Masters Alliance

Harnessing Mental Mastery for Athletic Triumph: Visualization and Mindfulness with Herb Perez

• Herb Perez

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Ever wondered how top athletes mentally prepare for peak performance? Join me, Herb Perez, in our inaugural "Champions Toolbox" episode, where I reveal transformative visualization and meditation techniques designed for athletes striving to reach their highest potential. Learn essential strategies to mentally gear up for a match through precise breathing exercises and warm-ups, culminating in visualizing yourself executing flawless techniques against a skilled opponent. This guided meditation isn't just about easing anxiety—it's about boosting your agility and instilling a rock-solid confidence that translates to standing triumphant on the podium with a gold medal.

But our journey doesn't stop there. We'll also immerse ourselves in the elation of achieving lifelong goals through mindfulness. Celebrate the sweet moment of victory and reflect on each hard-earned success with a calming breathing exercise that helps you focus on your heartbeat and energy. The essence of true champions is mastering one's destiny with self-belief and inner calm, empowering you to maintain excellence and drive toward future achievements. Tune in and discover how to harness the unparalleled power of your mind to fuel your path to unstoppable success.

Herb Perez:

Welcome to the Masters Alliance podcast, and I am Herb Perez. Today we have a very special episode for you. It's going to be the first episode in another series called Champions Toolbox. In this episode, we'll be talking about visualization and meditation guided meditation to help an athlete maximize their performance. It will guide the athlete through a series of rounds and perfect execution of his techniques or her techniques in the match environment. It's extremely useful to help athletes relieve anxiety and get the best out of themselves during a match. So relax, sit back and enjoy this first episode. Welcome, this is the Champion's Toolbox podcast and I'm Herb Perez, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist.

Herb Perez:

Today, I want to share one of my visualization drills with you. I'm going to guide you through a meditation where you see yourself in a perfect match, executing techniques against a very skilled opponent, and you're going to imagine yourself doing this flawlessly and winning your gold medal. Anytime that you need to prepare for something, I want you to take this moment, listen to this visualization and use it to calm yourself and get ready. Now let's get started. This is your time. This is your moment. As you wait for the ring to open, as you wait for them to call your name, you're going to sit and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose, filling your lungs with energy and air. Hold it for a moment, feeling the energy coursing through your body. Slowly exhale through your mouth, releasing any tension or any anxiety. Again, take a deep breath in through your nose, fill your lungs with air and energy. Hold it just for a moment. Don't think of anything except the air coming in and out, filling you with energy and relaxing your body. Focus on the rise and the fall of your chest as you breathe. Now imagine yourself standing and warming up as you prepare to enter the arena. You're rolling your shoulders, still breathing calmly, taking deep breaths in and out as you bounce and warm up the muscles in your legs, in your calves, in your ankles, and then that energy comes up from the floor into your chest and into your body. You're bouncing and you're moving.

Herb Perez:

Imagining yourself moving as you enter the arena. You're loosening your muscles, you're warming your body up for the victory, for the moment when you enter the arena and you do what you know you can do. See yourself gently rotating your head from side to side and feel the tension melt away from your body and from your neck. Imagine yourself standing with your feet shoulder width apart, bending at the waist and reaching for your toes to activate your body and your muscles. Hold this stretch In your mind. Feel the pull in your hamstrings and lower back. Slowly roll up one vertebrae at a time until you are standing tall. Next step forward with your right leg and lunge, bringing your front knee, and keep your back and legs straight. Feel the stretch in your hip. Feel the stretch in your leg and hold it for a few seconds. Then switch legs and repeat. Now imagine yourself feeling each muscle relaxing. Feel the blood coming into each part of your body as you prepare to enter the arena for your match.

