Matt Heafy is the frontman of successful rock band Trivium. He is also a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and trains under the Gracie Barra banner. This means that when he’s not busy performing in front of thousands, you can often find him strangling people, for fun.
The rocker was interviewed by The Rising Man magazine and had an interesting quote, saying “Brazilian jiu-jitsu is like being in a band – the only way to get good at these things is to put in the time.” Whilst this similarity isn’t used often because there’s not many people doing both, it actually makes perfect sense.
Another interesting comment also shed more light on how he carefully had to train BJJ around his profession. According to Heafy, when sparring he would make ezekiel chokes and wrist locks illegal. The reason for this is that ezekiel chokes had the potential to damage your vocal chords (we’ve all been there), whilst wrist locks could potentially break or sprain your wrist. Again…this isn’t ideal if you’re expected to play an intricate guitar solo.
