DIDIER COPPENS
"Many moons ago I started Kettlebell lifting..."
DIDIER COPPENS
"Many moons ago I started Kettlebell lifting..."
When I turned around there was no more train...
BIO
YIN
DUALITY
YANG
My background is one of an ancient Asian art called Qi Gong. I taught, meditated, and trained people on a regular basis.
Qi Gong is a traditional Chinese exercise practiced for many centuries in China, for health, healing, recovery from injury, disease prevention and personal growth. This energy medicine science is particularly good for healing problems that Western medicine cannot identify. This form of mind-body training, also called: ''moving meditation'', is an internal workout of mental focus, deep breathing, and body movement that cultivates the life force and moving energy.
It takes many, many years to really feel the Ki energy, but it only takes one lesson to have benefits from this 4000 years old philosophy. Until today this healing art is performed by millions of Chinese people every morning in the parks.
Qi Gong requires discipline, patience, confidence, and diligent practice. You need the discipline in your training to perfect your flow, your Ki building and your mental growth. You also need patience; the swift your body will make from non-practitioner to practitioner just takes time. Trust me, at certain moments you'll get frustrated, but you will need to push trough. Thats where the confidence chimes in. Once you understand that it’s not a race but a step by step process of mental, physical and spiritual growth, you will have the calming state of mind that is much needed in this true art of wellbeing. And once your mind set, you are off to go for diligent practice. This mental state of clear vision helps you to stay hungry and to challenge yourself further and further, to explore boundaries until you feel absolutely free, healed, released or whatever this healing wave brings… These are the needed interdependent qualities that guide you to the next level of life: a real quality life. Is it a coincidence that I found these traits also back in Kettlebell training?
YANG
DUALITY
YANG
Many moons ago I started Kettlebell lifting. I never forget my first lesson. I did a try out and was struggling with Pelican Rows. Searching my balance, recentering, losing balance, repeating, again and again, 5 more to go…, 4, 3, 2, 1… I was sweating, swearing, overthinking, my body just could not handle so many new activities. It just felt horrible.
When I (more or less) finished the exercise, somebody approached me and said to me in a rather stoic way : ''Tout le monde passe par le même chemin.''. I understood immediately what he ment, so I picked up the cannonball by the handle and tried again and again. Strangely enough I never saw that person again in life, he just vanished. He was like a messenger who warned me and at the same time motivated me to overcome my struggle. Ever since that initiation I was hooked and I decided to learn everything I could about those bells of steel…
Over the years I have introduced many people into this warrior tool. And many practitioners who crossed my path have adopted the core principles and train at home when they need it or better: when their body demands it. They all discovered the many benefits of Kettlebell training and are finding out what works best for them. Some Kettlebell fanatics work on explosive power, others on endurance or cardio. Some people use the tool to enhance there flexibility, others are in search for more mobility. Indeed, the Girya spectrum is huge. Remember the proverb of medieval origin: all ways lead to Rome. But remember also the wise words of my messenger, indeed as a starter you first pass trough the bottle neck…
DUALITY
DUALITY
DUALITY
From that day I am convinced that Kettlebell rules. It's not a hype. Like Qi Gong, the handle weights have survived multiple generations and will continue to do so. It's a versatile tool with which you can target areas, get strong, build muscle, exercise cardio, shape the body, become flexible, grow mentally and sometimes even spiritually… Kettlebells are so diverse in use that, in my opinion, there is no need for more to any practitioner.
Both disciplines look easy, but I guarantee you, they are not. If it looks easy, it’s because you’re looking at a seasoned practicer who has learned to control the movements. The hard part is to harmonize the three major concepts: mind, body and breath. So I reserve most of my spare time for my personal further development, exploring new boundaries, uniting Yin and Yang. The job is never done, I feel that I will be on the road for ever...
2020
For years I studied Eastern and Western philosophies. During these explorations I was lucky enough to roll into something that worked really well for me. Not a rich vocabulary, not a tremendous thought structure, not a big philosophical concept, but just a combination of a few basic ideas from different sources, some pointers that stopped me in my tracks, a cut back to the essentials which erased all duality and all teachings.
Down the line I realised that the train I'd had jumped on many, many years ago had stopped. I just walked out and all paths were vanished. I searched for a roadmap, but I couldn't find no more reference points. When I turned around there was no more train. What I was left with was a mental and physical reset. This journey was over, I had arrived at the final station: the center point of the Yin and Yang symbol.
I wish you all the best on your journey.
Didier
Galery
They all discovered the many benefits of Kettlebell training and are finding out what works best for them.
