Arigato

I have been home a couple of days, managed to get back onto a somewhat normal schedule and am working on getting the video clips together from Tokyo.


Here are the guys from Day One.
The plan for the day: The RKC Basic Six.
These guys were subject to a continous onslaught of swings , getups, cleans, presses, more swings, more getups, squats, snatches, more getups, more swings, snatch pulls, snatches, more getups, Jeff O'Connor's goblet squat ladder and more swings. Between sets I gave limited translated lecture and a few feats of strength to underscore the principles of tension, alignment and power generation.

They learned the meaning of the Hardstyle School of Strength. I gave them several tools for generating tension. At the top of every getup and squat they would shout "HARDSTYLE!" It was a thing of beauty.

All of them had been coached by Taikei Matsushita, RKC II and were versed on body alignment, hip drive, etc. I introduced them to the overspeed eccentric and the painful realization that a swing is not just a swing. They were very friendly and treated me extremely well, wanting photos with me and even asking for autographs.

Koba, on the bottom row, far right in the Iron Tamer baseball jersy proclaimed to me that he is "Number one fan of Iron Tamer mania" and asked me to sign his shirt.



The group from day two.
Day two was the material from my Full Body Power DVD. Review of swings and getups, then into the windmill, getup-windmill combos, Follow the Leader series, and the Burpee series.
The description from Koba's translated blog: "It was Demon's menu".

The last teaching segment was the bent press and 2 hands anyhow. After that, more swings.

Anjin, standing fourth from the left with an open mouth (shouting) in the picture above expressed to me in his best broken English "Today I learn spirit of kettlebell and heart of kettlebell from you. Thank you." I cannot possibly imagine a higher compliment.

To my new friends: Domo Arigato, HARDSTYLE!