When I was in high school, I had no interest whatsoever in “mind power.”
I thought the keys to my eventual success came down to the following key factors:
1. Strength
2. Stamina
3. Superior Technique
Notice that all of the above are PHYSICAL.
As a freshman on the University of Iowa wrestling team, a powerhouse unit that won 15 NCAA team titles in 21 years, my thinking was permanently altered about the role of the mind in sports… and for the better.
That was in 1981.
So today, when I see coaches who think that success in sports is all about mastering the physical, I shake my head in disbelief.
How can they be that far behind?
Are they ignorant or stubborn or both?
Or have they never been exposed to it, so they don’t know?
Frankly, I learned these winning ways so long ago that I am stunned when I hear fellow coaches scoff.
Adding further to my disbelief is the fact that I began studying martial arts in 1991. In my study of all these exotic “eastern” arts, my knowledge about the mind/body/brain connection went to another level.
I learned how it’s not just the mind and the body. There is another component that is not only most readily accessible to all of us – it is also the most important in helping an athlete acquire the “intangibles” that no one else can accurately point out.
If you are thinking it might have something to do with breathing, you would be correct.
But it is not “just” breathing. If it were, there would by nothing much to it and nothing to teach or discuss.
Fact is…
The way you breathe influences your ability to relax as well as your ability to rev up the engine, to be focused and “motivated.”
How you breathe helps you get stronger, faster, quicker and move with more agility or flexibility.
How you breathe affects your balance, your coordination, timing and rhythm.
How you breathe can lighten the stress you feel – it can transform fear and self-doubt into purposeful power.
This is why you are going to see more information on this subject in the Furey Faithful over the next several months.
And quite possibly, a full-blown seminar on this subject very soon.
Take a deep breath – let it out – and have a butt-kicking week.
Matt Furey
