The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game

This is an apt companion to Sam Sheridan's earlier book, "The Fighter's Heart." Either book or both are treats to anyone who is a fan of MMA, the UFC or combative sports. Here, Sheridan tackles "the mental game." I think it was Yogi Berra who said that 50% of sports is 90% mental," or maybe vice versa. In any event, Sheridan devotes separate chapters to some of the luminaries in martial arts and combative sports, including but not limited to Pat Militech, Greg Jackson, Renzo Gracie and Frank Shamrock. Some may be off-put by Sheridan's inclusion of an ultra-distance runner, but I think it fit. Ultra-runners "fight" through fatigue and boredom to break through physical and mental barriers. View "The Fighter's Mind" as a buffet for the MMA set. You may not be crazy about all the dishes and offerings, but for me, there was enough here to be an entertaining feast. If you are a participant in MMA, martial arts or combative sports or a fan, you owe it to yourself to read "The Fighter's Mind." In fact, even if you do NOT fall into any of these categories, you can gain insights here to take your "game" - whether mental or physical - to the next, higher, level. Lessons here abound and transcend the ring, wrestling mat, dojo or Octagon.

Like with his first book, which I enjoyed immensely, Sam Sheridan comes across as very genuine and sincere, and he's a decent writer to boot. My only gripe with both of his books is the odd chapter I can only read as filler -- fighter dogs in his first book; distance runners in this one. What's the point? Other than that, solid insight. The Marcelo Garcia and Randy Couture chapters alone are worth the price of the book. And Sheridan talking about his own struggles as a writer regarding the distinction between nervousness and excitement was helpful to me, personally. And contrasting Dan Gable's superhuman but ultimately seemingly joyless grind with someone like Kenny Florian: nice. Looking forward to Sheridan's next one.

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.

I just wanted to say, that review above from Publisher's Weekly is obviously from some disgruntled pencil-neck who doesn't like fighting.

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.