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Brian Copeland's
Core Fitness Newsletter

Issue #39 - 6/07/2009

1. Announcement # 1: "Pay for Services with Credit Card Online"
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2. Announcement # 2: "June 11, 12 and 13"
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3. Announcement # 3: "Top 20 Kettlebell Instructors in the WORLD!"
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4. Testimonials for Kettlebell Fitness:
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5. Testimonials for Self-Defense:
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6. My Weekend at Z-Health: "Thoughts on Pain, Fitness and More"
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7. Nutrition Tip: "Chocolate Milk & Pickle Juice"
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8. Training Tip: "Stretching: The Worst Warm Up"
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9. Hall of Achievements:
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10. Got Grip: "Seriously Strong Hands ebook"
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11. Self Defense Tip: "'Circumstances hell! I make circumstances!' - Bruce Lee"..
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12. Recommended Products: "Gymboss, Z-Health, Dragon Door, more" .
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13. Denver Metro Area: "Kettlebell & Self-Defense Classes in Aurora"
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14. Personalized Program Design: "Tired of Not Reaching Your Goals?"
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Congratulations to all Graduates of my beginner level kettlebell and self-defense classes.

Some people were not able to attend the last day so they aren't in the photos.

Beginner Kettlebell Graduating Class
6/2009



Beginner Self-Defense Graduating Class
6/2009

1. Announcement # 1:
"Pay for Services with Credit Card Online"

It has finally arrived! You can now pay for your kettlebell and Martial Arts classes, privates, semi-privates, phone consultations, Personalized Program Design, etc. online with credit card or with PayPal.

What's more?

You can set up your credit card or PayPal account to be auto billed each month for Unlimited Group Classes making it a click it and forget it scenario.

As a bonus for setting up Recurring auto billing each month I am offering discounts.

Unlimited Kettlebell Group classes: normally $147 p/month is only $129.99 if you set up Recurring billing!!!

Unlimited Self-Defense/Martial Arts classes: normally $100 p/month is only $90 if you set up Recurring billing!!!

Unlimited Kettlebell AND Martial Arts classes: normally $197 (formerly $200) p/month is only $179.99!!!

This is NUTS!!

I priced Martial Arts classes alone and saw some very well known Martial Arts schools charging $250 per month for 3 nights per week of Martial Arts. It wasn't even real Martial Arts that you could use to defend yourself.

You could come see me up to 6 days per week and get Self Defense/ Martial Arts (Jeet Kune Do) and Kettlebell fitness training for less than 3 nights per week of fluffy does no good in the real world Martial Arts at another school!

If you timed it right you could do 3 nights per week and do back-to-back Martial Arts followed by Kettlebells and kill 2 birds with one stone.

Or do Martial Arts on one day and Kettlebell on another.

To top this off you get Z-Health in the group kettlebell classes!

At 6 sessions per week (1 hour Martial Arts & 1 hour of Kettlebell) x 4 weeks in a month you would pay $408. How does $179.99 sound instead?

Even if you paid the drop-in rates and came twice per week to both Martial Arts and Kettlebell you would end up paying $272... How does $179.99 and come as often as you like sound?


My goal has never been to be the Wal-Mart of fitness, kettlebells or Martial Arts but I also want to make it affordable to the people while still paying my mortgage.

These are my best offers I've ever made, if you already train with me it is a no-brainer to switch over. If you have been gone for a while or have been riding the fence about getting started now is the time! Summer is coming!

2. Announcement # 2:
"June 11, 12 and 13"

I will be assisting at the June RKC Kettlebell Instructor certification workshop in St. Paul, MN June 11th - 14th.

As such I will need to cancel or reschedule my private clients but I will keep as many of my group kettlebell classes open as possible with Shari teaching.

