
Pain is Temporary Zine
- Publisher
- A24
- Year
- 2025
- Specifications
- Zine
Introduction by Benny Safdie
Photography by Marcelo Alonso
Edited by Sami Reiss
October 2025
A24 Zine Issue 30
Issue 30 of the A24 zine series, published to accompany The Smashing Machine (A24, 2025), Benny Safdie's film starring Dwayne Johnson as MMA and UFC fighter Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt. The zine travels back to the advent of professional no-holds-barred fighting, when magazines like Martial Arts Training and Grappler taught fighters to hone body and mind for survival in the ring: how to throw a knee strike into a front headlock, where to eat high-protein meals on the road, the Buteyko breathing method. Introduction by director Benny Safdie, archival MMA photography by Marcelo Alonso, training drills from Mark Kerr, edited by writer Sami Reiss with stories by Reiss and culture writer Chris Gayomali.