🥋 Lessons from Lucia: Why "Equal Skill" Doesn't Always Mean Equal Fight
There’s been a video going around lately—an old clip from 1994—showing Lucia Rijker, one of the most respected and accomplished female fighters in history, getting knocked out in the second round by a male Muay Thai fighter during an exhibition bout.
For those unfamiliar, Lucia Rijker is no average athlete. She’s undefeated in both boxing (17–0, 14 KOs) and kickboxing (36–0, 25 KOs), held multiple world titles, and has long been called “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World.” She’s been a coach on The Contender and even appeared in Million Dollar Baby. Her legacy is respected, revered, and—rightfully—immense.
But in that video, we saw something that made a lot of people uncomfortable. Despite her legendary skill and record, she was knocked out by a man with far less public recognition, in a match that wasn’t even officially scored.
And that brings us to something a lot of people, especially in today’s climate, don’t want to talk about:
Equal training does not always equal equal results—especially between men and women in combat sports.
🧩 A Personal Encounter
A few years back, I had a respectful but sharp exchange with a fellow martial artist—someone with decent competitive background and team affiliations. They expressed the belief that I—and other fighters like me—were fundamentally wrong in saying that totally blind fighters could be competent strikers.
They made it clear they believed blind fighters couldn’t strike effectively. In fact, they suggested they might show up at one of our Night Strike workshops and “prove” their point.
Now, I didn’t take it personally—I've heard worse. I chuckled. I’ve been a striker my whole life. I’ve trained and taught blind and low-vision students how to punch, kick, and move like predators in the dark. I’ve stood in rings, dojos, back alleys, and national tournaments. And if that challenge had gone down, it would’ve been another Lucia moment: a lesson in reality, not ego.
This isn’t about dissing women or shaming anyone. It’s about acknowledging the gap between belief and biology, between equality in rights and equality in real-world outcomes—especially in physical combat.
🧠 Let’s Break It Down
1. Physics and Physiology: The Big Bruce Lee Rule
If you have two fighters of equal skill, the one who is bigger, heavier, stronger will almost always win. Why?
-
Bigger body = more reach
-
More muscle = harder punches and kicks
-
Heavier mass = better damage absorption
This isn’t gendered—it happens between men, too. A 120 lb man with perfect form will still struggle against a 200 lb man with the same skill level. So if a top female fighter faces a man of equal or greater size, with even decent training, the odds start stacking fast.
Image: Two people practicing a self-defense or martial arts move. A woman on the left, wearing a gray athletic outfit with purple accents, is gripping and twisting the wrist of a man on the right. The man, who has a beard and curly hair, is wearing a black Carhartt t-shirt and plaid shorts. His arm is bent awkwardly, and he appears to be reacting to the wrist lock. The background is plain and light-colored, suggesting an indoor training space.
[
]
2. Training Conditions
Many female fighters, especially at amateur or semi-pro level, train and spar with others their own size, mostly other women. A man who trains like I do is regularly fighting people bigger, stronger, faster, with no handicap. I’ve sparred with trained fighters and street brawlers, drunks in bars, gang members in alleyways, and black belts in dojos.
So even if a male and a female fighter have the same number of training hours, the male’s sparring pool is typically more intense.
Think of it this way:
“If you train by hitting punching bags, and I train by hitting brick walls and people—guess who’s gonna hit harder.”
Image: Sparring-Johnny, in a black shirt and gloves, stands center, facing both opponents. Left man, blurred, wears black. Right man, in blue shirt, spars energetically. Johnny confidently handles both.
[
]
3. Biology Still Matters
Same size, same weight class? Cool. Still doesn’t even the field. Male fighters on average have:
-
Denser muscle and bone mass
-
Higher testosterone (strength & aggression)
-
Faster-twitch reflexes
-
Higher resistance to pain and blunt trauma
I’ve stood in sparring rings and let guys jab me in the face 10, 20 times without flinching. I’ve yet to meet a woman who trains that way—and it’s not an insult. It’s a reflection of biological thresholds.
