In Praise of Clarence Kennedy

Clarence Kennedy - My Prototypical Athletic Ideal

Clarence Kennedy, shown in the featured image, performs a heavy back squat. In the videos that inspired this article, he also deadlifts huge poundage on a lift he rarely practices, using a double-overhand hook grip, no weight belt, and bodyweight in the low-200s.

The Ocean City Question

Ten years ago, Stacy and I took our daughter to a massive cheerleader festival in Ocean City, Maryland. It was Woodstock for cheerleaders. Wandering along the boardwalk that weekend, I saw many impressive, impromptu acrobatic feats done by the small women and tiny men. I watched them flip, launch, twist, leap and seemingly defy gravity, all with the greatest of ease and always with incredible grace and hurricane-like velocity. As a coach, I wondered, “What if we could routinely and regularly infuse BIG MEN with this type of athletic coordination and acrobatic ability? Would that not create a superior athlete?” Hell yes. But how?

Until two weeks ago, I had never heard of a weightlifter named Clarence Kennedy. My attorney advised me to check him out. I always take my attorney’s advice. Still, I was a little dubious. Why would I want to see some guy weighing 200 snatch 350 when I saw David Rigert snatch 400 weighing 200 nearly 45 years ago?

Golden-Era Weightlifting Skepticism

I came up in the golden era of Olympic weightlifting. Those lifts done by Rigert, Pisarenko, Alekseyev, Vardanyan, Suleymanoglu, Bednarski, Talts, Zakharevich, Krastev, Patera, et al., remain magnificent. Yes, the olden-day guys competed in a different drug-testing era, but I don’t care, they were magnificent. Do you realize that Vasily Alekseyev clean and jerked 564 pounds in 1977? This was a mere 36 pounds away from the magical 600-pound clean and jerk. Nearly five decades later, the 600-pound barrier still stands unbreached.

In the intervening decades, Alekseyev’s superheavyweight clean and jerk has been improved at the all-time competition level only modestly. In 1984, Anatoly Pisarenko clean and jerked 265 kilos, 584 pounds, this weighing a minuscule, for a superheavyweight, 270 pounds. In the decades since, that fabulous lift has been improved only slightly at the all-time level. In 1977, I felt the 600-pound clean and jerk was right around the corner. Little did I know that I was witnessing the high-water mark in Olympic weightlifting.

I had a ringside seat in elite powerlifting as a competition coach for Ed Coan, Kirk Karwoski, Dan Austin, Lamar Gant, Mark Chaillet, Doug Furnas, and as a coach for the U.S. team at the world championships. We won the world team title in 1991. The lifts done by these men, in the way they did them, have rarely been equaled or exceeded. It is my contention that, athletically and performance-wise, humanity crested in certain strength sports in the 1980s and 1990s. That is my opinion. The old giants still cast a long shadow.

David Rigert and the Old Soviet Standard

One of the greatest Olympic weightlifters of all time was the Russian Bad Boy, David Rigert. David set more than 60 world records and captured world titles across multiple weight classes. As a middle-heavyweight he eventually snatched around 396 pounds and clean and jerked 490. At the end of his career, he lifted as a light 220-pound class lifter. Weighing 210 or less, David snatched roughly 407 and clean and jerked roughly 507. His career ended in 1981. Rigert was the Soviet steamroller that crushed all competition. We have not seen his like since.

I got very excited watching a young Irishman named Clarence Kennedy, about the same bodyweight as Rigert, snatch 413 during a workout. I do not know what his bodyweight was, but I would guess it was around 210. Later I saw video of him cleaning 507. His lifting approximated that of the great Rigert when David ventured into the 220 / 100-kilo class. To see this young Irishman casually handling Rigert-like poundage got my undivided attention. Rigert was short, 5-7, and powerfully built, particularly when weighing 205 to 210.

Olympic weightlifter David Rigert.

