Rabbi Yossi Eilfort does not train on Shabbat, doesn’t like to hit people and doesn’t have a long background in self-defense techniques – but he’s now a rising martial arts competitor, according to Fox News.
Rabbi Eilfort, a 22-year-old member of the Chabad-Lubavitch chasidic group who lives in La Costa, Cal., won his first match last week, fighting as “The Rabbi.”
“I was very uncomfortable hitting someone. I actually held back,” Rabbi Eilfort told Fox News, which reported that he is using his sudden fame to encourage Jewish interest in fitness and safety.
Mixed martial arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, from a variety of other combat sports.
Before he started training six months ago, the rabbi said to Fox, he had never hit anyone.
He won last week’s bout by a TKO (technical knockout) in the second round, according to Fox.
“I never figured that a rabbi would be interested in fighting,” his Cameroon-born coach, Theirry Sokoudjoa, told Fox. “But I was stoked. He never quits.”
Rabbi Eilfort’s next match is Jan. 28 in Thousand Oaks, CA.
steve@jewishweek.org
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
