Zimmerman Trainer: 'Rank Beginner' in Athletics

On Monday, the George Zimmerman defense called Adam Pollock, the trainer who worked with Zimmerman. The prosecution had elicited testimony that Zimmerman trained in mixed martial arts before the incident resulting in the shooting in Trayvon Martin’s death.

Pollock owned a gym in Seminole County, where he trained both professionals and amateurs. He said that the term “ground and pound” means taking someone to the ground, keeping them on the ground, and then “striking them from on the top downwards.” Pollock demonstrated on defense attorney Mark O’Mara what it means to mount someone who is down to prevent them from fighting back.

Pollock said that Zimmerman came to his gym in order to get in shape. He said they put Zimmerman on a diet and exercise routine. Pollock said they began with grappling based on work and school schedule, and said that Zimmerman trained two to three days per week, with each session being two hours long. Pollock referred to Zimmerman as a “rank beginner.” On a scale of one to ten, the defense asked, how would Zimmerman rank as a grappler? “0.5,” said Pollock. Pollock said he worked at the gym for about a year, and for some of that time, Zimmerman had put his membership on hold. By the end of his training, Pollock said he had moved from a 0.5 to a 1 or a 1.5.

Pollock said that during that time, he had some boxing training as well, but that Zimmerman never got into the ring. He said that Zimmerman was still learning how to punch, and didn’t effectively punch.

Pollock said he was “very diligent, very coachable, very pleasant to work with,” but he said that Zimmerman didn’t have the strength level or athleticism to really develop. In terms of general athleticism, Pollock said he was about a 1 in terms of his overall athleticism.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).