"Master Buffalo" Brings Martial Arts Training to Medford Football

Petrus Walker earned his nickname, Master Buffalo, in the ring, back in his MMA fighting days.

After opening a bout with a flurry of punches, Walker was sent to the mat, but recovered and finished the fight, eventually coming out the winner. His coach said to him after the match: “man, you’re an animal, you’re a buffalo,” and the name has stuck with him ever since.

Medford High School Football Coach Rico Dello Iacono hopes Walker can instill some of that never quit attitude in his team.

High school football coaches have taken many different approaches to getting a leg up on the competition over the years, but Dello Iacono may have hit upon a new one.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Walker, a former MMA fighter and 2nd degree Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, has been teaching martial arts techniques to Dello Iacono’s squad this summer with an eye towards helping the Mustangs conditioning for the upcoming football season.

While the congress of Jiu Jitsu and football may seem like an odd marriage at first, according both men, the kids are taking to it and already reaping benefits.

“We’ve gotten a lot more flexible, a lot stronger,” said Dello Iacono, who is preparing to enter his third year as Medford’s head coach. “(The kids) are starting to know how to use their weight, how to maneuver and such, so it’s been really good.”

The core values at the heart of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu—specifically, the teaching that a smaller and weaker opponent can ward off a larger and stronger challenger through leverage and proper technique—have a fairly obvious practical application as far as football is concerned. Conditioning, flexibility, agility and acceleration are all among the key skills football players need to be successful, and martial arts training addresses all of these areas, as well as balance, stamina and technique.

“It’s a lot of fun for the kids,” said Walker, who runs the Wild Buffalo Team martial arts training academy at 313 Mystic Avenue. “All the time, the focus is on the football, but I come here, and my job is to make them more flexible and more explosive and I think it helps.”

Despite the obvious differences between football and martial arts, according to Dello Iacono and Walker, many techniques are equally applicable in both arenas.

“Some of the techniques are the same,” said Walker, an assessment that Dello Iacono readily supported.

“Tackling and blocking, it’s the same technique,” Dello Iacono said. “It’s been really good for the kids on our end, and I think they have responded very well.”

And how are the Mustangs, coming off a woeful 0-10 campaign, taking to Master Buffalo’s methods?

“Our guys took to him right away,” said Dello Iacono. “We’ve got some of the guys still going down to his gym on off days from lifting and they’re working out with Master Buffalo and giving him all they have. It’s been good for the kids, good for the community and, hopefully, good for his gym as well.”

It’s easy to see how Walker can command the undivided attention of an audience, as his 6-foot-3, 280-pound frame and mixed martial arts pedigree undoubtedly make an impression.

According to Dello Iacono, working out with Master Buffalo has helped to pass the long months between seasons that can often drag on and cause players to lose focus.

“The kids started lifting in January,” he said. “It’s a long eight or nine months until the season comes around, and just having a break, having Brazilian Jiu Jitsu once a week, it gave the kids something to look forward to, something different. Rather than just being in the weight room, lifting weights and just pushing iron around. Hopefully it will translate into something on the field, but we think it will, we really do.”

The Call Him "Master Buffalo"

The 34-year-old Walker has been teaching Jiu Jitsu—called by some the best self-defense system in the world—in the Boston for the past four years, and has led classes at Northeastern University as well as at WBT gym. His work with the Mustangs, however, represents his first foray into training athletes in team sports.

His work with MHS began when he got word to Dello Iacono that he was interested in donating some of his time to help the Mustangs train during the offseason, and has held the free workouts for MHS football players every Tuesday since mid-march. Master Buffalo has been practicing jiu jitsu for over 20 years and has won numerous accolades in competitions all over the world. He practices Gracie Jiu Jitsu, or modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

With the Mustangs officially reporting for camp on August 22, MHS supporters won’t have to wait long to see what dividends the new twist on the old summer routine will pay in 2011.

“We have good numbers coming back,” Dello Iacono said. “We’re optimistic, and we hope the kids got a lot out of the offseason, especially with Master Buffalo coming in, so we’ll see how it goes.”