Recap:
Thursday June 11th, Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th

Cancelled Classes:
• All Private and Semi-Private clients cancelled
• Friday 6:30pm Jeet Kune Do (Martial Arts) classes cancelled
• Friday 7:30pm Kettlebell class cancelled

OPEN Classes
• Thursday 6:30pm Kettlebell class OPEN with Shari teaching (she may be a few minutes late but will make it up at the end if she is)
• Friday 12:30pm noon-time class OPEN with Shari teaching
• Saturday 11:30am class OPEN with Shari teaching

Monday, back to normal

3. Announcement # 3:
"Top 20 Kettlebell Instructors in the WORLD!"

Hey everyone, cool news! I just made the list of the Top 20 Kettlebell Instructors in the World!!!

This Top 20 List is decided by clients of the instructors. You can submit a testimonial for me to help keep me on the list.

Just write me one and email it to me, bring it written on paper or plug it right into the RKC kettlebell instructor website below!

http://www.dragondoor.com/rkc/

4. Testimonials for Kettlebell Fitness:

Amazing "Can Do" attitude, and he shows you how you "Can Do" as well.

This is not my first review of Brian, because the days and years continue to go by where his influence in my life continues. If you have any doubts, just go to one session with him.

There is not enough that can be said about Brian and his teaching abilities. For the past 20 years, I have had a 50lb weight limit and physical activity limitations, imposed on me by surgeons and physical therapists.  After years of getting older and gaining more weight than I wanted, I was referred to Brian from a co-worker.

 His style of training "to your limit, not above your limit" was exactly what I needed. Brian taught me how to break all of my bad "work-out" habits of pain, injury, bad form, loss of interest, food and health choices, and most of all, my lack of success.  He helped me to work through my weak areas, physical and mental. All while working with my prior injuries, and teaching me to learn how to listen to my body, to avoid future road blocks and injuries.

  It took me a while to get enough in shape, just so I could start training. I was definitely a mess when I came to Brian, but with all the knowledge he possesses in so many areas, he made it look easy. (don't get me wrong, the work-outs were not easy) He gave me the confidence that I can improve, and I did. He gave me the drive to want to do better, and I did. He taught me how to grow with what I learn, and apply that to finding success, and I have. Since I have far exceeded any "limitations" I once had, I now consider my life limitless.

I have since moved away from Colorado, and thus lost my ability to train with Brian directly. I still call upon his expertise when I get stuck, or a new program design when I start to level out, and he has always been there for me.  Brian has given me the tools and knowledge to continue improving my life, in everything I do.  Every day that I am pain free, during physical activity or not, especially the activities I wouldn't even think of doing just a couple years ago, I am able enjoy my life that much better.  

I Thank Brian for helping me to become healthy, smart, confident, successful, and of course STRONG.

Allen West - Columbus, OH


Brian was a fantastic teacher that showed patience and wisdom

Brian broke the components of basic kettlebell in an easy to understand method which enabled me to learn safely. Brian was a fantastic teacher that showed patience and wisdom. I would highly recommend the 6-week beginner intro course!

Mike Blick


This is a new way of fitness, very practical, it works!

I took Brian's 6-week beginner kettlebell class and I have noticed the following changes: decreased body fat, increased muscle tone, decreases in pain, increases in mobility/flexibility, athletic ability, confidence in myself and I'm sleeping better.

Brian is very knowledgeable, this was the best class I've ever taken! This is a new way of fitness, very practical, it works!

Patrick


Strength Flexibility and More!

I saw the description of Brian's beginner level class and showed it to my daughter. She took the class and absolutely loved it! She recommended that I try the class also. Being older it is important to me to try to stay flexible and also incorporate strength training. This class is both of these and more. Brian is an excellent instructor who puts you at ease while ensuring that you handle the kettlebells safely.

Dora


Brian understands how people learn and switches his approach quickly

I believe this form of exercise will ultimately reshape my body and make me stronger.

Brian is a great teacher who takes time to teach proper form. He allows you to go at your own pace while offering helpful pointers. He also understands that people learn differently and he is able to quickly switch his approach.