Image: Sparring action between two men in a martial arts gym. The man on the right, wearing a black shirt, black shorts with a white stripe, shin guards, boxing gloves, and a blue-and-black padded helmet, is delivering a front kick with his right leg to the midsection of his opponent. The man on the left, wearing green sweatpants, a black shirt, blue foot protectors, and a red padded helmet, is bracing for the impact with his arms up in a defensive guard position.
]
🧬 Real Talk from the Mat: Strength Meets Awareness
Let me share something from one of my actual training sessions that illustrates this point better than any statistic.
I was working with a student—a woman about 5'1", maybe 100 lbs on a good day. But don’t let the size fool you—she was lean, powerful, dedicated. She could press more than her own body weight and had the kind of grit most instructors pray for in a student.
We were doing some live drills, close contact sparring. Two minutes in, she looked up at me—me being 5’9”, 200 lbs, trained for decades—and said:
“God, no matter what I do, I’m screwed if the guy’s like you, aren’t I?”
And I smiled.
“You know,” I told her,
“I’m glad you realized that. Because that realization will save your life more than any technique I’ll ever teach you.”
That was a moment of power. Not fear. Power. Because now she wasn’t training from fantasy—she was training from truth. She wasn’t focused on being the hero in a movie scene—she was learning how to survive in a real-world scenario where physical size, strength, and damage tolerance matter.
I’d rather have a fighter who knows their limitations and adapts smartly than one who believes in superhero fiction and walks into danger unprepared.
Image: Grappling demonstration involving three people. In the foreground, a woman in a blue shirt is engaged in a clinch or headlock position with a person in a gray long-sleeve shirt. Both have their arms wrapped around each other's necks and shoulders, heads pressed together. The woman is looking at the camera with a determined expression. Behind them stands an instructor in a red jacket and sunglasses, observing closely.
[
]
🗯️ What About "Speed" or "My Female Sensei Can Beat Anyone"?
Yes—some women are faster than men. Some have great technique. Some are damn near deadly. But speed alone doesn’t win fights. If it did, boxers would all be 110 lb flyweights. A good hit can shut anyone down. And women, regardless of training, generally can’t afford to take the same punishment that men can absorb.
As for “My female instructor can beat any guy”? Maybe. Some women are exceptional. But those are outliers, not norms. And even then, a skilled male of equal training usually has the physical edge. That’s just the way our bodies are built.
Image: Woman practicing a self-defense strike. In the foreground, a woman with dark hair tied back, wearing a purple athletic shirt, is forcefully bringing her elbow down onto a life-sized, flesh-colored training dummy shaped like a human torso. Her facial expression shows focus and determination. In the background, another woman in a gray and purple workout outfit is facing away, holding up striking pads while a man in a dark shirt and blue cap prepares to hit them.
[
]
🧘🏻♂️ Final Thoughts
I believe in women’s rights. I believe in empowering female fighters, instructors, and students. I think women should have more access, better pay, and full respect in combat sports and beyond.
But if we want to really empower women, then we need to stop lying to them.
We do no favors by promoting the idea that “a woman can beat a man” just because she trains hard. In situations involving weapons, rules, points, and teams? Absolutely. But in raw, unfiltered hand-to-hand combat? Without weight classes? Without rules?
We’re setting them up to fail.
So no—I don’t disrespect women who train. I respect them more for walking into a system that’s often rigged against them. But I will always speak truth—even when it’s unpopular.
🐅 Until next round,
Johnny (Tiger) Tai
Martial Arts Instructor | Self-Defense Educator | Night Strike Founder
🔗 www.johnnytiger.com
🔗 www.tigertactile.com
#LuciaRijker #MartialArtsTruth #SelfDefenseReality #EqualTrainingNotEqualFight #JohnnyTiger #NightStrike #CombatSports #WomenInMartialArts #RespectNotFantasy #BlindFighter
Comments
Post a Comment