Archive for January, 2010

Stress

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

OK so today we are going to look at stress. Many Boxers won’t admit to it but can suffer from stress throughout their personal life and their careers.

Stress is a massive problem in the sporting world, celebrity world and executive world, especially at the top levels. Pressure to perform, pressure from management, press etc etc, this all builds up into a massive ball of stress and anxiety that can lead to a multitude of issues.

Back and neck ache
headaches
pain killer addiction
cocaine and cannabis addiction
stomach ulcers
depression
alcoholism
etc etc

The key thing to do with stress is acknowledge you are stressed!!!!

You MUST slow down your schedule.
Eat healthily (fruit, veg, white meat, nuts, seeds and water)
Walk around nature (parks, countryside etc)
Also water places are great sea side, lakes etc (try it)
Say NO (to people who are pushing you)
Allow yourself time if you are pushing yourself.

The best thing for stress is the Holistic approach, not tablets.

Hypnotherapy is great, NLP is good but also massage, aromatherapies and a great interest to take up is Yoga as this is a form of hypnosis.

GET THE MENTAL EDGE

Michael Darbyshire is a Guest Writer for our Boxing Website



Ricky Hatton Comeback with a little help from Joe Gallagher

Friday, January 15th, 2010

ricky-hatton-comeback

Rumours have been circulating that Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton is going for another fight before he retires and has been considering Joe Gallagher to help him get in shape.

Everyone is talking about a potential comeback for Ricky Hatton this year with Marquez as a possible opponent, but due to Ricky’s lost confidence in Mayeather Snr as a trainer he is looking towards Britains own Joe Gallagher! Joe Gallagher is often regarded as Britains top trainer and already taken over Hattons old Gym, the Phoenix Camp Gym.

The Phoenix Camp Gym has already been renamed ‘Gallagher’s’ but the Gym ethos and training style has remained as it was in Hatton’s day. Gallagher already has a business relationship with Ricky Hatton, has claimed hehas a plan to get Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton back to the top, saying,

“With fighters like Ricky it’s not a case of teaching them new things. It’s about reminding them what they do best.”

Hatton has always ‘let himself go’ a little bit between fights giving himself a new nickname of Ricky Fatman with the joke of ‘who ate all the pies’ so getting Ricky back into shape to be fight ready is always a struggle, and Hatton needs a trainer that can help him get back into shape without putting too much of a strain on himself. But Hatton is a motivated fighter and once training starts, Hatton will be focused into losing the extra 50-60 pounds necessary to make his fighting weight.

There are always rumours surrounding Hatton and comebacks as he is such a popular fighter, but if he does I am sure Gallagher will be a good choice of trainer!



NLP Technique

Friday, January 15th, 2010

OK today I’m going to give you an NLP technique I use with clients that are having problems with inconfidence.

NLP are very powerful and although they seem very simple they actually work on the subconscious mind, where all our memories, feelings etc are stored like a big hard drive. So if we re-write the hard drive, the program we work on changes.

Simple right?

So lets do the technique, by the way this is est read out by a training partner, to work on you and vice versa.

1 Imagine a slightly more confident you standing in front of you.

2 When you have a clear image, I want you to step into that more confident you. See through their eyes, hear through their ears and feel the feelings of your more confident self.

3 Now notice that in front of you is an even more confident you – standing a little bit taller, a look of slightly more self-belief behind their eyes, emanating a little more extra charisma.

4 Step into this more confident self, and notice that in front of you is an even more confident self – more passion, more power, more ease and moving with more comfort.

5 Repeat step three, stepping into a more and more confident you until you are overflowing with confidence. Notice how you are using your body – how you are breathing, the expression on your face and the ight in your eyes.

Ok that is NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) some people are scared of the mind side of sport, this is how simple it is. Enjoy this technique and keep doing it either by reading through it on your own or with your training partners.

You will find you change instantly and the more you do it the more easier it will be to feel more confident. Let me know the results after a few tries at this.

GET THE MENTAL EDGE

Michael Darbyshire is a Guest Writer for our Boxing Website



Boxing Websites

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

martinmurray
The past few years have seen a change in marketing, from traditional print marketing to online marketing, and now more than ever it is important in the industry to have a boxing website and online presence.

