To simplify the story, I married a Brazilian woman and landed in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. When we got here, we moved into an apartment and my Brazilians being so receptive, one of my neighbors commented on my size and asked if I wanted to train with him at local gym. This was in 2015. I obviously said yes, when I arrived to the gym, it looked as if it was in somebody's house, which it was. It was quite strange. But I got on the mat, not knowing anything, being an ex-football player for many years, I thought I would go in here and just do damage. Sorry to say, that it was the complete opposite, I got my ass kicked by people smaller than half my size. I couldn't believe it, I fell in love from that point on. That was in August of 2015. Since then I have traveled, trained, and competed in Jiu Jitsu and on the road to becoming a professional Jiu Jitsu athlete. This is the initial scene in which got me hooked on Jiu Jitsu and as we continue to blog here on GringoJits, I will continue to share my experiences and others as well. NEW MEDIUM POST: Reality of a Professional Athlete In Brazil, Outside of Soccer : Gringo Experience: This post goes into what its like to be in a "fighting" country without resources. This experience brings about questions. What is it that considers you an athlete? What makes you professional? Should you have to work and train? How much should you get paid? I would like you to give some feed back and more. This is a great subject for any athlete out there you also wanted to or is still currently trying to become professional. Does Meditation Help Your Fighting Skills ? Martial Arts in general is about adrenaline and stress. So how is it that these yoga and meditation enthusiasts are claiming that it can help your fighting skills? We are supposed to be ready to essentially "kill" at any moment, we need to be in high stress climates at all times in order to perform well. As we all know, we must be mentally prepared before, during, and after a fight, whether its "vale-tudo" , BJJ, Karate, or any other combat sport. But one would assume that maintaining constant stressful environments , the mind and body would eventually get accustomed to the situation to be able to perform well when the real thing was to happen. There is an article that puts all this assumption into question. The author says that "through meditation your awareness, calm, and focus will increase " (Jerie, 2011). These are the major components needed to be capable to win in this sport, and that one needs to be able focus on when to strike the opponent and be able to remain relaxed because if tense, the fighter will gas out ( this is very true, has happened to me). There is technique that in retrospect enduces a sleeping mind state, this technique is called Embryonic Breathing Theory. This breathing technique puts you in a state that allows to slip away from the conscious mind state, this state is bad because it allows us to be distracted by many things even without giving it attention. Its impossible to control our thoughts during our consciousness. Also to focus on Bjj, our idols Kron and Rickson Gracie have been quite vocal about how they would fight guys bigger than them, and how they dealt with their fear. There are photo archives to prove it as well! " According to Dr. Joshua Grant of the Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, Zen meditators were able to weaken the mental processes that produce pain by altering the connectivity of the two brain regions associated with it " (Olavamira, 2017). I think that it even without the laymen terms, we can see how it can be applied in fighting. The two idols I listed above are known for battling David and Goliath type battles, so if meditation is something they found, I think it something worth checking into. The article gives instructions on how to exactly commit to the technique step by step. The conclusion of benefits make it quite interesting and I am inclined to give it a try. It makes sense on how it promotes to be a better fighter. If one was to keep training intensely without understanding his environment, the fighter may be always tense and not capable of performing at his best. As fighters, we have a saying, " the fight hasn't started until I get hit, even though it may be too late after that." I like this saying because we are so tense in the ring , that we aren't even fighting the opponent, we are fighting ourselves until the opponent hits you. It could knock some sense in to you or it may be to late and you lost. It is better to avoid this at all cost, so if meditation is a new supplement to my training, its something I will add.
0 Comments
|
Sean Gringo GoolsbyI am a member of Carioca Team Professional Athlete Facility. This website is a blog of expriences and photos in relation to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. I have traveled and trained in many places and would like to share some of my experiences with upcoming jiu jitsu athletes. |