Sparring Mind v.2a clean copy 2

The Sparring Mind
How to Achieve Peak Performance
Through a Sharper Mental Game
Rodney King, M.A., and Christian de Quincey, Ph.D.
T h e W i s d o m A c a d e m y P r e s s . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .
© C h r i s t i a n d e Q u i n c e y a n d R o d n e y K i n g, 2013
N o p a r t o f t h i s p u b l i c a t i o n m a y b e r e p r o d u c e d , s t o r e d , o r t r a n s m i t t e d i n a n y f o r m o r b y a n y m e a n s , i n c l u d i n g e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o c o p y i n g , r e c o r d i n g , o r o t h e r w i s e , w i t h o u t w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r .
F o r i n f o r m a t i o n , c o n t a c t :
T h e W i s d o m A c a d e m y P r e s s
c de q @ c h r i s t i a n d e q u i n c ey . c om
I S B N : 9 7 8 -­‐ 0 -­‐ 6 2 0 -­‐ 5 5 5 2 2 -­‐ 7 P r i n t e d i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s o f A m e r i c a .
V i s i t : w w w. e m b o d i e d m i n d p e r f o r m a n c e . c o m
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D I S C L A I M E R O F W A R R A N T Y / L I M I T A T I O N S O F L I A B I L I T Y
T h e P u b l i s h e r a n d A u t h o r s h a v e u s e d t h e i r b e s t e f f o r t s i n p r e p a r i n g t h e c o u r s e a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g c o m p o n e n t s . T h e P u b l i s h e r a n d A u t h o r s m a k e n o r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o r w a r r a n t i e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e a c c u r a c y o r c o m p l e t e n e s s o f t h e c o n t e n t s o f t h i s c o u r s e o r c o m p o n e n t s , a n d s p e c i f i c a l l y d i s c l a i m a n y i m p l i e d w a r r a n t i e s o f m e r c h a n t a b i l i t y o r f i t n e s s f o r a p a r t i c u l a r p u r p o s e . T h e r e a r e n o w a r r a n t i e s t h a t e x t e n d b e y o n d t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s c o n t a i n e d i n t h i s p a r a g r a p h . N e i t h e r t h e P u b l i s h e r n o r t h e A u t h o r s s h a l l b e l i a b l e f o r a n y d a m a g e s a r i s i n g f r o m t h e u s e o f t h i s c o u r s e o r c o m p o n e n t s , i n c l u d i n g w i t h o u t l i m i t a t i o n a c t u a l , s p e c i a l , i n c i d e n t a l , c o n s e q u e n t i a l , o r o t h e r d a m a g e s . T h i s c o u r s e a n d a n y a c c o m p a n y i n g c o m p o n e n t s a r e d e s i g n e d t o e d u c a t e a n d p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n o n l y a b o u t t h e s u b j e c t m a t t e r c o v e r e d , a n d n e i t h e r p u b l i s h e r n o r a u t h o r a r e e n g a g e d i n r e n d e r i n g l e g a l , a c c o u n t i n g , m e d i c a l , o r o t h e r p r o f e s s i o n a l s e r v i c e s . I f l e g a l o r o t h e r e x p e r t s e r v i c e s a r e r e q u i r e d o r d e s i r e d , t h e s e r v i c e s o f a c o m p e t e n t p r o f e s s i o n a l s h o u l d b e o b t a i n e d .
I t i s n o t t h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s c o u r s e a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g c o m p o n e n t s t o p r o v i d e a l l t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t i s o t h e r w i s e a v a i l a b l e t o t h e A u t h o r s a n d / o r P u b l i s h e r , b u t t o c o m p l e m e n t , a m p l i f y , s u p p l e m e n t , a n d d i r e c t t h e r e a d e r t o o t h e r t h i r d p a r t y i n f o r m a t i o n a n d t e x t s . T h u s , t h i s t e x t s h o u l d b e u s e d o n l y a s a g e n e r a l g u i d e , a n d n o t t h e u l t i m a t e o r o n l y s o u r c e o f i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h i s a r e a ; t h e i n f o r m a t i o n h e r e i n i s b e l i e v e d t o b e c u r r e n t o n l y u p t o t h e p u b l i c a t i o n d a t e . R e a d e r s a r e u r g e d t o r e a d a l l t h e a v a i l a b l e m a t e r i a l a n d t a i l o r t h e i n f o r m a t i o n a n d a p p l i c a t i o n t o f i t t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e i n d i v i d u a l n e e d s . T h e r e s o u r c e s l i s t e d i n t h i s c o u r s e a r e f o r i n f o r m a t i o n p u r p o s e s o n l y , n o t e n d o r s e m e n t s o r r e f e r r a l s . N e i t h e r t h e P u b l i s h e r n o r t h e A u t h o r s s h a l l b e l i a b l e o r r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a n y l o s s o r d a m a g e e x p e r i e n c e d i n d e a l i n g w i t h a n y s u c h l i s t e d r e s o u r c e s o r p r o v i d e r s .
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“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.”
— Marcus Aurelius
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Table of Contents
Authors’ Note 07
1. The Power of the Mental Game 09
2. Crea^ng Refocus Goals 13
3. Refocus Goals: The Four Drivers 16
4. Crea^ng an In-­‐Between-­‐Rounds Rou^ne 22
5. Mind-­‐Body Interface 27
6. Mind-­‐Body Interface in Ac^on: Brain Science on the Mat 32
7. Learning to Manage Your Emo^ons 36
8. Mindfulness in Ac^on 38
9. Breath Enlivens the Mental Game 44
10. Final Words 49
11. About the Authors 50
12. Links for Contact 53
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Authors’ Note
Warrior Meets Philosopher
You have in your hands a new approach to coaching the mental game for sparring—Warrior meets Philosopher.
This introductory ebook is based on the “Embodied-­‐Mind Performance” program, developed by Rodney King and Chris^an de Quincey.
Famous in the world of mar^al arts (MA), Rodney King, founder of Crazy Monkey Defense, has dis^lled the essence of many years of prac^ce and coaching MA trainers and clients into a set of rou^nes and skills that have proven highly effec^ve in sparring as well as in compe^^on figh^ng. Anyone familiar with Rodney’s approach will recognize his unique style and insights developed in this manual and taken to a new level for op^mal sparring performance.
