The Super Mental Training Book (9 page)

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P E R I

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MENTAL TRAINING STRATEGIES TIME LINE (BOXING)

Affirmations

(Muhammad Ali; Jack Dempsey repeated his during the fight)

Trains in Isolation, Away

from All Distractions and

Negative Influences

(Rocky Marciano went into isolation one month prior to the fight; Gene Tunney stopped reading newspapers)

Hypnosis Sessions

(See Community Activities' work with junior boxers; Jerry Quarry and hypnotherapist Nick Lewter; Ken Norton and hypnotist Michael Dean)

Use of Visualization

(Rocky Marciano; Gene Tunney repeatedly fought Jack Dempsey in his mind years before they ever met, as did Mike Tyson before he fought Larry Holmes)

Regular J J ractice of Self-hypnosis

(Ken Norton gave himself autosuggestions throughout training camp; only required 20 seconds to enter the hypnotic state)

D A Y

S

L E A D I

N G

U P

T O

T H E

B O

U T

Use of a Suggestive System on Opponent

(See press conference involving Ken Norton and Duane Bobick)

Pre-fight Hypnosis Sessions

(Ingemar Johansson; Muhammad Ali had his at night while going going to sleep, when the subconscious is very susceptible to suggestions)

T

H E

F I

G H T

Using Self-hypnosis between Rounds

(Nick Lewter helped Jesse Burnett develop this capability; being able to instantly hypnotize oneself a big advantage for the serious athlete)

BOXING:

FIGHTERS FAVOR HYPNOSIS AND VISUALIZATION

Talk to just about any athlete and he will claim that what is special about his sport is the enormous amount of concentration it requires. One sport where this sentiment definitely predominates is boxing. The fighter well knows that one mental lapse can mean instant defeat and possible serious injury. It is not surprising, therefore, that there are many examples of boxers using hypnosis, self-hypnosis, and visualization to enhance their mental sharpness and confidence in the ring.

The most unique story I have come across in this regard was told to me, in an April 13, 1979 interview, by the dean of sports hypnotists, Arthur Ellen. During his 50-year career, Ellen has worked with several professional boxers, including Ken Norton, former WBC heavyweight champion. According to Ellen, in 1949 Melio Bettina fought Gus Lesnevich for the light-heavyweight championship. Notes Ellen, "They called it the Battle of the Hypnotists. Two hypnotists working two fighters." Bettina's hypnotist was his manager, Jimmy Grippo, while John Scarny served as Lesnevich's hypnotist. You would think that a tremendous fight ensued because presumably both fighters were given effective hypnotic suggestions. However, this did not turn out to be the case. Lesnevich won—and fast! "The fight lasted one minute in the first round," relates Ellen, adding matter-of-factly, "Somebody had to lose."

We can make endless speculations about why the fight lasted but one minute: Lesnevich was given more effective hypnotic suggestions; Lesnevich was just lucky; each boxer's hypnotic suggestions cancelled out the other's, leaving the superior fighter to emerge victorious, and on we can speculate. But, this brings out a most important point. Any athlete's success is determined by several factors, only one of which is the ability to perform with confidence. We shall shortly look at the example of Ken Norton, a long-time user of hypnosis, who got knocked out early in two critical fights—fights for which he mentally prepared by employing hypnosis. His story shows clearly that hypnosis alone guarantees nothing. Other factors—such as, conditioning, strategy, proper diet, and most importantly, the opponent—can influence the outcome even more than one's possessing a positive frame of mind and good self-programming.

