Interview with Gunnar Nelson by MMAViking

[Ughugh]

Originally Posted by textwarrior

I know people say the whole right vs left brain is a myth. But, best way I can put it into words is Gunnar is right brain dominant. In this interview he said he remembers faces and not names. When he trains, coaches say he teaches on a level about feeling...like following some flow and staying with that flow. But teaching it, it sounds like an art form, which is real hard to teach...said his coaches. Much like teaching someone to ride a bike, you can exaplain it but one has to try it and learn the whole balance and peddling on their own....this is the part Gunnar tries to teach. Very hard to do.

He has that fedor mindset. It seems when ever there is pressure or fear or demand of anything they pause and wait until they feel in control inside. They have that spiritual side to them which people feel insulted by. Most people get insulted by this, they think the person is being rude if they are not slow. I tried copying fedor and someone decked my lights out....lol, no, jk but managers and A type people get insulted. Fedor was truly Dana Whites anti thesis or opposite.

Viking ("I like solving problems. To me MMA is a problem, which is, how to become the best MW in the world")

Viking ("I don't care. I fight whoever, whenever. Whoever the UFC puts in front of me")

Viking ("You know your opponent’s goal is to beat you up, and at first it’s terrifying but when you get used to it your perspective changes. Some think rage can help you in the ring but it doesn’t – same goes for fear. You cannot be emotionally involved in the ring, because those feelings will get in the way")

Non Viking ("Can you see me now!! BARK! BARK! BROCK! BROCK!")

[Pete the beat]

Originally Posted by textwarrior

I know people say the whole right vs left brain is a myth. But, best way I can put it into words is Gunnar is right brain dominant. In this interview he said he remembers faces and not names. When he trains, coaches say he teaches on a level about feeling...like following some flow and staying with that flow. But teaching it, it sounds like an art form, which is real hard to teach...said his coaches. Much like teaching someone to ride a bike, you can exaplain it but one has to try it and learn the whole balance and peddling on their own....this is the part Gunnar tries to teach. Very hard to do.

He has that fedor mindset. It seems when ever there is pressure or fear or demand of anything they pause and wait until they feel in control inside. They have that spiritual side to them which people feel insulted by. Most people get insulted by this, they think the person is being rude if they are not slow. I tried copying fedor and someone decked my lights out....lol, no, jk but managers and A type people get insulted. Fedor was truly Dana Whites anti thesis or opposite.

I've been training under him for a few years now and when I was a white belt and the first year as a blue belt I kind of had a difficult time understanding what he was teaching. I just did not understand it and the moves he was teaching weren't working for me at the time. It was so much about feelings and flow and I just did not get it. I don't know why but I understand what he is teaching so much better now and I think he is a great teacher, especially for wrestling. He teaches us a lot to stay relaxed and not tense up.

This teaching of feelings and flow is very unique and something I like a lot now.

[flanellograf]

Originally Posted by Pete the beat

I've been training under him for a few years now and when I was a white belt and the first year as a blue belt I kind of had a difficult time understanding what he was teaching. I just did not understand it and the moves he was teaching weren't working for me at the time. It was so much about feelings and flow and I just did not get it. I don't know why but I understand what he is teaching so much better now and I think he is a great teacher, especially for wrestling. He teaches us a lot to stay relaxed and not tense up.

This teaching of feelings and flow is very unique and something a like a lot now.

I get why that could be hard for a beginner, and I don't think that's the way to start teaching most people, since you need a certain level of comfort with how your body works in that situation and basic grasp of positions, moves etc. Then after it starts becoming more automatic, it's a great way, because it encourages more subconscious processing which is vastly more powerful (more brain resources alotted) than conscious processing. Every master of any art experiences a degree of "losing oneself", which stems from his skills having become mostly automatic and he in turn can then experience what he is doing without thinking about it. At that point the conscious mind is more of a hindrance than it is an advantage.
A common theme with fighters is that "I have to go watch my fight, I don't remember", due to most of what is happening in the cage is subconscious. Getting punched in the head probably doesn't help with conscious recollection either. ;)