In his acclaimed national best seller, A Fighter’s Heart, Sam Sheridan took readers with him as he stepped through the ropes into the dangerous world of professional fighting. From a muay Thai bout in Bangkok to Rio, where he trained with jiu-jitsu royalty, to Iowa, where he matched up against the toughest in MMA, Sheridan threw himself into a quest to understand how and why we fight. In The Fighter’s Mind, Sheridan does for the brain what his first book did for the body. To uncover the secrets of mental strength and success, Sheridan interviewed dozens of the world’s most fascinating and dangerous men, including celebrated trainers Freddie Roach and Greg Jackson; champion fighters Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, and Marcelo Garcia; ultrarunner David Horton; legendary wrestler Dan Gable, and many more. What are their secrets? How do they stay committed through years of training, craft a game plan, and adjust to the realities of the ring? How do they project strength when weak, and remain mentally tough despite incredible physical pain? A fascinating book, bursting at the seams with incredible stories and insight, The Fighter’s Mind answers these questions and many more.
The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Sheridan (A Fighter's Heart) examines what contributes toward a successful mental approach in professional fighting, interviewing people such as mixed martial arts icon Randy Couture, legendary college wrestling coach Dan Gable, and tai chi master Josh Waitzkin. The author gains some interesting insights from his investigation. Losing, it turns out, is a crucial component behind a fighter's success. Confidence is fine, but ego is an evil thing, with humility being a great equalizer. Those interested in pugilistic psychology may find some value in Sheridan's reporting; for others, too often the sources' lessons sound similar, and the book frequently drifts into a lengthy, somnolent discourse on fighting styles. Sheridan also can't stay out of his own way; his first-person prose is clunky and long-winded. His misguided attempt to merge elements of memoir and sports journalism derails the book, keeping it from succeeding in either genre. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Starting with the premise, “We are all fighting something,” Sheridan follows his successful A Fighter’s Heart (2006) with a wide-ranging exploration of how great “fighters” succeed. Among those he profiles are 1972 Olympic gold-medal-winning wrestler Dan Gable, ultra-runner David Horton, mixed martial artist Randy Couture, 2004 Olympic gold-medal-winning boxer Andre Ward, and even chess wizard Josh Waitzkin (from Searching for Bobby Fischer). Some are defined not by their victories but by their defeats (boxer George Foreman); others need “killers in the room” (MMA champs); others win by a certain stealth (Ward)—not to mention thousands of hours of training. To explain just why these men do what they do, Sheridan says that fighting, in whatever forms that it takes, forces you to “learn who you are.” Like its predecessor, this book should find an audience well beyond the ring. --Alan Moores
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-read for any sports or psychology fan,
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This review is from: The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game (Hardcover)
The Fighter's Mind is an incredible look at the mental part of competition and life. Through the lens of combat sports, Sam Sheridan goes around the world in search of answers to various questions about how top personalities think about fighting. The book is laid out in the form of short sections about each of the people that Sam talks to. People like Dan Gable, Freddie Roach, Greg Jackson, Renzo Gracie, and Randy Couture answer Sheridan's excellent questions with thoughtful and insightful responses that are presented in such a way that you get a very good look at how they think about the fight game and what in their lives have made them reach that point.
Sam also covers areas outside of fighting, but areas that are thematically related. He talks to David Horton about endurance running, and he talks to Josh Waitzkin about moving from chess to tai chi to jiu-jitsu. In each section, Sheridan lets the subject be as concise or explanatory as they need to be on the page. He interjects his own experience into the responses, always at the correct time and always with an astute bit to enhance what the passage is about. I'd say that this isn't just the best combat sports book I've read. This is the best sports book I've read. It's the best psychology book I've read. It is as thorough a meditation on the human passion for fighting and testing oneself as has ever been written. If you are at all interested in mixed martial arts, boxing, traditional martial arts, the human mind, or competition, you owe it to yourself to check this book out. As far as Sam Sheridan's catalogue of modern combat sports goes, I can definitely say that he is the A.J. Liebling of this generation.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it but a Caution,
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This review is from: The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game (Hardcover)
I am a huge fan of the author's previous work, "A Fighter's Heart" and this book is equally as good. A caution I would pose to a reader: the book is great fun if you read it as a travelogue, rather than a true in depth analysis into sports psychology as it relates to fighting.
13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a great read!,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game (Hardcover)
As a fan of Sheridan's first book, I was optimistic this would be a good book. I was wrong.
It was great. As each chapter works as a stand alone excerpt, they all tied together beautifully. The insight from such a varied list of fighters (in all styles) like Andre Ward, Marcelo Garcia, Renzo Gracie, and others was eye opening. If you consider yourself any fan of fighting or want to know what makes successful competitors tick, you absolutely need to read The Fighter's Mind.
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