Hello mates.

During our latest training run, Sebastian and I went swimming. Well, more accurately we went through some shallow streams, lay down and performed a variety of pushups, sits ups, squats, crawls through the mud, and generally made ourselves as uncomfortable as possible.

And it was all my idea…. Why would I do that to him? Or myself for that matter?

Simply put, Sebastian has all of the physical attributes needed to become the professional fighter he aspires to be.

He has recently recovered from breaking his hand during a fight he dominated and now we don’t have a whole lot of time before his next opponent. The fact that he is in great shape to begin with, (he is only a few pounds above his fighting weight even in his down time) means we don’t necessarily need to dedicate a vast amount of time and effort to getting him, “into shape”.

This is good because we wouldn’t have time to achieve that if this wasn’t the case.

So how do you improve someone who is already there physically?

I’m going to do it by working on his mental game; I’m going to put him through the ringer, mentally speaking. I will train him physically, too. But improvements in this arena, in this time frame, will be measured in miniscule amounts….but mentally – phew, in a couple of months you can practically brainwash someone: if you were so inclined…

Which, of course, I am just so inclined to do! Hahaha.

Fighting, much like life, becomes a state of mind. It’s easy to remain upbeat, positive, and enthusiastic when it’s all going your way. But what happens when you find yourself pinned down and on the receiving end of an onslaught of blows?

Metaphorically speaking, this represents life all too well.

I want him to develop the sort of mental toughness that can only be forged upon the anvil of pain and suffering. And I’m going to smile at him while I do it!

There are categories of fighter just as there are divisions between characteristics in people.

There are fighters that fight to win.

There are fighters that fight not to lose.

And there are fighters that just love to fight.

Believe me when I say, you can tell from watching certain fights which category a fighter falls into within minutes.

Of course, to some degree, you’d assume all fighters enjoy fighting, or why would they do it? Well, for some it’s a lack of options. For others they determined through trial and error they had a knack or talent for a certain style of unarmed combat. Usually this begins during childhood sports, like Judo or wrestling in High School.

Sebastian is a fighter who fights to win.

I asked him what option “B” was if he was unsuccessful in winning his next few fights and then turning “pro”. He thought about it for a moment before he answered, then he said,

“There is no option “B”. This works or I fail. There is NO backup plan.”

This was enlightening. With no option “B” there is a chance that desperation can set in. That the individual concerned wants success so badly they fold under the pressure. They think constantly about the, “what ifs” inherent with falling short and then that becomes the unconscious focus.

They literally sabotage their own chances of succeeding.

Sometimes the opposite is true. With no options available, the person gives up thinking about failure completely and begins only visualizing themselves as the winner, of their success, pure and simple.

I explained to Sebastian what I was going to do and why before we left for our first training run: Of course, telling someone that you are going to push them to their mental limits, and actually experiencing it, are worlds apart. Initially he seemed quite optimistic and enthusiastic, two admirable traits I thought!

Part of the process of developing someone’s mental toughness involves them being a part of the process – I needed him to be mentally prepared for what was to come, because if the reasoning is absent, human nature dictates they will rebel against the “system.”

This became apparent to me during Commando training. The first few weeks were not much more than getting pushed around and deprived of sleep. It was not very exciting, and it certainly didn’t scream this is the elite training program for some of England’s most distinguished soldiers. In fact, it seemed like a whole bunch of bullshit to be honest.

Ironically, it wasn’t until I heard the grumblings of other recruits, commenting about how they didn’t join up for this, that it became apparent to me as to why we were being treated worse than cattle.

Those types of recruits just wanted to get to shooting and blowing things up. But, the powers that be aren’t going to waste untold amounts of money on teaching the “good stuff” until they are sure you have the right temperament for the job.

A lack of sleep is a surefire way to find out who really wants to be there, and who’s there just for the glory.

Those that began rebelling against the system didn’t last long; which was the point.

 No one was explaining this during the early part of training and for good reason. If you need to be hand held and coached into wanting to stay, why the hell would they want to keep you. The military needs self motivated individuals who won’t fold when it’s mucky.

As for Sebastian, we don’t have time for a bunch of psychological games. In this instance, it serves my purposes more succinctly just to tell him why we are doing what we are doing.

I’m not trying to weed out anyone from a group of many wannabe’s. I’m on board with him to help. Better for him to understand my thought processes from the outset and not start butting heads in the first place, thus wasting valuable time and energy.

And so it was that he suffered. Of course I’m doing what he’s doing right alongside, but I’m a little bit different, in case you hadn’t noticed. LOL.

It is much more difficult to complain about having to do something when the person telling you to do it, is right alongside you suffering too.

So the question is,

“How does what I’m making him do now fit into the bigger picture of developing his mental toughness?”

“How does this sort of suffering begin to mold someone into being the guy that won’t freeze when things get tough, frightening, or downright nasty?”

“And why was it that the Doctor who arrived on the scene of the pedestrian accident panicked first, and acted a distant second?”

The reasons might surprise you. I know the way you condition yourself not to panic will be enlightening, and that’s what we’ll continue covering tomorrow.

Until then,

Cheers!

Terry.

http://www.highintensityteambuilding.com