As some of you know, Maya was invited to be part of a small U.S. delegation participating in the 2009 International Union of Kettlebell Lifting’s VENTSPILS ATLANTS. The event took place over the weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Ventspils, Latvia. Delegates included teams from Denmark, France, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, USA, Slovenia, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Despite some recent tragedies in our family and very limited training time, I am quite proud to report that Maya managed to take 1st place in her weight class and won the Best Overall Lifter Award in the 16kg snatch event. We are still in shock considering the surmounting circumstances preceding the trip and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank our head coach Catherine Imes of the American Kettlebell Club for her guidance and expertise along the way.
I am sure Maya will write more about this upon her return in a few days. This is all I have for now due to our limited communication. I am extremely thankful to our family and friends at the IC and our wonderful sponsors for their prayers, well wishes, and continued support of the ICKB Team!
Best,
Steven
p.s. Cate, Lorraine (both of you), and Andrew, thank you for looking after my wife!
Here is a section of a letter (with pics of Beijing in the Springtime) we received from Nobel Peace Prize Winner and beloved IC member, Lynn Price, today:
“I’m in the process of packing and just can’t believe that tomorrow is my last work day here. I’m excited to return to the Bay Area, but feeling very melancholy about leaving China. Yesterday – Earth Day here in Beijing – I reflected on how I got to this place, with these people, at this time (sound familiar David and Sylvia?). You see, I was 11 years old and in 6th grade when my super-cool 22 year-old teacher taught us about environmental degradation and organized her young students to participate in the first Earth Day in 1970, founded by Wisconsin’s Senator Gaylord Nelson. We picked up trash in the “downtown†area of Elm Grove, a nice suburb of Milwaukee, and piled it in the front of the school under a sign protesting pollution. So here it is nearly 40 years later and the long and winding road (including a MS in Environmental Science from the Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at UW-Madison) has led me to China working to reduce local, regional, and global pollution. So, hat’s off to inspirational school teachers everywhere. Too bad that both my sister and I have been unable to locate Ms. (yes, she was the first person I knew to use that title) Sandra Rothe – I owe her great thanks for what has turned out to be an amazingly rewarding career.”
Lynn’s email perfectly illustrates why we are giving back to teachers this season. We encourage you to forward our invitation to a special teacher near you.
On March 17, 2009, Pavlos Giorgiadis set a new PR (and possibly another “unofficial” world record) in the one-arm snatch using a 32 kg kettlebell in front of Coach Pantelis Filikidis, World Champ Valery Fedorenko, as well as the rest of us attending the WKC’s International Kettlebell Sport Camp in Greece. It was an intense moment and one I’ll never forget. It was brought to my attention again today because the WKC released the much anticipated video of Pavlos’ incredible feat of strength-endurance.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, the footage may not be that exciting–he’s in the same place the entire 9+ minutes, doing the same movement pattern, lifting the same kettlebell — it’s not like watching Track & Field or Dancing with the Stars, but I say this with certainty: what Pavlos accomplished is nothing short of amazing. Spectators tend to look for struggle and the entertainment of possible defeat, but Pavlos never grimaces in pain or comes close to dropping the bell on his head. In fact, he never switches hands and yet, despite the obvious fatigue, every rep still looks exactly like the one before it. Notice how the bell is traveling up and down the center of his body and how his elbow and shoulder come to a perfect lockout and stop at 12 o’clock. Also, pay close attention to the precision of his rest breaks — on minute one it’s at rep 19. I wonder what else our KB students will notice about the timing of his breaks (hint: pop quiz in tonight’s class). For KB fans, these tiny details are aspects of the sport that we find riveting! My girevik buddy said he felt choked up after seeing the footage and I immediately agreed. In fact, I know I wasn’t the only one shedding a tear in the room that day.
It’s been five days since I touched down on US soil and I am finally getting my mind and body adjusted to Pacific Standard Time. Here are my notes from the plane trip back and a short video that, despite my limited access to filming, captures the essence of my experience.
Cheers,
Maya
P.S. Thank you WKC for allowing me to video portions of KB Sport Camp!
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Learning from top level coaches from around the world is a priceless opportunity. As I sit here on the ten hour flight from Athens to NYC, I am desperately trying to mentally record every lesson offered by legendary Coaches Pantelis Filikidis and Valery Fedorenko. I was humbled and proud to be the only female lifter in their prestigious International Kettlebell Sport Camp and greatly appreciate them for welcoming me into their man world with open arms—literally.  In addition to their kettlebell greatness, I was honored to learn from WKC Editor Eric Liford, Master Coaches Kevin Jodrey and Slovenia’s Gregor Sobocan; I’ll never forget the generosity of these excellent teachers.