Clarence Kennedy’s Parkour and Tricking Foundation

GrillMan sent me a YouTube link to a 16-minute-long video that chronicles Kennedy’s athletic journey, commencing in 2006 at age 12 as a tall, muscle-less, thin boy. Young Clarence Kennedy appeared to have zero athletic genetics. This lean boy looks average and unimpressive by any and every measure. The YouTube video is called Clarence Kennedy Transformation - 15 Years of Training.

The first image is of the skinny 12-year-old, videoed in a bleak urban setting, doing two awkward, difficult muscle-ups on a rusted scaffold. The setting looked like a battle zone. In the next image Clarence, still 12, has now mastered the same scaffolding.

He can now change levels, dropping from the top rung, 20 feet above the ground, to the second rung three feet lower, then dropping another three feet while twisting his body to the right to catch a shed roof a few feet away. Then the hard part: skinny Clarence Kennedy creates enough explosive energy and leg kick to power back up the three rungs, all the way to the top. He would do multiple cycles, up and down the scaffolding, arms only, augmented with a little leg jolt.

Next, he is shown beginning his parkour training. He handstands on a dumpster before performing a shoot-through landing. Then Clarence, Jackie Chan style, successfully scales a concrete wall double his height. He executes a 10-foot broad jump in a slum dump; if he misses, he falls on a bunch of jagged metal and goes to the emergency room. There is a fearlessness about this boy. Then on to acrobatics: his first “tricking” video is made at age 13. He learns standing backflips and forward twisting handsprings.

He progresses quickly. In 2007, as a 13-year-old Clarence Kennedy begins strengthening exercises: excellent one-arm pushups and perfect reps in the pistol squat. Holding a flag position on a steel pole, body parallel to the ground for extended periods, posed no problem. I would guesstimate that age-13 Clarence was 5-10 and maybe 140 pounds. All the cute kid stuff came to a screeching halt when he performed his next feat, a truly death-defying feat for which there was no gradualness.

The 13-year-old is shown leaping off a roof, 25 feet in the air. He pushes off the wall hard with his feet; he must land 25 feet from the wall. If he comes up short, he crash lands on a three-foot-tall, rusted guard wall. He lands on raw concrete with his lead right foot. The instant his foot impacts the concrete, Clarence falls into an energy-absorbing forward roll and springs to his feet to continue his way. As a parent or grandparent, I would have had a heart attack. This was Ninja shit at age 13.

His tricking velocity and move linkage hits a new level at age 14. In his school uniform he runs to a wall, plants his right foot four feet up the wall and executes a spin-over wall backflip. He does this for reps. In another snippet the 14-year-old demonstrates insane break-dancing moves, high-velocity body twists and contortions as he effortlessly mimics all the classical, incredible break-dance clichés. He does a series of high-speed backflips, ten in a row in an open field, no problem, even in street clothes.

From Acrobatics to Olympic Weightlifting

In 2008 at age 15, Clarence Kennedy commences Olympic weightlifting. He apparently has access to a good facility and good coaching. The video shows him clean and jerking 220 while weighing 150 pounds. At age 16 he snatches 220 and squats 375, ass-on-heels. His field acrobatics are incredible: he can corkscrew his body three rotations before landing; this is Olympic gymnast floor-routine stuff.

Jump ahead to age 17 and Clarence Kennedy has three years of training under his belt, has added 30 pounds of muscle and snatches 310. Clarence ass-on-heels squats 507 and clean and jerks 375. Clarence cleans and stands erect with 396 and deadlifts 550. In one amazing snippet, the then-17-year-old sprints across a road and, with one incredible upward leap, lands atop a 65-inch-tall brick wall, maintaining his balance. This 175-pound, 6-foot-tall athlete leapt atop a 5-foot-6-inch wall. I remember reading that Yuri Vardanyan could leap up onto a 44-inch platform for reps.

If you push ahead to the 12-minute mark of this remarkable 16-minute video, Clarence is now 22 and looks nicely muscled-up: nothing freaky, lean, athletic like an NFL free safety. He looks to be 215 to 220 pounds as he clean and jerks 220 kilos, 484 pounds. He then deadlifts 727 with a hook grip and no belt. He squats 660, ass-on-heels, with a purposeful pause at the bottom. He then makes a sensational 408-pound snatch. This is Rigert-ville stuff. Incredible.