Sandy Grandchamp


Decreased my triglycerides and overall cholesterol by over 150 points

I took my first cholesterol test in over a year and decreased my triglycerides and overall cholesterol by over 150 points for both total cholesterol and triglycerides. this is the first big improvement I have seen in a decade. I attribute it to the kettlebells and a modified Warrior Diet that Brian gave me. I still have a ways to go in LDL's & HDL's, but with supplements and minor diet modifications I look to make just as major gains in the next 4-5 months.

Andy

5. Testimonials for Self-Defense:

A daughter brutally killed, two teens date raped

A daughter, recently out of college, living in a apt complex was brutally killed by another tenant. Two teens, not yet 20, date raped within their first two years of college. These three girls, whom I know personally, join too many others who are hurt or killed by someone else. Do I want my children to have to fight-no. Do I want them to hurt someone else-no. Do I want them to know what to do if they are scared or attacked-Yes!. Brian's self defense class is not finesse, it's not fitness, it's not a sport. He provides practical actions and reactions so that if you are ever attacked, you know what to do to get away. I recommend this class for all teens and adults. He couples the escape and defense ideas with responsible situational awareness, and is careful to point out that we all are responsible for using the least amount of force required to defuse a situation. It's a combination that will serve us well.

Janet


Still Amazed at the Simplicity and Effectiveness of the System

"I just wanted to say thanks for the excellent instruction that you provided during the 6 hours of your Intense Personal Self Defense Training Course. I thought you did a great job of breaking down each topic and working with me until I had it down and I feel very confident in the concepts and techniques that you taught me.

I was very comfortable the entire time and I thought you did a great job of keeping the sessions relaxed, yet very focused especially when considering the subject matter. Initially, I was a little worried that the training I received from you would conflict with what I learned in Krav Maga; however, the training I received actually supplements or enhances what I learned in my Krav classes. One of the best things about the system is that I was able to easily incorporate techniques that I learned previously and I really like how you encouraged me to choose the techniques that worked best for me instead of taking a “one size fits all” approach. Likewise, I’m still amazed at the simplicity and effectiveness of the system and the fact that it works for everyone from high school cheerleaders to Navy SEALS. I’ve already recommended you to some friends and co-workers and I will continue to encourage others to train with you. Keep up the great work!"

Kevin Colbert


I was not afraid to do anything wrong because the class was very easy going

After taking the self defense class I am much more confident in myself because the situations we practiced in class and the explanations of the different situations that i may encounter in the real world. Brian is a really good teacher and is patient with people who don't catch on right away. In the class I was not afraid to do anything wrong because the class was very easy going. I would recommend the class to others because it is incredibly valuable knowledge for everyone and the environment is great to learn in.

Amanda


Beginner Level Class

I took the 6-week beginner level class and it was very helpful. It gave me a good basic foundation in self-defense. I plan on continuing classes with Brian.

George

6. My Weekend at Z-Health:
"Thoughts on Pain, Fitness and More"

To say that the 3 days spent at Z-Health were life changing would be a gross understatement.

First off I had already been doing daily Z-Health with myself and my clients and getting tremendous results in decreasing pain, increasing mobility, increasing strength and improving athleticism. But that was with amateur Z-Health. Now I that I understand the concepts and application even better the results just keep getting sweeter!

My clients are lifting heavier kettlebells, getting deeper into their squats, eliminating back, shoulder, knee and foot pains! I have eliminated a nagging forearm pain that I acquired through some intense Martial Arts training. I'm back to tearing decks of cards again!!! Which is important for a guy who wrote a book on how to do it!

For those who don't know what Z-Health is, it is a performance enhancing system that takes advantage of your nervous system's reflexes and the most modern concepts in neurology, physiology, biomechanics and performance.

I view pain in a whole new understanding now. The old concept used to be that someone felt pain in their back because they herniated a disc... well that theoretical model of pain has been destroyed by modern neurologists and researchers, Z-Health works off of the newest model of pain and gets people results quicker than conventional medicine without invasive surgeries and drugs.

