“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
- Denis Waitley
This past weekend marked my 10 year anniversary of attending the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) level one workshop in King of Prussia, PA.
For those of you that are not familiar, RKC is a kettlebell instructor certification workshop that was originally created by the company Dragon Door and Pavel Tsatsouline in 2001.
In 2012 Pavel started a new company (StrongFirst) and RKC continued on under new leadership.
Currently both RKC and StrongFirst offer very similarly structured kettlebell certification workshops based on “hardstyle” kettlebell training.
In addition to participating in numerous workouts throughout the 3 day course, there are also a series of tests one must pass in order to become a certified instructor. If you fail any of the tests during the course, you are given 3 months to submit video with a reattempt to your instructor.
Some of the testing requirements have changed since I attended, but at the time they were as follows:
Snatch test: 100 total repetitions within a 5 minute time frame
Technique tests: 1 repetition per side of the Turkish get up and 5 repetitions each of the following: Double clean, double front squat, double overhead press, single arm snatch (5 reps per side)
Teaching test: observed while coaching kettlebell novices (who signed up for the event via Dragon Door’s mailing list) through a 1 hour training session
Women weighing in at 123.4lbs or below used 12kg and those weighing above used 16kg for the testing, as well as for the majority of the workouts.
I had very little previous kettlebell experience and took about 3 months to train for the certification. I was going with a friend and coworker and we helped each other create a plan (which in hindsight was not that well constructed).
At the time, my weight was normally around 125lbs, so I was preparing to take the tests using the 12kg bell.
I made sure to eat well the weeks leading up to the workshop and checked in on my weight before we left, 124.3lbs.
“OK” I thought. “If I fast overnight and wait until weigh in to have water I should be fine.”
On the first day of the workshop we signed in, received a course manual and our team assignments and then were sent to weigh in and complete the snatch test.
I hadn’t eaten or had any fluids since the night before. I had gone to the bathroom a ridiculous number of times. I was wearing shorts, a sports bra and was barefoot.
I was also incredibly nervous.
When it was my turn, I stepped on the scale and my stomach sank...I was 123.8, just .4lbs over the limit to qualify for the 12kg bell.
I was crushed as well as terrified.
I wasn’t prepared (physically or mentally) to use 16kg.
I made my first attempt at the snatch test that morning. I think I got around 75 reps...Fail.
The instructor told me, “You can try again first thing tomorrow morning.”
I thought to myself, “I’ll eat very little today and make weight tomorrow. Then I’ll be able to use the 12kg and I’ll pass.”
So, I came in the next morning once again fasted and dehydrated. I stepped on the scale. 123.7lbs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I made my second attempt at the snatch test with the 16kg. That time I got around 80 reps...Fail.
The instructor said, “You can try one more time tomorrow, if you want.”
At this point my hands were destroyed from blisters that had ripped, I was tired and I was hungry.
“Alright”, I thought. “I’ll eat ALL THE THINGS today, come in tomorrow feeling energized and pass it using the 16kg.”
That day I ate without worry and I did my best to preserve my hands (note the copious amount of tape in the photo below).
I came in the morning of the 3rd day with a feeling of nothing to lose. Again I weighed in over the limit (around 125lbs) and welcomed the 16kg for a final attempt.
At this point everything hurt, both physically and emotionally. I was drained from a weekend of training plus 2 previous failed attempts.
One of the instructors took me to a secluded area while the remainder of the attendees were practicing for their skills tests.
When we began it was just the two of us.
At around the 3 minute mark Pavel himself came to cheer me on. “Come on Amanda!" he said in his heavy Russian accent. “Rip the bell to the ceiling! Use your hips!”
My body ached, my hands were bleeding, time was quickly running out.
“You can do it, Amanda! Don’t stop!”
I pushed and I pushed until finally the instructor called time.
I had done 87 reps and had failed...again.
I know, this probably isn’t how you thought the story was going to end.
You expected that I would pull through at the very last moment, like any good script with a steady build up of anticipation.
But life doesn’t always work out like that.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much we try or how badly we want something to happen.
Sometimes we fail.
What matters most is not the failure itself, but what happens next.
After my final failed attempt at the snatch test I went into the bathroom and cried it out for a solid 5 minutes. Then I went back to my team to complete the rest of my testing (the skills tests and the shadowed instruction), which I passed.
I finished the weekend with my head high and an intention to receive my certification as soon as possible via video submission.
After letting my hands recover, I submitted the video to my instructor and received my certification. However, I didn’t stop there.
I didn’t want to “just pass”. I wanted to crush the tests and I wanted to do it in person.
I spent the next two years getting stronger and improving my kettlebell skills. And in 2011, I re-attended the level one workshop at the same place in King of Prussia, PA.
This time not only did I pass all the tests, I completed the snatch test without setting the bell down a single time AND without getting a single blister.
I went on to complete the level two RKC and StrongFirst workshops and to assist at multiple level one workshops.
I performed the snatch test with a variety of weights, for a variety of time intervals (200reps in 10 mins) and wearing a variety of costumes (as part of fundraising events...bonus points if you recognize my costume here).
I became the “kettlebell expert” in my club.
I prepared multiple trainers for their own certifications and traveled across the US and internationally to teach kettlebell workshops for Equinox trainers.
Chances are most of these accomplishments wouldn’t have happened had I not failed the snatch test my first time through the RKC. If I had passed initially my drive to improve would not have been as strong. Most likely I would’ve been satisfied with my skill level and moved on to learning something else.
Failing is the necessary first step towards mastery.
Unfortunately most people will only see the final product, not the many failed attempts that were required to get there.
When you’re feeling frustrated that your performance doesn’t match up to someone else's or that you aren’t progressing as quickly as you think you should, remember that the road to mastery can be a long one.
Remember that the ones you are comparing yourself to were also once beginners. That they have felt the same frustration as you. And that when they were faced with failure they kept going, no matter how painful or humiliating.
How can you use your failures as motivations to get better, rather than as reasons to give up?
How can you hold your head high, no matter how many times you lose?
How can you keep going, even if your hands are bleeding?
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