On balance, however, boxers who use hypnosis claim it helps them substantially. According to Arthur Ellen, for example, Ingemar Johansson contended that it was hypnosis which made him the heavyweight boxing champion. [1] Praise for hypnosis has also come from amateur boxing quarters. The following extract, appearing in Vol. 82 of the Bulletin of the Association to Advance Ethical Hypnosis, indicates that teen-age boxers can "handle" hypnosis as well as derive significant benefits from it:

The Oakland Press (Nov. 28, 1978) relates that young boxers at Community Activities, Inc. are in an unusual training program. These aspiring Silver and Golden Gloves Champions are having sessions in hypnosis with Linda Atkins of the Hypnosis Center, Drayton Plains, Michigan. Their trainer, Dick Grable, and the parents of the boxers have only praise. Says Grable: "We have had state champs every year. . ." One parent, unsure of the program at first, thinks hypnosis had made her sons better boxers, does not think it is detrimental to her children and is considering continuing the hypnosis sessions beyond the boxing season.

Frequently, athletes' praise of hypnosis includes praise for the hypnotist they are working with. The testimonial of Jerry Quarry, former heavyweight contender, falls into this category.

After a 2 1/2-year layoff from boxing, Quarry attempted a comeback against Lorenzo Zanon in November, 1977. As reported by Jack Hawn of the Los Angeles Times, Quarry visited hypnotherapist Nick Lewter as often as was possible in the weeks before the fight. Stated Quarry, "Dr. Lewter has really helped me. He's put positive thinking in my mind and given me self-confidence. At times in the past, I've questioned the abilities that I had, as to whether I was really good enough to beat certain fighters that I was fighting. And, when you go in there with doubts, you've already lost the fight to begin with. He's taken that doubt out of my mind."[2]

So enthused was Quarry over the results emanating from the hypnosis sessions, he planned to have Lewter hypnotize him in the locker room right before the fight. Whether this took place or not, the bottom line was that Quarry knocked out Zanon late in the fight. This occurred only after Quarry had absorbed a lot of punishment throughout the rounds from his opponent. We search hard here for evidence of hypnosis transforming the athlete into some sort of superman, and find none. However, as Arthur Ellen observes, if nothing else, hypnosis at least can get the fighter into the ring; it certainly accomplished this with Quarry.

Besides Quarry, hypnotherapist Lewter has other clients who happen to be boxers. The public statements of two of these boxers echo the comments made by Quarry. [3] L. A. Times staff writer J. Michael Kennedy informs us:

On the other hand, there are those who swear by him (Dr. Lewter). One is Jesse Burnett, a light heavyweight boxer who is certain the treatments have done him good. Like Quarry, he is in the last of his fighting years, yet he thinks the Lewter treatment will be helpful.

Burnett started boxing when he was in prison, where he did seven years for robbery. He said he didn't have the extra effort needed to win before he met Lewter, but now does. He has had only one fight since undergoing the weekly hypnotherapy treatments, a bout he lost, but Burnett contends that was due to a hometown decision. "I said, C I don't believe in this stuff. You can't hypnotize me.' The next thing I knew, I was relaxed." Burnett said he can now carry that kind of relaxation into the ring with him, going into what might look like a trance when he is in his corner between rounds.

Assuming Burnett's contention is true, that he can enter the hypnotic state between rounds to relax, that is quite an advantage. Such a capability would theoretically allow Burnett to give himself reinforcing and possibly new suggestions to help counter any change of tactics by his opponent. All things being equal, such flexibility would not only frustrate the opponent, but probably prove instrumental in defeating him.

The other boxer client of Lewter's who offered his hypnosis story to the Times reporter was Ted Sanders. His remarks are noteworthy because we see again evidence that physical conditioning needs to be linked with mental conditioning in order to totally maximize the athlete's potential. Stated Sanders, "I knew there was something in myself that could put out more, but it was like I was afraid to do it. Now, I'm not getting beat up. They can't believe the difference. I don't just put it on training itself. You've got to get the mind to do it."