When the plane touched down in Athens a week ago, my cabin neighbor Seth (the sweet young missionary with the cool hairdo) offered to pray for me and I knew at that moment this trip would be a special one. But, even now as I reflect to type this, it’s difficult to put into words how much I was given in Greece—without even asking. People (and animals) offered us random loving kindness at nearly every turn, every meal, every walk, and chance encounter.
…and speaking of animals, this story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the dozens of large stray dogs roaming through the city streets. They seem to enjoy the freedom of living in packs and napping in the sun at leisure, but many of them seem despondent and starved for love. We were amazed at all the residents and city merchants whom care for the dogs with morning leftovers and storefront water bowls, but when a strong thunder and lightning storm hit Loutraki last Wednesday night, we couldn’t help but worry about them.  I know my mom left a piece of her heart with each one (and I think Gregor did too).
As we fly over the glorious snow capped mountains of Northern Italy, my heart is exploding with gratitude.  The WKC has given me so much beyond sport. Things I thought about as a teenager, but was afraid to really dream about as an adult… like studying abroad, meeting strange and genuinely wonderful people across the globe, tasting exotic international foods, and listening to the beautiful sounds of world music, language, and the Aegean & Mediterranean Seas—live and in person!
But, rather than pour over every memory and try to capture with words all the ways this experience affected me, I chose a series of photographs to share with you, which collectively tell my story far better than I ever could.  Please feel free to ask me any questions about the photos in the comments section. I would be happy to elaborate on any of them.
Lastly, I want to thank every participant at KB sport camp. I’ll never forget what you each taught me in training and during our wildly fun times traveling together to and from the gym. I’ll cherish every breakfast, song, coffee, and extended set we shared under the bells.
So much of sport camp in Greece went beyond kettlebells and included great food & culture, family, and fun. Here is a scene from Valery’s favorite restaurant around the corner from Coach Filikidis’ gym.
Don’t be fooled by the photos I published of the beautiful landscape here in Greece. Since KB Sport Camp began on Monday, our sightseeing plans came to an abrupt halt. After spending five hours training and learning from the incredible teachers here each day, most of us end up at Hotel Marion completely exhausted. Since the gym is actually closer to a 40 minute commute from Loutraki (not 25 as previously mentioned), some lifters don’t even make it back awake to enjoy leisurely tourist activities in town. If our bodies aren’t totally spent, our brains certainly are… The level of technical information at Coach Filikidis’ gym is indescribable. Take a look at the following photos that perfectly illustrate the areas of kettlebell lifting being reinforced here:
Coach Fedorenko is always looking for the fixation of the bell overhead. In kettlebell lifting, it refers to the final position of each repetition and specifically includes: shoulder stability, full elbow lockout, and hip & knee extension as shown by Kirk and David in the photo above. Equally important: handle/hand position.
According to Filikidis, young Cona has “lots of potential” at 14 years of age because of the technical refinement Coach Kevin Jodrey (who also happens to be Cona’s father) reinforces in training.
At the end of day three, Pavlos returned to give us another fantastic treat! This time, he set a new record in the one arm jerk with 40 reps using a 64 kg(141 lb) kettlebell.
If you don’t think this a big deal, think again! Some of KB Sport Camp’s best lifters had a difficult time getting one rep overhead. Check out Pavlos’ powerful triple extension of the ankles, knees, and hips pictured here. Only the speed of an SLR camera could catch this beautiful launch.
Here’s my not-so-powerful version using a 12 kg kettlebell. I was told by several top coaches that my launch needs a lot of improvement. The first dip needs to go deeper and the drive back up needs to be much faster. According to them, strength is not my problem… I look forward to 1000 more reps back home in order to get it right!
(Note: Even though in the history of kettlebell lifting no one has completed this non-traditional feat of strength to this capacity, Valery is uncomfortable with calling this an official world record since it was not performed at a sanctioned competition.)
Coach Filikidis treated Sport Camp to a once in a lifetime opportunity today. He asked his top kettlebell athlete, Pavlos Georgiadis, to attempt an unofficial world record in the one arm snatch. He needed to complete 145 reps to defeat the defending record holder. By rep 143, the energy in the room was intense. Coach Filikidis had a lot to say to his prized student throughout this incredible moment, but since none of it was in English, I can’t share any of his words of wisdom with you. What I can say with certainty is that Pavlos surpassed his own PR by 15 reps and earned a new record at 180 reps in 9 minutes!
