Issue 133
October 2015
Chess. Matt Brown. An unlikely combination, you might think. The Ohio brawler and the game of cerebral masters. Yet Brown has adopted the game of kings to improve his fight strategy, and move himself to another level.
Gareth A Davies
TV analyst and MMA reporter for The Daily Telegraph, UK, talks tactics with 170lb star Matt Brown
Brown’s relentless pursuit of opponents, and his never-back-down and never-say-die style in the cage are borne of his natural inclinations in fight mode. But that’s being carefully honed. And chess is playing a part.
His inspiration came from The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. The American, now 38, won his first National Chess Championship aged nine, dominated the chess world for 10 years and then switched spheres, taking up the martial art of tai chi, becoming champion in 2004.
Waitzkin discovered it wasn’t that he was brilliant at chess, or tai chi, but learning. His book has many life lessons, the bottom line being that a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning separates success from failure. Rather than focusing on climactic wins, Waitzkin developed a method that can trigger what he believes are “intuitive breakthroughs.”
It’s the art of performance psychology. From competing against chess hustlers in New York City’s Washington Square Park aged seven, to international chess championships, to world-championship battles against masters of tai chi in Taiwan. It’s about being at 90% of your ability and taking it to 100%.
That resonated with Brown, a top-10 welterweight, striving to be champion. Brown feels he got to 90% on natural fighting ability. “It’s way easier getting in the top 10 than it is from five to one,” Brown says. Now it’s about a constant evolution to get to 100%, and that means adopting ‘small circles’ in aspects of his game – polishing them and honing them.
He’s often described as a technical brawler, but there’s a lot that we don’t ‘see’ when Brown fights, because of that whirlwind style. His clinch and Muay Thai game, as he says, is as good as anybody’s.
Brown has started playing regular chess matches, and realizes it’s about bringing the opponent to your game, controlling the board and putting your opponent where you want him. Just like MMA.
“You can make your opponent your soldier, working for you, against himself. That’s the whole fight game right there,” Brown says. “That’s what I’m looking to do.
“I never would have thought about that a couple of fights ago. I know I’m tough, I know I can handle pain. But now I look into it more deeply with more philosophy.”
The mental aspect has become the most enjoyable part for Brown. He loves being in the gym, but he has realized that technique without application means nothing. He worked for so many years to get where he is, and then his evolution stopped. But The Art of Learning has renewed his quest to develop.
The A-team
‘Uniform’ and MMA are not two words you would readily align, but the Reebok deal has arrived in style. It’s neatened up the perspective on television of fighters and their teams, and has created a ‘team’ look. Like previous UFC changes, it’s groundbreaking for mixed martial arts.
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