We expect readers of this ebook to be already aluned to “ The Warrior’s Way.” However, for many of you, blending this with “ The Philosopher’s Way” may be a new experience. Dr. ChrisVan de Quincey, founder of The Wisdom Academy, has specialized in a branch of philosophy that focuses on the “mind-­‐
body connec^on,” and is an established teacher in the field of Consciousness Studies.
He has teamed up with Rodney to apply the power of philosophical insights to highlight important aspects of mental game theory and prac^ce—
mostly overlooked in other MA programs. Philosophers focus on clarity and dis+nc+ons in language that help us communicate ideas more precisely and 7
effec^vely. That’s what Chris^an brings to this work. By teasing apart finer dis^nc^ons in Rodney’s approach to mental game training for mar^al arts, the Warrior and the Philosopher have collaborated to create a unique approach to mar^al arts that honors equally the importance of the mind (the “mental game”) and the body (the “physical game”), and takes mar^al arts coaching and training to a new level of excellence.
See you on the mat.
Rodney and ChrisVan
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The Power of the Mental Game
Developing your mental game is one of the most cri^cal aspects of success in mar^al arts—especially in a performance-­‐based environment like sparring. Yet, a lot of beginners have a hard ^me figuring out how to achieve an effec^ve mental game and what it really means. Our purpose here is to delve deeper into the mind and what happens when you achieve a winning mental game. Let’s begin by revealing the bolom line: The heart of effec^ve performance is staying mentally present, avoiding thinking about the future or being stuck in the past. In other words, in order to win in your sparring game, you must remain centered and present. Here's an example: You are not present when you are projec^ng into the future, trying to an^cipate what your opponent is going to do next. When you're on the mat, trying to get into your opponent's head, figuring out what he’s going to do next might seem logical. However, this doesn't lead to a performance gain. In fact, it degrades performance and open leads you into trouble.
There’s a kind of a paradox here: Developing the mental game means 9
prac^cing being able to focus the mind, being unconcerned or worried about the future or reac^ng to what happened in the past. We can't stress enough how important it is to not get caught up in past and future thinking, because that will actually distract you from performing at your best.
You need to dis^nguish between observing (no^cing) your process of thinking and being run by your thoughts.
As well as leqng go, a certain element of choice and control needs to happen simultaneously—and that's where the paradox comes in. You need to develop the ability to no^ce your thoughts and not be run by them. For example, you might no^ce that you're focused on the future, concerned about what an opponent might do in the next moment. Or if you’re concerned about something your opponent did a few moments ago—especially if you made a mistake—you can easily become trapped in that way of thinking. The idea is to recognize this and ground your mind right back in the present moment.
The mental game works best when you go beyond thinking. Instead, of “thinking your thoughts,” it's about learning to “feel your thinking.” Rather than geqng caught up in your thoughts, you need to ship your alen^on to your feelings, to the sensa^ons in your body. With prac^ce, as you learn to “feel you thinking” by increasing awareness of the sensa^ons in your body, you will sooner or later realize that your feelings and sensa^ons are the generators of your 10
thoughts.
Focusing on your embodied sensa^ons is one of the best ways to get back into the present moment, to actually feel what’s going on in the body from moment-­‐to-­‐moment, allowing yourself to be guided by your inten^ons, aims, and values—by what you want to achieve in your sparring game.
When you first start working with the mental game, you probably won’t think about the mind-­‐body connec^on in this way. In most cases, when you're in the heat of the moment during sparring, you may not even be aware that you are projec^ng into the future or holding onto the past. It takes a certain amount of presence of mind just to be aware of that.
Most of the ^me, thinking just runs on automa^c; it’s habitual. Part of playing the mental game is to crack open the habit, and to become inten^onal in your choices and how you can direct your mind in the moment. One of the
first things to do is to actually just be. We recommend that people prac^ce this (you can call it medita^on or just call it siqng and observing the mind) for a few minutes even before you get on the mat. Take five minutes to just sit and no^ce what goes on in your mind when you’re leqng it do its own thing.
If you're astute, you will no^ce that your mind tends to be worried either about something that has happened (in the recent or distant past), or what is going to happen back on the mat in a few moments, later in the day, or even in a 11
month’s ^me. With prac^ce, you will no^ce that most of your thoughts are usually focused either on the past or on the future.
If you learn to no^ce how the mind habitually tends to ship to past or future throughout your normal day-­‐to-­‐day rou^nes, then when you’re actually on the mat and engaged with your opponent, you will find it much easier to no^ce what is going on in your mind in the heat of ac^on. Naturally, that’s the most difficult ^me, and, of course, that’s when your mental prac^ce needs to catch up to your physical prac^ce.
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CreaVng Refocus Goals
Developing mental presence is powerful; but it’s not easy to achieve. It takes dedicated prac^ce. A ques^on open comes up: “I find prac^cing this off the mat can be rela^vely easy, but when I am actually engaged in sparring how do I stay mentally present?”
When your thoughts are moving into the past or the future, you can easily get caught up in a mental vortex, and spin out of control. The trick at such ^mes is to allow yourself to simply no+ce and observe what your mind is doing, without judgment: “Oh, I’m thinking about the past (or future) right now.” That simple act of awareness automa^cally brings you back into the present. In order to be aware that you are thinking about the past or future, you have to be present. At that moment, you can then choose to stay focused on the present, and let your thoughts come and go like leaves blowing in the wind, without geqng sucked into the past or future.
This is where what we call “refocus goals” comes into play. It is the ability to recognize that you are either in the future, or holding onto the past. Once you recognize this, you have an opportunity to decide where to focus your alen^on
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—for example, on some immediate goal or on some “cue” that will keep your alen^on focused in the present on what you want to achieve.
“Refocused goals” are always focused on the present moment; not on a future expecta^on or something that happened in the past. Refocusing means not geqng caught up in past or future thoughts.
If you no^ce that your mind is taking you into the future or keeping you stuck in the past, it’s natural for the mind to start judging itself: “Oh, I shouldn’t be doing this.” Of course, that causes you to go deeper into distrac^on and away from the present moment.
