Interview with Jeff Martone

with Tyler Hass (Circa 2003)

Jeff, congratulations on the release of your excellent new video. How did you rst hear about kettlebell juggling? Thanks Tyler. I rst read about kettlebell juggling in Pavel's book The Russian Kettlebell Challenge. The following sentences really caught my attention; "V.I. Rodionov recommends a great variety of kettlebell drills juggling one or two kettlebells, by yourself or with a partner" and "Konstantin Steppanov of St. Petersburg.could juggle a three pood or 48kg kettlebell!" Later on in his book, Pavel described two exercises that are forms of KB juggling. He referred to one exercise as "a ne wrist strengthener". "It's performed by repeatedly throwing and catching a kettlebell, while keeping the handle vertical, in front of you." The other exercise is at the very end of his book, explained under "Pre-Competition Weekly Armed Forces Kettlebell Drill Complex #1". It's the exercise called the "spin". The idea of repeatedly tossing, ipping, and catching a kettlebell really sounded like something fun and worthwhile to do. So, I decided I would give it a try. What are your recommendations for someone just getting started with the handto-hand drills? Some of it can be a bit tricky to learn. First, I highly recommend starting out with a light kettlebell. "Light" meaning 16kg or smaller. One word of caution; if you are using the 4 or 8 kg bells, they are made of rubber and have a tendency to bounce/ricochet off of hard surfaces in unpredictable directions. Keep in mind that "quick feet are happy feet" and "our goal is to train and not to main". So, use liberal amounts of common sense during training sessions. Second, invest time to ne tune your one/two hand swings and the gure eight pass between the legs. Proper form is the key to staying injury free. As you know from recently attending the RKC in MN, there are many ne points to performing the swing that are commonly overlooked by the casual KB user. Third, keep your H2H training sessions brief, light, and enjoyable. Remember, you are practicing a skill. So, your focus needs to be on proper technique. If you become fatigued or excessively winded, take a short break, recover, and try it again. Remember that you control the kettlebell, so don't let it throw you around! When in doubt, just let it safely drop to the ground. I agree that some of the H2H drills can be a bit tricky learn. The drills are sequenced in building block fashion from simple to complex. The key to success is to master the simple drills rst, one drill at a time. Take your time, build a strong foundation, and allow your body time to adjust to the new demands and stresses of the H2H drills.

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Jeff, I told some people at the certication seminar that you are like an artist with your kettlebell. I'm curious how you invent so many new exercises? When it comes to the idea of "inventing" new exercises, I believe that Scripture says it best that "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I like to think it's more a matter of rediscovering old exercises than it is of inventing new ones. I am convinced that any new drill or exercise that I "invent" has already been thought of and perfected by someone, somewhere, in another time and place. For example, I showed my friend John Hickman some of the "ying V" drills one day, then a week later he saw the exact same exercise on the History Channel. It was a short black and white clip of German athletes juggling kettlebells in sync, in formation, during the 1930's. It wasn't until after I lmed H2H KB Drills video, that I actually started receiving copies of old articles or manuals that describe various forms of kettlebell Juggling. In the June 1925 edition of Strength Magazine, George F. Jowett wrote an article titled "Weight Lifting as a Sport in Germany". "Heavy Athletics" was a eld event and a national sport which included the very popular Jonglieren Team competitions. This article described in detail what John saw on the History channel. The contests were described as clever, fast, and exciting to watch. To further illustrate my point that "there is nothing new under the sun", Pavel sent me an old Strength and Health magazine article titled "Juggling weights" written by an 80 year old man who started juggling kettlebells at age 70. He wrote "My rst juggling bells were made from my old Milo Triplex barbell which I had purchased in 1913." It was very humbling article to say the least. Besides kettlebells, is there anything else that you put in your training programs? I enjoy practicing dead lifts, weighted pull-ups, rope climbing, barrel lifting/throwing, hand balancing, tumbling, joint mobility drills, muscle control exercises, and some select club bell exercises. Most recently, I've been playing around with some Olympic lift combinations as designed by Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ethan Reeve of Wake Forrest University. They are very challenging to say the least. I also like the concept of your Ring Training and look forward to trying them out. What do your typical workouts look like? What exercises do you tend to choose and how do you structure them? My typical workouts begin with 5-15 minutes of joint mobility, dynamic exibility, and/or some tumbling exercises. I prefer to practice low rep, slow-strength exercises rst. I prefer to sequence a dead lift or squat variation rst, then immediately go to a press variation, then right to a pull up variation. This makes the most efcient use of my time, I'll usually rest for a minute or two after the pull up, then I'll begin my next set. Usually, I like to do a warm up set of 5 reps, then increase the weight and do a few sets of triples then nish with a few sets of singles. I'll like to nish my training session by doing 3-5 sets of one, low-rep/high-intensity abdominal exercise (i.e. hanging leg raises, Janda sit up, full contact twist, etc). I prefer to practice high repetition kettlebell lifts and/or H2H kb drills at the end of a strength work out. If I'm short on time, I do a separate session latter in the afternoon or exclusively the next day.
