The Mind Coach: The UK’s Eamonn Madden
March 11, 2010
by Seymour Yang
For most BJJ students, preparing for a tournament usually involves a lot more mat time, more conditioning, drilling and generally more physical effort. But for a growing number of competitors, not just in BJJ but also in many other sports, mental preparation is equally important. For these sportsmen and women sports hypnosis and mental performance coaching has helped them gain an extra edge over other competitors. Seymour Yang went to meet Eamonn Madden, a UK-based BJJ coach and a mental performance coach who uses his techniques in the class.
The FightWorks Podcast: Hi Eamonn, please introduce yourself for the Mighty 600,000?
Eamonn Madden: Sure, my name is Eamonn Madden and I am a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Felipe Souza and I am one of the head instructors at the ‘BJJ School’ academies. I have been training BJJ for over ten years and I am also a professional mental performance coach.
The FightWorks Podcast: Explain what you mean by ‘mental performance’ coach?
Eamonn Madden: Well I believe that for any athlete, whether they are an elite Olympic player or just an regular recreational player, the ability to perform to their maximum ability in their sport is 80-90% due to their mental preparation and state of mind. What I do is to use various tools that enable these players and athletes to improve their performance, or overcome a sticking point in their development.
The FightWorks Podcast: So what tools do you use?
Eamonn Madden: The main tools that I find really work well with my clients are a blend of sports hypnosis and NLP – neural linguistic programming. I view it as the equivalent of installing new ’software’ for the brain.
The FightWorks Podcast: Really? You can literally reprogram the brain, like some sort of computer?
Eamonn Madden: Kind of, I prefer to use the term ‘reroute’. If, for example, someone had a negative association with an incident that occured in the past and it was catalogued in their subconscious, and ever since that time it had hindered their performance, then NLP and hypnosis can get to the root of that problem and alter the person’s association by working directly with the subconscious.
The FightWorks Podcast: If I can try to understand correctly, you mean you actually alter a person’s memory?
Eamonn Madden: No,no I can’t alter a person’s memory, but I do change the feelings associated with that memory. I like to use the analogy of a bouncer on the door of a club – he is the barrier between the conscious part of the brain and the subconscious. Usually the bouncer chooses who he lets in and who he stops from entering. But what hypnosis does is to distract the bouncer so he looks away, and that allows me to sneek in and do my work.
The FightWorks Podcast: Can you give examples of how a past incident can affect a person’s sporting performance?
Eamonn Madden: Something that I see a lot with high level athletes is where a previous coach or parent has been their principle coach when they were younger and they used a lot of misunderstood coaching methods. Examples of this could include shouting or being really hard – experiences where nothing the kid did seemed to be good enough. This kind of memory is stored in the subconscious and can hinder their performace as an adult because whatever result they achieve, they believe that it is never their best. So my job is the break down the barriers they have and destroy any limiting beliefs.
The FightWorks Podcast: How did you get involved in this field in the first place?
Eamonn Madden: Since I began jiu-jitsu, my father was always there to watch me compete, every match he was there right up until I was a purple belt. But then he passed away to cancer and after that, I found it really hard to get back my passion and desire to compete. I would enter tournaments but there would always be some sort of last minute injury that would stop me. In the end, I went to see a sports hypnotist and with his assistance I identified that I was subconsiously self-sabotaging myself in order to avoid the tournament.
The FightWorks Podcast: And you had no idea you were doing this?
Eamonn Madden: No, absolutely not until after only a few sessions and then it dawned on me that this was the reason behind my untimely injuries. After that revelation, I continued some more sessions and the more I learned about this area, the more I got interested into it as something I could do to help others.
So I studied all the books I could find and participated in training courses under some very top level guys in the field.
The FightWorks Podcast: Like who?
Eamonn Madden: I studied one on one under KC Johnson in New York, who is an amazing guy. He works with a lot of athletes and wrestlers and taught me a lot of what I use today. More recently I’ve had the privilege to train under Chris Howard, who is one of the biggest names in the mental performance field, and is also a passionate BJJ Brown Belt who trains under Rorion and Rickson Gracie.
The FightWorks Podcast: A lot of people might think what you do is a bit dubious; how do you react to critics?
Eamonn Madden: It really doesn’t bother me, I just laugh! Any criticism is just based on lack of knowledge. What I do is not the stage hypnosis you see on TV. Everyday I get comments from students or new guys who say to me “that stuff ain’t gonna work on me” or “you’re not gonna make me bark like a dog” and they have no idea I am already working on their limiting beliefs just with conversation.
