Legendary kickboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, known for his undefeated record of 200 wins and six world titles across five weight classes, recently revealed that the philosophical underpinnings of his system extend far beyond physical technique. In an in-depth interview with martial arts expert Jesse Enkamp, Urquidez shared insights into the system that made him unbeatable and his unique perspective on energy and consciousness.
During the interview, Urquidez demonstrated his approach to combat through the lens of energy exchange.
“As I start to knee, spin this way. That’s all right there. That way I can’t knee you. Whatever you do, I move with you. There’s an offense, there’s a defense. There’s a defense, there’s an offense. Offense, defense. Defense, offense,”
he explained, illustrating how fighters constantly move each other’s energy in a dynamic dance.
“The point I’m making is it moves. Why? Because we’re moving each other’s energy,”
Urquidez continued, emphasizing that combat is fundamentally about energy manipulation rather than brute force.
Central to Urquidez’s philosophy is the concept of inner knowing.
“The voice of your soul has a knowing. It knows. How does it know? I said it just knows. How does it know? It knows because it knows,”
he shared, describing an intuitive awareness that transcends logical understanding.
This inner voice, according to Urquidez, serves as a guide on life’s journey, possessing knowledge about one’s path and purpose that the conscious mind may not fully grasp.
Perhaps most fascinating was Urquidez’s explanation of how people absorb energy from their environment.
“We pick up frequencies just like radio stations. You’re driving with a radio station, you go into another city, next thing you know the frequency says, who? Spanish? I didn’t put Spanish on. I didn’t put this on. It connects to energies of what you’re doing. Mind is the same way. It picks up energies and frequencies that sometimes we take on our own and we don’t know why.”
He described how external environments can dramatically alter one’s emotional state:
“I was fine, man, until I came to the mall. I was gonna get something, next I know, I’m pretty edgy. Next thing you know, I’m getting p-ssed. I don’t even know why I’m mad. It is all because you’re picking up everybody else’s energy and you’re taking it on as yours.”
Rather than advocating for avoidance of difficult people or situations, Urquidez sees them as essential teachers.
“It’s not so much being careful because, again, everybody that surrounds you has purpose. Good, bad, ugly—it is teaching you something about yourself. It knows your journey. It knows where you’re going,”
he explained.
He challenges people to examine their reactions to others:
“Say, ‘Why is this person, every time he comes, I get—?’ I say, ‘He’s got something to teach you about you.’ He’s what you call your saving heaven… Somebody that brings it out, giving you an opportunity.”
While widely credited with creating kickboxing as a sport, Urquidez considers himself “a martial artist first.” He shared the accidental origin of the term “kickboxing” from his interview:
“Instead of saying full-contact karate, this one girl said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘Full-contact karate.’ She said, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘Well, you know you’re doing karate, but to the knockout, full contact, to a knockout.’ And she says, ‘Like you’re boxing, right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And she said, ‘You’re kicking, like a kickbox.’ And I said, ‘Ooh, I like that.'”
This chance conversation in 1995 led to the formal naming of what would become one of the world’s most popular combat sports.
Urquidez’s formative experience came in 1973 in a no-rules fighting environment.
“I had the opportunity to be in the ring in ’73 where there’s no rules, no weight division, no nothing, and I felt the motions, I felt emotions. I said, ‘Man, I feel like I’m in the streets. Man, I feel like this. I feel like that.’ And the reason for it, I said, ‘That’s because there’s no rules.’ That’s because either he knocks me out and hurts me, or I knock him out and hurt him.”
This raw experience shaped his understanding of combat’s emotional and energetic dimensions, informing his later teaching philosophy.
