SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
July - 2016
27
protocols, designed to work
on Nick’s physical capabilities,
but more importantly his “Spi-
riemotional” component (how
he perceives and interprets the
various emotions and feelings
heavy exercise triggers – suffo-
cation, exhaustion, pain, etc).
This is the real purpose of my
training with Nick – the exer-
cise just triggers the feeling
we deal with. The Judo train-
ing can vary from technical
and tactical practice to actual
live practice.
SFM:
How Important do you
feel mental preparation is for
an athlete?
JC:
As I alluded to – IT’S EV-
ERYTHING!! A mentally pre-
pared athlete that is in “the
Zone” (the present moment
– where the guilt and negative
programming of the past, as
well as the fear and anxiety of
the future are not in play) can
perform miracles. A super tal-
ented athlete that is in a funk
(for whatever reason) can’t
perform and usually loses.
We focus on mental prepara-
tion throughwhat is truly “spir-
itual” work (not to get weird.)
*laughs* Spiritual work does
not have to be weird, it is the
energy that controls thoughts,
and thoughts give way to
emotions (feelings) which are
a physical manifestation of
thoughts.
Exercise stimulates primal
triggers, such as suffocation
(hard exercise that leaves you
breathless is a form of volun-
tary suffocation). This state of
“breathlessness” will expose
many flaws in a person’s abil-
ity to deal with stress and fear.
Teaching individuals to find
their breath, the present mo-
ment, and release their “old
story” is the essence of over-
coming fear, trusting in their
divinity, and their destiny.
Nick will tell you - we focus
a ton on “relaxing the face”
when the “pain” (i.e. breath-
lessness) comes. This approach
to training works for a variety
of reasons.
SFM:
How do you help your
athletes mentally prepare for
competition?
JC:
Above, I gave you a
glimpse of the spiritual work
we do with all of our athletes,
disguised within the physical
preparation we are all famil-
iar with in a training facility.
However, our physical prepa-
ration is VERY different than
that used in other places, such
at the Olympic Training Center.
Our training philosophy and
systems reduces abusive train-
ing through a reduced volume
system - but uses higher inten-
sities not often seen in sports,
much less training. Strategi-
cally training at these high in-
tensities dramatically changes
various parameters – some
physical, but mostly spiritual
(as I alluded to prior).
Regardless, KNOWING (not to
be confused for believing) you
are better prepared that your
opponent and know you have
endured what he can’t imag-
ine provides a mental edge.
The spiritual evolution that
takes place during the train-
ing (e.g. relaxing the face) also
provides a mental edge we
have not seen produced by
traditional sports psychology
techniques.
Going into the 2016 Olympic
Games Delpopolo is the un-
derdog and that is just fine
with him, as his physical and
mental game is stronger than
ever. He is currently ranked
32 (the lowest he has ever
been ranked), due to miss-
ing the world championships
and grand slams (which yield
the most points), due to inju-
ry. Delpopolo is now back to
100% and sees the upcoming
Rio Olympics as his chance at
redemption.
Delpopolo has the true heart
of a champion. He overcame
adversity when the odds were
stacked against him and his
dreams of Olympic Gold are
once again in his grasp. It is
a true testament to his deter-
mination and heart. Everyone
at Scrapp! Fight Magazine
is looking forward to seeing
Nick’s story of redemption un-
fold in Rio!
For more information on Nick
Delpopolo, please visit www.
nickdelpopolo.com.
