(no subject)
Yesterday I mostly marked first year essays. I am trying to be encouraging in the comments, and pick out the good points before the bad. I suspect that I may be a harsh marker however - I'm not sure, maybe I'm really soft. I really have nothing to judge it against!
Last night I listened to an amazing interview with Georges St-Pierre. He is this Canadian martial artist, who is the interim UFC Welterweight champion and is often thought of as the best in the world. More than this, I think he's amazing because he is incredibly competitive but classy, respectful and gracious at the same time. He fought last Saturday night in Las Vegas, and after winning (easily) he talked about how great a fighter Matt Hughes is (his opponent); the two shook hands and it was brilliant. This interview was great for two reasons:
1) At one point St-Pierre interrupted the interviewer to talk about this news item he had read about himself. Someone had written that they had been to St-Pierre's training camp, and that he had been dominating all the other fighters while they were training. St-Pierre said that he was annoyed about this because it was disrespectful to his training partners, and that they were all fantastic fighters who are instrumental to his own success. Again, that was another demonstration of the respect that the guy has for those around him.
2) Jeff Sherwood asked St-Pierre a question about whether his mental state will be any different when he fights Matt Serra, because Serra beat him last time they met. In response, St-Pierre described his discussions with a sports psychologist. From this psychologist, he said he's learnt that you always need to confidently believe you can win and, even if you are less than confident, you need to act like you can win and trick yourself into believing you can win. If one can do this, your mind and body are working in tandem to their optimum level.
Of course it's easy for St-Pierre to say this because he is arguably the hardest dude in the world (and his thick French accent makes everything sound more intellectual). But let's think about this, bear with me.
St-Pierre can be confident about winning a martial arts contest because he knows that he has trained extensively and is generally well-prepared. This attitude is therefore more about removing mental barriers to performance than receiving any kind of advantage or boost. Can it then be applied to other, non-sport areas of activity? If we always believe we can do something, and match that with a necessary amount of work and preparation, then is it fair to say we will achieve better results than if we didn't believe we could do it?
I like the UFC because it teaches you to face challenges head on, rather than find an easy way out. St-Pierre is a hero.
Last night I listened to an amazing interview with Georges St-Pierre. He is this Canadian martial artist, who is the interim UFC Welterweight champion and is often thought of as the best in the world. More than this, I think he's amazing because he is incredibly competitive but classy, respectful and gracious at the same time. He fought last Saturday night in Las Vegas, and after winning (easily) he talked about how great a fighter Matt Hughes is (his opponent); the two shook hands and it was brilliant. This interview was great for two reasons:
1) At one point St-Pierre interrupted the interviewer to talk about this news item he had read about himself. Someone had written that they had been to St-Pierre's training camp, and that he had been dominating all the other fighters while they were training. St-Pierre said that he was annoyed about this because it was disrespectful to his training partners, and that they were all fantastic fighters who are instrumental to his own success. Again, that was another demonstration of the respect that the guy has for those around him.
2) Jeff Sherwood asked St-Pierre a question about whether his mental state will be any different when he fights Matt Serra, because Serra beat him last time they met. In response, St-Pierre described his discussions with a sports psychologist. From this psychologist, he said he's learnt that you always need to confidently believe you can win and, even if you are less than confident, you need to act like you can win and trick yourself into believing you can win. If one can do this, your mind and body are working in tandem to their optimum level.
Of course it's easy for St-Pierre to say this because he is arguably the hardest dude in the world (and his thick French accent makes everything sound more intellectual). But let's think about this, bear with me.
St-Pierre can be confident about winning a martial arts contest because he knows that he has trained extensively and is generally well-prepared. This attitude is therefore more about removing mental barriers to performance than receiving any kind of advantage or boost. Can it then be applied to other, non-sport areas of activity? If we always believe we can do something, and match that with a necessary amount of work and preparation, then is it fair to say we will achieve better results than if we didn't believe we could do it?
I like the UFC because it teaches you to face challenges head on, rather than find an easy way out. St-Pierre is a hero.