He makes the 408-pound snatch in a deserted room by himself. Clarence then heads to the ballfield to demonstrate that he still has his incredible moves. Only now, with his newfound, off-the-charts leg and torso strength, he is able to fling himself farther, faster, and higher than ever. He can do repetition front and backflips, landing and launching off one foot.

The Athletic Ideal I Had Imagined

Clarence Kennedy exemplifies the athletic ideal I envisioned back on the Ocean City boardwalk as I watched all the small acrobats perform their high-velocity acrobatics. I imagined infusing athletes possessing size and world-record strength with gymnast-style athleticism.

Then it occurred to me: that is backwards. You must first infuse the child with the acrobatic training, then infuse the acrobatic athlete with strength.

At age 22, Clarence deadlifted 750 and bench pressed, using an extremely narrow grip, 446 pounds. He squatted 684, with his characteristic purposeful pause in the bottom. He squatted 585 for 10 ass-on-heels reps and then collapsed in exhaustion. Clarence snatched 413 at age 24. He then does his career-best clean and jerk with 490. Again, in an empty gym. As soon as the 490 hits the platform, Clarence does a backflip. The video ends with Clarence cleaning and standing erect with 507. I have heard he later dealt with knee problems.

Check out this riveting athletic biopic. The question becomes: can we recreate this type of athletic prowess without having to fling 13-year-olds off the rooftops of three-story buildings, letting them fall 25 feet to land on concrete? Is Clarence Kennedy unique unto himself? Or can his hybrid capabilities and capacities be replicated?

Safety Note for Youth Acrobatics, Parkour, and Heavy Lifting

This article preserves Marty Gallagher’s RAW reaction to Clarence Kennedy’s athletic development. It is not individualized medical, youth-training, rehabilitation, parkour, gymnastics, Olympic-lifting, or programming advice.

Do not copy rooftop jumps, high falls, scaffolding drills, unsupervised parkour, maximal Olympic lifts, heavy squats, heavy deadlifts, or heavy bench presses casually. Youth athletes need age-appropriate coaching, proper technique, qualified supervision, safe equipment, progressive exposure and adults willing to say no.

Heavy Olympic lifting, tricking, parkour and maximal barbell work require technical mastery, suitable flooring, safe loading, competent coaching, adequate recovery, and honest stop rules. Stop or scale back for sharp pain, dizziness, numbness, loss of position, uncontrolled landings, fear-driven attempts, repeated technical collapse, or any symptom that feels different from normal effort.

The lesson is not “throw kids off roofs.” The lesson is that coordination, mobility, athletic skill, and strength can become astonishing when developed patiently and intelligently over years.

Equipment Notes for Olympic Lifting, Squats, and Deadlifts

Clarence Kennedy’s athleticism was not created by equipment alone. The equipment simply gave his mobility, speed, nerve, and strength a place to be expressed.

For barbell-centered training, readers and facilities can compare Olympic weightlifting bars, weight plates, weight benches, and power cages and platform racks. These support the squats, pulls, presses, and setup demands discussed in this article.

A serious setup might include the Iron Cowboy Powerlifting Bar, IRON COMPANY urethane Olympic grip plates, a supportive tool such as the IRON COMPANY all-leather powerlifting belt, and a rack / bench option such as the Body-Solid SDIB370B bench and squat rack combo, when the tool, user, room, lift, and intended load all match.

The tools do not create the hybrid athlete. The years of movement practice, technical learning, progressive loading, recovery, and fearlessness create the hybrid athlete.

Related Olympic Lifting Reading

For more Marty Gallagher Olympic lifting history, read David Rigert: Rock-Star Olympic Weightlifter. For a broader athletic-archetype companion piece, read The Emergence of Mr. Perfect.

RAW with Marty Gallagher, J.P. Brice, and Jim Steel Podcast