The FightWorks Podcast: Who have you worked with so far?
Eamonn Madden: My clients come from all sorts of backgrounds but I specialise in sports and combat sports in particular, obviously because of my own training background. Right now I am working closely with UFC fighter Nick Osipczak.
The FightWorks Podcast: How did you help Nick?
Eamonn Madden: In the build-up to his last fight with Matt Riddle, one of the recurring things that Nick would think about is the fact that his opponent had an extensive wrestling background, and this thought grew in Nick’s mind.
But it was very easy to break down these barriers and I used chess metaphors to do this, since Nick is a really big chess player. I got him to visualise his fight in terms of chess strategy. He was also aware that his opponent had a track record of always going the distance in his fights, and again, we reframed that barrier by turning that thought around. In other words, we got Nick to realise that this ‘lasting the distance’ issue actually meant that his opponent could never finish a fight. I turned a negative into a positive for Nick and it really worked. As part of our preparation, we slow-motioned and fast-forwarded the entire three rounds of the fight under hypnosis.
The FightWorks Podcast: Nick got a great result in the end didn’t he?
Eamonn Madden: Yeah! At UFC 105 Nick totally dominated Riddle tactically and the ref had to stop the fight. He will be fighting on UFC 112 and we’re working together again specifically for this fight.
The FightWorks Podcast: Have you worked with any BJJ athletes?
Eamonn Madden: Oh yes, quite a few. Daniel Agard, for example, came to me as he needed to get over his extreme physical nervousness before a tournament.
The FightWorks Podcast: Surely nervousness before a match is normal?
Eamonn Madden: No it’s not! I mean Daniel was feeling physically nauseous days before a match and it was preventing him reaching his full potential on the mat. What I’m saying, is that this is something that you can reroute and utilise. Stimulating arousual is certainly important for a professional athlete, but not nausea.
The FightWorks Podcast: So how did you manage to solve his problem?
Eamonn Madden: With Daniel, I used a tool called an ‘emotion thermometer’ which controls the arousual level. We also used ‘future pacing where, with hypnosis, we fast forward through all match senarios to the desired outcome – such as holding up his gold medal or standing on the winners podium and other positive situations where Daniel is in control. This helped deal with his nervousness. Then we anchored certain ‘word-triggers’ into his subconscious mind. When that word-trigger is spoken, either by himself, or by another person coaching him, it acts to fire him up at the right time. We call this a ‘resource anchor’ where you can control your physical and mental state gaining instant confidence and readiness to fight.
The FightWorks Podcast: How has Daniel improved since working with you?
Eamonn Madden: Daniel has achieved awesome results since we began working together. For example, he recently won the UK ADCC World Pro BJJ Cup trials, so he’s off to Abu Dhabi where he will continue to use his ‘triggers’. Daniel loves his ability to switch on or off for a fight. He actually said to me, “now I want you to make me psycho!!!” [laughs]
The FightWorks Podcast: Do you use resource anchors yourself?
Eamonn Madden: Oh yes I use them daily. I used them moments before you arrived in fact. I wanted to get myself in the right state of mind to do give a good interview!
The FightWorks Podcast: If I came to you and said I was suffering from, let’s say, claustophobia, what would you do to help me?
Eamonn Madden: Whenever I work with any new client, I always talk to them in depth about their barrier and I like to find out the exact point or as close as possible at which their problem occurred. Once we can establish the incident or event that coincided with the onset of their claustrophobia, then we work from there using the techniques discussed previously. Something like claustrophobia can easily be erased and that change can in certain situations happen as quickly as twenty minutes to an hour of a session with me.
The FightWorks Podcast: Do you use your tools when teaching a normal group class?
Eamonn Madden: Yes I use conversational hypnosis all the time in class. When I teach BJJ, I like to use metaphors and ‘yes settings’ a lot. For example I’ll ask the question: “Is this good? Yes or yes?” and the students can only answer ‘yes’ and it puts them in a positive state before practicing the technique. These types of ‘mental jiu jitsu’ tricks are really just ways of me assisting the outcome so both the student and I can get the result we desire, I must make this clear though it is ALL for the benefit of the students.
When I teach, my aim is to install jiu-jitsu techniques into the students’ subconscious. Once there, it really speeds the learning process. Students don’t waste time thinking about what they have to do, it just comes out!
I also use open and closed loops when instructing. This is when I open up by beginning a story or anecdote, but then I’ll stop and teach a technique, then later on I’ll finish the story, and close the loop. But what happens is that the information inside that loop is stored by the students in their subconscious. I’ve essentially wrapped up that technique as one easily remembered unit for them. When you see my white belt beginners, you’ll see they’ve picked up techniques so well and really grown in confidence.
