What the Strong do Naturally

In my journey from student of martial arts to strength coach there was always one common link: mentorship and exceptional coaching. 

When I encountered the teachings of Pavel Tsasouline, it resonated deeply with my personal experience: “Work strength as a skill. The workout will happen as a byproduct.” I was sold on the concept.

I had the privilege, when I was younger, to be mentored by fantastic coaches. The foundations of my life as a professional coach were created by Renan Tobias, the owner of Associaçao Daruma Taishi, an outstanding Kung-fu master in Rio de Janeiro running a brick and mortar gym for 40 years. I invite anyone that comes to visit the city to go check him out.

Renan is a mix between a friend and a father figure to me. He is a brilliant, outspoken, and rigorous coach, set in bringing practical application of effective, minimalistic training to people. He is responsible for the transformation of hundreds of boys and girls into men and women. No pampering, no flattering, nothing useless, just truth and growth.

The dojo was simple but run with the utmost precision. We were expected to follow the directives of the Master, no discussion. He has a laser sharp eye and knows best what you need to work on, and makes sure you are tested constantly. Testing was a constant part of the curriculum (so is Strongfirst’s). By setting up uncomfortable situations constantly, he kept you on your toes. Whether it was putting you on tough sparring matches (and being there to increase the intensity to the right amount) or adding in toughening conditioning drills with the right amount of hurt to develop growth and instinctive defense, you would never know what to expect when you walked in. But he did. 

The master would make me work on things such as rolls, jumps, high kicks and spinning kicks regularly and somehow my style based mainly on kickboxing fundamentals developed soundly (“What the Hell Effects”). 

Practicing parts of the curriculum that you were not particularly good at, despite your preferences, all of the sudden made the things you enjoyed doing better. Most of the practices were technical and we still had gas in the tank (Optimal Zone for Training), but you were supposed to show up regularly to make progress. Again, sometimes you’d be tested and you’d be pushed. Testing for ranks was super tough and afterwards you’d deload for a couple of weeks (Wave Loading).

When I was exposed to Pavel’s books, going through the programs repeatedly and understanding the concepts, was like seeing what was inside Renan’s mind being systematized to me. That taught me to teach myself and my students better and it still does.