Note: Pavlos snatched 32 kgs on one side (he recently broke his left arm); he did not switch hands. Keep in mind that most elite lifters cannot accomplish this many reps with two hands!
The universal language of love between a great coach and his world class athlete.
This was the sunset that greeted us from our balcony at Hotel Marion in Loutraki, Greece — a beachside town 40 minutes outside of Athens. If you don’t believe me, here’s proof:
How can anyone focus on kettlebells in a place as beautiful as this? Easily… if these two are your coaches:
Stepping into Coach Filikidis’ gym is like walking into a world of its own. His gym is actually quite far from Loutraki; a car ride without traffic took us roughly 25 minutes. The gym looks like a much larger version of the IC, except unlike our place, he doesn’t seem to work with many women. Empirical evidence of this: no toilet paper or paper towels in the coed restroom. My mom and I immediately knew we were in for another great adventure! Along the partition separating the mat space from the weightlifting area are dozens of pictures of Filikidis’ top athletes in competition, but what is most impressive about the photos is the number of times Filikidis himself is featured in action. …and I’m not talking about photos from 20 years ago. In fact, I’m still stunned at what I saw today. Filikidis was busting out feats of strength every 30 minutes or so. He started with a double 24kg jerk set for 6 minutes at 14, 15, then 16 rpms. How many of us can increase rpms as we fatigue? That was his warm-up btw. Then I saw him successfully arm wrestle Russ Jodrey — a national arm wrestling champion, at least 10 times. Unlike young Russ, Filikidis is 58 years old. He then moved on to strongman lifts that would have even given Andrew Durniat a run for his money. In the photo above, he earned a new PR on the chair press, but don’t be fooled by the color of the bells. The bell on the bottom weighs 45kgs and the one above it weighs 16kgs. That’s 135 lbs in one hand. (Valery was sweet to provide moral support to his great mentor.)
Pictured above are lifters from Germany, London, Slovenia, and California! As the only female lifter in the bunch (Cate Imes, Bonnie, and the ICKB Girls were greatly missed), Valery asked me to deadlift and hold a 90 kg kettlebell (yes, 90 kg – 198 lb. KB!) for the group photos. I think it’s important to note that this moment was the only special treatment I received today. The rest of the day was spent doing everything everyone else was assigned to do including a 10 minute max jerk set first thing in the morning (ouch), followed by a 6 minute jerk set at a faster rpm, followed by a 4 minute jerk set at the fastest rpm possible. Needless to say, my shoulders were fried. His remedy: pull-ups before and after each set… and that was only the first third of the day.
Nothing prepared me for the spectacular ruins of Athens. I knew I would see a part of history come alive, but I had no idea modernity thrives so closely to antiquity here. Here are two photos illustrating this:
Check out the Temple of Olympian Zeus in the center of city life. Its construction spanned over 700 years until it was finally completed under the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Over 100 pillars once stood here. Imagine living in those apartments and waking up to the few that still exist today.
Here’s a close up of a few of the pillars. I’m five feet small; like the photo of young Kaia in Mel’s post this week, I thought this image would help put the enormity of the place into perspective.
The Acropolis did not disappoint. After a steep 15 minute climb up the hillside, this magical place awaits for all to enjoy. We lucked out with fabulous weather—sunshine with a soothing cool breeze. We spent over two hours roaming every corner of this archeological wonder and we could have easily stayed there all day (too bad for hunger and jet lag).
Every summer in Athens, a musical festival is held in this awesome arena. Elton John and Diana Ross have even performed here. Interestingly, rock and rap artists have never been invited to play here because the ruins of the Acropolis cannot handle intense vibrations of amplified sound.
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I assure you I am here for Kettlebell Sport Camp, but I could not resist sharing some of these awesome experiences with you. I hope you feel inspired to take a spontaneous trip with your loved one across the globe too — it’s great for the soul (particularly if you’re a Type A like me). I urge you to chat with fellow IC’ers Tracy and Tom Richardson about this; their incredible decision to move their family to Oaxaca, Mexico for nine months inspired me to get out of my comfort zone. Our turbulent global economy is making international travel affordable for people again. Don’t hesitate, do it!
Clocked at 67 mph competing downhill in the exact course as the Men and Women’s World Cup.
IC star athlete Foreste Peterson placed forth overall at the J2 National Junior Olympic Championships in Aspen, Colorado this past week. At only 15 years old, she is a master at the Giant Slalom. Imagine where she’ll be in three years… Go Foreste!
