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

Alice: Oh, no, no. I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.

Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.

Alice: Oh, it really doesn’t matter, as long as…

Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go.

Brazilian Jiujitsu is complex. There are dozens of distinct positions, hundreds of techniques, thousands of variations. The map above shows one small version of beginning BJJ.

Despite the nebulous complexity, I know you want to get as good as possible, as quick as possible. AND … you want to have a fight plan that you can use to defeat your opponents.

The solution to both goals is the same. You need a road map of where you want to go.

Training Roadmap

(You may want to refresh your mind by re-reading the basics of MMA workout goals. )

When thinking about progressing in your training, you want to list the things you need to learn and improve on. You highlight four or five things and find techniques and tweaks to get good at them, rotating your practice evenly over a period of time to cover all the things throughly.

You review your progress, make some tweaks, and go through the cycle again. If you don’t consciously control how you train and what you techniques you choose to train, you cannot make consistent progress.

Making a game plan, especially if you’re a beginner, is fraught with pitfalls. Even if you’re fairly advanced, having a coach to help you progress is virtually a must. Which moves do you choose? Which positions and transitions?

Steven Kesting, one of the most gifted grapplering instructors I’ve come across, has 35 page pdf called “A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu”, a copy of which can be found here. It’s a solid overview of BJJ and which positions and submission you should learn first.

In his own words, Steven says

The goal of this book is NOT to teach you specific techniques – you can learn those from your instructor, your fellow students, and other resources such as books and DVDs. My goal here is to give you a basic framework to help you make sense of all the different techniques you are learning. In essence I am trying to give you a big picture which functions as a kind of filing system to help you learn more efficiently,and to access the correct technique quickly in the heat of battle.

If you want to get good at BJJ – fast – check it out. If you want to tailor your own road map, try picking a half-dozen things from the chart at the top of the page, and then learn and drill techniques that associate with them.

Fight Roadmap

When you step into the ring, its time to play by your game plan and win. If you go into a match without a concrete plan, you will be at the mercy of the opponent, forever reacting, countering, and trying to squeeze in your moves. In the BJJ Road Map linked above, Kesting has a solid progression to use when grappling.

You’re in the opponent’s Guard and break it -> Side Control -> Knee Mount -> Full Mount -> Rear Mount.

The idea is that you should always know where you’re going. It shouldn’t be a time of meditation, “Okay, I’m in side control, what now? As you progress through the chain you should try one or two submissions at each place. Immediately go for one sub, then the other, then transition into the next position. Quickly, but smoothly – 1,2,3.

Here’s a map I made for when you begin grappling from a standing position.

When you start, you’ve only got two options – so not much thinking. Fake one to set up the other. You hit the next level down and still, only a few minimal choices.

Wherever you are in a fight, you should have a pre-memorized, ready-to-fire-off technique. Limiting your options speeds up your reaction time. No hesitation.

Bang, bang, bang. The opponent should always have to be defending your constant attacks. You flow don’t the chart, constantly trying to make it worse for your opponent by gaining progressively better positioning.

Now then, memorize at least one good escape from all the disadvantageous positions, and if you find yourself there, escape back into somewhere you recognize and continue down the tech-tree.

I know I haven’t covered all avenues, but I think you get the idea. Reading the BJJ Roadmap will help fill in the gaps, then start learning techniques to plug into your game plan. Happy scheming!