Projec^ng your thoughts into the future or holding onto the past is not sparring now; instead, it is about what just happened a moment ago or what you an^cipate is about to happen. However, being present in the moment means fully embracing and being part of the experience of sparring as it is happening right now.
The body has its own intelligence, and it plays a major role in the effec^veness of the “mental game.” When sparring, you need to ship, from an egocentric mind dominated by thoughts to your embodied mind, where feeling or soma^c intelligence is dominant. That’s how you get into the present moment: by actually checking out of the fantasy mind of your ego—which is concerned about the future and the past, about expecta^ons, doing well, or not looking bad—and 14
allowing the body’s natural intelligence to express itself in the present moment. When you can allow that to happen, you will be quite amazed at the skillful intelligence your body can manifest when it’s given the chance to do so.
Using refocused goals, gives you an opportunity to go through a checklist in your mind, to bring you back to a place where you are totally focused in this present moment, and not holding onto future expecta^ons or whatever happened in the past. Your goal is to get to the point where you can let go of your thinking mind and ship over to the body’s natural intelligence.
In the beginning, as you prac^ce refocus goals, you are likely to find yourself thinking, “Hold on a second, I’m projec^ng into the future.” Or, “I’m trying to predict what my opponent is going to do next.” This is an important part of developing self-­‐awareness. Aper all, you can’t correct your mental distrac^on of thinking about the past or the future if you cannot recognize when it is happening to you.
Once you recognize that this is not where you want your thinking mind to be, then you can go through your refocus goals—and this will bring you back to the present moment, to a neutral state of mind, making it easier for you to b just let go.
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Refocus Goals: The Four Drivers
In the Crazy Monkey program, we use the ”Four Drivers" as the key refocus goals to successfully lead you back to the present. The Four Drivers are essen^al components in developing an effec^ve “embodied mental game” because they directly relate to your performance in the moment.
Here's a breakdown of the Four Drivers:
Balance. Being in balance isn’t just a maler of physical stability. It also refers to balancing your thinking and feeling mind, as well as having a balanced perspec^ve on your sparring experience, including your emo^onal state.
Defense. Focusing on defense means making sure you protect yourself.
When your emo^ons kick in, however, it's easy to forget you’re supposed to protect yourself, and, instead, you let your emo^ons run your game. Anger is a perfect example of an emo^on taking over. When you fight driven by aggression, your physical game starts to fall apart.
Tight economical structure. This is closely linked to defense. It means 16
making sure that when you're execu^ng a technique, it is precise, or “^ght.” In other words, you should not be making unnecessary openings for your opponent to hit you.
Condi6oning. Understandably, you will open experience a great deal of apprehension in sparring, especially during the outside game, when a large space exists between you and your opponent. That’s why we call it “the spiral of apprehension.” It's normal to have a lot of thinking going on in this part of the game: “Should I go in? Should I hold on? Should I wait a lille bit?” When you're not en^rely sure, anxiety builds up, and this directly affects your breathing. So, part of taking charge of “condi^oning” is to consciously focus on the quality of your breathing. Your breath is, literally, the oxygen your body needs to fire up your energy.
The Four Drivers work to help you ship alen^on to refocus goals. They are an effec^ve a way to center yourself directly in the present moment and to experience your experience as it is actually happening.
To ac^vate the Four Drivers, you go through a checklist. For example, you could say to yourself: "Defense—check. Balance—check. Tight economical structure—check. Condi^oning—check." Naturally, you can simplify the language. In the middle of a sparring match, you don’t have to say “^ght 17
economical structure,” which is quite a mouthful! Instead, you might just use a brief phrase or words of your own to center you in the present moment.
For example, when you say to yourself, “Move hands,” you're ac^va^ng the driver of defense. Anybody in the Crazy Monkey Defense program will recognize why moving your hands is important. If you’re moving your hands all the ^me, and suddenly something gets thrown at you, you are able to pick up your defense a lot quicker than if your hands are completely s^ll. Con^nuously moving your hands directly affects your overall defense in a very concrete way. By simply saying “defense,” you check off one of these refocus goals that brings you back into the present moment, increasing your mind-­‐body coordina^on and effec^ve performance.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that when you say, “defense” or “move my hands,” this should not be alached to any future expecta^on or an event in the past. As a refocus goal, it is something you have to do right here, right now in the very moment of sparring, while it is happening. It’s not like saying, “I’d beler move my hands, because if I don’t, those next shots are
going to get in.” That kind of self-­‐talk means you are no longer being present. You’ve moved off task and would be focusing on task-­‐irrelevant goals. To prevent was^ng your energy in irrelevant ways and making yourself more vulnerable, get in the habit of using the Four Drivers to ac^vate task-­‐focused 18
goals that focus your mind on what is happening right now.
Prac^cing going through this checklist in your mind is important because it helps you to center yourself. The key point here is to remember that in order to effec^vely “refocus goals” you should use a phrase or a word that brings you back to the present. Never use language that ships your alen^on to future expecta^ons or keeps you thinking about the past.
The “trick” of mastering the mental game is that you are using the mind to let go of the mind. That’s why it’s called the “mental game”!
Re-­‐focus goals are basically quick thoughts, or mental reminders. They’re like lille seeds sown in the mind, and once they’re sown, you let them go—
rather than geqng involved in an internal dialogue with them, which just distracts you into more thinking. To repeat: Focus your mind on a specific re-­‐ focus goal, and then let it go.
Focusing the mind on re-­‐focus goals rebalances your mind and body so that they work harmoniously together in the moment of ac^on. That's when you can let the body take over and express its natural intelligence. In a
sense, then, you prac^ce focusing the mind so you can let go of the mind and let the body’s natural intelligence take over.
Analy^c intelligence is certainly worth developing, especially when the session is over. Aperwards, siqng down to analyze and talk through what 19
worked and what didn’t can be very useful. But in the moment, on the mat, we are prac^cing leqng go of analytical intelligence, and instead leqng the body’s natural wisdom and intelligence, guide us in the moment. We use the analy^c mind just to give us that lille extra focus needed to engage the task-­‐relevant cues, and then we let it go. And, with prac^ce, at that moment we’re back into allowing the body’s intelligence to express itself.
