The Perfect Fighter: The Mind, The Body, and The Heart in Combat Sports

This blog encapsulates a series of thoughts and musings I’ve evolved over several years, about the attributes required to be a successful fighter.

My psychology degree, as well as my own training and fight experience has had a large role in these thoughts.

Alongside some external influences, including Ben Askren’s JRE appearance, chatting with my coach Brian, and a fantastic talk by Dean Amasinger on how they evaluate athletes at the UFC Performance Institute Shanghai.

Click here to view my post, elaborating on my cowboy vs. scientist analogy. Below you can hear Ben Askren’s thoughts on the same topic. Ben Askren discusses this analogy at 22:00.

Ben talks about the ultra prepare-ers who get caught up in every detail, versus the cowboys who don’t plan well, but equally, don’t get tripped up when things don’t go to plan.

Dean speaks about fighters vs. martial artists vs. athletes, and how the characteristics of each of these avatars are essential to reach the top of your game.

The common theme is about the personality traits of elite combat sports athletes, and the interplay between them.

For me, I group these traits into three areas: the mind, the body and the heart.

Now, most athletes who compete at the top level will excel in each of these factors. It’s rare to get an elite athlete who has a severe deficiency in any one of these. But for many fighters, it’s clear to see which facet is their strongest - where they most excel.

Here is a breakdown of each factor, as well as some athletes who I feel represent the qualities that make up each of these traits.

The Mind refers to the intellect of a competitor. Fighters who excel in this trait are considered ‘high IQ’ fighters. Attributes that fall under this bracket include:

• intelligence

• creativeness

• confidence

• problem solving ability

• decision making skills

• ability to relax

• skill

• technique

• tactical approaches

Two examples of fighters whose ‘mind’ I consider to be one of their strongest attributes.

The Body refers the physical attributes of an athlete. Fighters who’s body is their main strength are often considered ‘freaks of nature’; the fighters who look like they could be bodybuilders, their bodies appear to be indestructible. They’ve won the genetic lottery. Attributes that fall under ‘the body’ include:

• strength

• power

• speed

• flexibility

• anaerobic and aerobic conditioning

• recovery from injury

Two examples of fighters whose ‘body’ I consider to be one of their strongest attributes.

Finally, the Heart. By this, I do not mean the physical heart. Rather, I am referring to the ‘fighting heart’, AKA courage, or will. Those with a strong heart typically exhibit the following traits:

• toughness

• grit

• competitiveness

• determination

• steadfastness

• aggression

Two examples of fighters whose ‘heart’ I consider to be one of their strongest attributes.

Lawrence Kenshin has a great video talking about heart. I recommend checking it out below if you want to hear about the meaning and importance of heart from several Muay Thai legends:

As mentioned, most athletes that you will be familiar with will be strong in mind, body, and heart; as this is required to reach the high level they are at.

Many of these top-level fighters, however, will excel so much in a particular quality that they shape their entire fighting style around this attribute.

Serious deficiencies are rare at the elite level. Below the elite level, though, it may be much easier to identify deficiencies in either mind, body or heart.

You may notice it in yourself, your training partners, or even your opponents.

• maybe they brawl without consideration for technique or defence

• maybe they cannot keep up their pace and gas out easily

• maybe they give in easily under pressure

To a certain extent, you can make up for small deficiencies in one area with prowess in another. But, this won’t work forever and you need to address each of the three facets in order to improve beyond a basic level.

The best fighters are adaptable to a range of circumstances and opponents, and don’t just rely on one strength to get them through every fight or sparring session.

It’s important to self-evaluate - where do you stand on each of the three attributes?

Which is your strongest?

Which needs the most improvement?

What will you commit to in order to improve this part of your game?

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