You’ll see it a lot–especially in newer fighters, but in some experienced ones as well: the athlete starts to plan around what the opponent brings to the table.

Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It’s important to know the general strengths and weaknesses of who you’re fighting sometimes.  But all too often, competitors FOCUS on those strengths and put themselves in a reactive position in their attempts to deal with it.

The fact is, EVERYONE who competes against you will have some attribute or skill that is dominant over you.  If they don’t, it’s not a competition anyway, right?  

Instead of focusing on what our opponent’s bring to the table, we need to focus on what WE bring to the table.  Where are WE dominant?  What should our opponent fear about US?  How do we leverage our strengths and minimize theirs?

That is the crux of tactical planning.  

Anything else is simply a way to psyche yourself out.  To put yourself in a position of “challenger” to their “champion.”

You are the champion.  You are the dominant one.  THEY are the ones who need to fear YOU.

THAT is how you prepare for a fight.

Like anything, these mental games and preparations take practice.  We can understand them on a simple level, but to embody them takes lots of work.

Any time we change how we approach the world, it will feel uncomfortable.  It will feel alien.  It may even feel silly or “wrong.”  But growth necessitates the death of one thing so that another thing can live.  

When people ask me if they can be a successful fighter, I usually give them a stock answer.. something along the lines of “sure, just keep training, and in time anything is possible.”

However, the real answer is NO.

No, YOU cannot be a successful fighter.  The person you are now will not be successful. 

You have to break that person down, burn off all the unnecessary material, and rebuild yourself as a new person.

THAT person can be successful.

It takes a lot of work.  It takes a lot of skill.  It takes ton of painful experience.  And it absolutely takes self-focus.