Amazing things can happen once you trust your body’s natural intelligence. In training to develop your mental game, your first task is simply to discover that you do have this natural embodied intelligence. Then, with further training and prac^ce, you progressively learn to trust it. Of course, the more you prac^ce this, the easier it is for you to tap into your body’s
innate intelligence, and trust to let it guide you during rapid fire exchanges on the mat. More prac^ce leads to greater effec^veness, and this reinforces trus^ng the body next ^me you spar. This really isn’t something to figure out off the mat. It has to happen in ac^on.
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Balance
Hands Moving
Tight
Breath
Licensed to R K of 17, JHb, Gt 2194 SA. Ema2i0l address: [email protected]
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CreaVng An In-­‐Between-­‐Rounds RouVne
Most people don't develop in-­‐between-­‐round rou^nes. Instead, when the round is over, they think about all the wrong stuff. In between rounds, when you are energized, gathering your breath, that’s when your thinking mind can run wild. In our experience, people rarely take “^me-­‐out” between rounds. And that’s a wasted opportunity (open up to one minute) to get re-­‐grounded and boost your mental game. As you wait, eager to move into the next round, you don’t use that minute produc^vely. One way to boost your mental game in between rounds is to learn how to anchor yourself during that period.
Anchoring techniques are different than “refocus goals,” which involve thinking on purpose in order to bring yourself back to the present moment. However, anchors typically focus on a physical movement that can be performed during, and specifically aper, sparring. It works best in between the rounds, and it is a way of bringing about posi^ve emo^ons and feelings of confidence. More than that, though, it’s about leqng go of what happened in the previous round.
For example, Rodney uses as an in-­‐between-­‐round rou^ne he calls the “Circling Shark.” Instead of siqng down or chaqng to someone between rounds, Rodney circles the mat “like a shark,” using the ^me and the movement to reselle 1
into his body with a well-­‐prac^ced anchor technique. He never sits or chats between rounds because he knows it’s very difficult to come back and be completely present if he ships alen^on to anything other than the sparring experience happening now.
During the “Circling Shark” rou^ne, Rodney walks around clockwise, usually three ^mes. He has turned this into an effec^ve anchoring-­‐ritual, a physical ac^on that his body recognizes.
That’s the difference between a task-­‐relevant cue and an anchoring technique. In this case, Rodney anchors himself physically while he walks around in a circle. He may even switch direc^ons and do another three circles in the opposite direc^on. He keeps doing this un^l the bell goes off for the next round. The purpose is to literally let go of whatever happened in the round that just happened. In doing so, he brings himself back to a point of presence and focus in the moment. While walking, he focuses on breathing, because breath has a way of bringing us back to that centered place, back to presence. He does this any^me he finds himself alaching to what just happened in the round, which is very common and natural for a lot of people—and this is why it takes prac^ce to change that behavior. Rodney’s inten^on is to clear his mind, to let go of everything. The combina^on of circling and focusing on the breath allows him to anchor himself in the present moment. (An added bonus: Some opponents can be distracted and puzzled by what Rodney is doing, and this can throw them off their 2
game when they resume sparring.)
Unlike Rodney, most MAers engage their analy^cal mind during the break between rounds, thinking, “I should have done this” or “I should have done that. In the next round, I’m going to do this and that.” It almost never works out that way when you go into the next round—especially if you’ve been spending a whole minute thinking about what you “should” have been doing or not doing, and what you're going to do next. Don’t let your “should” hit the fan!
Work toward accomplishing the art of anchoring yourself by using some kind of physical expression. Walking around is one way. Some people tap their gloves together, just for a minute, as they walk around to get themselves back into this present moment. As a result, when they move into the next round, they are completely present and ready whatever comes at them.
Both anchors and refocus goals share a common aim—le?ng go. Rodney’s “Circling Shark” anchor is one effec^ve technique for leqng go of
what has already happened, bringing yourself back into the present moment. Of course, when using a refocus goal in sparring, the point is to just let go of whatever is taking you out of the present moment. When you let go of the past and the future, what’s lep is the present. That is the common factor in both the anchors and the refocus goals.
You may be in a sparring match, and things are just not going right. You know you should be focused in the present, focusing on your refocus goals, and 3
leqng go. But, for whatever reason, it is just not working out. These are all parts of performance. Having an "in-­‐between-­‐round rou^ne," where you ac^vely work through an anchoring process, gives you the opportunity to reset yourself for the next round.
Reset is a phrase worth highligh^ng. You could actually think of the anchoring process as pressing a reset bulon—like seqng the system back to its factory default—emptying the mind so that you are fresh and primed as you step back onto the mat for the next round.
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Mind-­‐Body Interface
The mind-­‐body interface and developing a fluid mind are really, really important to achieving success in your mental game.
But, what does this mean?
Focusing on embodied-­‐mind corrects the frequent mispercep^on that mind and body are separate. This isn't the case at all.
The mind-­‐body split began back in the 17th century when the famous French philosopher René Descartes declared that any body (i.e., anything made of maAer) is extended in space; but, he said, the mind has no extension in space. Maler or body, then, is “extended stuff” while mind is “thinking stuff” or “feeling stuff.” The mind, in other words, is what thinks and feels. This dis^nc^on is important and makes a lot of sense. However, Descartes didn’t just make a dis+nc+on between mind and body, he said they were also separate—exis^ng in different domains of reality. He split them apart. And that’s where the problem set in.
Descartes’ mind-­‐body split made a big impact in Western philosophy and modern science and society in general. For example, science focused
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exclusively on gaining knowledge about the physical world, the world of maler (bodies extended in space). It completely ignored the nonphysical domain of mind and consciousness. In fact, science went even further, and claimed that the only reality that existed was physical stuff—maler. Mind was assumed to be some kind of by-­‐product from complex interac^ons between brain cells.
As a result, most people just focused on the physical side of their own lives (believing that what happened in their minds was not all that significant or even real). Sports men and women, including mar^al ar^sts, believed that success in their game relied on nothing more than building up physical strength and skills. They ignored the crucial role the mind (including aqtude, focus, alen^on, feelings, and thoughts) plays in perfec^ng performance.
