Grappling, Martial Arts, MMA
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Article Summary: Self talk (ST), or inner talk, is vital to a healthy mental game and performing well – and mixed martial artists should spend some time thinking about it.
Imagine bombs blowing up around you, gunfire whistling past your head, and you’ve still got save the President from terrorists and get the girl. You’re freaking out, which is normal considering the circumstances. Now, what do you say to yourself to calm down, kick ass, and get the job done?
It’s obvious that something like, “Stop freaking out”, “I’m going to die” or “Don’t panic” won’t be as effective as “I can do this” or a confident “It’s go time.” This makes intuitive sense, right?
However, few people manage their self talk as a technical part of their mixed martial arts game. Ironically, UFC fighters frequently talk about how important the mental game is.
Words can Help, Words can Hurt
In my personal experience, I can think of no instance where someone had heavy negative self talk and competed well, no matter the sport.
In sport karate, I’d overhear competitors “get down on themselves” saying stuff like, “I’m so stupid, can’t keep letting my guard down!” Inevitably, in their next match they’d get sloppy, let their guard down and get blasted.
While speaking with a director in the U of U exercise and sport science department and some staff, I learned how important the “head game” was in running a triathlon. We chatted about a man who trains very hard – even being able to complete a full triathlon in practice – but when competition day came around, he’d buckle under the pressure and would not finish the race. The man would get in his head, over and over repeating stuff like “My legs are burning.” and “I’m so tired”. On the flip side, one woman said that she’s finished a number of triathlons despite being dehydrated and hypothermic – let alone tired. Furthermore, she talked about how she loves the head game, and when the going gets tough she yells at herself like a drill sergeant – “You f*ing b*tch, get off your ass and RUN.”
These anecdotes illustrate what science has begun to prove: Positive self talk improves performance and negative self talk impedes it.
Believe it or not: Language influences reality
Whether you believe that positive self talk can improve your game or not, ST works. In fact, one particular study noted,
These results suggested that the type of self-talk used (i.e., positive or negative) was more important than one’s belief in self-talk. Results supported previous literature indicating that techniques designed to produce positive self-talk should be included in psychological skills training programs. (emphasis added)
In other words, ST isn’t some new-age mumbo-jumbo that only works if you believe in it hard enough.
Where the mind goes, the body follows
If you’d like to do a small science experiment, try this: Tie a heavy paper-clip at the end of a foot long piece of string. On a piece of paper draw a circle and some arrows, as below.
Holding absolutely still, hang the paper-clip a half-inch above the circle and imagine the paper-clip swinging around the path of the arrows. Chances are, you can get the clip to move with just your “mind powers”. You can even draw the arrows going the other direction and get the clip to move counter clockwise.
This isn’t a result of magic – it’s subconscious mind creating micro-twitches, little muscle movements outside of your awareness to move the string and paper-clip.
This is just a generic way of showing how the mind controls the body in unseen ways.
In terms of self talk, the preferred modus operandi is to phrase all of your self speech in the positive. Use language such as “I going to win” in stead of “I’m not going to lose.” Keeping your mind solely on what you want, not on what you don’t want.
Some schools of thought (Nuero-Linguistic Programming, to name one) suggest that using “negative” or reverse-commands is dangerous – a command like, “don’t think of a pink elephant” causes one to think of a pink elephant.
It reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon by Gary Larsen. The picture is of a percussion player, standing behind the orchestra, holding only one cymbal. Above his head is a thought bubble saying, “Don’t screw up, don’t screw up, don’t screw up.” The caption? “Bob screws up.”
Different Types of Self Talk
There have been dozens of studies about self talk and specific sports performance – how self talk affects a golf swing, overhand baseball throw, butterfly swimming times – each revealing a little nugget of truth.
Generically, use self talk increases self-confidence and decreases cognitive anxiety. ST can help you relax and de-stress. Two instructors down at Fusion BJJ (Tony V and Noah J) told me that they use statements like, “Just like at home” and “It’s just hard practice” when fighting to ease their nerves and mental tension, affirming that they can perform just as well in competition as they do in practice.
