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clients that blended fight methods and techniques with classical West Coast bodybuilding: he melded fitness and fighting with great results. After twelve years in California, Rick decided to relocate back to Minnesota and set up camp teaching fighters, athletes and serious fitness trainees using all the knowledge he'd accumulated over the previous decade. "I was glad to move back home. I was glad to find a facility where I could put into practice all the great fighting and bodybuilding |
information I had gleaned working with the world's best martial artists and the world's best bodybuilders." |
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and steer away from new clients that are not really ready to make the changes in lifestyle and habits that are required to trigger real physical change." It is always difficult to turn away business, but at Rumble Boy, Rick is determined to work with only those individuals that will implement the systems and strategies that he's accumulated and passes along, based on 30 years of in-the-trenches work. "There are certain methods that flat out work and there are other methods that are a complete waste of time. So much of success, when it comes to improving athletic performance or improving a person's physique, relate to how hard and smart a person is willing to work. If a person commits to work hard, I can show them how to work smart." Rick's approach to martial arts runs contrary to the current craze of mixed martial arts. "I am a martial arts traditionalist. 1 still fight competitively both in Muay Thai and in classical boxing. 1 train fighters and have worked as a personal trainer for going on thirty years. I pass on a system that has a 1,000 year history and tradition." Rick's fight career carried him to the top of traditional Muay Thai: in his 36 fight career that spans thirty years, he has won state and national championships in full contact fighting. "I lived in Santa Monica and became immersed in the entire Southern California fighting, fitness and bodybuilding scene. I was fortunate |
enough to work with some of the best." Rick began training with Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. "I worked out of the Jet Center and studied martial arts under Benny and his brother Rubin Urquidez. Benny's older brother was an amazing trainer. He was very close to me. For all Benny's fights, Rubin was the strategic mind behind the scenes. He was my personal coach. It would mean a lot to me if his name was mentioned: he was a huge influence on my life and training. He is now deceased, but lives on in my heart." Rick has studied no less than ten martial arts over |
the past 35 years. "I started off as a teenage wrestler in 1971.1 moved onto boxing before studying Tae Kwon Do. From there 1 progressed to Hapki-do and into the esoteric stuff like Ching Mo, Judo, Hung Ga, Kung Fu, and Bruce Lee's original discipline, Wing Chung. I began Muay Thai fighting in 1988 and that was love at first sight." When Rick relocated to Southern California, he fulfilled a lot of dreams he had as a youngster. "As a young martial artist in Minnesota I dreamed, as young men will do, that someday, |
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somehow, I would train, one on one, with the great martial artists 1 looked up to and admired. That actually happened.
I was fortunate enough to train with "The Jet" and quite a few other hall of fame men. 1 had long wanted to meet, train
and gain insight from Bill "Super Foot" Wallace, which I did. Bill was a huge influence on me. Many of these amazing
martial artists turned out to be pivotal players in my life" |
in the marketplace? They said 'Parrillo' without the
slightest hesitation. I've been a Parrillo
fanatic ever since. When I was a personal trainer at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica, a lot of the
professional bodybuilders were using Parrillo products. I remember one multi-time Ms. Olympia coming up to me and
whispering, 'Give me a Parrillo bar™!' She turned away to eat it so no one at the gym would see her. She was under a huge
endorsement contract to a major supplement maker yet she knew that their products were trash. She used Parrillo, secretly,
but didn't want others to see, so as to not endanger her five figure endorsement deal." |
body fat percentile that he whittles down to 6% for a fight. "As far as my eating habits, I 'graze' all day long; I eat very
clean and normally eat 4,000 calories a day. I use Parrillo Hi-Protein™ powder; I drink an Optimized Whey™ shake or a 50/50
Plus™ shake after every workout. I take my 'Parrillo Pills' 2-3 times a day, Mineral Electrolyte , Essential Vitamin™, Bio-C™,
Natural E-Plus , Joint Formula , Liver Ami-no and Ultimate Amino . People tell my wife and I all the time, 'We |
can't believe how young you guys look!' I think proper training and proper nutrition and proper supplementation are terrific for
keeping a person looking young. I'm a huge believer in nutritional supplementation, Parrillo Supplementation. I've been using
Parrillo since the 80s and it's the only supplement line I will sell at Rumble Boy. All my fighters use Parrillo. It rejuvenates
your body, keeps you healthy and keeps the immune system resistant to colds and sickness. I'm a Parrillo guy all the way!" |
Monday - Chest, bleep, triceps:
three exercises per body part, 4 sets of 12 - 15 reps Tuesday - Quads, hamstrings: |
rugged good looks, Rick was recently contacted to appear in a major reality TV show that Oxygen Network was creating. "Fight Girls"
expropriates the format from shows such as The Biggest Loser and The Next Ultimate Fighter. Ten young women fighters were selected and
Sequestered away in a mansion where they are filmed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The cameras follow them as they train, eat,
sleep and interact. Reality TV has discovered that by putting young strangers together in a house for over a month, crazy things
happen, |
particularly if the individuals happen to be fighters. The premise of Fight Girls is simple: live together, eat, sleep
and train together, make friends and make enemies. Each week a fight is staged in which two of these skilled Muay Thai
fighters duke it out. One wins and moves on to the next round, the other is eliminated and leaves the mansion. The
ultimate winner will be flown to Thailand to fight in the world Muay Thai fighting championships. Rick was selected to
referee the weekly fights. "This reality series actually grew out of a movie called "Fight Girls" that the Oxygen
network aired last year." Rick said. Debby Bruce, President of programming and marketing for Oxygen, said the movie
inspired the idea for the show. "The 'Fight Girls' are the ultimate Oxygen women - they kick butt and strive for their
very best; we saw in the movie courage, strength and resilience. This is what 'Fight Girls' are all about. Now {because
of the reality show} we have a chance to get an in-depth look at these women." Rick adds, "The girls competing in 'Fight
Girls' were warned not to get too close to each other. Everything is very, very real. The show is real. The blood is real."
Rick was a natural for a role in this offbeat show. "If you had asked me a year ago if I'd ever be part of a reality TV show,
I would have said, 'No way!' I am so impressed with the young ladies. They are extremely athletic and poised. It's amazing
how dedicated they are to what they are doing." |
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Rick. In the modern mixed martial arts world of Pride and the Ultimate Fighting Championships, fighters are blends, amalgamations, hybrids. Rick feels something has been lost. "There is a 1,000 year tradition behind Muay Thai fighting. There are dozens of schools, each with its own signature techniques and training systems. There is so much heritage; a sense of lineage, and being the latest in a long, long tradition, a tradition that has been passed down generation to generation, for hundreds of years, that means something to me. It is a great loss that nowadays fighters want to learn about the Muay Thai clinches and knee kicks, perhaps they want to learn about certain kicks or elbow strikes - but they don't care at all about the history |
and tradition, about the great masters past and present, about those that developed and passed along the tradition. It is a great loss." Standing 5'7 and weighing a ripped 163 pounds, Rick exemplifies the Parrillo bodybuilding lifestyle. Rick is also keeping the 1,000 year old Muay Thai tradition alive and "kicking" in the unlikely locale of suburban Minneapolis: eighteen months ago he fought the number 5 ranked Kick boxer in the world and lost a close decision. Rumble Boy gym is about nurturing and passing along the sacred traditions that were passed along to Rick. He is determined not to let the ageless traditions die. He will not allow these traditions to be ignored, disassembled or dismembered. Eong may he roll. |