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I tend to choose multiple-joint, whole body exercises that enhance functional strength and core stability. I like to vary the exercises and set/rep/intensity scheme often. I believe one of the biggest and most common mistakes a person can make is getting too focused on numbers. If you have tunnel vision on a specic number or repetitions or amount of weight you think you must achieve, you are setting yourself up for injury. Learn to listen to your body. Some days you feel like a hero, so by all means go with it and achieve a new PR. Other days you'll feel like a zero. On these days, do yourself a favor and concentrate on perfect form rather than the poundage. What kind of benets have you seen from your H2H kettlebell drills? How do you incorporate them into your workouts with soldiers? H2H kettlebell drills are a fun and fascinating change-of-pace activity for all devotees of the iron game. It develops explosive strength and stamina, intramuscular coordination and timing, strengthens and thickens connective sinews, dramatically increases dynamic grip strength, and provides tremendous cardio-alternative workout. A recent employment physical revealed that my resting heart rate has dropped to 55 bpm and my blood pressure is at an all-time low of 90/50. To be honest, I consider these numbers less than mildly interesting because it's not the ultimate goal of my training. In my opinion, the greatest benet of practicing H2H drills is that it will dramatically increase your athletic performance and ability. Name the sport or physical activity and the H2H KB drills will enhance your performance. You will hit harder, jump higher, perform longer, recover faster and add years to your career. Kettlebells are an extreme conditioning tool, ideal for personnel in the spec ops or law enforcement community. There is not other training tool out there that builds strength the endurance as efciently as the kettlebell. I always begin teaching and explaining the principles behind the basic kettlebell exercises, stressing adherence to strict form. Most operators see and feel the benets right from the start. As their technical prociency and conditioning increases, I will advance them to various body weight/kb exercises I developed to further increase specic sports preparation. These drills mimic the physical stress of various immediate actions drills, movement to contact, etc. I also like to use various high repetition KB drills before scenario based training events. It serves as a medium to quickly increase an operators' heart rate (i.e.180+ bpm), simulating stress, than have them practice a duty specic complex motor skill such as reloading, CQB, hand cufng, etc. This will systematically progress to more complex scenarios, adding more equipment until everyone is wearing "full kit" (i.e. 20-60 lbs.) to include gas mask and helmet. The bottom line is you can't fake performance or endurance. So, train hard and with integrity. You have a pretty interesting job. Could you tell us a bit about your training at DARC and with the Dept. of Energy? DARC (i.e. Direct Action Resource Center) is one of the largest urban warfare training centers in the US. It is a 500 acre, privately owned, facility designed for law enforcement and military personnel. They provide realistic training to individuals and
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teams who want to improve their skills and chances of survival, when faced with violent, life threatening situations. Some of the training available at DARC includes but is not limited to safe and tactical use of rearms, CQB/SWAT, Combatives, dignitary protection, and physical training (i.e. Tactical Strength and kettlebells). I served as the lead instructor for the combatives and physical training programs. I currently serve as a full time defensive tactics, rearms, physical training and special response team instructor, providing low-prole operational development training for federal agents. I am also on staff at DARC and at the US DOE NNSI/Central Training Academy. How did you get into that line of work? Could you tell us a little bit about your sports and training background? I was born in and raised in a small city near New Haven and Bridgeport, CT. Both my grandfathers are retired police ofcers. My grandfather, on the Irish side, was professional prize ghter and the welter weight champion of Connecticut before WWII. My father was also an accomplished ghter, not in the ring but on the street. He taught my older brother and me how to punch the heavy bag and the value of possessing good ghting skills. We grew up playing football and