Dr Mike Israetel is a popular fitness personality who was recently promoted to black belt in BJJ, and he believes that strength matters in the sport. It’s a surprisingly controversial statement in the Jiu-Jitsu world, as the idea of technique overcoming strength is one that’s been around since the very beginning of the sport. It’s an idea that many coaches will still swear by this today, even when every other combat sport in the world has already accepted that strength is definitely a factor. In fact, it’s the exact reason that weight classes exist in the first place and so few lighter competitors can succeed in absolute divisions.
Of course, someone like Israetel with a lengthy background in weightlifting and a PHD in Sport Physiology isn’t likely to fall for old cliches. He recently took Ethan Crelinsten to Gold’s Gym for a training session and he was very clear about his thoughts on the idea when they spoke about it. He even gave a specific example of where strength can become useful in the sport:
“If we’re trying to peel the leg here from the bottom to get the knee bar, your ability to pull with your hamstrings and glutes, and your ability to unfurl your back and pull back, is a big deal.”
Obviously defending a kneebar is a pretty niche situation, but there are plenty of other scenarios that this applies to as well. Dr. Mike Israetel also gave an example of how strength matters in one of the most common positions in BJJ:
“The other thing is if you’re on the top side of Mount… and I get double unders but clamp down, because, you know, you’re not trying to do this. If I take my fingers and walk out on the mat, my ability to engage my front delts and biceps simultaneously to do this is a big deal. If I’m really weak in this position, I’m just going to waste minutes here. If I’m really strong, I’m going to be able to splat you out.”
The full conversation with Dr. Mike Israetel about why strength matters in BJJ and footage of him rolling with Nicky Ryan was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu:
