D. Cody Fielding of Empowered Health on Competition Prep

D. Cody Fielding is a master trainer, coach and owner of Empowered Health. One of his specializations is fight competition preparation with emphasis on strength, conditioning and mental strategy. We love our technical coaches and the intricacies of our sport, but what Fielding does is different. There are not a lot of guys like him who specialize in the mental game and the specificity of S & C relative to individual physiology and psychological composition in combat sport prep. Fielding has been one of my professional mentors since 2008 and what follows is a brief Q & A overview of some of his work:

What type of competition prep do you do?

All forms of competitive athletics with a specialty in martial arts. boxing, kick-boxing, MMA, grappling, fencing & stick fighting along with surfing, soccer, marathons, triathlons, track & field events, baseball & football.

What principles is your event prep based upon?

What are the specific athletic needs of the event and where is the althlete relative to those needs – I work to close the gap so that the athlete is physiologically as well as mentally & emotionally prepared to beat their competition.

How does preparing to win differ from thorough physical prep?

First, athletes and technical coaches are not per se experts on understanding the ‘energy signatures’ that particular events require. This is where a Strength & Conditioning specialist comes into play. Analyzing the precise muscular and athletic needs is a specialty in itself. Second, rarely is the critical component of the mental game brought into focus. In MANY matches of all types it’s the player with the better mind-set that wins. We fold both of these together and at times can combine that with the tactical needs the coaches are preparing for the fighter in this case.

Why do you feel this type of event prep is important?

Training to win vs. simply training hard is vital because there’s a reason two people are fighting, they are (hopefully) reasonably fairly matched. Thus on any given day, either one can win. So the logical course is to use every tool and means available gain those few percentage of gains that give the best chance for victory.

Fielding may be contacted for consultation by following the contact link on his website, Empowered Health.

Written by Carey Rockland for OTM SF.