kettlebells for martial arts

[:x:]

i often read about mma-fighters using kettlebells and how great kettlebells are for working out, so can anyone give me some advice what size of a kettlebell to boy, if one or two, and if there are exercises really good for martial artists?
kettlebells are available for 2€/kg on german ebay, is that an okayish price?

[damdaman]

I hear kettlebells are great, my martial arts school has recently introduced them. I need to go to one of the classes and see how great they really are.

I understand that the unique way you grip a kettlebell (as opposed to a dumbbell) allows a greater range of exercises that hit more muscles, as well as reduces unnecessary strain on joints like the wrist (i.e., the weight is balanced directly underneath your grip point rather than on either side of your grip point, meaning your wrist isn't being jacked unnaturally to try and keep the weight balanced).

At any rate, I also hear Mike Mahler (sp?) kettlebell dvds are great (and that he's vegan).

[bagua]

Kettle bells are great for a martial artist. The act kinda like stone padlocks in Chinese martial arts. The way you hold a kettle bells helps build grip strength. The way you "swing" a kettle bell uses your whole body. So most of the exercises you do with a kettle bell will not be isolated muscle exercises. They will include multiple joints or the whole body to be able to accomplish the exercise. It is the exact thing that most martial artist want to accomplish when they hit or throw someone. They want their whole body doing it. I dont touch typical "gym" equipment anymore. I use kettlebells, Stone padlocks, stone balls, Iron bars, Bricks for my martial arts training.

There are two different styles of how to use a kettle bell. Soft and Hard Style. For more info look up Pavel Tsatsouline at dragondoor.com or the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation.


--bagua

[:x:]

alright!
get one kettlebell, get a dvd, go go go!
are two KBs really necessary to start?

[KC Masterpiece]

Hey : x :

Don't know if you're still interested, or if you've abandoned the kb idea, but I've been researching them to see if they're worth supplementing MA with, and this article has me VERY interested:

http://www.mikemahler.com/articles/kettlebellMMA.html

[veganjkd]

I used to train a LOT with kettle bells but to be honest,speaking personally i did not find that they forged any great changes nor anything specific to helping with training.

They are good,i am not knocking them,i just think that you dont need to pay money as you can develop explosive strangth by other means.. like anything they are often hyped as THE exercise tool for martial artists.

[:x:]

i don't use mine anymore..they did not give me huge efforts in training or strength-wise and after training i often faced back pain or something else, possibly because i did something wrong, anyway.
there are better things