Arm Wrestling Legend Devon Larrat grappling with Firas Zahabi

[Esile]

Firas Zhabi narrates his rolls with Devon Larrat.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Firas Zhabi narrates his rolls withDevon Larratt.

Very cool breakdown, thanks for posting. I especially like the detail around his heelhook entries and the straight-arm pin he uses from HQ position. Coincidentally we were just drilling the straight arm pin yesterday and it's nice to see it being effective vs. such a big weight/strength disparity.

 

[empsim]

Found the video below where he talks a little about religion. I knew Firas was Lebanese descent but didn't realize he was Muslim (a lot of Lebanese in the U.S. are Christian). Even so, the muslim american friends I've hung out with (I trained BJJ with two of them) clearly had no issue rolling with women. I suppose it comes down to how he was raised and of course his own choices on the matter. If religion is really the reason he doesn't want to roll with women then I take back my earlier post deriding it as being funny.

I listened to his podcast once where he said if you don't believe in god you're a nihilist and don't care if your mother gets cancer or something like that.

He's smart when it comes to the sport, but otherwise full of shit.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Damn, I remember when they mat they rolled on was actually the weight lifting area, and when there was a ring instead of a cage where all the people were watching.

 

[GeneTunney7]

Devon vs Body Builder at Adcc with Gordon Ryan coaching

 

[Bos Docken]

I listened to his podcast once where he said if you don't believe in god you're a nihilist and don't care if your mother gets cancer or something like that.

He's smart when it comes to the sport, but otherwise full of shit.

Firas is a technician on the mat and an exceptional instructor.

But what needs to be understood about him is that he is a deeply religious man.

On all subjects other than training, he has the perspective of a lifelong practicing Muslim.

I didn't understand that about him when he first started putting out content. He dresses it up by talking like a rational philosopher. I remember being puzzled by his rambling circular argument against science on his first appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Once it was clear he is very Muslim, the through line on all his takes became apparent.

It's why he won't roll with women, it's why he demands his children "protect their masculinity," it's why he thinks society has a "homosexual agenda."

He always attempts to rationalize it, but you can see where his reasoning breaks down and becomes Islamic doctrine-based/faith-based.

Firas is a product of his religious upbringing, almost as much as Khabib and the Daghestanis.

I'm not diminishing that - just saying it's less confusing when you think of him as a religious person rather than a totally rational one.

 

[Kforcer]

I'm not diminishing that - just saying it's less confusing when you think of him as a religious person rather than a totally rational one.

I don't think that religion and rationality inherently at odds with one another; Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, for example, are all in essence, religious and you could argue that our very concept of rationality was largely shaped and defined by their thought.