In a recent episode of the Jits and Giggles podcast, BJJ black belt and practicing attorney Paul Ardila didn’t mince words when addressing what he sees as a growing issue in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community: the use of PEDs among students.
Ardila, who alongside his brother has earned respect in both the legal and BJJ communities for competing at the highest level while maintaining a full-time law practice, expressed frustration with instructors who emphasize technique while overlooking PED use among their students.
“I’m just going to put that s*it out there, man,” Ardila stated during the podcast. “If you want to preach about ster*ids and doing this and doing that, tell your students not to use ster*ids. And then we can really see if your technique is as good as you believe it to be.”
The respected black belt pointed out that when students don’t use PEDs, many instructors’ techniques prove less effective. He specifically highlighted the unrealistic endurance levels he’s witnessed in competition, noting, “When you compete against a guy 10 minutes in and he feels just as strong as in the first minute. Something’s wrong.”
Ardila also addressed how enhanced strength can make even basic techniques appear more impressive than they really are.
“Most techniques work if you’re, like, three times as strong as your opponent,” he explained, adding that executing moves on significantly smaller opponents isn’t a true test of technical proficiency.
Ardila’s talking points closely mirror what Firas Zahabi said about PED use and the effect it has on students in BJJ.
In a discussion, renowned BJJ black belt and Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi addressed the pervasive issue of PED abuse in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, highlighting its detrimental impact on the sport’s integrity and skill development.
“You have to differentiate between being effective and technical,” he emphasizes, highlighting how PED use can mask fundamental technical deficiencies.
“If you’re a blue belt and I jam you up with a bunch of ster*ids, you’re going to become a purple belt in not long – not technically a purple belt – but because of added strength now you can compete with the purple belts.”
“Imagine there are a lot of instructors out there who take a lot of ster*ids… they don’t understand technique because they’re so strong they’re doing it wrong,” Zahabi warns.
The reliance on artificially enhanced strength leads instructors to prioritize force over technique:
“When you’re on ster*ids, you feel stronger, so it makes sense you want to force your way into a submission or force your way to the back. But that takes away from thinking about the better solution – how to avoid the guy’s strength and subdue him using angle or leverage.”
Zahabi argues that PEDs create a false sense of technical proficiency by artificially boosting athletic performance, masking underlying deficiencies in technique. He warns that this reliance on strength over skill not only undermines practitioners’ growth but also compromises instruction, as PED-using coaches may prioritize brute force rather than teaching proper techniques.
Zahabi further emphasizes the troubling prevalence of PEDs at elite levels, attributing it to the lack of testing within the sport.
