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THE FIGHTERS MIND: INSIDE THE MENTAL GAME BY SAM SHERIDAN BOOK REVIEW

In his first book, author Sam Sheridan took readers through his personal journey in the world of fighting, whether it was muay thai, jiu-jitsu, MMA or boxing. In his second book, “The Fighters Mind”, author Sam Sheridan takes the reader to a journey through a little talked about piece of the fighting world, the mental aspect of competition.

Sam Sheridan interviews tons of personalities intertwined throughout the world of professional fighting, people like Greg Jackson, Virgil Ward, Pat Miletech, Dan Gable, Frank Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, Randy Couture, Freddie Roach and others. Every interview features different perspectives on the mental aspect of competition and the methods each use to both overcome mental blocks and use the mental game to their advantage.

In an interesting switch from his usual writing Sam Sheridan interviews two personalities from outside the world of combat sports. The first personal he interviewed was ultra runner David Horton, who talks about how the mental game has kept runners from achieving their true potential. Sam Sheridan also interviews chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, who was the inspiration for the film, “Searching For Bobby Fisher.”

My personally favorite chapter of this book features one of the greatest coaches in MMA history, Greg Jackson, who runs his camp in New Mexico. Greg Jackson talks about how he turned to fighting after his parents personal beliefs did not suit him during his earlier years, which put him in certain situations that he once thought would not be possible.

Greg Jackson also talks about his life outside of MMA and his enthusiasm with world history, particularly how it inspires him on a daily basis. Greg Jackson even talks about his time spent with the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, particularly a time spent with the late Steve Irwin that saw both of them wrestling over nine alligators on one trip.

Throughout the book, Sam Sheridan details how the lessons learned in the book do not just apply to the world of combat sports, but to life itself. From personal experience, I could easily see how this could be, because while I’m not a competitor in any form of combat sports, I could see how stuff learned in this book could make one’s personal life a lot better.

Throughout his various interviews with combat sports personalities, Sam Sheridan dives into a series of topics like fighter ego, overtraining, losing fights, winning streak, mental preparedness, trainer roles, fighter responsibility and a host of other stuff. While several topics are repeated throughout the chapters, there are so many different takes that you never really notice the topics reoccurring.

There are two really interesting chapters in the book that do not feature any interviews with combat sports personalities, but with both Sam Sheridan sharing personal thoughts and one discussing whether or not combat sports can be considered an art form. Outside of the major combat sports personalities, this is the most in depth portions of the book and a genuinely good read after going through the chapters with the combat sports personalities.

Overall, if you want to read a great follow up to “A Fighter Heart” than this book is for you and if you want to learn about the mental preparation a fighter goes through, then this book is for you.

You can get this book from the PWInsider Store for only $13.75!

You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com

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