The FightWorks Podcast: Can you give a tip for the readers on how to improve the mental side of their performance?
Eamonn Madden: Construct your own resource anchor. Spend a few minutes and think back to a time in your past where you achieved something good or worthy. Remember this feeling, close your eyes and light that feeling up in your neurology. Now fire an anchor – maybe clench your fist or squeeze two fingers together – anything that you want or works for you, and that will be your resource anchor you can use whenever you need it. And you don’t have to stop there, you can have several resource anchors and ’stack’ them up. It really works.
The FightWorks Podcast: If someone is interested in your help, how would they contact you?
Eamonn Madden: I have a website: www.sportmental.co.uk, all they have to do is fill in the online form and I will arrange with them for a free 15 minute consultation which is done over the phone. I really believe that I can help a person perform to 100 percent of their ability
The FightWorks Podcast: Thanks Eamonn, good luck with your training and your mental coaching career.
Eamonn Madden: Thanks Seymour, it’s been a real pleasure.
Seymour Yang is a BJJ purple belt training at the Mill Hill Roger Gracie Academy and he also writes the BJJ blog: www.meerkatsu.com
#201 Chris Moriarty and Balance in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
March 7, 2010
Chris Moriarty
Chris Moriarty is an Alliance black belt under Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti. As a brown belt, Moriarty won the heavyweight division of International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s World Championship two consecutive years, as well as the Pan-Ams.
With such a fearsome record, Moriarty is a veteran of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, having competed in one year as many as 16 times. He has been giving advice to listeners of The FightWorks Podcast going all the way back to 2006.
Today we are going to examine balance in BJJ. Not the ability to maintain one’s balance on the mats when sparring, training, or competing against an opponent, but making sure that we do not push ourselves too hard in jiu-jitsu so that we eventually neglect other important aspects of our lives. It may seem impossible. On The FightWorks Podcast we generally endorse the idea that one can never get enough Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, like anything, too much of a good thing can be bad. We explore this in BJJ with Chris Moriarty and discuss ways to make sure we keep balance in BJJ.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
BJJ Poll: How Flexible Are You?
March 6, 2010
Many assume flexibility is increased when you practice martial arts. I mean, don’t all martial arts people sit down in those machines that crank your legs wider and wider so you can kick better? (I kid.)
Flexibility in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a curious thing however. It certainly has a big effect on how one’s BJJ game develops. Lots of folks who favor playing on the bottom seem more inclined to be flexible, and use this in setting up some unique submissions. Ryan Hall’s early years in competition are a good example.
Similarly, some who are less flexible seem to favor the top passing game.
How about you? How flexible are you? We know that being able to touch one’s toes is not the ultimate measure of flexibility, but a simple indicator we can use in a poll to start the discussion. Let us know what you think in the poll and comments below!
#200 Royler Gracie
February 28, 2010
Royler at Gracie Competition Team.
Four and a half years ago, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu internet radio show called The FightWorks Podcast began. The show began as a project at FightWorks in Northern Virginia, and here we are at our 200th episode!
We celebrate this occasion with an interview from Royler Gracie, Helio Gracie’s fifth son and renowned competitor for Gracie Humaita. Royler has relocated to San Diego, California and when he is not travelling, he can be found at Gracie Competition Team where he sometimes teaches and sometimes just comes to train.
Thank you for the questions you sent in to us to our twitter page! In addition the questions you asked about competition, training, what’s going on at Gracie Humaita in Rio, we will also learn about his eventual promotion to red and black belt and much more.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
Students observe Royler showing guard tactics.
BJJ Poll: Do You Think the Average Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament Referee is Biased?
February 27, 2010
People get very emotional about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It is natural when you care about something so much. Anyone who has been to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament can attest to how passionate the crowd is. Everyone has someone they are rooting for out there on the mats. Even if you don’t know one of the competitors, maybe you want one or the other to win because it affects your team’s chances for success that day.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu referees are just like the rest of us: they have friends on multiple BJJ teams, and they likely have trained with someone who knows someone in the match they are watching over. But by definition a referee is supposed to be absolutely neutral in their work. They can show no preference to one BJJ competitor over the other.
What do you think? In your experience is the average BJJ referee biased or neutral? Don’t base your response on one bad experience!
Thanks to RG, one of the Mighty 600,000 for suggesting this week’s poll!
