Fighter's Mind, A Read Online Free PDF Page A

fall into that mentality or character. But they influence others. They win matches before they get on the mat. And what’s really good is when the whole team gets labeled that way.” They start to see where the standard is, and those below rise to meet it and are vastly improved even if they don’t get all the way there.
    “We’ve had that as a team, when we’d win the meet before the meet. I can’t ever tell you that all ten athletes were all that. Of the ten maybe four or five would really have that mentality. And that’s unusual. Usually it’s one or two that can really bring that extreme-level influence. These guys who just know how to win.”
    “Would you call that the killer instinct?” I ask. He nods.
    “Killer instinct, a little bit. You can’t make up for time lost. If you miss a practice it’s gone. But I do think—one of these guys that I’m talking about—CAN, because of the LEVEL OF EFFORT AND INTENSITY THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY PUT INTO A SINGLE PRACTICE!” his voice has grown again, almost to shouting. Then he subsides and continues in a normal voice.
    “They can get so much out of themselves in a practice, they’ll make up that lost time. The effort that’s coming out of their body is so great, they’re at such a level. I had a kid who could make up a week in one practice. He could make it up, very few can do it, and that’s that mentality that I’m talking about.”
    Dan goes thoughtful again, musing out loud. “Is it just the body? But I look at those guys that I’m talking about, and not all of them had that incredible physical gift. At least two that I can think of are doing what I’m talking about, weren’t physical specimens—which takes it down to one area—between the ears.”
    That’s what I’m after, and I pursue it. But Dan won’t or can’t elaborate. You just have to keep your eyes open and look for it. “Because I’m like that, maybe I can pick it out easier. But it’s not an easy thing to recognize. In our sport, for somebody just to make it through a difficult practice is pretty extreme for other people to imagine. But then you have those few guys who are really unique this way. It’s impossible for people to understand them. People think that they’re working hard, and they are, but there are other levels. You’ve got to have all the support, and the environment, and you have to have an imagination that’s unreal.”
    I was reminded of the stories of Dan’s childhood, where he would pretend to be a famous ballplayer and talk about how “real” it felt to him. Imagination is a crucial component, oft overlooked. If you can’t imagine running a four-minute mile, how can you ever run it? Gandhi said, “Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability.”
    Dan continued, “People don’t want to work hard. They want to get to the top without really paying the price. I just read a story where they interviewed these people who wanted to be great, and the question was: If you could go to the Olympics, be guaranteed a gold medal and then die two years later, would you do it? And fifty percent answered yes!”
    Dan is disgusted, and incredulous. For so many reasons. He goes into a hypothetical, which takes on the air of a farce.
    “If I was going to wrestle in the finals of the Olympics against a Russian, which I did, and if I knew he had been trained specifically to beat me, which he had—but then if I knew the guy was on steroids, that would HELP me. Whereas some might think ‘oh, he’s cheating’ or he’s got an unfair advantage, for me you didn’t pay the price. You’re not as committed as I am. It’ll tear him apart. He may be strong, but all I have to do during that nine minutes of wrestling is loosen one single wire in his brain, make him do something that isn’t perfect, and he’ll fall apart. That’s what I