Podcast: Fighting and Lifting with Julia Avila

[AndrewLewis]

Don’t forget Masahiko Kimura. He threw Helio Gracie around like a rag doll. He was big into weightlifting. At 5’6” and 185lbs he was pretty thick for the 1950s.

And here's the kicker: Helio Gracie was already amazing at grappling. If he had stolen 3 hours a week of his 20-50hr of jiujitsu training to strength train, he would have increased his ability to fight far more than by increasing his jiujitsu technique further.

[Erik Y]

A good friend of mine is at the pinaccle of martial arts geekery here in China, and you would be truly amazed at what some people believe. The conventional wisdom is that muscle slows down punches and detracts power, muscles obstruct movement, and strength reduces muscular range. Of course, he believes none of this nonsense, and neither did traditional martial artists, many of whom trained with barbells and dumbbells. It’s clear to anyone paying attention that top fighters are stronger than ordinary people and they this correlation is not a coincidence.

[Erok]

Morihei Ueshiba, while not a lifter per se, knew the importance of being strong. He was an avid farmer, and would make his tools extra heavy. Being a live-in student of his would require you to work on his farm.

[Johnsonville]

You have no idea how much shit I get in bjj for being 230lbs and how often I hear that I'm too big and need to get down to 160 like everyone else. It will always blow my mind how anti strength training a lot of mma gyms are but they love to waste time doing hundreds of push-ups and random circuits.

[Mark Rippetoe]

We hear this all the time. Boxing, MMA, BJJ, all the same shit. These guys aren't bright enough to understand the weight class/women's division argument.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You have no idea how much shit I get in bjj for being 230 lbs and how often I hear that I'm too big and need to get down to 160 like everyone else. It will always blow my mind how anti strength training a lot of mma gyms are but they love to waste time doing hundreds of push-ups and random circuits.

And there it is. Once again. I got the same crap from every Sensei in every dojo in each of the martial arts I practiced. Starting at age 15 and finally(!) relenting at age 62 when I qualified for the IPL Worlds and took a gold. At that point, everyone in the Jujitsu dojo I was part of let up and Master Bellman started playing that up to promote the dojo. They also began to comment that even sans intentional resistance on my part during technique drills, that it was profoundly difficult for even the black belts to get my arm, wrist, or shoulders in a compromising position as well as putting me off balance for a takedown.

[Johnsonville]

And there it is. Once again. I got the same crap from every Sensei in every dojo in each of the martial arts I practiced. Starting at age 15 and finally(!) relenting at age 62 when I qualified for the IPL Worlds and took a gold. At that point, everyone in the Jujitsu dojo I was part of let up and Master Bellman started playing that up to promote the dojo. They also began to comment that even sans intentional resistance on my part during technique drills, that it was profoundly difficult for even the black belts to get my arm, wrist, or shoulders in a compromising position as well as putting me off balance for a takedown.

Ha not surprising for them to piggy back off of your accomplishment. I guess they will never learn until people like Julia keep winning and the secret is out. It's a really frustrating thing though that's for sure. I literally had another incident tonight haha so fuck 'em

[Erik Y]

Just found out there’s a kickboxing fight tonight. Star of the show is a guy called Yodsanklai. Technique is... different, but strong as an ox. This should be instructive.

They’ll catch on eventually.

[franklie]

A 15 yo white-belt bjj student submitted her 30 yo black belt instructor with a combination of technique and strength. She trapped his arm with her body and submitted him with what she termed an "ezekial choke". I saw it but it happened so fast that I really didn't see it. The instructor was really surprised with her clean technique, her speed but more importantly her strength. He commented to me he knew what she was going to do but was helpless because she had trapped his arm and he couldn't break free. her strength kept him pinned. He's about 140-lb; she's about 125.

I trained her in SSLP. She went from 65-lb squat to a 205-lb squat in about 3-months.

She says her strength aids her technique.

[AndrewLewis]

A 15 yo white-belt bjj student submitted her 30 yo black belt instructor with a combination of technique and strength. She trapped his arm with her body and submitted him with what she termed an "ezekial choke". I saw it but it happened so fast that I really didn't see it. The instructor was really surprised with her clean technique, her speed but more importantly her strength. He commented to me he knew what she was going to do but was helpless because she had trapped his arm and he couldn't break free. her strength kept him pinned. He's about 140-lb; she's about 125.

I trained her in SSLP. She went from 65-lb squat to a 205-lb squat in about 3-months.

She says her strength aids her technique.

Who was her black belt? Any idea on location?