No Holds Barred: Renzo Gracie and Malaak Shabazz on MMA, Malcolm X, and Grappling No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA legend Renzo Gracie, and human right activist Malaak Shabazz, who is the youngest daughter of Malcolm X. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/nhbnews/episodes/2016-08-20T21_31_50-07_00

 We spoke with them Wednesday at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York. We spoke with them before the announcement Saturday that Renzo Gracie would face Matt Hughes in a superfight at the upcoming ADCC World Championship on September 22-24, 2017, in the Espoo Metro Areena, Helsinki, Finland. We began discussing with Renzo MMA in Asia, including his classic Pride fight with Sakuraba in 2000, as well as the more recent growth of Rizin and ONE Championship. He noted that these are all "amazing Asian events." We also talked about Tuesday's MMA Symposium at Columbia University. A few minutes into the discussion, Malaak joined us. She discussed her recent trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and what she saw in the favelas. She also has known Renzo for a long time, and vowed to return to training. "Even though I had a leg injury, I am still a grappler," she said. We discussed her father's support for training in martial arts, and how she and her five sisters had to have training in martial arts and piano. Malcolm X's advocacy of martial arts training saw it as a component part of the freedom struggle for human rights. As Renzo pointed out, "You can't demand freedom without knowing how to fight. And he knew that. He was a fighter before anything else." We also discussed how what Malcolm X advocated was training in both striking and grappling, in other words, in what is today called mixed martial arts. We also discussed how urban kids, both boys and girls, want and need more martial arts programs; the need for people in the combat sports to study sports management programs in college; plans for hosting more events; and much, much more. The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by: The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com. The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation. The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

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