Girls Welcome at Dragon Door Australia

He’s had an interesting background – from Olympic trials in Taekwondo (finishing second) to Special Forces, to rehabilitating terrible injuries and working with elite athletes. But one thing is for sure, it takes a lot to impress him physically. Having started weight training at age thirteen with his older brother, using Arnold’s Bodybuilding for Men as their only guide, he has surely come a long way.

These days he is best known as the head of Dragon Door Australia, the nation’s leading source for kettlebell and advanced strength and conditioning training resources. He is also a contributing writer to fitness magazines like UltraFIT. However, what most people probably don’t know, is that he still spends most of his day training people. His new venture in Melbourne’s south east opened in March and with such a long career in the fitness industry UltraFIT asked him some questions about his new facility, as well as what it brings and adds to the fitness industry.

UFM: Firstly, who are Dragon Door?

They’ve been around for some time. The main reason that people here might know them is because of the kettlebell. Dragon Door, and Pavel Tsatsouline, has created a system of movement and strength that centres on the kettlebell called the Russian Kettlebell Certifi cation(RKC). Originally started around ten years ago it is now held up worldwide as the gold standard of kettlebell training.

UFM: What sets Dragon Door and the RKC apart from the rest of the fitness industry?

For me, the difference comes down to two things. Firstly, for us, it’s not about the kettlebell. That always sounds odd coming from someone who makes his living solely with kettlebells, but it really isn’t. Our school-of-thought is made up of strength, mobility, power, speed, flexibility and movement. We don’t just lift these things up. We teach our clients how to move correctly after a lifetime of sitting in a chair and forgetting how to do it properly!

Secondly, and perhaps I’m showing my age here, a strict Code of Conduct governs us. It basically says that we will conduct ourselves honourably in both business and private dealings. No lying, no misrepresentation, including no bickering on the internet.

I grew up in traditional martial arts and then went into the military. I believe in respect, honour and integrity. I think these things are lacking from our daily lives and when I found a group that took these old school values so seriously I was pretty much hooked instantly!

Truthfully I’ve never met another group of people who care so much about one another. No matter what my problems are, I know I can call any of my RKC colleagues worldwide and get an answer, (or a shoulder to lean on if need be), any time, day or night. It’s like having an army of trainers at your disposal to train all your tricky clients. Within this group are some of the best minds in sports therapy, strength training and even what has become known as tactical training for military personnel. Some members’ work with SEALs, MARSOC, US Secret Service, etc. as well as other guys like me, who deal with professional and world championship athletes.

With our teaching side of things – certifying instructors – I’m proud to say that our course is the first to be recognised by Fitness Australia and have CECs awarded to it. We take this very seriously. Every candidate I look at I ask myself one question: “Is this person safe to train my mother?” If the answer is no, then they have some work to do. We won’t just blindly hand out pieces of paper just because you turned up and paid us some money. If you have a Dragon Door certifi ed instructor in front of you, especially an RKC, you’ve found one of the rare hidden gems of the fi tness industry! These people pay for their credentials with sweat and experience. Ultimately, that pays off when you come and train with us.

“We know all our clients by name and we will give you what you’re paying for. If you come to us to lose five kilos, you’re going to lose five kilos!”

UFM: You’ve just moved to new premises. Why the move?

It was the right time. We needed more space so that we could run bigger instructor certification events, such as the one we held in March. I also needed ground fl oor container access for our kettlebell shipments.

Where we were…it was clear that the landlords didn’t feel the same way about their conduct as the RKC do. Th is move was a stand. A stand that says not only do we want to provide the best training we can, and to help people rediscover their inner athletes, but also that we won’t do business at a cost to our integrity. It was to show that we care not only about our clients’ physical success but also about their overall well-being and doing the right thing in their daily lives in thought and deed. I’m not a religious guy, but I believe in the Golden Rule and if it means I do business with a few less people, but I do business with good, honest, hard working people, then so be it. In our new facility you’ll notice the diff erence as soon as you come in. There’s no claustrophobic machine laden gym floor – just open space to move and train. We know all our clients by name and we will give you what you’re paying for. If you come to us to lose five kilos, you’re going to lose fi ve kilos!

