Efter sin förlust på UFC 168 mot Travis Browne besökte Josh Barnett The MMA Hour och berättade om sin förlust. Det han även gjorde var att visa upp sitt alldeles egna tolvstegsprogram.
Tolvstegsprogram är kända för att finnas inom bland annat Anonyma Alkoholister. Nu har Josh Barnett skapat ett eget program som ska ta honom upp mot toppen i UFC. Om det är rätt väg återstår att se men här kan ni läsa samtliga tolv steg. Barnett förklarar alla stegen förutom steg åtta till tolv. Ni kommer förstå när ni läser.
Step 1: Remove outside distractions, focus solely on fighting
”My life is entirely busy with things other than just fighting. I’m not a kid anymore, nor am I a kid in terms of when it comes to the sport of fighting. Travis is a kid when it comes to fighting. He’s been doing this five years, he says. When I was five years in, I was the UFC heavyweight champion, and all I could think about was fighting. I know what that’s like, but now I’m not a child anymore. I am a bustling young teenager full of all kinds of weird feelings and hormones fighting, and as soon as I figure out why the hair grew there, I’ll move along.
”It’s too easy to get sidetracked, and I am well aware of all kinds of opportunities that are opening up for me now and I’m trying to take advantage of them. But when it comes to fighting, you really need to keep fighting first. I’ve been involved in this sport for so long — don’t take the fighting for granted. Make sure to cut those things out that can take away.”
Step 2: Move camp away from home, narrow focus, remove convenience
”I really think that this is something that is specific for fighters in general, depending on their personality types, but also as you’ve been fighting for a very long time, you have to make slight adjustments. Normally this is not a necessity for me, but I think it could be a help because it could bring me back to that time when I was just a little kid and fighting.
”I think that maybe moving the camp from a different location (away) from home will make a big difference in keeping that focus. Again, removing distractions, and just making me hungry. Or, if anything, just really pissed off that I don’t have all the stuff that I really like.”
Step 3: Pre-camp harder
”I think that for me, as I’m older, (I need to) spend more time prepping beforehand. I hate that. I don’t want to spend more time fighting than I have to often. I really enjoy doing it, but you know, (I’m) 36 (years old), so easing into camps will be a plus. Spend most of my time prepping for camp and staying ready, instead of getting ready.”
Step 4: Increase flexibility
”I’ve always been flexible enough, but I think that over the years I’ve tightened up in some areas. Scar tissue here and there, and blah, blah, blah. Reduction of inflexibility means reduction of injuries. That just means being able to move a lot easier and, you know, not looking like Abe Vigoda when you get out of bed in the morning.”
Step 5: Work more on weaknesses
”We all have ‘em, we all know what they are. I do spend time working on my weaknesses, but this could be also more part of that pre-camp thing — spend a ton of time working on weaknesses, because you’re only as strong as your weakest link. I’d prefer not to have any weak links at all. If at all possible, I’d like to keep my links nice and tight. Real tight links. Really super tight. Made of gold if possible.”
Step 6: Spend more time on recovery
”This is super important for all fighters, but especially so for old dogs like myself. When you think of fighting, you think of the work that you put in at the gym. Well, recovery is part of that work process.
”You think, oh, you worked out hard, you stretched out, whatever. You hydrated, you got some food — oh, I’m done. No, you’re not done. You probably have another hour of chiropractic potentially. Or maybe you’ve got massage, or hyperbaric chamber. Any of that kind of stuff. It’s a necessity. You’ve got to keep yourself in top physical condition and stay in peak shape, because you’re going to have… well I won’t say necessarily [that you’ll incur] injury, but you have a lot of hurtin’ and boo-boos, and things like that. Little owies and raspberries.”
Step 7: Work on learning a new language
”I don’t know exactly (what this has to do with fighting). Maybe so you can insult your opponents no matter where you end up in the world? But, it just sounded kind of like a thing you should do anyway, and I was making a list, so I thought I would include stuff that I thought was important.”
Step 8: Kill
Step 9: Kill
Step 10: Kill
Step 11: Kill
Step 12: Kill
