I have a great appreciation when I identify someone who has the "heart of a teacher"--a person that views his students as an individual people, carefully identifies their needs, and makes it his goal that they learn what's necessary to improve. He is patient, and in the words of Einstein..."makes everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." Like Pavel, he is entertaining as well.

I feel that I did well under his leadership at RKC, and am grateful for his contribution to the many things I learned there.

I hope that RKC makes much use of Dan in future certifications, as he is an asset to the system. If you have the opportunity to let him coach you or hear him speak, I suggest you do so. You will be glad you did.

Over the last 5 years I have been fortunate enough to listen to Coach Dan John speak a handful of times. I am just starting to hear what he is saying. He came to my facility and wowed my clients, family, friends, and myself for the entire weekend. We learned the RKC program minimum minimum. I have been to 4 different RKC's and the Kettlebell Convention in 2005 and he was still able to simplify and clarifly the program. AMAZING! He is the trainer's trainer. The Coach's Coach. His techniques make complex movements simple, he can turn easy to understand programs in to brutal workouts.
I don't write well enough to give him the honor and praise he deserves. If you ever get the chance to listen to him speak, take notes. I would highly recommend reading his writings, and attending a seminar immediately.

Coach Dan John is a true legend in the strength training world. His biography above is replete with omissions when it comes to listing his achievements, and his presentation at the San Jose RKC left every participant (both students and instructors) fighting to get into the room... and thank God that the Fire Marshall was nowhere nearby. Coach Dan John has a singular ability to communicate the foggiest concepts of strength training and high performance athletics in a no-nonsense, easily accessible manner.

Whether you're a first timer or an Olympic gold medalist, you'd be well served to seek out instruction from Coach Dan John and study his writings. I hope that the RKC workshops bring him back to lecture often!