When learning a martial art there are always things a person can do to better themself.  While many people think that training for mixed martial arts requires only training of the body, experts know that this is not always the case.  Most people know that perfection in martial arts comes with practice, training and sparing but did you know that it also requires exercising the mind?  Listed below are 5 ways you can use your mind to help you become a better fighter.

1.   Unclog your ears: “The first rule to perfect your Jiu-Jitsu is to never be deaf to other people’s knowledge,” says Renzo Gracie. You can learn a move from just about anybody.  Even if you’re a black belt and a white belt shows you something new, don’t dismiss it.  ”When you don’t allow yourself to accept any other form of knowledge, you become a limited professor,” he teaches.

2.   Set short term goals: Setting goals helps in the evaluation and control of what you are practicing in the training. Ze Mario Sperry states, “The ideal is that the fighter defines what he wants. Afterwards, find ways to get there, reckoning the time necessary to reach it.” By setting short term goals a fighter can set and reach attainable goals to help evaluate their own progress.

3.   Think 2 moves ahead: Much like the game of chess, Jiu Jitsu is a game of strategy and you must always think two steps ahead.  Two-time world open champion Amaury Bitetti says “an attacking position during the fight must always be connected to other future positions whose objective is the submission.” Thinking two moves ahead will definitely help you win many fights.

4.   Learn from defeat: Many fighters only see the negative in losing a fight but there are many positives that can be pulled from it as well.  First “there is no such thing as winning and losing, but only winning and learning” says Leonardo Vieira.  If viewed properly the losses are fundamental in developing a fighter’s character as well as making the fighter harder to defeat the next time.

5.   Know thy self: Self-evaluation can help you know yourself better, giving you a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.  By understanding your own virtues and flaws you can better prepare for a fight and understand what you must work harder on in practice to become a better fighter.  By utilizing self-evaluation you will come to the understanding of what it means to “know thyself, “as Shakespeare once said.

Tags: dom fight gear, figher, fight, fighting, Jiu Jitsu, Jiu Jitsu Gear, Jiu Jitsu Gi, Jiu Jitsu Kimono, martial art, martial arts, mixed martial arts, MMA Apparel, MMA Events, mma gear, MMA Shirts, submission, UFC Fighters, UFC Gear, UFC Tournament Gear

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 10:29 pm and is filed under Jiu Jitsu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.