Miesha Tate Offers Tips To Fighters On Lockdown At Home
Alike other sports in the world, the sport of MMA has been hit drastically as the coronavirus pandemic grows day by day, closing gym by gym, making it more difficult for fighters to do what they do best. Fight. As the full global lockdown has gone into effect, mixed martial artists have been unable to hone their craft and train in their beloved gyms. This unprecedented catalyst creates another issue in which fighters may not have the resources to train effectively at home. Former UFC Champion and current ONE Championship vice president Miesha Tate has however shared some tips for fighters affected by social distancing.
“It’s no longer possible for fighters to train, grapple – and that’s a pretty common theme across the world. My advice would be to take the time to mentally train yourself. I’m a big believer in looking at how you want your career to go in your mind. I call it an act of meditation. It’s something I did a lot when I was a fighter. I would envision fights – winning, obviously. But I would envision everything,” Tate told MMA Junkie.
“I would envision getting a takedown and my opponent getting back up and having to work for another takedown. I would envision adversity, and that’s something I really recommend to any fighter. Don’t just envision yourself winning. I mean, focus on that because that’s the goal. But if you mentally prepare yourself to win, and if you get in some trouble, you might not mentally be prepared for that. I think all likelihood the reality is that you might get in some trouble while you’re in a fight. It’s pretty likely, so envision.”
Tate, who accumulated a professional record of 18-7 inside the cage, is no stranger to the fight game and the mental adversity it comes with. However, away from the mental battle, “Cupcake” takes another approach towards this issue as she believes there are multiple ways to attack it, even if it’s away from the familiar gym floor.
“There’s still a lot you can do to stay in shape inside four walls,” Tate said. “There are people who are in jail and prison who stay in excellent shape, so you being quarantined a few weeks should not be an excuse to not stay in shape.
“There are wonderful things like burpees, pushups, situps and different kinds of body weight exercises you can do. So take the time to better yourself. You can view this as a negative, and it sucks, and you can cry about it and be upset. Or you can look at it as you have a lot of time to look at ways to better yourself, and there’s benefit from that. So those are my tips for fighters who are at home. There’s still a lot that can be done.”
Miesha Tate, who has paved the way for women’s MMA as a pioneer, has now laid out the groundwork for fighters all around the world who wish to continue their MMA journeys through this global phenomenon.
Both the UFC and ONE Championship have been forced into postponing some of their events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but are doing everything they can to ensure that their upcoming cards go ahead as planned.
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