That is now changing. More and more people are realizing that the mind-­‐
body split was ar^ficial to begin with. It never really existed (except in the ideas of philosophers and scien^sts). Others, such as ar^sts, dancers, and master mar^al ar^sts have always known that mind and body are like two sides of a coin
—inseparable. They always work together, enhancing each
other. And when they work against each other, the result is poor performance.
That’s why it is important to recognize the in^mate connec^on between mind and body. Yes, they are obviously dis+nct and different: Mind is that part
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of us that thinks and feels and chooses. It does not exist in space. It is non-­‐
physical. Maler or body, on the other hand, is our “bulk,” the part of us that is physical and takes up space.
However, even though mind and body are dis+nct, they are never separate. Again, think of the two sides of a coin: Heads and tails are dis^nct and different, but you can’t separate them (another example is the shape and substance of a ball: they are dis^nct but inseparable). That’s how it is with mind and body. They are different but always go together. And that’s why it is important for mar^al ar^sts (and other athletes) to focus on developing a keener sense of their own “mind-­‐body interface”—to understand and experience how what goes on in the mind affects how the body performs. That’s what we mean by “embodied mind.”
It clearly makes sense to dis^nguish between your mind and your body. Aper all, if you get into a fight or are sparring on the mat, your body can get bruised; it’s your body that your opponent is striking at and grappling for. But he or she can’t actually grab your mind, and your mind doesn’t get bruised—
at least not literally.
Even though body and mind are in^mately connected, we know that the mind and body have very different kinds of existence—one is nonphysical (mind) and the other is physical (body). It follow, then, that we need to
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develop and master different processes, and different prac^ces for training the body and training the mind. Working out on the mat, you are engaging in the “physical game”—which, of course, is important. However, you also need to learn when and how to ship into the “mental game” where a different set of prac^ces is needed to develop alen^on, focus, aqtude—as well as a fluid mind that allows you to simply observe whatever thoughts or emo^ons are rising up when you engage with a sparring partner. (This prac^ce is also highly beneficial in the rest of life, too.)
Keep in mind that just because there is this dis^nc^on between mind and body, this does not mean that body and mind are ever separate. They always go together, so whatever is going on in the body is going to have some impact on what’s going on in your mind, your consciousness. And the reverse is true: Whatever is going on in your mind, whatever you are thinking, whatever your aqtudes are, whatever your belief systems are, those will have an impact on how your body performs. Mind and the body are always connected, and so, in training, it makes sense to develop dis^nct prac^ces—one set of physical prac^ces for your body and another set of mental prac^ces for you mind.
People open don’t realize that the way they are thinking affects their body movement, and vice versa. How you bring “body aqtude” to the mat, the
way you hold your body in sparring, will also, in turn, affect your thinking mind. 9
Mind and body work together, always influencing each other in a feedback loop. As coaches working with our clients, we focus on “embodied-­‐mind performance”—training that takes our clients to the point where they can actually use this knowledge to integrate their mind and body as one dynamic mind-­‐body unit.
When you learn to spar with the correct mental game, completely focused in the present moment, you ins^nc^vely understand which refocus goals are needed at any precise moment to achieve your objec^ve. A well-­‐trained “mental game” gives your body a much sharper focus. Understandably, this works best in actual prac^ce, when you have to apply your technique against an opponent. Not only does your mind affect the performance of your body, it works the other way, too. The way you hold your body, the physical stance or aqtude you bring to your sparring match, also affects your thinking mind. A lot of people don’t see that dis^nc^on. They miss the important fact that their body “aqtude” affects the quality of the way they use their mind.
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Mind-­‐Body Interface in AcVon: Brain Science On The Mat
You can approach mind-­‐body connec^on from a more informed and “holis^c” perspec^ves. That’s what Crazy Monkey’s Embodied Mind Performance program is all about. For example, a lille knowledge about how the nervous system works
—par^cularly the autonomic nervous system that controls our breathing—can go a long way. Scien^sts have discovered that some really very simple gestures, such as how you shape your mouth, can affect your mental aqtude. You can prac^ce a simple exercise easily at home to demonstrate this. Put your face into a smile by turning the edges of your mouth upward. Immediately and automa^cally, this has an effect on the brain chemicals that make you feel good. This is based on scien^fic evidence that a par^cular body posture—in this case, the way the mouth is shaped—has an effect on the chemicals produced in the brain, which then affect how the mind responds. This is a simple, but very effec^ve, way to show how body aqtude and state of mind are in^mately related.
Take another example of body posture: If you are siqng slumped—or 1
even standing slumped—more than likely that will send a message to the
brain that you’re feeling dejected and maybe even depressed. Again, this emphasizes how body posture and mind affect each other.
With this in mind, now try a different exercise: Standing strong in sparring doesn’t mean you have to stand with your body surface exposed and vulnerable. A core principle in Crazy Monkey is to adopt a crouched stance that is strong and grounded (we call it the “hunchback stance”). When you adopt the crouch posture it will affect your mental aqtude and how you feel about yourself—and how you feel about yourself in rela^on to your opponent.
Bolom line: Body aqtude has a definite and clear effect on how the mind responds in par^cular sparring situa^ons.
Some^mes people find it difficult to bring their alen^on back to the present moment because there’s so much stuff going on in their thinking mind. One way to overcome that is to consciously recreate a more effec^ve body aqtude. This may come from training, as in the example of the crouched or “hunchbacked” stance. If you’re having a hard ^me being present in a sparring match because your thinking mind is running wild, it helps to realize that an unfocused mind disempowers the body. However, by becoming aware of your “wild mind” or being aware of when your body isn’t performing to task, you can quickly and effec^vely remedy the situa^on. For example, you might become 2
aware that your stance is out of structure because you are standing too upright. If so, you can immediately fix this by locking into the right posi^on (as you’ve been trained), adop^ng the hunchback stance. This simple act of changing your body posture will, in turn, affect your thinking mind, making your feel more defended and secure.