Technical performance can improve as well; self spoken statements like, “Keep your head up” or “Elbows down!” can trigger a body response to clean up move.
Additionally, there is motivation self talk, statements like “Power through” and “Keep pushing” – phrases to increase your level of focus and muscle power for a particular activity.
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose
There was an interesting study done with young basketball players, illustrating how different types of self talk aided them at different times.
Athletes reported a significant preference for motivational ST when dribbling and shooting, while they did not favor one ST type over the other when passing. Moreover, athletes’ motivational ST was perceived as a significant aid for their concentration, confidence, and sense of relaxation during shooting, while instructional ST as more beneficial for improving their technique during passing.
To me this suggest that you should get in the habit of practicing techniques with their appropriate self speak phrases. Every time you practice passing from half guard into side control, you could chant, “keep hips low, keep hips low.”
Repeating the Mantras
You probably have noticed that most self talk comes in doubles – ie: “I can do this, I can do this.” It’s a very natural way to say them, and seem to have more force when doubled up. Why, exactly?
At this point I could reason with you about how repetition is the mother of all learning, why yoga mantras must be repeated more than once or how it takes at least 7 or more repetitions to make an impression on the subconscious mind.
Instead, I’ll pass along a hillarious story about a pick up artist, Rick H, renowned in the seduction community for his extreme confidence and potent mojo. Rick is a character to say the least. I’ve never met him personally, but through mutual acquaintances, I’ve been told he’s a legit womanizer. Like a no-fear, funnier, crude version of Don Juan Demarco.
Anyway, a dude starts talking to him about trying to pick girls up in Vegas and running into hookers and asks if he’s ever got “ladies of the night” into bed without having to pay. Rick says, “All the time.” He adds something like, ” You have to be funny about it though.”
His system goes something like this, early in the night he’ll meet and chat up a lady, but eventually she’ll give a tell-tale line, “I’m working.” He then gives some BS explanation why they need to “get warmed up”, and she laughs. He ends with, “It’s good for you. It’s good for you. It’s in your own best interest. It’s in your own best interest. C’mon.”
Rick said that for some reason, the key to making it work is saying “It’s good for you,” and “It’s in your own best interest.” But you have to say them twice, otherwise it doesn’t work.”
The inner game of MMA
After hearing some guys at the gym talk about Pedro Sauer’s teaching them to “go with the flow” and “flow with the go”, I considered how too much self talk could hamper performance. I certainly knew that being “too in your head” – analyzing, considering options, assessing performance – bogged down a mans ability to perform well.
John Will, black belt under JJ and Rigan Machado and one of the ‘BJJ Dirty Dozen’ – the first twelve non-Brazilian BJJ black belts in the world – says this about being fully in the moment while grappling:
“…[O]ne of the hallmarks of the truly good grappler, is that he or she becomes more fully and completely ‘engaged’ in the moment than others.
You can repeat some mantras but you don’t want to suffer from getting too in your head. You’re supposed to be performing a motor skill, not assessing complex behavior and situations. (I believe this is called analysis paralysis).
Resources
http://bjj-australia.blogspot.com/2009/05/struggle-of-combat-demands-our.html
http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol8Iss4/SelfTalkandPerformance.htm
Negative Self Talk and Sports Performance :
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-35005403_ITM
How and When athletes use self talk
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/10413200490498357
Mechanisms underlying the self-talk–performance relationship: The effects of motivational self-talk on self-confidence and anxiety
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W6K-4T4J865-1&_user=418636&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000019853&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=418636&md5=61753a3754e7157a9a30a8d0e225abd5
Self Talk improves penalty shot performance -
http://jvi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/25/3/233
Self Talk in Basketball
http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss1/BasketballSelfTalk.htm
Olympians Use Self talk
http://www.sports-psych.com/interviews.html
Randy Borum on the Mental Aspects of Fighting
https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=blog.home&entry=3117
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BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU PHILOSOPHY FROM THE MASTERS