The boxer who has been the staunchest advocate of hypnosis is Ken Norton. The former heavyweight champion has practiced self-hypnosis for years and worked with various hypnotists. Dr. Michael Dean was the first hypnotist to whom he turned for help. At the time Norton had won 15 out of 16 professional fights, but remained relatively unheralded in the heavyweight ranks. This was soon to change. In the April 4, 1973 Los Angeles Times article, "Hypnotist Credited With Helping Norton," Dean described his work with the boxer:

He came to me and said his arms get too tired to keep them up. He used to get tired in five or six rounds. I told him to rejuvenate himself. Through autosuggestion, when-

ever his arms get tired, he should step back out of the opponent's range, roll his shoulders, relax and think "I feel great, I feel great." Then he can come back and continue to fight.

For 2 1/2 years Norton linked up with Dean, and won 12 straight bouts, including his famous shocking victory over Muhammad Ali on March 31, 1973 (Ali suffered a broken jaw in this fight). As his first fight against Ali drew nearer, Norton prepared himself mentally by meeting daily with Dean for hypnosis sessions, some lasting as long as 45 minutes. In this instance the mental training clearly paid off. The victory over Ali proved the turning point in Norton's career, and established him for many years until his retirement in 1981 as one of the top-ranked heavyweights.

In the Ali fight, Dean claimed Norton followed his advice to "roll his shoulders, relax and think C I feel great, I feel great' " whenever his arms got tired. According to Dean, "he also used self-hypnosis between rounds when he kept his eyes open and took deep, relaxing breaths." There is no question that any athlete who regularly practices self-hypnosis can develop the capability to put himself into the hypnotic state almost instantaneously. So, it is possible that Norton was able to use self-hypnosis between rounds and while actually fighting Ali during the round; that this might have occurred aroused my curiosity.

I talked to Norton on several occasions about his use of self-hypnosis, and he maintained that he did not go into a self-hypnotic state during his fights. [4] Said Norton, "You don't have time to stop and think during a fight. Everything's got to be conditioned reflex." What Norton says he did do was give himself autosuggestions during training camp. He noted, "By the time I get to the fight everything is embedded in my subconscious. Then, if an opportunity presents itself during the fight, it's an automatic reflex." Norton also estimated that it takes him 20 seconds to attain the autohypnotic state. This being the case, he could have conceivably given himself reinforcing suggestions during the minute's rest between rounds. During the round itself, however, such an attempt might prove quite difficult to pull off; the action usually would be too fast and too intense for one to give himself reinforcing suggestions. As Norton stated, "You don't have time to stop and think during a fight." This situation most athletes face—of not having enough time during competition to give themselves reinforcing suggestions—is not a serious problem; for any athlete who has received proper hypnotic suggestions before the competition begins will be more than adequately prepared mentally. Given such pre-preparation, the athlete will only rarely encounter a need for reinforcing suggestions during competition. Norton's procedure of using self-hypnosis while in training camp is therefore one which will work quite well the majority of the time.

After the Ali fight, Dean and Norton had a falling out, which eventually degenerated into a lawsuit filed by Dean. Dean's version of the rift appears in the March, 1974 issue of Sport (see "Hypnosis in Sports: How to Slip Into a Trance and Out of a Slump"). The dispute seemed centered around who was getting the most credit and publicity—the boxer or the hypnotist.

After Norton parted ways with Dean, he mainly used self-hypnosis to prepare for his fights. I once asked Norton what specific hypnotic suggestions he gave himself. He replied, "It depends on whom I'm fighting. It depends on what I think I need to do." Norton amplified on this later while discussing his November 5, 1977 victory over Jimmy Young at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. This victory, incidentally, ultimately resulted in Norton being declared champion (after Ali refused to fight him). According to Norton, he gave himself the suggestions "mainly 'to throw combinations to the body, stay in the body,' because I have a tendency to headhunt. Also, 'to try to avoid his right hand,' and 'to counter when he throws a right hand'—he's got a very quick right hand." These instructions are precisely what Norton carried out: he scored most of his points by hammering Young's midsection throughout the fight, and defended well against Young's right.

Against former Olympian Duane Bobick, Norton not only gave himself appropriate hypnotic

Boxing

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