Ken Shamrock Recalls Joe Rogan’s Lion’s Den Extreme Training: “Tougher than what you’d face in a fight”
Joe Rogan has often spoken about his experiences training with Ken Shamrock and his legendary team, the Lion’s Den. This experience showed Rogan with an early look at one of the most rigorous training environments in MMA history.
Ken Shamrock and Joe Rogan Training
The MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock trained through the legendary Pancrase system and nearly died in that gym. He then took those exact same standards, to his gym, the Lion’s Den, in the USA.
The Lion’s Den was one of the first true MMA teams. It was known for its brutal training regimen designed to prepare fighters for the toughest challenges in the ring. Shamrock’s philosophy was simple: make training harder than any fight.
Joe Rogan has described the Lion’s Den as one of the most difficult teams to join. The tryouts for the Lion’s Den were notoriously grueling. Prospective members had to complete a series of physically demanding tasks, including hundreds of squats, push-ups, and sit-ups, as well as sprints and runs while carrying a partner of equal weight. This was followed by hours of sparring.
When asked about this in an interview, Ken Shamrock reflected on his time with Joe Rogan and explained:
“Yes, the concept of our training was to make everything in the gym tougher than what you’d face in a fight. We’d put fighters in extremely difficult situations to prepare them. For example, in Japan, I was constantly pushed by fresh opponents every minute, which made me work hard to stay on top. I brought that same concept to the Lion’s Den. Our training aimed to ensure that no matter how tough a fighter got, they would be ready for any challenge.
“We held brutal tryouts to find individuals with the right mindset for our type of training. Those who passed would live in a house together, allowing us full control over their conditioning and training. This setup was different from what the Gracies were doing in Brazil. The Gracies were more focused on belt testing and didn’t train as a cohesive fighting team. The Lion’s Den was specifically structured for fighting, with consistent training among the same group of fighters.“