As a boxer, it is important to get fights, the more fights you get often depends on your fans and to get fans you need to market yourself. Boxing websites are a place where Boxing fans can go to get the latest information on fignts, boxing news and up and coming fighters. Although there are some good publications like Boxing weekly, a good boxing website can be more up to date and have exclusive information about fighters.

Magazine sales have dropped iver the past two years as more content is published online and now promoters, boxing gyms and boxers have to look to see if a website is a good way to go. Promoters, have been the first to catch on but Gyms and boxers are following. Even up and coming fighters like Trevor (the wrecking) Crewe are starting to invest in boxing websites to get the publicity and fan base they need to help them secure title fights. The more tickets you sell the better fights you will get so encouraging fans to follow you through a website or online marketing is a good way to improve your chances.

Another boxing star in the making is Olympian Tony Jefferies who has gotten savvy with online marketing and earned himself the nickname ‘Twitter’ through his presence and popularity on the social media tool Twitter. Tony updates his followers and fans in 140 charachters about what he is doing, his training schedule, what he’s eating and even holiday pictures from Ibiza. This keeps him at the forefront of peoples minds and has increased his popularity also creating a place for him as a boxing spokesman in some cases.

Combining social media with a good boxing website is a great way for boxers to gain popularity and something UFC, and MMA have been doing a bit longer than boxers. If you have a good website it can be relatively easy for people to use facebook and Twitter to market it. These are just basic free to use tools that can help you sell tickets, BoxPro believe in building boxing websites with the intention of promoting either a gym, a promotion company and in often the Boxer to help them succeed and make money!



Confidence

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

OK so were going to look at confidence today and over the next few days I will be giving you techniques to address it.

So what is confidence?

When we are born we are all blank computers, the mind has no data on which to react on. so we have no memories to push us forward or hold us back. Eventually over time we gather memories, now depending on the interactions we have growing up, will determine our confidence level. So if you have confident parents and they nurture you that your opinions are worthy and listen to you, you will LEARN to be a confident person. But on the other hand if you were told to shut up when you spoke, you will feel that your views and opinions were not worth of vocalising, this will create a feeling of lacking what you become to know as confidence.

We also model adults around us, I will go into modelling in greater detail in future weeks as it is crucial to mind coaching. So getting back to it if you have inconfident people around you, you too will LEARN to be inconfident.

There are a couple of ways to re-learn confidence. One is to desenticise yourself to it, so gradually do things that slightly take yourself out of your comfort zone, just slowly and gradually building up.

And the second is what i do with people which is use gentle but powerful mental techniques and the change is instant. Then I use hypnosis to wash the subconscious mind with confident thoughts and feelings and wash away the restrictions for the individual.

Tomorrow we will look at a technique to help you get through lack of confidence issues.

GET THE MENTAL EDGE

Michael Darbyshire is a guest writer for our Boxing Website



Jermaine Taylor pulls out of Super Six

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Jermain_Taylor
Jermaine Taylor, former undisputed middleweight champion, has surprised critics by pulling out of the Super Six tournament. But is it such a shock?

Last April (2009), Taylor was stopped by Carl Froch in the last round, during the last round Taylor looked exhausted. Later in the year Taylor got back in the ring for a comebak against Arthur Abraham but was knocked out, again in the last round. This was a disturbing knockout for fans and Taylor’s friends and family as Jermaine lay on the canvas stiff with one hand slightly raised involuntary. Taylor next scheduled fight was supposed to be against Andre Ward in the Super Six tournament this April.

Box Pro are not suprised Taylor has pulled out as even Lou DiBella, the former champions promotor had reportedly left Jermaine and urged him to retire.

“I’m going to take some time off from the sport of boxing and take myself out of Showtime Sports World Boxing Classic tournament,” Taylor said in a statement. “It’s important that I give my body and mind some much-needed rest, because I have been boxing for nearly 20 years. However I plan in staying in shape so I have the option to return to the sport sometime in the future”.

“This was not an easy decision for me, having discussed it with my family, trainer, friends and my adviser Al Haymon, because I’m a very competitive person. But I know this is the smart road for me to take.

The possible replacement for Taylor could be whoever wins the bout between Sakio Bika (famous from the contender and fighting against Joe Calzaghe)and Allan Green (a noted puncher)in February, if this is correct then Taylor’s scheduled fight against Andre Ward on April the 17th will probably be pushed back. There is also a possibility that Lucian Bute may be brought in so as not to mess up the super six schedule.

