Wild Geese Fitness Training

I’ve been getting a lot of emails recently asking how to go about becoming a Kettlebell instructor.

With the meteoric rise in popularity of the kettlebell over the last few years, this is hardly surprising. After all, it can become a nice little earner if your savvy.

However, this should not be your only motivation for wanting to become an instructor.

I know, many of you out there are looking to update their REPs points or gain Continuing Education credits, in order to do this there many weekend courses for you to attend. However, doing a weekend in something DOES NOT make you qualified to teach that something.

Especially in the fitness industry.

There are weekend courses out there that will give you not only the REPs points but will also give you the title of Instructor in any number of aspects in the fitness industry. Some, I can understand, they are small topics that serve as an adjunct to what you (should) already know.

Others, absolutely not.

There is one company that markets quite heavily and offers weekend courses in Olympic Lifting, Kettlebell lifting and Boxing. In my eyes this is ridiculous.

Unless you have years of experience with these skill sets, how can you possibly hope to teach them?
How can you spot the technical mistakes, the details that make these specialities special?

So whenever I’m asked how to become a Kettlebell coach I answer the same way, “Train long and hard with kettlebells first!”

If you don’t you’ll end up a mockery just like that Jillian woman in my last post.

There are two people in Dublin who I know are teaching Kettlebells, they may even have done an “instructors” course, but I know for a fact that they do not have experience with the bells. This makes them dangerous.
(I’m sure that there are more than these two, but I know of these for a fact. And no, I’ll not mention any names)

If you take a look at the Wild Geese class schedule, you’ll see that the monday class is marked as an advanced session. This is because it is taught by Paul Cox, a man whose Instructional experience goes back to 1988, over 20 years.

Does he feel that after 20 years training folk, he no longer feels the need to deal with beginners?

No.

He refuses to teach beginners because he holds no certification in Kettlebell lifting. He refuses to teach anyone that hasn’t already been trained in the basics.
Paul was the only person I showed the Kettlebell techniques to after I first started to use them in my own training, long before I began teaching publically. He took to them extremely naturally, as you’d expect from a multiple Black Belt holder.
Yet, he still doesn’t feel knowledgable enough to teach.

Give him a barbell and he’ll show anyone.
But not Kettlebells, even though I keep telling him that he’s more than good enough.

Yet idiots like that Jillian woman, the biggest looser, will happily go on YouTube demonstrating crap technique in the basics and finish with something ridiculously dangerous.

The difference between Wild Geese Paul and Biggest Looser Jillian can be summed up in one word.

Integrity.

Most instructors these days have none.

They are more interested in lining their wallets then they are in your health.

So with all that said I am going to offer you the opportunity to become a Certified Wild Geese Kettlebell Coach. I’ll spend some time thinking of some catchy title, like CKT or RKC or something, just because that’s what people like.

Like the CKT that the IKFF run or the RKC that Dragon Door run, there will be a minimum standard.
Unlike any other Kettlebell certification that I know of, it will require you to actually teach.
Throughout the course of this year I will be running workshops, levels 1 to 5. By the end of the 5 workshops you will know your way around a kettlebell.
The workshops are spread out, so that if you attend a level 3 but your level 2 skills haven’t improved since I last saw you, you will fail, automatically. No questions, no refunds.

This is very much in the same vein as my Martial Arts upbringing. In fact my own coach, Steve Cotter calls Kettlebell lifting, the “Martial Art of Strength training.” My own attitude is no different.

After the completion of all 5 workshops, you should be ready to think about becoming a coach. you may then apply for your Instructor certification.

This will be a test of your ability to teach either my Tuesday Kettlebell beginners class, or teach both a level 1 and level 2 workshop.

The workshops will be run at the Wild Geese HQ in Dublin 2, or if you have your own club/facility I can come out to you and run workshops there.
Obviously if I’m to travel to your club we can combine the workshops to make longer day.

So, how do I become a Kettlebell instructor?

Train long and hard with Kettlebells, then give me a call.

Dave