As mentioned, I had the possibillity to meet Johann Martin in Hamburg at the open competition of the German Kettlebell Club. As you might remember, I got very intrigued by Johann Martin's video (LINK), so this was a great and pleasant surprise for me.
Johann Martin is teaching olympic lifting, girevoy sport and strength training at Athletenklubb in Hamburg, and Mr Martin brought a team to the competition.
Johann Martin was very pleased that his video had got so much response and he planned to do a second, and perhaps third video. Still, he was a little perplexed and amused by the fact that several people over the Internet assumed he was Hungarian, Bulgarian, or of any other nationality. And, he wanted to tell that he was a German born in Khazakstan.
One of his students, Michael, was kind enough to write up a summary of Mr Martin's biography for me.
"...Johann Martin was born as a German citizen in Kazakhstan, where he started lifting mostly selfmade equipment by the age of ten. In Kazakhstan he finished his study at sports university after which he coached a lot of Kazakhstan people in 16 different gyms. All of them where build by himself.
If I remember correctly, he was exposed to Kettlebells in the Russian military in the 60s. Olympic Weightlifting, Kettlebell juggling and acrobatic skills where and are his specialities. He recieved Master of Sport by the UDSSR for Heavy Athletics together with the grade of Kettlebelltrainer of first category.
He also coached the first Kazakhstan Girevoy champion in the 80s, when the modern sport of Girevoy started. Besides coaching Olympic Weightlifters, Kettlebell Lifters and Strength Athletes, he practiced his acrobatic and juggling skills because his philosophy always was to build a complete athlete of strength and skill. 1993 he moved to Germany, where until now he is coaching mostly adolescents at "Athletenclub Hamburg". Some of his lifters compete in Olympic Weightlifting, some train for other sports like American Football. Training involves basic barbell lifts from Olympic Weightlifting, some kettlebell exercises and acrobatics.
... You are welcome to pay us visit."
Let me add a short passus for us who are not very familiar with German society. There are large communities of ethnic Germans in the former Soviet Union. In Kazakhstan, the number was in about one million in 1992 (LINK). With political changes - notably, the perestroika - many ethnic Germans emigrated. In 1992, migrants of this category from Kazakhstan to Germany numbered 114 382; in 1994, the number was of 121 517 individuals (Ronge, V. in, Müntz and Weiner 1997, LINK).
By the way, Martin was a friend and competitor of Valery Federenko's coach, Pantelei Filikidi, who also lived in Khazakstan before moving to Greece. In the past, Martin's and Filikid's teams had competed several times.
Today, in his 60's, Johann Martin still trains olympic lifting, giri sport, acrobatics (also with mat), and juggling. Those of his students who showed talent and interest for giri sport he guided on that path.
At the Hamburg competition, there were several Russians and ethnic Germans born in Russia; they seemed to use the term "giri sport" rather that of "girevoy sport."
Here is some cool moves that Johann Martin demonstrated:
Note that in the double flips, one bell is going clockwise and the other counter clockwise. Great moves for outdoor practice during this summer.
Double snatch has become more popular. Do not miss how Johann Martin swings the bells outside his legs and that he keeps one foot in front of the other. When I asked, Mr Martin thought that he was the only one doing that in double snatch.
A final word of warning, Mr Martin cautioned that many had lost their front teeth when trying out this feat:
2 comments:
Ja den snubben är ju för grym! / David
Ja det är ett fenomen. Han övar fortfarande på frivolter och sådant berättade han.
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