Questions and Answers on Mental Training

Questions and Answers on Mental Training

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Question:
I read your testimonials and found them encouraging. However, I am curious as to whether or not you provide the same mental training for streetfighting. In my time I've heard from friends and read in magazines how martial artist “freeze up” when actually confronted with a real life threat. I am seeking a way to help people have more faith in their martial arts when it comes to applying them to self-defense situations. I am curious about the mental toughness training. Can it be applied to real life self-defense situations or is it only for sports?

Answer:
What you will achieve with Gold Medal Mental Workout depends on what goal you set for yourself. Exercises of Gold Medal Mental Workout can be adapted to any goal.

Even though Gold Medal Mental Workout is designed for sports, the mental abilities you can develop using it are the same as those needed in self-defense. These abilities are: self-assurance, concentration, and skills of relaxing and of mobilizing energy.

It is enough to substitute images of sports competition with images of self-defense in mental exercises of Gold Medal Mental Workout to prepare yourself for the unexpected situations of self-defense.

“Freezing up” may be caused by learning unrealistic techniques and by irrational training. Learning usable self-defense skills is covered in the Self-Defense Tip in Stadion News of Fall 1998.

Dariusz Nowicki
Author of Gold Medal Mental Workout, the chief coordinator of psychological preparation for all Polish Olympic teams training for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and a member of the Technical Committee of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

Question:
I am a full contact bare-knuckle fighter (Kyokushin), and think that perhaps your system [Gold Medal Mental Workout] may be of assistance to me.

Sometimes my training looks incredible when sparring and bag training and sometimes it looks incredibly bad. My coaches tell me that my technique and power is world class. I have trained with the best fighters in the world but while everything may go well on the bag in training and all the combinations may come in fast, accurate and powerful, when its time to fight in the arena, everything goes wrong mentally. Combinations don't come out and I don't listen to coaches.

If this is a problem you have seen before in other athletes, please tell me. If you see your system as one that will assist me in overcoming this mental hurdle, then by all means, let me know.

Answer:
Yes, Gold Medal Mental Workout should help you. Your problem is very common and it can be solved with mental training. A brief article “Do You Need Mental Training?” in Fall 1997 issue of Stadion News deals with this subject.

Question:
What should I do if I find myself falling asleep consistently throughout exercises 3 & 4? Should I do them earlier before going to bed or something else?

Answer:
Falling asleep during exercises 3 and 4 can be a symptom of “sleep deficit” or can be caused by performing these exercises soon after a large meal. See pages 23 and 38 of Gold Medal Mental Workout, and to find out implications of feeling drowsy or sleepy after a meal read Stadion News of Summer 1995.

The purpose of exercises 3 and 4 is to deeply relax you and to eventually teach you to reach such relaxation on your own whenever you you need it. If your body needs more sleep than it gets, then it will respond to these exercises by falling asleep.

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