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7-Time World Amateur Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion, Kurt Pitman, Discusses Kettlebell Training for Fighters and Professional Hockey Players
We interviewed Kurt Pitman at the April 2005 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor Certification Workshop Dragon Door: Kurt, can you fill us in on your athletic background, and talk about how you got into kettlebells? Kurt Pitman: I was a kickboxer/mixed martial artist for seven or eight years. I was a member of the Lion’s Den and I got to train with a lot of world-class fighters, like Guy Mezger, Ken Shamrock, and Tra Telligman. The Machado is a group of major Jiu-Jitsu guys down in Dallas, Texas, where I am. I train with a lot of the students there and help them get ready for fights.
D.D.: How old are you now? K.P.: I’m only 30 now, but I was sent to the top pretty fast. I didn’t have a lot of fights—only 25. But the guys that I worked with were such good coaches that they prepared me pretty quick. When I fought for the World Amateur title, I had eight days’ notice.
D.D.: What are your athletic goals now? K.P.: Well, I’m retired from fighting, and am just into personal training now. D.D.: What are your thoughts about kettlebells, both for yourself and for your clients? K.P.: Right now I train two of the Dallas Stars. I train Mike Modano and Brenden Morrow. I’ve had the privilege of training Mike for about eight years. He and Brandon are going to Austria right now for the World Championships. D.D.: So you’re finding that kettlebells are good for hockey players? K.P.: Definitely, simply because it is a contact sport. But I design a different program for Brandon Morrow than I design for Mike Modano. Mike Modano is going to be like your skater, blow-by-blow, boom-boom-boom. He does work to absorb hits. D.D.: You see kettlebell training helping to absorb hits and stay resilient. K.P.: Absolutely, absolutely! They are stimulating their central nervous systems to know what it feels like to get charged up and then go do another lift. Do something that’s going to bang them, get them spiked, and move them straight into another load. I definitely see the benefits from that. D.D.: Do you train any fighters? K.P.: I have trained some fighters. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ken Shamrock a bit. I was helping Guy Mezger get ready to fight Tito Ortiz back in November or December of last year. D.D.: Do you use kettlebells with them? K.P.: Yes. Actually, I have another guy working with kettlebells now who is probably going to step back into the ring. He’s had a little time off. He’ll probably start back in about six months, so he is getting in touch with the kettlebells. D.D.: How do you convince a fighter like Shamrock that kettlebells are worth his while? What can KBs do for fighters? K.P.: One, it’s more personal. Two, the unilateral load. When we begin to learn kettlebells, it’s with one KB and the loads are multi-directional all of the time. It’s not a leg press. I don’t put any of my athletes or fighters on the leg presser or anything that is on a single plane.
D.D.: From your experience, do KBs increase striking power? K.P.: Yes. If anything, if they don’t help with the striking power, there is at least shoulder stabilization and the ability to lock the shoulder and turn, like boxers do. They have that snap and punch. Even if it doesn’t increase the power, it will protect them. They will have the ability to protect themselves when their limbs are out, arms bared.
D.D.: How have you been adjusting to the intensive KB training here at the certification? K.P.: Well, the clean with the kettlebell and the clean with the barbell are two totally different moves. That’s what Frankie and some of the other instructors have had to get on me about—how I break my wrist. It’s a habit from the Olympic moves. The two moves are named the same, but they are totally different. D.D.: How’s the certification been for you in general? What do you think of the training? K.P.: Very intense. They break it down. The swing…yesterday we spent most of the day on the swing. It’s a very basic movement. I like the cues that they gave us—some trouble-shooting guides for the restricted Box Squat. It’s one thing to know how to do the movement, but to teach it and to give your students verbal cues is another ballgame. And that’s what we are here for, to be able to give them verbal cues. Those have been fantastic! The detail of how they break it down has been good, because no one’s lost. The instructors are very well-versed. They have all different kinds of backgrounds, and everyone is special at something. I just enjoy the course. It’s been fun from day one. The people are great. Contact Kurt Pitman at kurtpitman@hotmail.com.
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