By Head Coach Travis Davison
When I’m sparring with a student I can tell when they think to themselves, “I can’t do this.”
They go for a throw or a takedown, and I can feel the moment when they think to themselves, “I’m not sure I can do this.” They don’t commit and stop halfway. They are never all in.
You have to be committed to making it work. If your attitude is, “I don’t think this is going to work,” or “This doesn’t feel quite right,” then it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As SBG Montana closes in on the Wimp 2 Warrior finale, I worry about the students who have been inconsistent to class. There are always people absent, especially for cardio circuits. That’s something that could determine whether a fighter wins the round or even wins the fight.
You would think that this close to the finale there would be panic or more fire in the fighters to make sure that they are as prepared as they possibly can be.
You don’t regret anything that you prepared 100% for and tried your best.
If you do that, then there can be no regrets. There’s nothing else that you could have done in your MMA training.
What I worry about is that fighters will know that they could have done a little bit more and didn’t. That leads to regret, and I don’t want anyone to have regrets.
It’s my job to provide coaching for them and help them on their journey, but at the end of the day, I can’t intrinsically motivate them. They have to do that themselves. They have to be able to get their ass out of bed and show up.
To train for MMA you will need to commit to doing all those things that require commitment. It requires you to show up to class when you don’t necessarily want to and following through on the things that you know you need to do to be victorious.
The students who train at MMA – and succeed – have that mindset. They are the ones who do the things that other fighters aren’t willing to do, whether that’s cardio, changing their diet, or putting in extra hours of training.
In fighting, if you’re going to do something, then you’ve got to do it all the way. You can’t half-ass it. You have to follow through.
Instead, tell yourself, “I can do this.”
If you’re not at your best and you’re staring down a tough workout, tell yourself, “I can do this.”
When you go for a throw, a takedown, or a choke, tell yourself, “I can do this.”
If you’re going for a knockout and you tell yourself, “I’m going to run right through that dude,” guess what’s going to happen? You’re going to put a hole in him.
Every single time.