Alliance’s Fernando Soluco does not agree with the referee’s decision in his match against Gracie Humaita’s Rafael Lovato Jr at the 2009 BJJ World Championship.
#199 Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes
February 21, 2010
Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes. Image courtesy Draculino.
Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes is one of Gracie Barra’s big names, having trained since 1985 alongside Carlos Gracie Junior and Renzo Gracie. After beginning judo as a youngster in Rio de Janeiro, he went on to take up surfing as many young men do. Through surfing he met Renzo and Ralph Gracie, and began training jiu-jitsu in 1985. Draculino originally intended to become a lawyer in adulthood but as we know now, he set that aside and concentrated on competing in jiu-jitsu and producing students who would become champions. Draculino has produced such talent as Romulo Barral, Albert Crane, and Samuel Braga.
In addition to telling us stories of the old days in Rio, Draculino introduces his brand new online BJJ training platform called Draculino BJJ Training.
Also in this episode we will discuss the unprecedented closure of last week’s BJJ poll, and introduce our newest poll.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
BJJ Poll: What Policy Does Your BJJ School Have About Gi Color?
February 20, 2010
This one came to us from one of the Mighty 600,000 who called our toll free number 877-247-4662 and asked about what colors Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners are allowed to wear at their schools. He asked:
I visited other websites from other schools, and I noticed that some of them are traditional white gi schools only. I’d like to know how many schools are just that, where they only do the traditional white gi.
Let us know what it’s like at your school in the poll above, and feel free to leave a comment below!
Robin Gracie and the Spread of Jiu-Jitsu in Spain
February 17, 2010
Robin Gracie (right) with his nephew Kron Gracie (left). Image courtesy Robin Gracie.
Robin Gracie is the youngest of Helio Gracie’s sons, and the only one of them to settle in Europe. In this exchange we hear straight from Robin and his academy in Barcelona about the popularity of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Spain.
The FightWorks Podcast: How long have you lived in Spain?
Robin Gracie: I arrived in Spain in December 1997, a little over 12 years ago.
The FightWorks Podcast: When you left Brazil to live in Spain, did you know you would remain there for so long?
Robin Gracie: I did not know exactly what I would find here. The only thing I knew was that BJJ was little-known or unknown in Spain.
The FightWorks Podcast: You were one of the first to offer jiu-jitsu in Spain. What was it like in those early years?
Robin Gracie: There were only a few curious folks who surfed around the web, which was not as used back then as it is today, and there were martial arts magazines but there were no instructors. I was the only one. All of my students were of course white belts and did not have anyone to train hard with.
The FightWorks Podcast: How would you describe the Spanish who train jiu-jitsu? How are they similar to Brazilians and how are they different?
Robin Gracie: The truth is that there is a lot of diversity among them, from humble workers to famous businessmen. I believe something similar happens in the United States. In my gym there are many foreigners. I believe 30% or 40% are. In Europe it is very easy to get around by train, car or plan. You can be anywhere quickly. The Spanish, being Latinos, are as impulsive as the Brazilians but when it comes time to train are somewhat more explosive and they look for a faster pace, maybe because of the cold there is in the winter.
The FightWorks Podcast: How do you see the spread of jiu-jitsu in Spain today?
Robin Gracie: After all these years the BJJ community has grown and now there are gyms everywhere. The number of competitions has increased as well and people are looking for more information about our martial art all the time.
The FightWorks Podcast: Did you attend the 2010 IBJJF European Championship? What did you think?
Robin Gracie: Yes, it is always growing. It seems like every time there are more mats out and more competitors. The only bad thing in my opinion are the details in the rules that change every year and they confuse the coaches, fighters, and referees, who in the end make mistakes. I think they should not change the rules more than every five years to give everyone a chance to understand them before changing them.
The FightWorks Podcast: Your father, Helio Gracie, passed away in January of 2009. Do you have any favorite memories of your time with him?
Robin Gracie: Since I came to Spain I would only see him on my vacations in Brazil when I got the opportunity to visit him in his house in the mountains. I remember that even in his final years he liked to put on the gi and train. He did not speak or think about anything other than jiu-jitsu.
The FightWorks Podcast: What is your favorite thing about Spain?
Robin Gracie: Of all European countries, Spain is the warmest and also the one with the most beaches, where it rains and snows the least, and the people are friendliest. Perhaps it is the Brazil of Europe. That is why I like it.
The FightWorks Podcast: Thanks Robin! Gracias! Obrigado!
Robin Gracie: Thank you Caleb.
