Jiri Prochazka has built a reputation not just for his fighting style, but for his unconventional and often extreme approach to training.
From isolating himself in the mountains to swimming under frozen lakes, his methods have raised eyebrows.
When asked about these practices on the The Dan Le Batard Show, Prochazka questioned the very idea that they are “crazy”:
Crazy for who? Maybe crazy for somebody who doesn’t know that…
Every high-level athlete, the sport on the top level is not so healthy, not so usual, not so normal. That’s why we have to be a little bit above the normal line.
For Prochazka, stepping outside of comfort isn’t optional:
I like the challenges… It’s terrifying, but it’s about calm the mind in every aspect of your life.
These challenges gave me the opportunity to control myself as much as I can.
His mindset centers on experience over imagination:
And this challenge, last year, swimming under the ice, was like when you’re trying something for the first time in your life. Like sex. You do that, and then you know.
Until that moment, you don’t know, you have just imagination about that. But after that, you really know what it’s about.
At the core of it all is one driving force:
Fear. I hate fear…
No, I don’t hate fear. I want to be so deep in contact with the fear to see through him, because he is just shaking the mind.He’s just shaking your emotion and asking you: “Are you sure in this? Are you stable [inside]?”
So, that’s why I’m doing all these things… To see totally through.
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