We use the phrase “mental game” as a short-­‐hand to imply all of this—
otherwise it gets complicated. However, some^mes when we talk about the “mental game,” people think we’re talking about only what’s in your head. Nothing could be further from the truth. The mental game is first and foremost an embodied feeling that involves awareness of your body and the sensa^ons flowing through it at any moment. It’s open an emo^ve process, and one way to enhance your mental game is to engage your body in a correct aqtude for your par^cular sparring match. Simply correc^ng your body posture is open all you need in the moment to switch your mind from a nega^ve to a posi^ve aqtude.
In other words, the “mental game” is as much about what’s happening in your body. It’s very important to remember this: Your mind isn’t just in your head, in your brain. It exists throughout your en^re body. Every cell has its own intelligence. Your mind is literally embodied. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that when you get into the hunchback stance, your body knows from training and 3
sparring that it is well-­‐protected. You know from prac^ce and experience that that is the best stance for protec^ng your body from an alack.
The body learns how best to protect itself, and so if you consciously adopt that physical posture, your body’s natural intelligence (your embodied mind) will feel relaxed and will trust that it is being protected. Having that physical stance of protec^on will give your embodied mind a sense of security—at least a greater sense of security than it would if it didn’t adopt that stance.
Simply adop^ng the stance triggers the brain, which then triggers the mind to say, “Okay, this is the way I need to be to be protected.”
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7
Learning To Manage Your EmoVons
Frequently, mar^al ar^sts have a (mistaken) belief that they have to get into an aggressive state, a kind of “killer ins^nct" mind-­‐set, in order to do the business at hand. Without a doubt, some^mes this can work. If you go in the match with that kind of emo^onal force, you might become more physically dominant than the person you’re working against, and there is a good chance that the emo^onal surge may help you beat your opponent.
But now consider this: What happens when you are dealing with an opponent who is far superior to you in skill? In that case, a “killer ins^nct” driven by blind aggression is more than likely to backfire on you. Very quickly, you will find that your opponent is not reac^ng the way you expect. When you go into fight driven by an aggressive emo^on and it doesn’t work, you are now at a double disadvantage: First, your opponent’s superior skill can easily deal with your aggression; and second, your aggression blurs your mental clarity, and you quickly find yourself both overpowered and outsmarted by your opponent. That can become a real problem. Your aggression flips back on you. Suddenly the emo^onal chemicals of aggression turn into anxiety and fear. Now you’re on your 5
back foot, and you’ve just got yourself into a hole that’s going to be very difficult to climb out of.
People open say to us, “Well, I’ve seen aggressive fighters win.” And we respond, “Yes, but that works only when they’re already winning the fight.” Anger against an opponent—who doesn’t have to be significantly superior, just more dominant in that par^cular moment—doesn't guarantee success. If the anger doesn’t work (and frequently it doesn’t) it quickly spirals into frustra^on, anxiety, and eventually fear. By then, you’ve lost control, which means you’ve lost the game.
Instead of that, we want you to use your “mental game” to no^ce: “Okay, I’m feeling a surge of anger.” Now, instead of geqng lost in the anger and leqng it take control, your awareness or observa+on of your own emo^onal state is all you need to either avoid losing control or to regain it if it’s beginning to spiral out of your hands. Awareness of your anger prevents it from domina^ng your thoughts, and hence your ac^ons. It’s much beler to no^ce it and then pay alen^on to what is actually happening with your body, and trust in your body’s own natural intelligence to direct your emo^ons rather than have them be directed by the anger.
How do you achieve this you may be asking? By prac^cing what we call
“Mindfulness-­‐in-­‐Ac^on.”
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Mindfulness in AcVon
Working with and managing your emo^ons Emo^ons have their own energy, and can be very powerful. Without prac^ced skill, strong emo^ons can overpower us and leave us vulnerable. This is where mindfulness-­‐in-­‐ac6on comes in—a state of mind where you are able to just be present without judging the outcome of your performance. Mindfulness involves not becoming alached to the way you are thinking, or alaching to whatever sensa^ons are arising in your bodyBy not being alached, you remain in control and retain the ability to be fully present. This leads to the great advantage of having a fluid mind.
Using re-­‐focus goals and anchoring techniques is important to get you back to the present. However, geqng to the stage where you don’t always have to mentally run through them takes you to the next level. This is what we mean by using your fluid mind—where you are no longer fusing to your thoughts or emo^ons.
Here’s a quick step-­‐by-­‐step overview:
1. Mindfulness/Observation: First, cul^vate and prac^ce mindfulness—
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learning to simply observe your thoughts, emo^ons, and feelings without judging them, or trying to do anything with them. You simply watch them as though they were images on a TV screen. 2. Choice/Focused AAen6on: Next, aper mindfulness or non-­‐judgmental awareness, use your mind’s power to choose where to focus your alen^on. In the early days of training, you can work on the habit of using refocus goals and anchors to get yourself grounded. 3. Fluid Mind/Embodied Intelligence: Later on, though, you can reach a level where you use your fluid mind to get yourself grounded without having to actually silently repeat the refocus goals or engaging in an anchor process. At this stage in your mental game training, you have trained your body-­‐mind to naturally and spontaneously respond intelligently.
Are you able to actually stay in the sparring match without judging the thoughts and feelings that are coming up?
Choose to pay alen^on to what is happening in your body without judging it, allow it to just be—this is mindfullness-­‐in-­‐ac^on. Self-­‐judgment in sparring takes you away from the present moment. It distracts your alen^on either by projec^ng into the future or holding onto the past. Think back to the opening sec^on. When you find yourself projec^ng or holding onto the past, that’s when you are no longer present, no longer able to perform at a peak level—because 8
peak performance happens only right now.
We have been condi^oned to judge ourselves and others. Whether in mar^al arts or in life in general, that kind of judgment doesn’t work for peak performance. If we happen to find ourselves thinking in a par^cular way or moving in a par^cular way on the mat or in daily life, it doesn’t help to judge ourselves and say, “Oh, I shouldn’t be thinking that.” When that happens, you spiral into judging yourself more and more—and then you judge yourself for judging yourself! It quickly spins out of control. Rather than geqng into that trap, no^ce, “Oh, I’ve had a par^cular thought that’s taken me off track.” Just no^ce it and then let it go. Simply use your fluid mind to choose to get back to sparring.
