Believe and Achieve aka Visualization and Positive Self Talk

Alright, so I stole the title from our amazing team head instructors, the Mendes brothers. But, they are right on the money with the phrase so I decided to borrow it.

 If you haven't read the first post in this series make sure you do! It introduces the mental side of the fight game and goal setting.

Visualization and positive self talk really go together nicely. Basically, visualization is watching videos of yourself doing what your game plan is in your head, over and over and over. There's a bit more to it, but that's the basics. Positive self talk is basically telling yourself that you can do it, of course, there is more to that too.

Visualization

This is something you can do any time, anywhere. Visualize yourself doing all aspects of your game plan from start to end. Watch yourself start the match, slap hands, pull guard, and set up your sweep or sub.  Watch your hand being raised at the end of the match.  All in your head of course ;)

It's important to visualize things on the high level, like I just described, and also on the more detailed level.  Think about and visualize exactly where your grips are going to be, exactly where your feet are going, how you break their balance, and so on.

So take 5 minutes before or after class, or while you're waiting for the bus, or brushing your teeth and do some visualization :)

Positive Self Talk

Basically, this is you not being negative. It's believing in yourself, and reinforcing that belief by telling it to yourself.  This is something you can do while you are working on your visualization, and before your matches to get you into the right mind set.   Some examples of this are "No one has trained as much as I have for this", "I will get the triangle set up I have been working on", "It will be my hand raised at the end of the match".

If both of these concepts are new to you, it'll probably feel weird at first, but give them a chance, try to spend a few minutes every day on each and you will feel less weird pretty quick. :)  And even if it does seem weird, do it anyway, and keep at it. It'll help improve your game and mind set quickly!

So these two tools will help you get your brain on track and help you get focused and ready for competitions and other challenges.   Like goal setting, these concepts can be applied to all things in your life, not just jiu jitsu.  They can be applied to your general fitness goals, school goals, and life goals.