started wrestling when we were in middle school. At the end of my 8th grade year, our family relocated to Massachusetts and martial arts was added to our sports program. By the end of my senior year in high school, I made all-state in football, played on two super bowl teams, and was achieved an equivalent rank of black belt in two different styles of kung fu. This was also the year that I rst started crossing the line from "tough" to "stupid". I dislocated my right shoulder at least once every game. I would "pop" it back in place myself and pressed on with out missing a play. Needless to say, I had my rst shoulder surgery at the end of that season. I refused my athletic scholarship offers and decided to join my brother at a small state college, near Boston. I gured this would give my shoulder time to heal; I would get my degree, and then start a military career. While in college, my brother and I really honed our ghting skills. Most of our free time was spent practicing kung fu, boxing, bouncing at local clubs, or ghting at rugby and football parties. We both progressed to the rank of master in one of our kung fu styles. However, my right should was continuously dislocating again, which eventually led me to another surgery. I tried to be smarter this time and actually followed the doctor's and physical therapist's advice to the "T". In the beginning of my senior year in college, I joined 19th Special Forces Group, Rhode Island Army National Guard with the intentions to go on active duty as soon as I graduated. I drilled with my unit once a month, all my orders were written and military schools locked in place. Life was gooduntil I dislocated my 'good' shoulder while training with my unit one fateful weekend. This was actually the third time my "good" shoulder came out of joint. Things rapidly spiraled down from there. I graduated college in the spring, had surgery on my left shoulder, was rehabilitated, re-evaluated, then medically discharged.
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In 1990, things started to spiral back up. I got married, relocated to Albuquerque, NM, became a "born again" Christian, and went to work as a narcotics detector dog trainer/ handler. I was granted a government security clearance, which opened the door to a job as the lead defensive tactics instructor for the DOE Transportation Safeguards Training Center. In the years that followed, I incurred two arthroscopic surgeries on my right knee and a total ACL reconstruction on my left knee. It was at this point, I made a quest to nd a smarter way to train. When you only have a short amount of time to train your clients in hand-to-hand combat, how do you go about teaching them? Is there a lot of classroom work or is it mostly hands-on? When time is short, I like to introduce my clients to the basic concepts and principles of Blauer's S.P.E.A.R system. S.P.E.A.R. is an acronym that stands for Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response. It utilizes the speed and reliability of the startle/inch mechanism to convert the "oh no" moment of a sudden attack into a tactical counter. Most importantly, this system can be used as a bridge to any style of ghting. For more information, peruse the following website www.tonyblauer.com. I try to keep the amount of time spent in the classroom to a minimum but it really varies depending onwho I'm teaching - law enforcement, military or civilianwhere I'm teaching - law enforcement academy or private training facilityand what level I'm teaching - operator or instructor. I think it was Bruce Lee who said "You can't learn to swim standing on the beach. Eventually, you'll have to jump in and get wet." The same is true for ghting. I heard you say something at the seminar that I really liked, "If you're going to be stupid, you better be tough." That one cracked me up. Seriously though, with all of the injuries you've had, how do you manage to be moving so well now? It is only by God's grace and mercy that multiple career ending injuries have been turned into springboards of opportunity. Scripture tells us in Romans 8:28 "that all things work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." This has been the case in my life. Pavel's books and videos, especially Power to the People, The Russian Kettlebell Challenge, and Super Joints has been HUGE answer to prayer. I am stronger, faster, and more exible today than I was when I was 25! Jeff, thanks for the interview. It was great meeting you in Minneapolis last month. Thank you Tyler, it was a pleasure meeting and training with you. Fight the good ght and keep swinging.

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