I saw quick and decisive proof of this as over and over I witnessed people making changes to their bodies right in front of me. I saw someone who used to be severely bow-legged who now has the straightest legs you have ever seen. This did not happen over night but rather through learning to move better his body remodeled automatically over the course of 2 years. How is this possible? Do a Wikipedia or Google search for "Wolff's Law," bone remodels along lines of stress.

I have always harped on all of you about foot wear but I now have an even stronger stance on shoes. I have seen how the wrong shoes can cause your body to remodel itself (Wolff's Law again) and how you can actually cause injury and pain by the shoes you wear.

Stay off of those treadmills... your brain will get confused with real walking and running and you will get problems! This has to do with the maps our brain stores for movement. Any experienced golfer has heard of the yips, a dreaded enemy of professional golfers where they spontaneously lose control of their bodies while putting. Well this is all caused by brain maps being thrown off as well.The complexity of this topic is too long to go into but suffice to say the golfer has a good excuse for mixed up brain maps, you don't... get off of the treadmill and just walk or run on real ground.

Anything can cause anything!
Your body is one big survival mechanism. When it senses threat it goes into sympathetic nervous system response where survival is priority numero uno.

When you have a jammed joint you will get weaker, tighter and possibly even feel pain. When you eat a bad taco for lunch the same thing can happen. I recall one of my clients called me one evening to say she wouldn't be at kettlebell class that evening because she got rushed to the emergency room for severe chest pain over her heart. When she got to the hospital they told her that her heart was fantastic (kettlebell training thank you very much) but that she had a bladder infection.

The site of pain is almost never the cause of the pain....


Your emotions can make pain worse!
Imagine you stub your toe on a table. You don't yet feel pain. A signal travels from nociceptory nerves in your toe to your peripheral nervous system up the spinal cord and to your cerebellum in your brain. From there it begins a process of determining if this "sensation" warrants that you are given a pain sensation. Your brain will undergo a process that we can witness on a functional MRI where various parts of your brain light up and communicate in a complex way. Memories are searched to see if you ever knew someone who broke their toe in the manner you just hit yours. If the answer is "no" then you may not feel any pain. If the answer is "yes" then you will probably feel pain because the brain will predict that you have a broken toe and it wants you to look and make sure that you either do or don't. Notice that when you don't, you rub your toe and the pain goes away... Are you close to a vacation where a broken toe will create a negative impact? Your pain will be worse! Emotion has a LOT to do with the pain you feel, whether you are cognitive of the emotion, deny it or not.

If this concept is hard to grasp just remember that it has taken researchers millennia to have the technology to be able to see the path of pain in relation to the nervous system and brain. What is scary is that even though modern science now knows this stuff, western medicine (outside of neurology) is still using a pain model that was created between 1750 and 1770! Before we knew anything about how the brain or nerves work.


Suffice to say I have been WOW-ing my clients all week long and will continue to do so. 10 years from now medicine will be doing Z-Health or something very similar and everyone will be scrambling to jump on the bandwagon.

You can take advantage of it RIGHT NOW. Contact me for details!

7. Nutrition Tip:
"Chocolate Milk & Pickle Juice"

Louis McGovern, columnist for the San Diego Fitness Examiner and Z Health Master Trainer, writes an interesting revelation on exercise recovery drinks and the sports drink industry.

Read it Here.

8. Training Tip:
"Stretching: The Worst Warm Up"

You have heard me warn you away from static stretching before, whether or not you took my advice I don't know.

We are often told things over and over again and eventually our brains solidify those repetitions as fact. For instance, do you believe in evolution? You do realize that it is still a theory and has yet to be proven right? But you have heard it over and over and seen it in movies and heard other people talk about it matter of factly... so your brain interprets it as fact. Well I'm sure you have done the same thing with stretching. However, unlike the theory of evolution which has not yet been proven, stretching does have a wealth of research behind it, and the science says not to do it.

