Russian Kettlebell Certification (RKC)
Russian Kettlebell Certification — RKC Level I
For more than two decades, the RKC has helped set the standard for Hardstyle kettlebell training. The new RKC honors that legacy while reshaping the certification around what has always mattered most: developing better coaches.
This is a two-day, hands-on instructor certification built around movement, assessment, purposeful progressions, and practical coaching. Candidates will work hard, but every drill, repetition, and teaching exercise has a reason behind it.
The goal is not simply to prove that you can perform kettlebell exercises. The goal is to teach you how to observe movement, recognize what the person in front of you needs, and coach them toward stronger and more efficient positions.
The RKC Pathway
The HKC is the required starting point for all new RKC candidates. It establishes the shared principles, movement language, and two-handed foundation upon which the RKC builds.
At the RKC, candidates progress into unilateral training, overhead work, advanced ballistics, deeper assessment, and more complex coaching.
The HKC establishes the foundation. The RKC teaches you how to build upon it.
The RKC Curriculum
The course develops the skills and progressions behind the traditional RKC movements:
- Get Back Up
- Turkish Get-Up
- Goblet Squat
- Two-Hand and One-Hand Swing
- Single-Hand Clean
- Single-Arm Front Squat
- Overhead Press
- Snatch
- Loaded Carries
Candidates will learn more than the finished exercises. Each movement is broken down through drills, regressions, progressions, partner work, and coaching practice so that candidates understand how the pieces fit together.
Assessment With a Purpose
The new RKC draws upon the foundational work of Vladimir Janda and Thomas DeLorme.
Janda’s whole-movement perspective helps us look beyond isolated muscles and understand how the body organizes movement. DeLorme’s principles of progressive resistance remind us that strength should be developed gradually, intelligently, and for the long term.
We use the RKC assessment eye to determine:
- What is moving well
- What needs to open
- What needs greater stability
- Which position or progression should come next
- When the athlete is ready to add load
This creates a coaching system designed not only for performance, but also for resilience, longevity, and real-world strength.
A Teacher-Training Certification
The RKC is not an exercise workshop or an endurance contest. It is a professional coaching certification.
Candidates will be expected to demonstrate technical proficiency, understand the principles behind each movement, communicate clearly, and coach others effectively. The physical standards remain high, but strength alone is not enough to earn the certification.
A successful RKC instructor must be able to:
- Perform the skills
- Understand the skills
- Observe movement
- Select appropriate progressions
- Communicate corrections
- Make the person in front of them better
Whether you are a personal trainer, strength coach, physical therapist, healthcare professional, or experienced kettlebell instructor, the RKC will challenge you to see movement differently and coach at a higher level.
Move well. Build strength. Develop the coaching eye.
The RKC does not simply certify kettlebell users. It develops Coaches.