Either way it will be an exciting stand in!



Internal Limitations

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

So what are inner limitations? Simply put internal limitations are those of the mind, our mental outlook.

So how do these limitations take form.

Confidence (lack of over)
Stress
Addictions (drugs, sex, gambling, food)
Procrastination (internal conflict)
Belief (im not good enough)
Motivation
Fear
Arousal levels
Goal setting
Internal dialogue
focus

There are other issues that you can add to this as athletes are also humans and live human experience. This can include abuse sexual, verbal and physical. Heart break, loss, rejection, low self esteem etc etc.

So just looking at this list can you now see why i say 90% of all performance is mental. Not just sports but life.

So each day we are going to be taking each one on the list into account and explain how we can re-adress these issues.

Take today to look at the list and highlight the ones you feel maye holding you back from your dream.

GET THE MENTAL EDGE
Michael Darbyshire is a Guest Writer for our Boxing Website



MM-A Team!

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

quinton-jackson-a-team-2010-first-photo2

Love him or hate hin Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson is entertaining, he amused us all with his practical jokes in the last UFC The Heavyweights series but upset critics when he pulled out of the final fight against fellow coach Rashad Evans.

Well, he is continuing to entertain in the 2010 re make of the A team starring;

Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck

Liam Neeson as Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith

Sharlto Copley as Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock

Jessica Biel as Lt. Sosa

And who could forget our own Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson as Sgt. Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus!
Any one who doubts his credentials have a look at this video of some of his highlights!



External Factors Can Stop You Achieving

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

OK external factors that will stop you achieving your dream.

There is a difference between internal and external limitations. I will explain more later in the course but for now external is anything that is outside your mind.

So today we are going to look at drink, drugs and sex.

If you want to e the BEST you will have to refrain from all these, simple.

If you think you can go out and get smashed out of your head, then do a six mile run at 5.30am forget it, it isn’t happening.

If you think you can smoke weed, take coke and pills apart from the mental damage these drugs do your mind will not e on your game, simple this creates losing.

If you think you can go out because youve got a bit of a rep in the local area as a fighter or a bit of a celeb and people want to get with is cool, forget it….people create problems, in the form of…kiss and tell, lies, pregnancies (unwanted), rival girlfriend/boyfriend, gold diggers…believe me this all takes you AWAY not TOWARD your dream.

Since writing this message… TIGER WOODS…enough said !!!!!!

Listen your sporting life is very short…DO NOT….waste it on stupid Persuits. I would even go so far is and I don’t want to say this but save it until you retire and you’ve made the money and got the dream!!!!!!


External limitations

The first one is relationships.

Partners
friends
Parents

Believe me there are many people out there ready and willing to sabotage your success.

WHY…I hear you ask..

Jealousy
Fear
resentment

And I will surprise you even more…some of these people WILL be the closest people to you!

There is a test for this which is quite simple….the more they call you and act out the closer you are to your dream!!!

Now i am going to tell you a little secret and i was guilty of the opposite for years.

DO NOT TELL ANYONE YOUR DREAM OR GOAL…ONLY THOSE THAT ARE NECESSARY TO OBTAIN IT…i.e. coaches, promoters, managers.

TELL NO-ONE..TRAIN, PLAN, WORK,SLEEP, TRAIN, PLAN, REST, VISUALISE,

The Chinese have a saying, the more people you tell your dream the less powerful and weaker it becomes. To harness your dream keep it to yourself and let the power grow inside you. When its out there its open to manipulation and jealousy, resentment etc is there to destroy it.

GET THE MENTAL EDGE
Michael Darbyshire is a Guest Writer for our Boxing Website



Meet Michael Darbyshire

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Box Pro are lucky enough to have Michael Darbyshire as a guest writer for the Box Pro Boxing Blog.
Michael is a Sports Mind Coach that specialises in the mental aspect of sports performance. As a qualified NLP Practitioner and Certified Sports Hypnotherapist. Michael has studied this field for the last 21 years and has had great success working with clients from various sports including boxing, MMA, golf and football.

Michael is available for one to one sessions, online sessions and team sessions. Please visit his website at www.michaeldarbyshire.com or contact him on +44 (0) 7955 995 202 for a free consultation on how he can help your sporting performance.

Michael Darbyshire is a Guest Writer for our Boxing Website