Reviews

This is an excellent product for anyone that wants to know the ins and outs of swinging a club. I've been experimenting with club swinging off and on for over a year now and Club Swinging Essentials pointed me in a whole new direction of training with these primitive tools. Gray and Brett did a great job of breaking down the movements and giving excellent cues to get your body in the right place to get the most out of every movement. After only a week of practice my right shoulder is already accepting the motions much easier. The Club swinging instruction alone is worth the investment, but what really sets this product apart is the contribution Dr. Thomas made by sharing his insights on club swinging and physical fitness in general. Great product, well worth the investment.

I had never utilized Indian Clubs before deciding to integrate clubs into my kettlebell routine and purchasing Club Swinging Essentials and a set of clubs. The book coupled with the DVD is excellent - and I find myself periodically reviewing both to ensure that I'm on track.
For shoulder flexibility clubs are unmatched. For 'opening up' the chest they have worked wonders for me which directly translates into honing my KB skills. I can unreservedly recommend this book to all but especially for KB practitioners.

I have been interested in the Indian clubs for a few years now - but didn't know exactly where to find informed or even adequate instruction. As an avid kettlebell enthusiast, I finally decided to purchase the Club Swinging Essentials. It was one of the BEST purchases I have ever made. I have been a gym owner, and martial arts student for over 30 years -
and at age 55 I know great instruction when I see it! Cook, Jones, and Thomas deliver a quality introduction, and extremely usable program. I have decided to attend one of their workshops as soon as possible. If you are on the fence as to whether Indian clubs would add to your athletic practice or fitness routine, wait no longer!

I have shoulder instability in both shoulders. Scapulae rhythm with my humerus around a mobile thoracic spine with all of the RC muscles is paramount. Indian Clubs encourage and integrate these things with the body. Use of the clubs have increased my proprioception in both joints (awareness neuromuscular control of the shoulder), reduced pain, and increased strength. I think it is wonderful that DD is introducing this to the public. However, there is not enough emphasis in my opinion, on moving slow and well, before moving fast. If you don't you miss the benefits that these clubs can bring. I was lucky enough to have a SKYPE session with the man Brett Jones himself. Before, I was going too fast. He taught me to slow it down, and I could feel the muscles turn on and feel the integration much better than before. He taught me the true importance of moving slow before moving well. The clubs and the way the material is presented is great. To get the most benefit I would highly recommend seeking out a Certified Instructor because you can hurt yourself, and you will find that the devil is in the details. Even moving slow though, my TGU and press went up significantly in the first week after being instructed, as did my shoulder pain. I just think if it's going to cost what it cost, it should be more than just an introduction and more of an in depth explanation of the moves and not necessarily the progressions. That is my only complaint. Excellent compliment to KBs. EVERYBODY should be using these things as part of their program.

An excellent compendium, really demonstrates the depth of the art. There is so much to learn and master-intimidating-but Rome was not built in a day.

I purchased Club Swinging Essentials the week it was released.

The art of Indian Club swinging was almost lost. That would have been a most unfortunate occurrence as they are an excellent tool to gain shoulder mobility, relieving shoulder stress and aches and pains. They teach motor coordination in many planes as well as simply being enjoyable to turn.

The CSE DVD fills a much needed void, as there are currently few modern sources of instruction on the clubs.

The DVD excels in its presentation of the basic patterns of club swinging. I have seen most of the available DVDs and this is simply better.

The guest presenter Dr. Ed Thomas is a foremost club turner, having learned as a boy in an authentic Turner style gym. He has continuously refined the art over the years, and watching him spin the clubs is a joy.

To complement co presenter Brett Jones models the movements more as a beginner would, breaking everything down to easy to digest bites.

The DVD presents the major pattern and then shows many useful variations which will work your scapula and rotator cuff in all directions.

Also touched on are some advanced elements including spinning the clubs and various step movements.

The DVD is aimed at Instructors, so there is some discussion that may not appeal to everyone, however the core material being so good, this is a small issue for the lay buyer.

The patterns presented are limited, it would have been nice to have expanded more on some other movements, and one basic pattern the figure 8 is skipped entirely. I deduct a point for this reason only.

However, the skills CSE provide are more than enough to make picking up new patterns easy, once you have mastered the basic skills.

For anyone interested in Indian Club Swinging, Club Swinging Essentials is simply a must buy as there is nothing else like it available on the market today.

Clear and precise information on the progressions from one pattern to the next and helpful ways to correct mistakes. I can't wait to put it all to the test at the upcoming CICS certification next month!

I have been using Indian clubs for about 2 years now. I have Dr. Ed Thomas's dvd which goes quickly over the basics. This DVD and manual break the basic movements down which has helped me fix some flaws in my workout. The DVD has also helped me to teach my son the moves also. I would recommend Club Swinging Essentials to anyone who wants to learn how to swing the clubs. It is not only for trainers I think it is the best info available for any club swinger.

I purchased this video after attending the CICS workshop and found it to be a great tool for review, as well as a more detailed approach to the art than was presented in Dr Thomas' introductory video that came with my first clubs.

Brett and Grey make a good teaching team and include a good deal of functional movement information that one doesn't often see. This is especially true of the tall kneeling approach to swinging with stability.

I also liked the historical perspective and the performances that Dr Thomas provided.

My shoulders have suffered from injury as well as repetitive stress for some time and the club swinging has done much more than P/T to restore function in them both. I am sharing this new art / therapy with anyone who will listen.

I love the way Gray Cook and Brett Jones break down seemingly seamless moves into their component parts: really helps to get the movement.

I'm glad these big name trainers are making this age old information available, I never would have heard of these otherwise.

You won't believe how good your upper back and shoulder will feel after trying a few of these mobility workouts. Every joint in the upper body gets mobilized, and its fun.

Its like swimming without getting wet.

You will also get stronger in your strength training. I don't understand why, but you do.

Definitely worth getting.

Great in depth explanation of basically one move from beginner to expert variations. The book is little more than a picture summary of the DVD with lots of poor quality photocopies on the history of indian clubs in the back. This package is a waste of your money and the expertise of Jones, Cook, and especially Dr. Thomas. Search for Indian Clubs on Google and YouTube (you'll even find most of this DVD on YT) then take your time, stretch, start light and go slow and stretch.