An athlete must see through the illusion of competition | John Danaher and Lex Fridman 

Full podcast episode: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iZRbD7q1n-U.html Lex Fridman podcast channel: ru-vid.com Guest bio: John Danaher is one of the greatest coaches and minds in martial arts history.

As a young wrestler, my coaches strongly encouraged us to go to tournaments every weekend to get as many matches as possible in a year. So, many of us would sign up for two weight classes or two styles (freestyle and greco for example), so that you could get s minimum of four matches (double elimination) in a day. This strategy works. It puts you in competition so you have to face the fears of losing. The fear of losing is a common roadblock and prevents many people from ever doing it. You can’t expect children to understand the psychology of those fears (What if I’m not good enough), so you just encourage them to do it and praise them for doing so. As a coach, I encouraged my athletes to do this and voluntarily drove them all over the state on weekends. For those who did this, they went very far in the sport. Many of those who went very far weren’t the most exceptional athletes. They were just dedicated to competition.

“When you see a magician and you have his tricks explained to you, you never see the magic again” that’s deeply profound

This is man’s Legacy and respect amongst the BJJ/MMA community will last for generations. What an icon. I love that he’s done so much for the sport. A true martial artist.

This man is an athletic training guru. He understands how to relieve the image that being out in a grand staged event will bring psychologically to a fighter or any athlete that may feel overwhelmed to be watched over and focused on in such a grandiose spectacle. Simply stunning and really relieving to have this man’s insight and knowledge on the matter

This insight works for dissecting one’s anxiety in daily life too

This guy is the Cus D’Amato of BJJ. I love trainer philosophers.

Your videos never cease to open my brain and put me in such a wonderful state. I love the Lex Fridman podcast! You never cease to bring out the beauty in such vastly differing subjects, in effect, providing so much evidence for our unity. Thank you, I love you, I’m sorry I don’t have any more interesting comments! Love this video!

I think that most people here who point out that match intensity is so different than practice, forget to match the match intensity for short periods in their training. I play soccer and in our grouptraining we never match the actual match intensity. That's a big mistake. But I solve it for myself by once a week performing a 15 min horribly tough workout where I can feel my muscles burn and fatigue like in a match. It really helps because then you don't get that overwhelming 'wow fck this is intense' feeling during matches anymore.

Fire pod Lex! Thanks big dog

I think the best approach is to treat training sessions with the same focus and intensity as competition. You wont rise to the occasion, you''ll fall to the level of your training when under pressure. Im not relating this to jiu jitsu, my competition is in pool/billiards. I practice as if im playing the best in the world, if I miss i consider it a loss and rack to start over. Then when I get into competition im already i the mindset of no mistakes, play perfect, and thats the standard

You have to get used to the realm of competition though, thats why it makes it different. Sure we have hard fight days in the gym but, theres nothing quite like walking out to a crowd of people with loud music and, your opponents friends and family yelling to kill you. Its easier in the gym because you're comfortable but you need to get comfortable competing or the nerves can get to you sometimes.

Great insight

Yes! I love learning from John Danaher!

Lex almost short circuited when John made a joke about joes meaty head.

All the pageantry helped me concentrate and perform better than I ever could in the wrestling room (practice) or gym (judo). The illusion was important for my concentration and optimal mental state. I was never a very good practice athlete. Everyone is different.

I can relate this to motorcycle racing. When in the 'zone', I literally used to dispassionately perceive other riders as objects on the track that i needed to negotiate, much like a corner. There was no rage or animosity, but looking back, it felt scary that I didn't care whether they lived or died.

i think this could actually apply with anything like artist, scientists, etc...

When money is on the line it’s different than training, it’s not an illusion if money and other benefits come from competition

this thought process can be applied to other sports beside fighting: any competition-archery, running, disc golf, downhill skiing. Get it in your mind just another practice session

I disagree that competition is the same as training. the difference in intensity matters. There is a difference if you get hit full force or restrained as in training (to prevent injuries), so that you can get away with less as the consequences are more grave.

I can just think about a tournament and my heart rate will shoot up.. that is how anxious I am.

All models are wrong, but some models are useful- interesting & useful mindset here, imo

Lex, check the Bulgarian system of training and you’d be amazed.

Dunno about this one ....This is the most difficult thing to do . Never been able to do it with just telling myself it's all smoke and mirrors lol ...don't know how else to get rid of the nerves unless you compete all the time and desensitize yourself

Zen and the Art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or the Roman Coliseum?

There is a training system developed by a Bulgarian weight lifting coach which contradicts what is said here. What he achieved is unmatched in history. Check Ivan Abadjiev (Иван Абаджиев)! His system was based on competition intensity but when he was asked to apply it in the US, it failed because of the US athletes mentality who simply were unable to coop with the pressure.

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on youtube. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to train... when you're on the podium..."

Hi Lex, You may or may not have asked John this already, but does Gordon Ryan get nervous or fearful before competition?

Somehow I think Fedor knew this 🤔

This applies to life.

Sweat on the training ground saves blood on the battle ground

1:44

Intensity of Conflict: The varying acts of intensity onto another being during engagement.

Except that the "performance" may involve a huge sum of money. That's where pressure is created.

Hashem blessed me with your existence.

The mental aspect of competition causes some people to perform lower because of the pressure That’s the difference

Not that easy with something like boxing. Training is rarely as intense because otherwise you'll end up as a vegetable.

He's not honest when he says the competition is the same as training and even himself later acknowledges the difference in the intensity. Also, what he didn't consider is the fact that in special circumstances where there is more on the line a human body is capable of much more than in training because it's being pushed by the determination of the mind and I'd think that he would be the type of person to study that closely.

And so the spell was broken

The training has training has to be carefully monitored, intensive, intensively lExipHmapHlala

You think he watches WWE

I love this episode, but…he just had to wear that , didn’t he.

Does John ever wear a normal shirt?

Yeahhh this doesn't work for boxing man

There is no winning in training

ben simmons needs to watch this clip lol

Misinterpretation in the title as usual

I whole heartedly agree with this concept. That competition is the root of all evil in humanity.

When money is on the line it’s different than training, it’s not an illusion if money and other benefits come from competition