On Monday, October 27, 2003 at 7:22:30 PM UTC-8, el_franko wrote:

In article <3f9d6851.16797833@news21.bellnet.ca>, Badger North wrote:

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:15:15 +0000 (UTC),
baj7d@node11.unix.Virginia.EDU (Badger South) wrote:

Wonder what his roots or original training came from, or do you
think he was just gifted. Uh, well, of course he was gifted,
but... ;-)

IIRC, he started with Trad. JJ, got to blue belt, then saw a demo of kickboxing before the main event of the Thrillla in Manila, and was
just captivated by it.

From memory :

He told me that back in his JJ days, he and about 14 or so guys decided
to train for kickboxing (circa 1976). I only knew 2 of the other guys:
One was his older brother Vic, and the other was a guy named Tony (who actually retired undefeated, and then became a boxing trainer at
various gyms in the Ottawa/Montreal area).

Jean Yves' hero in those days was Jeff "The DC Bomber" Smith - an
oldtimer Light Heavy champ that sadly, few people remember. Another
great inspiration was Benny Urquidez.

Of the original 14, only Jean Yves stuck it out longterm. Some people
may have seen the name Vic Theriault in the MMA/NHB world - he was a
part owner of the IFC, and he also helped promote Battlecade Extreme
Fighting (promotion that made Ralph Gracie & Conan Silveira famous).

Vic was also a trainer/manager for a few NHB guys - notably one guy
(who's name escapes me, but he fought as an alternate in Battlecade I),
and he also managed Jean Riviere (both in Battlecade II and in all
his K-1 fights). Vic also worked on the old SEG UFCs (probably
III through XII) - not sure what he did there, but he was
always there in the background helping out. Anyways, I know this
as a fact, as I got SHITFACED with Vic at a few of these events
back when I was publishing Vale Tudo News and the original
Tap Out Crew (the old www.tapout.com site, that only the
old guard people will remember). Rest assured, Canadians
always find each other when abroad, and go power drinking
after "the fights" ;-)

As for Jean Yves Theriault & how he got so good:

His only natural abilities were only slightly above average power and
GREAT endurance. He actually started out as a Track and Field guy before
he got into JJ. BTW, after he retired, he tried unsuccessfully to
become a serious marathon runner (unfortunately, old leg injuries
prevented this)

Other than that, (physically speaking), he was nothing
special. He had a regular build, and relatively small hands.

The only thing impressive about him physically, was he had
among the best calves I ever saw - they were MASSIVE and
extremely well developed (which you'd never notice in the
ring, as they always wore long pants in Full Contact Kick
Boxing)

When he turned pro, he literally was learning how to fight, trial
by fire style. In his old days, he wasn't anything special - in
fact, his early fights were marred with losses to unknown guys,
and he was KO'ed more than once - even by no-name guys.

Incidentally, it was during this period that he fought (and was KOed)
by Blinky Rodrigues (mid to late 70s).

Those early losses (some dramatic) changed him.

It was like as if he was totally humiliated by losing, and it
woke something inside him... Previous to those loses, he was just
a kid joking around - after the loses, he turned into a training
machine. He once told me that the Rodrigues loss was
the catalyst that led him to become what he became.

The other big motivator was his name - it got him very
angry when he'd fight in the US, and they'd say his name
like "John Evies Terrot". He wanted to get good enough
so that everyone would know him, and would pronounce
his name properly.

The other motivator was personal demons. He had an extremely
tough childhood - he was basically raised in foster homes, and
he carried a serious rage; a rage that he kept bottled deep
inside of him, but when it came time to fight, it would come
out (disciplined of course, but it was there). If you
ever look at an old tape of Theriault's eyes during the pre-fight
staredown, you'll see what I'm talking about - he had
one of the scariest "serious" cold eyes I've ever seen
(which led to the "Iceman" nickname).

Another big motivator was the original Rocky Movie -
that movie inspired many a "lowly" journeyman fighter
from that era to believe they could rise to greatness.

He started training every single day - adopting a very
brutal training regimen, which he attacked with complete
focus and intensity... Somehow, he was able to do this nearly
7 days a week for the better part of 15 years.

Personally, I've never seen anyone train as hard as him,
or take it more seriously. I believe that focus
is the main reason for his great success in the years
that followed.

He also got himself two of the best trainers you could ever
meet - Guy Malette (deceased), and Marc Brunet. Guy was
a great amateur boxing champion (early 60s) from Montreal,
and he had a huge influence on Theriault's boxing ability.

The other big influences on him were Alexis Arguello, and
Roberto Duran (whom he knew well, and had trained with on
more than one occasion).

By the time 1980 came around, he was getting seriously
good, and he secured a title shot against Bill "Superfoot"
Wallace. Wallace at this point was in his prime, and
for whatever reason, when forced to fight the #1 contender
(Jean Yves), Wallace decided to retire instead.

Jean Yves fought the #2 contender for the the vacated title,
and the rest is history.

I'd say Theriault steadily got better as time went on - peaking
around 1986 with he was about 31. If I remember correctly,
he went on something like 14 years WITHOUT losing (very
few people in history, regarless of the sport can say the
same).

After that, he started having serious problems with his
right hand (broke it severely numerous times - seemingly
every time he fought). He suffered a serious back injury
a few years later (training for the Kaman fight), and he
was never really the same guy again.

Past 1991, he was a shell of what he used to be, but he
was still good enough to be champion - just not
the completely dominant guy he used to be. His right
hand seemed to ALWAYS be in a cast.

His two greatest wins are probably his two wins over
Ernesto Hoost - only made more spectacular, considering
Hoost was a heavyweight, and Jean Yves was a Super Middleweight.

This was typical of Jean Yves - he was so good, that
he had to fight guys in larger weight divisions, only
because nobody could find a competitive opponent for him
at his own weight (like his fights with Hoost, Rob Kaman,
William Knorr and Rick Roufus).

If you want to see Theriault at his best, try to see him
vs Bob Thurman (2nd fight), and against guys like William
Knorr and Andy Mayo. That was Theriault at his very
best - a human wrecking machine, able to KO you with
all four limbs - seemingly at will.

BTW, Theriault retired around 95 or so, and today teaches
young amateur kickboxers - he is also a rising amateur
kickboxing promoter, and one hell of a decent human being.

Frank

As a teenager in the 80's, he was one of my martial arts heroes. As it turns out, I'm traveling to Ottawa for work this November and have made arrangements to meet him and take a class at his gym. Can't wait!!!

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