You have to choose to let go. By leqng go, you actually find the control you have been seeking all along in your mental game. The sense of centeredness and complete ability to be present in this experience happens by leqng go.
You are actually leqng go of trying to run the show using your own egoic mental force. When you let go of the ego mind, you allow the body’s deep ins^nc^ve intelligence to take over, and your body’s ins^nc^ve intelligence is almost always much more effec^ve than trying to think things through in the moment. Remember, sparring is performance, and a performance always happens in the moment.
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Fluid mind happens only when you're able to be mindful-­‐in-­‐ac^on. The opposite of fluid mind is s+cky mind—when you are alaching or fusing to your thoughts—thinking that your thoughts are reality. They’re not. They never are. They are just thoughts—abstrac^ons arising and passing through your mind.
In order to cul^vate “fluid mind,” you must first learn to no^ce there’s a big difference between what you think and what you actually experience. In short, we are asking you to cul^vate “experience beyond belief.” By “experience,” we mean the feelings or sensa^ons in your body from moment to moment. Paying alen^on to whatever feelings are going on in your body grounds you. Every thought you have begins as a feeling in your body and percolates up.
Every thought is an abstrac^on—and every belief system is a mental habit. Thoughts and beliefs are mechanical. When they dominate our mind, we find ourselves running like a machine. However, experience is what happens from moment to moment to moment. It is naturally fluid like a movie, whereas thoughts are kind of sta^c, like snapshots. Consider the image where thoughts are like the cogs in the machine going click-­‐click-­‐click-­‐click-­‐click, whereas your experience is just fluidly flowing from one moment to the next. By drawing your alen^on into the ongoing process of experience, rather than geqng distracted into the mechanics of abstract thoughts, you will find you are much more effec^ve—both on the mat and in the rest of your life.
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Thoughts do not give us reality. As we’ve already men^oned, thoughts are abstrac^ons. A thought is like a frozen fragment of reality that we’ve isolated from the ongoing stream of fluid experience. An individual thought is like freeze-­‐
framing a moment in ^me. Of course, reality never stands s^ll. Like our experience, it always flows from one moment to the next. Therefore, every thought is “plucked” from the fluid steam of experience and reality, and immediately slips into the past. As soon as this moment in ^me arises, it immediately slips into the past—away from the current reality. Thoughts, then, lose contact with reality as it is now because thoughts are always rooted in the past. They are “frozen” moments abstracted from the in-­‐the-­‐moment experience of reality as it is actually happening.
When we pay alen^on to our thoughts we're actually observing past moments—frozen fragments of consciousness—and meanwhile we’re missing out on what’s actually happening in reality. Reality is always connected to the experience of what’s going on in our bodies from one moment to the next.
And that’s why it is important to cul^vate mindfulness and fluid mind— to learn to re-­‐focus our alen^on on the present moment by experiencing the sensa+ons flowing through our bodies and observing the thoughts flowing through our minds.
Every thought and every belief is a distor^on of reality. The way to get back 11
to reality is by paying alen^on to our actual embodied experience. Embodied mind grounds us right back in the reality of the moment. One of the best ways to prac^ce that, of course, is through the prac^ce of mindfulness.
Having the ability to be mindful allows you to become aware of the important difference between thinking and experience.
Being mindful means, essen^ally, developing the ability to be more aware of what’s going on from moment to moment, both in your mind and in your body, and then making a choice about where you want to direct your alen^on. Most important, to be mindful is to accept what is happening, without judgment.
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9
Breath Enlivens the Mental Game
Earlier, we men^oned that one of the four re-­‐focus goals was condi+oning. We men^oned breath, in par^cular, as a way to refocus the thinking mind into the present moment where true performance happens. But what does it mean to say “ use breath to center yourself in the present moment,” and how can that be used to supercharge your mental game? Have you no^ced that, in normal circumstances, your don’t have to do anything to take care of your breathing? It just happens naturally all on its own. Well, that’s your brain doing its job behind the scenes. However, some^mes it’s useful to take control of your breath, or at least to pay closer atten^on to it and, for example, to remember to breathe more deeply and deliberately. Your breath is one of the most effec^ve links between your mind and your brain, and, therefore, between your mind and your body. Mindfulness of your breathing, then, is a great way to relax your body and become grounded. So now, let’s take a quick look at that three-­‐pound piece of intelligent jelly inside your skull that is connected to all parts of your body through a 13
complex network of nerves. Your brain sits on top of your spine, which is the main highway for your nervous system, feeding informa^on from your peripheral nervous system (PNS) about what is happening in your body to your central nervous system (CNS) to be processed in your brain.
Your peripheral nervous system (PNS) has two parts and funcVons:
1. External. Your sensory-­‐soma+c nervous system responsible for gathering informa^on about your external environment.
2. Internal. Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) responsible for monitoring and controlling your internal organs (e.g., heart, lungs, viscera, and glands). Your ANS also affects your motor nerves that determine how your body acts and reacts in response to internal and external s^muli.
Your ANS is mostly beyond conscious control. It operates “behind the scenes,” usually unconscious and involuntary (by contrast, your sensory-­‐
soma^c system responds directly to your conscious will). The ANS, then, perceives your body’s internal environment and after informa^on is processed in the Central Nervous System (CNS), the ANS regulates the func^ons of the internal environment. Most of this is done completely unconscious. The ANS has two subdivisions: parasympathe+c and sympathe+c 14
nervous systems.
SympatheVc Nervous System. S^mula^on of the sympathe^c nervous system prepares the body for emergencies—for ”fight or flight.” It kicks into ac^on in high stress situa^ons, such as figh^ng or sparring.
Some^mes referred to as the fight-­‐or-­‐flight system, the sympathe^c nerves direct more blood to the muscles and the brain. Heart rate and blood pressure increase, while blood flow to the diges^ve and elimina^ve organs decreases.
ParasympatheVc Nervous System. Whereas the sympathe^c gears the body up for ac^on, the parasympathe^c calms it down, bringing your body back into a state of balance. The parasympathe^c balances the sympathe^c. Without the Parasympathe^c Nervous System (PNS) for balance, the sympathe^c (fight-­‐or-­‐
flight) system can overwhelm the body with an over-­‐abundance of energy causing dizziness, spaciness, confusion, fear, anxiety, or other forms of hyper-­‐
arousal and distress.
