Warning: I am a true believer. What I am about to tell you exploded my Tai Chi practice in two weeks, delivered heaps of energy, deepened my Yang form, elevated my confidence, and turned me into a true believer.

“Cannonballs with handles, William?”

“Yep! These lumps of iron toil to make you resilient, strong, and happy.”

“Start at the beginning, William… What are you talking about?”

“I am talking about Russian kettlebells.”

Kettlebells (KBs), the cannonballs with handles, dominate the hierarchy of strength training equipment. They have their roots in Russian folk sport. The most fundamental and easiest exercise to do with these beasts is the KB swing. Well, not easy, simple. You can spike your heart rate in nothing flat with these.

Pavel Tsatsouline introduced the west to the Russian Kettlebells and he remains my guru in all matters of fitness.

Pavel and I recommend you explore the prodigious power of kettlebells by using a dumbbell first.

The Dumbbell or Kettlebell Swing

Warning: Check with your health care professional before attempting any strenuous endeavor. And these are strenuous in the extreme.

Anyone of either gender or age who has good health can safely do the exercises. Just be smart, please. Grab a dumbbell that’s moderately light for you – 10 pounds to start with for ladies, 20 pounds for gentlemen. If you use too light a weight, you won’t get the feel for the exercise.

Look at these pictures of Pavel Tsatsouline to get the idea for each of these instructions. 1. Stand with your feet just outside shoulder width apart, toes point out -- not strict horse stance. 2. Push your hips back as if you wanted to sit in a chair far behind you. 3. Bend over with your back arched, head up, eyes riveted to a point on the wall 4. Swing the bell easily back between your legs, then forcefully snap your hips forward standing up, swinging the bell up to hip level, chest level, or as high as you want and as high as you can control safely. Doing this outside is a good idea. 5. After the bell has reached the top of its swing, let it free fall back between your legs, push your hips back, and then immediately snap back up again. Repeat. Tip: For your first time, stop at ten reps. This will be plenty for you to get the idea. Walk around while you catch your breath. Tip: Don’t use your arms to lift the bell. Your arms just hang onto the bell. Gripping the bell with a white-knuckle grip helps to stabilize all the muscles and connective tissues of all the arms and shoulder joints. They will appreciate that.

Tip: Breathe out on the up swing, and breathe in on the down swing. Or the reverse. Most importantly, pick one and stick with it for the set. I prefer the former and it becomes required for me when the weight increases.

Tip: Keep your weight on your heels at all times.

What’s Next

Do the drill again if you want. I tell my patients to just do ten and wait a day. Even this little bit of exercise makes people stiff the next day. It doesn’t seem like much, but you engage every muscle, ligament and tendon.

After you have had a chance to see how you’re doing with the drill and you can do the drill in using good form, you can increase the weight and add reps and sets. Four, five, six, or more sets of 20 swings will push your metabolism and your aerobic abilities through the ceiling.

Pavel’s books (see below) detail the advantages to different sets and weight combinations for strength, fat burning, and conditioning.

You can increase the challenge by doing the same drill with one hand. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE MASTERED THE TWO-HAND DRILL. You risk shoulder injury or a collision with your knees. Stay safe and smart, please, dear reader.

For example: I do four sets of twenty reps -- one and two handed with 35 pounds (16 kg, one pood, the Russian weight measure used for KBs).

Whichever pattern you choose you will burn fat. You will become a monster of iron. You will turn your ligaments, tendons, and bones into sinewy, resilient, strong paragons.

How’s this Help My Tai Chi?

“Now, that I am an Olympian, William, how’s this help my Tai Chi?”

This intense strength tool improves the stabilizer muscles in your core – the back, the abdominals, the hips. A strong core and strong stabilizers mean you can balance better. Better balance means better Tai Chi. The better your core strength the more confidence you enjoy not only in movement but everywhere in your life. For what more could you ask?

It’s a fact: All graceful people possess great strength. To make something look easy, you have to be strong and trained. This brings us to Tai Chi.

But, doesn’t Tai Chi do this by itself? Yes, of course. One of the most important reasons for doing Tai Chi is to gain solid, profound balance and grace that leads to ease and confidence in all areas of your life. The kettlebell or dumbbell swing does not replace your Tai Chi practice but works synergistically to massively accelerate your progress. You can go deeper and slower, generating more Qi. More Qi means more pleasure and fun. Yes?

Note: If you also engage in hard martial arts, the throwing arts, or contact sports, the power of the kettlebells becomes even more obvious and important. Your stamina and your ability to bounce off the mat will be legendary.

Get the books and video, do kettlebell/dumbbell swings AND practice Tai Chi.

Bulky Muscles

“But I don’t want bulky muscles, William,” you complain.

“No problemo, you won’t bulk up with these exercises. You can bulk up huge if you want. Pavel will show you how. But for our purposes, the idea is to create lean, martial arts muscles with extraordinary functional strength and resiliency. OK?”

Here's Where You Can Get More...

My website has more information and links to the kettlebells and other materials.

I recommend everything Pavel writes. But start with these books and the video. They will show you the ropes in a safe way. Even though Pavel wrote the first book for women and the second for men – read them both.
From Russia with Tough Love – primarily for women
Russian Kettlebell Challenge – for men
Kettlebells

Live long and prosper.

Go for it.