We also train some people on what can be described as a scholarship program. We approach local schools, ask for their best academic student and then off er them free training. We want to combat the growing obesity epidemic as well as give back to the community. We also off er a few free spots for training each year to some recreational athletes who otherwise wouldn’t be able to train with us. These spots are very competitive (for good reason) – last year I trained two world champions, five Olympians and a number of national title winners – we get results.

UFM: What’s so special about kettlebells really? Honestly?

On their own, nothing special at all. And that’s part of the problem. There’s this misconception among trainers that they’re just the same as any other form of resistance, except that they swing them around a bit. Again, that’s where we are different. Yes, we use only kettlebells. In fact, our RKC trained staff don’t need anything else to get you in the best shape of your life. But we teach a system of movement and strength that carries over to any other physical endeavour you want – whether it’s fighting, football, running, swimming or even just running around the park with your kids on a weekend.

Everyone thinks that athletes have different needs to everyone else. That simply isn’t true. We were all built to be natural athletes. We just lose the ability to do these things as we sit and sit and sit. Getting the body you want isn’t about going and lifting more weight, that’s like dropping a bigger engine in a car that has bald tires. You’d get around the track faster if you can turn and stop more effectively. Most people need to realign themselves and develop better motor control again. Using bigger weights, or pounding the pavement for hour after hour, will only further ingrain bad habits and lead to faster injury.

The kettlebell (and when I say that I really mean the RKC system), is the way we reteach these lost skills to our clients. When you can get someone who has never touched their toes in their entire lives to get their hands to the floor in just a few minutes, imagine what you can do with that increase in performance for the rest of their lives? Or imagine what we can do with a few hours per week, if we can fi x years of old issues in just a few minutes?

UFM: Why are so many women flocking to Dragon Door and falling in love with kettlebells?

Since Tim Ferriss’ bestselling book The Four Hour Body came out, more and more women are becoming interested in strength training and in particular, kettlebells. Currently, more than eighty per cent of my clients are women and almost half of attendees at our instructor courses are women. Th ey fall in love when they see the kind of results we’re getting from the right diet and kettlebell training – the weight virtually falls off them – how’s 20kg in 16 weeks sound?

The unique benefit of the kettlebell is that it allows the body to work hard for long periods of time. Th is raises lactic acid levels which then boost growth hormone production and increases fat burning. A single clean and jerk can burn roughly fi ft een calories; and Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) can increase for up to thirtyeight hours aft erwards by up to twenty per cent. Or to put it in easy-to-understand terms – a hard kettlebell workout can burn more calories per hour than running, is safer on your joints and can continue to burn an additional four hundred calories. That’s the same as an extra half hour of running. Is it any wonder women serious about getting in shape are turning to kettlebells to discover for themselves how to shape the perfect posterior, burn calories, gain strength and regain their bodies? And all in one hand held gym!

“They fall in love when they see the kind of results we’re getting from the right diet and kettlebell training – the weight virtually falls off them – how’s 20kg in 16 weeks sound?”

UFM: What’s the future for Dragon Door Australia?

We plan to run our normal PT sessions and classes, to get people in the best shape of their lives. We will run two more Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification’s (the pre-cursor to the RKC) this year and plan to run an Australian RKC early in 2012. I believe that when we run an Australian RKC you will really start to see the growth of kettlebell training here in Australia, as all the pretenders will be flushed out. Personally I have a book on Combat Conditioning coming out later this year. No doubt there will be a few speaking engagements mixed in there as well as dozens of articles for all the magazines I write for!

As a business we will continue to stand tall and proudly abide by our Code of Conduct. We are always seeking to better ourselves, help our clients and give back to our community.

I think the best is yet to come in the Australian fi tness industry and, having learned so much in the fi rst eighteen years of working in it, I can’t wait to share that with a new batch of RKCs and see what else I can learn about the human body in the next eighteen!

The new Dragon Door Australia studio is at:
431 Warrigal Road, Moorabbin, Melbourne