Conscious Breath. Whereas most ANS ac^ons are involuntary, some, such as breathing, work in tandem with the conscious mind. This means that focusing on the out breath (which ac^vely engages the parasympathe^c 15
nervous system) is the one tool we can use to have a direct effect on the ANS. It is the only tool we have to bring the sympathe^c nervous system down from overdrive that typically happens when sparring, where adrenaline is always present. Bottom line: Your out-­‐breath is one of the few ANS processes you can consciously control.
Importance of Breath. More and more, the medical community is realizing that sympathe^c dominance (fear/aggression response) underlies many modern-­‐day maladies, including anxiety and hypertension. While science does not yet fully understand what causes sympathe^c dominance (fight, flight, or freeze), one thing is very clear: Poor, incomplete or shallow breathing allows the sympathe^c nervous system to take over. By contrast, correct breathing balances the autonomic nervous system by ac^va^ng the parasympathe^c nervous system and calming over-­‐ac^ve sympathe^c reac^ons. As a consequence, slow, deep breathing naturally and quickly reduces internal tension, anxiety, and many other psycho-­‐
physiological challenges to health and well being that result from this imbalance.
Furthermore, if you focus on your out-­‐breath when sparring, then you are not thinking about the past or the future. Focusing on the out-­‐breath immediately brings you back into the present. Breathing always happens right 16
here and now. Even if you found yourself moving into past or future thinking, bringing yourself back to your out-­‐breath, re-­‐focuses you back in the present moment. As we have been saying throughout this ebook, only in the present moment are you free from alachment to past and future thoughts—and truly able to perform at your best.
Below is a quick breathing exercise you can use in sparring any ^me you find yourself moving away from the present moment.
Parasympathe6c Breathing Exercise
1. Focus from the heart: Breathe in and through the heart.
2. Relax breath: Keep your throat open, breath falls into your belly, ribs move with each breath. Not too deep, and not too shallow.
3. Exhale: Focus on the exhale, as this engages the parasympathetic nervous system (in-­‐breath, heart rhythm quickens; out-­‐breath, body sinking and heart slows).
4. Smooth Change: The change between breaths is gentle and slow—like an ocean wave, rolling onto shore, lingering, and then returning.
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10
Final Words
And there you have it. A solid introduc^on to an effec^ve mental game for peak sparring performance.
You have to approach your mental game training as you approach your physical training. If you working out physically six-­‐hours a week, then you should spend equal or more ^me on your mental game.
We spend so much of our life on autopilot. Training for your mental game is about coming off autopilot, and puqng yourself in the driver’s seat. It is about becoming aware of what is truly going on inside yourself. Not in a nega^ve, puqng yourself down, kind of way. Rather we want you to approach your internal game with compassion and curiosity. You have spent a life^me being condi^oned, and changing that will take ^me, and a whole lot of effort.
We wish you luck as you move forward on your inner journey of self discovery.
Rodney and ChrisVan
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About The Authors
Rodney King, M.A. RSME
Rodney holds a Masters Degree in Leading Innova^on and Change and is an Advanced Post-­‐
Graduate Student, pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Leicester. He is an interna^onally renowned mar^al arts and leadership coach. He has worked with Army Special Forces on
developing high-­‐performance mindsets during intense engagement. He has instructed law enforcement officers both in the United States and Canada on how to protect themselves when all else fails. He has worked closely with corporate execu^ves, emerging leaders, and CEOs to access their inner warrior and gain the winning edge both mentally and emo^onally to enhance their careers. Star^ng his first company at 18, he went on to develop coaching courses for modern mar^al arts, leadership development, and business success tools, now taught and used in more than 15 countries around the world. Author, husband, and father of two boys, Rodney is one of the leading experts in his field—a modern-­‐day warrior, who teaches the original inten^on of mar^al arts as a life performance tool.
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ChrisVan de Quincey, Ph.D.
Award-­‐winning author and consciousness coach Dr. Chris^an de Quincey teaches philosophy and consciousness studies at John F. Kennedy University in California. He is also founder of The Wisdom Academy, an online venue for programs and private mentorships in consciousness and transforma^on. He summarizes his life’s mission as an embodied “cellular commitment” to help others understand the mind-­‐body connec^on in ways that empower and transform lives.
Although his formal academic training is in philosophy of mind, he champions an interdisciplinary approach to consciousness. His studies and wri^ngs have covered, for example, neuroscience, cogni^ve science, anthropology, history and philosophy of science, history of philosophy, quantum physics, cosmology, theology, as well as Eastern and Western spiritual tradi^ons. Using his background in journalism, he specializes in communica^ng profound and complex ideas in accessible language without compromising the integrity of robust scholarship.
His books explore and challenge the deep assump^ons we hold about consciousness, collec^vely and individually. Exposing and engaging with our often unques^oned belief systems is not only central to any comprehensive and effec^ve program in consciousness studies, it is essen^al for transforma^on at the personal and societal level. Perhaps more than ever 20
before in human history, he says, we cri^cally need to develop tools and skills to accelerate transforma^on of our fundamental ideas about who we are and how we relate to the world around us. He teaches that unless we engage in this deep work, we are unlikely to create the kinds of solu^ons needed to sustain our communi^es and civiliza^on through the current century. Business-­‐as-­‐usual is no longer an op^on. We have reached a point in the evolu^on of our species where, it appears, we either make a profound shift in personal and collec^ve consciousness or face the prospect of wide-­‐ranging and increasingly complex crises that threaten the well being (perhaps even the survival) of our social, economic, poli^cal, educa^onal, and ecological systems. With an intention and commitment to help bring about this kind of needed change, Dr. de Quincey has teamed up with international martial arts expert and coach Rodney King to develop and offer new programs in “Embodied Intelligence” to individuals and martial art schools around the world. He can be contacted via his website: www.christiandequincey.com.
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Visit
www.embodiedmindperformance.com
for details on Embodied Mind Performance programs, or contact [email protected] to book workshops and personal coaching.
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