Train: McGregor and Fanning’s secret!

It involves "unclogging the hose!"

Unless you live underneath a rock then you know that tonight Floyd “Money” Mayweather takes on Conor “Notorious” McGregor in the fight of the century. The betting line favors Mayweather and almost ridiculously so. Like, -400 or something.

But still. Conor McGregor has a legion of fans who believe he can upset one of the greatest fighters to ever lace up the gloves. They have faith. They have passion. And he has a secret training technique gifted him by his trainer.

A secret training technique also shared by 3x world surf champion Mick “Eugene” Fanning!

No, it is not pride in Irish heritage. It’s… it’s… well, let’s just read about it!

Since we know that maximal power output as delivered through the kinetic chain is comprised of an orchestra of accurately timed muscular contractions and relaxations, how is it that most fighters focus so little on the capacity to disengage and relax overly tense areas in their bodies? This is a basic understanding in fields that truly mastered power/speed output like the Javelin Throw, sprinting, Discus in Track&Field or pitchers in Baseball where the results in MMA and Boxing when it comes to issuing force are rather inconsistent and rely more on …. Talent and inclinations.

They’ll tell you punchers are born not made. BS. They can be made and if they are born with natural gifts they can be enhanced. I’ve been focusing with @thenotoriousmma on ‘Unclogging the Hose’ and being able to RELAX certain areas in the body fully and immediately as well as CONTRACT maximally and abruptly in a well timed chain of actions. It’s not about stretching, mind you and in the photo we don’t do any pull ups or strength work in the traditional sense. Relaxation is a skill and one of the most underrated yet hardest one to master.

The ability to “keep the body soft” is a skill relevant to all athletes wanting to refine and improve performance.

It is an “often overlooked” technique according to elite performance coach, Nam Baldwin.

“It’s so important as it gives an athlete a much broader spectrum in which to operate, i.e. through relaxation they will further enhance the talents they already have (both in mind and body) which otherwise would have remain untapped,” Baldwin said. “Athletes and coaches have nothing to lose by giving this practice a go, yet everything to gain.”

Baldwin, a former sprinter and freediver with a background in martial arts, said he uses the principles when training world champion surfer Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore, the Australian Olympic K4 kayak gold medal team, and the Warriors.

The technique, which Baldwin learned through his own teacher Sifu Mark Rasmus, instils the ability to “generate incredible power” through the most subtle of movements.

“When training pro surfers, we often work on drills that help to generate greater speed and power through a more relaxed body or line, these skills allow you to do more on a wave, manoeuvre much better and produce bigger and better turns,” Baldwin said. “I (and many others) refer to this concept as generating elastic force, or spring energy.”

I did not understand one word of that whole thing except “unclogging the hose.” I can do that. So can you. We can all be as successful as Conor and Mick.

Anyhow, who are you cheering for tonight? Floyd Money or Conor Notorious?

Or Mick Eugene?