Tournament Review Tuesday: Ouano International Open
February 16, 2010
by Andrew Kuiland
Our team was looking for a good local tournament to help build some momentum for the upcoming Pan Ams. We found the Ouano Invitational online at iCompete.org. This was a fledgling inaugural tournament put on by some of the guys from the BJJ Revolution Team so we thought it would be perfect for what we wanted.
As I signed up I noticed that the Masters division only had 4 weight classes which I thought to be clever since I am happier to have more people in a bracket with me than not. I did think to myself though how sorry I felt for those in the next class up from me that was 200lbs +. After enrolling I realized that the weigh ins for this event would be taking place the day before at one of two locations. This can sometimes be nice but for me it meant I had to go a little out of my way on a Friday night, while I was so solidly in the middle of my weight class that it would be hard for me to miss weight. My teammate also had to go weigh in for the over 200lbs when he is a very comfortable 260lbs. Alternatively we were presented with the option of weighing in at the tournament before 9am, but we were not scheduled to fight until after 2pm. We did weigh in the night before and all went well.
The day of the fight was a beautiful Saturday in Southern California. It was finally back up to a nice 75 degrees and sunny after a few weeks of gloom and rain. Yes this was a going to be a good day to fight. As we pulled up to the event everybody’s faces seem to reflect the same feelings.
While checking in the brackets were posted outside on the table. I noticed that they had further combined some brackets. They put the masters cruiser and heavy weights together. This meant that the weight class was now 180lbs +. I questioned this, not because I didn’t understand it was a smaller tournament, but because I was now in the same division as my 7’ 260lb teammate. I did offer to them that had I thought this would be the case I would have happily competed in the adults light heavy as I have done many other times. The organizers were very understanding and cool about the situation but couldn’t fit me in my normal weight class. They did offer me to fight in the Adults Super Heavy as a consolation as well as leaving me in the master’s bracket with my teammate, so I accepted.
As I wound my way into the building I could see that MT SAC had an older gym, but it was going to be plenty spacious for the event. In the center of the area were slightly older tattered looking wrestling mats with improvised tape to separate the fighting areas. I wasn’t sure about the surface but the space allotted for each match was generous and the coaches were provided seats at mat side for coaching their team.
There were fixed bleachers on either side of the gym so a good view was guaranteed to all. There was also plenty of seating for the spectators to keep comfortable, which suited my wife and kids nicely. I was also told after the fact that snacks were cheap and the BBQ was good too.
We had arrived just in time to see the black belts fighting, so I sat back and took in some good matches while I waited for the blue belts to be called down to the warm up area. I thought it was great seeing the purple, brown and black belts scheduled before the white belts, I still can’t figure out though why the blue belts would be last though. I know its just not the way its normally done, but it seems like giving deference to the higher ranks in order might be a great sign of respect.
We were scheduled to fight as blue belts at 2pm and were finally called down to the bull pen at about 3pm. 1 hour behind schedule though seemed pretty tolerable to me though given that it was the end of the day. Once called to the warm up area I only had to wait about 15 minutes or so until my first match so I was quite happy about that. I also found that the wrestling mats were pretty soft and was plenty happy to fight on them over the normal tatami mats or rubber puzzle mats despite the appearance.
The fights carried on in an efficient manner and the officiating was fair and accurate. I was sad to see that a couple people did get injured and there wasn’t much proper medical attention around to tend to them. In one instance a competitor turned out to be a fire department emergency medical technician and offered his services to get the guy set. Fortunately though nobody got hurt really bad so this was not too much of an issue.
Overall I was pretty pleased with tournament and if held again next year I will happily attend again. I would hope though that the event planners grow from this first time around and fine tune the weigh ins and weight classes a little better.
Andrew Kuiland is a blue belt at Global Jiu-Jitsu in Costa Mesa and trains under Professor Marcelo Carvalho and Master Joe Moreira.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast.
- Caleb
Last Chance to Participate in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Research
February 16, 2010
The path to black belt is rewarding. Here, Gracie Barra black belts at a graduation ceremony.
Back in episode number 193 of our show we introduced Alex Rosenstein, a graduate student in psychology who is working on his thesis. He is comparing personality traits among Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners and the general population. His research will help us understand how much BJJ helps us become better versions of ourselves. We all feel like BJJ makes us happier and healthier, but this investigation will quantify how much that is true (if at all!).
Rosenstein will stop collecting data at the end of this month, so please, if you have not already, please participate in his study by taking his online survey. It will only take about a half hour and you’ll be contributing to a better understanding of what Brazilian jiu-jitsu is!
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