So since you have heard it from me why don't we hear from some other experts on the topic.

Louis McGovern from the San Diego Fitness Examiner and a Z Health Master Trainer wrote a nice short column on the subject. Read it Here.

So what should you do for a warm up instead?

Why the Z-Health Neural Warm Up 1 of course!

STEP 1: Click here to purchase the Neural Warm Up 1
STEP 2: Click on Products
STEP 3: Click Products again
STEP 4: Scroll and find "Neural Warm Up 1" DVD/manual

Until next time, train like an athlete not a hamster!

PS. If you are watching late-night infomercials and are thinking of buying the "Ab Gizmo 3000" or "Dance Your Way to a Super Six-Pack" don't bother. Save yourself some hard earned doubloons and instead purchase my Personalized Program Design. I'll get you better results with your own body weight and you won't have to make installments on an expensive piece of crap that sits in the corner collecting dust for the next 10 years for crying out loud!

9. Hall of Achievements:

Our newest updates:..

• Andy Casazza - 1 Arm Row 106 lbs
  
  
• Kelly Roberts Estep - 1 Arm Row 53 lbs
  
  
• Wendy Hedges - Rock Bottom Pistol with bodyweight
  
  
• Georgie Molinski - 1 Arm Row 58 lbs
  
  
• Georgie Molinski - Deadlift 115 lbs
  
  
• Shari Wagner - 1 Arm Military Press 44 lbs on the right arm, left arm coming soon!
  
  
• Debbie Yenchick - Deadlift 140 lbs
  
  
• Andy Casazza - Dropped his triglycerides from well over 300 to 165 and his total cholesterol from well over 300 to 226. His insulin levels rock! All Andy has done is get consistent with 3 days per week of kettlebell and Z-Health training and follow a modified Warrior Diet that I gave him.
  
  

See all achievements on the "Achievements" link at the left navigation bar at the top of the page or click here

10. Got Grip:
"Seriously Strong Hands ebook"


If you are interested in Grip training you owe it to yourself to get Brian Copeland's Seriously Strong Hands - it will guide you through building a Grip you can be proud of - because remember - the stronger your hands are the stronger your body can be!
This is the grip book I should have written a few years ago.

- Brett Jones CSCS, Master RKC, certified Red Nail bender


"In his ebook Seriously Strong Hands, Brian Copeland has put together a no-nonsense guide for the aspiring gripster. Filled with useful tips and no fluff, it is a valuable resource for the beginning grip enthusiast."

- David Whitley, Sr. RKC (tearer & terror of many phone books!)


I purchased your ebook about a month ago. Your ebook very much summarizes all aspects of strength training for bending/tearing. You also give a great plan for improving strength; following this plan leads to success for sure. I just tore a full deck of cards (wrapped in duct tape) in half, so I know what I am talking about... :-)

- Peter Lakatos, RKC Team Leader
Hungary, Budapest



If you are ready to get grip, here is the tool to get you there.

Learn more about it here

11. Self-Defense / Martial Arts Tip:
"'Circumstances hell! I make
circumstances!'"

Bruce Lee was an amazing philosopher and had some absolutely priceless quotes. Here are some thoughts for you to apply to your Martial Arts or Self Defense training

"Circumstances hell! I make circumstances!"
If you have trained yourself in a limited form of Martial Art or self defense method then you are not flexible enough to modify your circumstances. I hear arguments all of the time about why Brazilian Jujitsu or Mixed Martial Arts or Jeet Kune Do, Krav Maga or whatever is the best method of fighting. What a stupid argument. Someone involved in this type of thinking is putting more emphasis on the method than the goal. More emphasis on the form rather than the function. Form follows function is never more true than in combat. If you are a complete and whole Martial Artist then you have the ability to control more circumstances. If you aren't too proud to carry a weapon such as a knife or gun then you have more options to control you circumstances. Learn many styles and absorb what is useful and discard the rest, as Lee would say.