Herb Perez:

Now see yourself slowly practicing rising stretches, lifting your leg higher and higher. Feel yourself surprised at how quickly you're moving, how easily you're moving as you practice your basic kicks and your cover punches in slow motion, focusing on your form and your technique. Now visualize yourself executing the perfect round kick as you tuck your knee and at that same time, you're moving your foot forward in a straight line and then turning it over at the last minute. See it going across your body and then turning it over at the last minute. See it going across your body and then your foot retracting and returning to the floor so that you can execute the same technique on the other side. See yourself surprised by the speed and the power of the technique and imagine yourself realizing that you've done the work and you've put in the time to make it all worthwhile. You can feel your body becoming more agile and responsive with each and every movement. See yourself increasing the pace of your warm-up and incorporating more and more movements and dynamic stretches, and incorporating more and more movements and dynamic stretches. You're kicking higher, you're punching harder and you're moving even with greater intensity. You can feel your heart rate increasing as your body temperature warms up and rises. At that moment, I want you to calm your mind and return to your breathing. Inhale deeply, counting to four, hold it for two and then slowly exhale, counting to six. Again, inhale deeply, hold it for two, exhale slowly, counting to six.

Herb Perez:

Now see yourself getting ready to enter the arena. Hear the crowd, hear the hush. Come over the crowd as you enter the arena to fight. Imagine the chaos, imagine them cheering, hear the other players in their matches, and then center yourself and silence everyone with your mind. As you get ready to compete. Your sole focus will be on you and you alone. You will hear the announcer calling your name and you will visualize the crowd cheering as you make yourself ready and as you make your entrance ready.

Herb Perez:

And as you make your entrance, you step onto the mat, feeling the energy surging through your body and through your veins. You're bouncing in your fighting stance, feeling perfectly agile, feeling the floor under your feet, feeling the hardness of the floor. Before you step onto the mat, you take one last second to tie your belt and now you start to put on your chest protector as your coach laces it up for you See yourself in a blue chest protector. You check your arms and shins for the shin guards and arm guards. You open and close your hands. You can feel the straps against your legs and against your arms and now you feel complete. You have your chest guard on your head, gear, your arm and chin guards and you're ready. You bow to your coach. You glance out into the stands to find your friends. You see them, they see you and they know that you are ready. You and they know that you are ready.

Herb Perez:

You see your opponent enter the ring, but it is a faceless opponent because at this moment your opponent is only a chest protector. A chest protector on which you're going to execute perfect technique. A chest protector which you're going to hit over and over again with perfect round kicks, back kicks and not a bonds. The referee calls both of you to the center of the arena and you bow. He yells to me and you get ready and in his face you can see his strength and his weaknesses and you are confident and strong because you remember that you have trained and trained for this moment.

Herb Perez:

The referee signals the start of the match and you take your fighting stance, start moving and you watch your opponent as he thinks about what his first attack will be. If you bounce and move, you see an opportunity and, as quickly as you can, you see yourself executing your first round kick which hits your opponent on the backside of the body. He attempts to get out of the way but is unable to as he tries to counter. You slide to the side and make a miss and start to rethink and reorganize yourself for your next series of attacks. You switch your feet and at that moment your opponent attacks. You slide back easily and counter attack with a round kick. See yourself moving, see yourself seeing every moment that he thinks about every movement that he thinks about and every kick he thinks about hitting you with. He attacks again, you drop your arm to cover it and you punch into the chest, driving him backwards, and follow with a round kick to the stomach. Over and over throughout the match. He attempts kicks and you avoid them easily, moving out of the way, knowing the moment when he's going to kick, because you're watching. See yourself looking at his shoulders, knowing that his shoulders will tell you when the attack is coming.

Herb Perez:

See yourself executing the perfect back kick, counter to a round kick to the stomach. As your opponent attempts to round kick you in the stomach, you execute the perfect jumping back kick, hitting them squarely in the stomach. You execute the perfect jumping back kick, hitting them squarely in the chest. See the points going up on the scoreboard as the clock counts down to the end of round one. You return to your chair where your coach is smiling. Your coach looks at you. Hear the coach speaking to you.

