I've been loving The Notorious series spotlighting the rise of Irish featherweight mixed martial artist, Conor McGregor. I can't wait for his upcoming match against champion, Jose Aldo from Brazil.
I especially appreciated his remarks on the body and movement in episode five. As much as cynicism bores me, I'll admit that I was surprised at how Rickson-esque and Ginastica Natural-like some of his movements and comments were - so much so that I couldn't help but share my rough transcription of them here.
"You're almost going to trick the mind to do stuff that it's not used to.
What's happening there is that the brain is working more than the body - your brain is outworking the body, there's no stopping you.
People work the body over than the brain. And that's where the skill level stagnates or it declines.
In the fight there is no pattern. It's just a blank canvas. You go out and just let the instinct take over. Let it just click.
Prizefighting is short. Get in, get rich, get out. But martial arts is a way of life. It's for life.
It's about movement. It's not about resistance. You should be going in there fluid. I feel like I'm understanding this game a lot more. It's not about coming in and getting the rounds in like it was.
It's a 24/7 process to free the body. That's what I'm ultimately trying to do. I'm trying to become free. I'm trying to open up my body in all ways.
I have a routine. I wake up. I drink water. I stretch. I shake it out.
That's me beginning to free my body again after whatever amount of time I've been asleep.
People just usually jump up get out of bed straightway, go and brush their teeth, eat their fill, rush to whatever they have to go, do what they have to do and their body is just locking up, getting tighter and tighter and tighter until it just locks or cracks.
I don't see it as showing up and doing jiu-jitsu, showing up and doing boxing, showing up and doing Tae Kwon Do. I just see it as moving. Waking up. Freeing the body. Becoming more loose. And moving."
