This month Idai Makaya addresses mind-based training techniques which martial artists can use to aid their physical training and conditioning. This can simply be referred to as “mental conditioning.” In the last few months Idai has put these techniques to good use, going as far as doubling his strength in the gym in a nine month period. This approach really works.

The concept of “mental training” is no longer new in sports or martial arts. In fact, mental approaches have been getting a huge amount of attention in recent years, across all fields of endeavour - and for a very good reason – they appear to work.

The techniques to be covered in this article are an offshoot from the commonly proposed hypothesis of mental training and will hopefully give readers an alternative to the more commonly promoted approaches to mental training which are aimed at specific events (such as a martial arts tournament or a big fight). The training to be discussed here relates to your actual fitness conditioning goals and taking the conditioning of your body to higher levels, using your own mind.

Before taking on any significant physical challenge one needs to have a complete plan of action and a set of concise goals or desired outcomes. This will help you stick to your course whenever you feel the inevitable loss of focus or intrusion of doubt as you move along our chosen course of action.

I use the word “inevitable” in the previous paragraph because mental conditioning techniques for performance improvement will only really need to be applied to challenging goals - goals which we find very difficult to achieve. When trying to conquer new frontiers in physical ability the process can be complex and demanding. This stresses the need for pre-planning - we must have a well researched and justifiable plan for getting to where we want to go with our training goals. We must use the correct resources, access the correct people and learn beforehand what to expect.

The responsibility for success is yours – not your instructor's, not your family's, and not your society's – the responsibility for achieving your individual goals lies with you.

When we take on this 'responsible' approach we realise that it also follows that our own behaviours can be the determining factors of our success or failure. Mental techniques are useless for people who do not believe completely in their own ability to influence the outcomes in their lives.

Our beliefs dwell in our subconscious minds and we need to expose those aspects of our psyche if we are to directly manipulate our beliefs. It is by manipulating beliefs that we are able to sustain the motivation and creativity required to reach challenging goals. I've done quite a bit of study on this mental conditioning process with the input of various so-called “life coaches” and through the use of books and DVDs. I must say my view of “life coaches” over the last few years, in relation to this task, is 'mixed' - and if I were to give a recommendation to anyone I'd suggest that life coaches are unlikely to be of real help unless goal setting is a very new concept to you.

What I did find the most useful were Yoga books, which have a huge focus on breathing and meditation techniques to focus the mind, and I also got a very different but extremely useful set of insights from a most unexpected source - a gentleman called Jules Williams, who is a long time Bushido practitioner and a former instructor, now working in television. Some readers may have come across Jules on Sky TV, where he has appeared regularly over the last five years in various programmes which showcase his talents.

Jules has an impressive resume – he was a black belt instructor for the Bushido Academy of Martial Arts and he now works as what he calls an “intuitive counsellor.” He has a 3 year qualification in “Block Clearance Therapy,” an emotional clearing concept which is pertinent to this article (I'll explain why, shortly), he has a BEd Degree in Physical Education and has been registered for 8 years with the National Register of Personal Trainers.

Unrelated to martial arts, Jules also has full certification with National Federation of Spiritual Healers and an MA Degree in Creative Writing (he ghost wrote Boyzone singer Stephen Gately's fantasy novel “The Tree of Seasons”).

In some people's view Jules is a 'psychic' - but Jules went to great lengths to explain to me that he'd rather not be tied down to any particular stereotype (I must say I had some very interesting 'psychic-type' experiences with Jules, relating to our meeting – but that's an issue not for this article)! Basically, he says he helps people to tackle their problems by using 'intuition' to find solutions which will work for them. Part of this involves clearing 'blocks' or barriers in their belief systems ('blocks' which make people resistant to changing their beliefs). This 'emotional clearance' process is central to the changing of one's beliefs.

Returning to our core discussion, what does this sort of mental conditioning 'practice' look like, from a practical perspective?

I'd say it varies, but a very effective method for beginners uses a basic meditation sequence to relax the mind and detach your focus from the everyday consciousness to your subconscious mind. This 'meditation' will involve 'distraction techniques' to stop you from focusing on your conscious thoughts for a few minutes, so that you can become more aware of your beliefs – which manifest themselves more as feelings rather than as precise, worded thoughts. When in touch with your true beliefs your mental state may appear to be vacant - or blank.

Any meditation technique can be used for this phase and there are many sources on the internet now which can help with teaching this; but in my experience the easiest way to effect a meditation sequence is to focus on relaxing every part of your body sequentially, while making sure you are breathing in and out fully - and at a fixed, rhythmic rate. Work your way from your toes to your head, relaxing one muscle group at a time and trying to remain as physically relaxed as possible from then onwards. This could take 10 to 15 minutes and requires a quiet place with no distractions.

Once the internal/mental distraction (meditation) is effected the next phase of the process revolves around enforcing the desired belief system required to achieve the goals you have targeted. This is the hard part because negative perceptions, coupled with our current life-long beliefs, often cloud this process and render it ineffective. This is where the Clearance Therapy which Jules speaks of becomes pertinent.

Once fully relaxed, with the mind 'cleared' through meditation, you can transition smoothly into a pre-planned series of 'visualisations' relating to the training goals you've set. This is as simple as picturing and imagining yourself achieving the performance targets you've set (such as lifting 100kgs in the bench press or doing full splits, etc).

The Block Clearance Therapy Jules refers to relates to the fact that as you attempt these crucial visualisations doubts about their authenticity will often creep in - to the extent that it sometimes becomes impossible to experience the visualisation of your goals in a way that looks remotely real. You simply wont believe it so you just can't picture it properly.

You need to find out why your mind can't believe that a goal you've set is attainable because by discovering the underlying subconscious 'block' you will then free yourself to believe the vision you are trying to set up - and this belief will make it attainable.

Some simple reasons for these blocks are the fact that your training is not scientific enough, or your programme is inappropriate. Other reasons are negative feedback from other people or your own past experiences. Whatever the cause, you must uncover it and work through it so that you can see a way around it. All the while, you must regularly practice the visualisation sequence being described (once or twice each day) as you work your way through your belief system and uncover and then resolve all the 'blocks' you have.

Part of the process relates to positive feedback. Our belief systems are resistant to change and this change can be enforced gradually, using positive feedback. By “positive feedback” I refer to your actual results. You may not change your beliefs, despite uncovering previous blockages, unless you introduce the new beliefs backed up by a credible change plan which reinforces itself through its results (the results you get as you progress with your training). The centuries-old process of martial arts grading is a great example of this reinforcement and feedback system.

So the third and final part of the mental training cycle is the actual implementation of physical actions which will stimulate the development which will eventually lead to the complete changes we desire. Seeing these changes, and – most importantly – being able to measure or quantify them, will reinforce the new belief system. So you actually have to get yourself training if you are to reach your goals.

This explanation uncovers another obvious requirement for a successful mental training strategy – a genuine and appropriate physical training strategy. Mental training is not much good without good physical training to go with it.

This information may be new to some readers and because it's such a huge subject I cannot go into the level of detail I'd like - but it's definitely worth exploring and trying if you want to set lofty goals for your martial arts training. You may be surprised by just how far you can really go when you free your mind...

In future articles Idai will continue to look into new and revolutionary conditioning practices and to share the experiences of champions and luminaries in the field of fitness conditioning. Happy training until then!

To contact Idai Makaya visit www.idaimakaya.com and to learn more about block clearance therapy and mental conditioning visit www.juleswilliams.com