kettle bells tend toward more explosive power - as they are single arm exercises there is value in clean / jerks and snatch that compliment barbell training

turkish get up / maxwell get ups are a great change of pace

the weights you have tend more toward high volume sets for endurance training - I snatch a 45 for competition - so 100 + reps non stop

Yup there really are - the US Nationals take place on Aug 23rd in NYC - the team that will represent the USA at the World Championships in Hamburg in Nov will be selected then.

Not sure where you live - competitions are HUGE in Russia and pretty popular in other eastern Europe countries. The US has pockets - it`s getting popular here on the east coast and Cali has several active events - mid west too. Not much in the south.

They are an endurance / strength competition - you have 10 mins to get max reps without stopping - guys work with 2 bells on all but snatch - women work with one bell - if you are working with a single bell you get one hand switch - you can not stop - put the bell down or let to hang - your only rest points are in the locked out position above your head and in the rack if you are doing long cycle ( clean and jerk ) - it is not an event for the weak willed !

Ah yes of course KidP - they just had a big event in Niagara !

Here is the American Kettlebell Alliance page if you are interested Ben https://www.facebook.com/AKAsport