Brendan Ruh, founder of Santa Cruz Medicinals, recently shared his perspective on training, injuries, and martial arts.
Ruh outlined a balanced but demanding weekly routine of his own:
My training regimen is I do weights like hard like three times a week. And then I try to go to jiu-jitsu like twice a week.
And then I surf.
He also pointed to the physical demands of grappling:
People in jiu-jitsu, 1,000 calorie days. It’s hard work…
I’m in the leg lock game now. Like my stuff’s always tweaked, dude. I always have a little tweak.
Knee issues, particularly from heel hooks, have become a recurring challenge.
But he offered some perspective for those newer to the sport:
You get less injured once you reach this sort of level. Like maybe like blue belt and above…
You’ll start to know what’s good.
Despite that, he believes grappling remains safer than striking in the long run:
The cool thing about jiu-jitsu is I’ll go train with Michael Morales, and it’s like I’m going to get messed up, but I’m going to be fine.
By contrast, he noted that striking carries a different kind of risk:
I do think jiu-jitsu and wrestling are better than striking martial arts.
You go to a boxing class, now you’re sparring.
And the only way to actually get better at that sport is spar hard. You’re going to get hit in the head.
For the average person, his conclusion is straightforward:
For just like the normal person who wants to do martial arts defending themselves, I think jiu-jitsu is the best.
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