Most of the 22 members who represented Seattle Kettlebell Club on Saturday, September 24th at the 2016 IKFF NW Kettlebell Championship first came to SKC in search of a better alternative to the typical gym, having little-to-no previous experience with kettlebells and definitely no interest in competitive kettlebell lifting.
I absolutely love it when members lay down their disinterest in competing during one of their first visits to The Dacha (our nickname for the gym; it's a Russian term for a vacation home). They have come to reap the rewards of the kettlebell swings and turkish getups they've heard about; they have yet to know more.
I am particularly fond of a memory from early August, 2015; it was right before I was leaving to compete at the OKC NorCal Open in Berkeley.
That's when Wendell Dyck (who came to us originally as a personal training client and is now dedicated to our sport classes)
told me with fervor he was not competitive and would not compete. Here's Wendell just over a year later, competing in 20 kilo biathlon at his 3rd competition, having even traveled to Canada to compete last May. Judging by his face, turns out he really doesn't hate it ;-)
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| Wendell Dyck between sets at the 2016 IKFF NW Kettlebell Champs. Ellie Taylor warms up in the background. |
It's not really surprising that the people who found a kettlebell gym appealing in the first place keep an open mind and are provoked by challenge. Before long, they find themselves surrounded by other members who are doing kettlebell jerks and snatches and thinking "I can do that. I want to do that." And while they still may never find themselves on a competition platform, now they're here to play... Kettlebell Sport class it is.
--Amber Puchlov
co-owner
Seattle Kettlebell Club
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2016 IKFF NORTHWEST KETTLEBELL CHAMPIONSHIP
SEATTLE KETTLEBELL CLUB TEAM STATS
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