(Washington Insider Magazine) – Women’s mixed martial arts is not a sport you may have heard of or even seen, but it is gaining popularity around the world. There are approximately 20,000 active professional boxers and over 1,000 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes in the world, according to United Fighting Championship (UFC) and the World Series of Fighting. UFC rankings contain 605 fighters around the world, 113 of which are women. The women fighting in UFC are divided into 12 weight classes starting with strawweight (115 lbs.) through heavyweight (286.2 lbs).
Jasmine Jasudavicious in ‘Resilient YOU‘
My interview on Resilient YOU with top Champion UFC MMA featherweight fighter Jasmine Jasudavicious revealed an inside look into the life of an MMA fighter.
Anyone in the public eye is vulnerable – and as we know, unfortunately, social media can tear people down, but especially women MMA fighters. Women must be so many things in everyday life and now they are even competing in one of the most physically tough sports in the world. Imagine your daughter, your mother, or your sister was to compete in a fight. First, she’d have to go to training camp, where the fighting may seem like a challenge or even fun at first, but quickly turns to parallel the real world, with struggle and discrimination. Trainers and moreover other fighters at the camps do not take it easy on these inexperienced women. Camp is where you see what you are made of. Not only do you have to be tough physically, but also equally important is mental toughness.
Women need to maintain their mental health more than ever these days and Women MMA fighters know that agility is important. They know strength is important. They can also benefit from learning how to become more Resilient. If fighters win or lose, and in between fights, it’s especially important that they keep a good mindset. Here are 4 ways they can do just that:
- Develop an optimistic mindset
- During training, be sure to keep a balance of workouts, eating right, rest and downtime.
- Practice self-compassion and self-care
- Maintain relationships that are good for you, be kind to yourself if you are not feeling as strong one day as you were the day before, and keep a routine in place so you have balance.
- Focus on strengths – but don’t obsess over them
- You are a fighter, but you are also much more than that. Are you funny? Are you caring? Do you have a talent, skill or other training that helps you in other areas of your life?
- Build your confidence
- Set things in motion that will help you feel good about yourself, remind yourself of the good things that got you where you are today.
Healing is necessary and not always easy, but with intention, people can learn to be more accountable. They can heal.
Journaling is one great way that fighters can practice keeping a good mindset to help with their mental health. As suggested in the journal ‘Emotional Strength Explained, a new way of responding to emotional life’, eliciting help from a trusted friend, mentor, life coach, or therapist will also help because you will build your emotional toughness while being accountable to yourself. No matter which country you support, this is essential for our female athletes who want to be resilient. It may even help a few of you out there.