"Simplicity is the last step of art."
Many styles of Martial Arts or self defense take simple scenarios, such as someone holding you by your neck or hair, and they create an elaborate, complex series of unnatural movements that seem geared more for impressing your opponent rather than defeating him. The best advice I can give is to stick to the basics. When you have practiced how to flick the eyes, blast down someone's center line throwing them off balance and then chose a handful of effective termination moves then any scenario becomes rather simple and instinctive. Find what are the most simple moves that work in virtually any scenario and practice those. Fancy moves are best left for Hollywood.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
This piggy backs on the simplicity statement above. The most successful combat athletes have a few moves for each scenario that they are really great at and can use against different types of attacks. Just kick them dummy! Really, you don't need 20 different types of kicks; while it is fascinating to explore different methods of kicking (punching, striking, grappling, etc.), use that as a catalyst for discovering what kicks work best for you (make them simple remember?) and then eliminate the useless ones. Practice the ones you have learned against sparring partners who come at you from a variety of attacks. Does the technique work against this type of attack or that type of attack? Is it defensive and offensive both? Can it stop a sudden aggressive rush and be used to push someone back so you can gather your senses, plan your attack or gain access to a weapon? Practice your small amount of attacks from that paradigm and you will become a better fighter.

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."
I have heard many Martial Artists who practice a limited style such as boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing, Jujitsu, MMA, etc. say that they train "this way" but in a real fight they would do "this." Well that won't work folks, under stress we revert to training. So if you have practiced to defend a take down by maneuvering to an advantageous position to apply an arm lock or ankle submission but told yourself that if there were multiple attackers you would instead do "this or that" well it is useless because you don't practice "this or that." Practice for how you want to perform. If you are a competitive combat athlete in Jujitsu, Judo, boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, etc. then practice your sport. Realize that you sport technique will typically take out the drunk guy at the bar but when the drunk guy at the bar "cheats" and pulls a weapon out, has friends who join in, etc. realize that you have not prepared for this scenario. Keep practicing your sport but if you want to be just as good in the street then learn some street savvy and practice that a little as well. Remember that combat sports are awesome, I couldn't jump in the ring with Anderson Silva and knock him out, but they are sports and have weight classes and rules for a reason. The techniques and strategies used in them are not always appropriate when street thugs break the rules.

"I hope martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves."
Ego makes us think that our style is the best. Your style may indeed be great, or it may not. It may have some great techniques or strategies but is it complete? The goal of a Martial Artist is to win, whether that be in the ring, the street or on the battlefield. Use what works, not what you want to work. What you want to work my work some of the time but if it does not you must be able to flow to something else. If you have pledged your allegiance to your particular style of fighting then there is no flow... you are stuck, and if you style fails then you fail. Failure in the ring means you lose the match. Failure on the battlefield means you die. Failure on the street means you are injured, raped or killed.

"A teacher is never a giver of truth - he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst."
If you are just interested in basic self defense then listen to me and do what I say, it might save your life one day. If you are a lifelong Martial Artist who is determined to become the best warrior that you can be then take my teachings and the teachings of others and your own unique understandings and begin the process of eliminating the useless and keeping the useful. My understanding and application of Martial Arts has changed significantly throughout my life and will continue to adapt as I learn more, you should be no different. As a teacher, hopefully I can guide you to learning at a faster pace than I have had during my education.


Bruce Lee was one of the greatest Martial Artists and philosophers of Martial Arts who ever lived, but he would tell you not to put all of your eggs in his basket. He would tell you to learn from others and come to your own conclusions. This is the path of the individual, while the follower follows blindly, the individual learns, extrapolates and forms their own thoughts.

Now go train!

To learn more, visit my Martial Arts/ Self Defense site here:
www.progressivecombatsystems.com