Herb Perez:

Take a moment to look around and look at the crowd which is watching. You See your friends cheering for you as the clock counts down to the start of round number two. The buzzer rings and you jump up, put on your headgear and run to your line. Your opponent is waiting for you, anxious to try to get back the points that you scored in the first round. As you look at the scoreboard, you see you are up the first round. As you look at the scoreboard, you see you're up by one round. Your opponent comes out and he's even more aggressive now, eager to close that point gap.

Herb Perez:

They attack with more ferocity, more techniques. From time to time he touches you, but they are not powerful and you have an answer. Each and every time they attempt to fast kick you slide back and up ball. They attack with double kick. You slide out of up ball. They attack with double kick. You slide out of the way and return with the double kick counter. See your opponent trying to trap you with a back hook. Kick you round kick. The back hook kick comes. You slide out of the way, duck under and do a beautiful counter round kick to the stomach.

Herb Perez:

Imagine yourself doing your best techniques and see them scoring with power and with speed. See yourself evading the techniques. See yourself evading the techniques. See yourself initiating your favorite attack and your favorite counters. See the round continue with a flurry of kicks and punches on both sides. You see the clock count down and the end of the round number two. You return to your chair. Your coach is still smiling. Hear your coach's voice as he gives you final words of encouragement and techniques that you might use In this moment. You think about the techniques that you enjoy doing, would love to score. You think about the traps that you've set in the first and second round. This is the round where you will take advantage of all the progressions you did. Your opponent thinks they know you. Imagine yourself knowing that they think that and think about the progressions of techniques that you will use in this third and final round.

Herb Perez:

As you enter round number three, you realize this is the final round. That is the test of endurance and strategy. Imagine that you are starting to tire, and so is your opponent, but see yourself growing stronger and refusing to yield. Growing stronger and refusing to yield. Your opponent attacks with more desperation because they need a knockout in order to win, but you frustrate this by moving too close so the technique is stifled, or too far so that the technique cannot touch you. Imagine yourself not changing your strategy. You continue to do what you did to bring yourself to this point in the match where you are winning. You're watching the clock and you feel yourself getting stronger, not weaker. You are energized by the techniques that you're doing that are working. You are re-energized as your opponent starts to melt and not be able to keep up with you.

Herb Perez:

As the clock winds down and the referee runs in to break you apart to signal the end of the match, you realize you have won. Imagine that feeling. Remember that feeling of winning, of being able to showcase your technique, your agility but, more importantly, your mental fortitude. As you walk over to bow to his coach, his coach says good job and you can see the admiration in his face. On your way back, see yourself shaking hands with your opponent and congratulating him on a great match. See yourself running into your coach's arms, who is over the moon with happiness at your win, is over the moon with happiness at your win and your triumph.

Herb Perez:

You stand tall, hearing everything in the arena. Now your focus returns to everyone and everything. The world gets bigger. As you stand tall, breathing but exhilarated, the crowd cheers and your coach raises your arms in triumph. You have achieved your dream, the culmination of years of dedication and hard work. As you step off the mat. You are filled with a sense of accomplishment and gratitude but, most importantly, the humility of a great and true champion.

Herb Perez:

Return back to your breathing as you sit, think about each and every moment in the match, but take a moment to savor this feeling of victory. You return back to your breathing. Breathing in for four counts, holding for two, out for six. Let it fuel your passion for your sport and inspire you to continue to strive for excellence. You know you have done the work. You know that this is your time. It is your time to succeed. It is your time. It is your time to succeed. It is your time to excel. You remember that only you can defeat you. You are the master of your destiny. You are the master of your own success. Breathe in for four, hold for two and out for six. Continue this and sit in silence, silencing your mind. Silencing your mind, silencing your body to the point where you can feel your energy slow, where you can feel and hear the sound of your heartbeat slowing the sound of your heartbeat slowing as you come back to bring yourself to a calm place. No-transcript.