Copyright © Geoff Thompson 2004
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'Seeing is achieving! Whatever the mind of man can conceive he can achieve.' – Samuel Johnson

'It's been said that imagination is stronger than will-power and by not trying, by just visualising the goal accomplished it can be easier to achieve in real life.' – Takayuki Kubota

Top golfers are unanimous in their praise for it, champion body builders put it on a par with diet, and it is used with great success universally by doctors and psychologists, yet it still lies largely in the shadow of disbelief and ignorance. Some sceptics may laugh at the very thought of programming your mind, via visualisation, but who can argue with documented fact (or Tak Kubota for that matter). I think that visualisation is best summed up by Samuels & Samuels:

'What people visualise is what they get, likewise, what they have is a result of what they have visualised.'

Visualisation is a many splendoured thing in that it can be used to attain many things, from building up confidence to perfecting technique to confronting fears. In a documented experiment in America (one of many putting visualisation to the test), two groups of students were given the task of practising basketball penalty shots every day for a month. One group actually physically practised netting the ball whilst the other group lay on a bed or sat in a chair and, using visualisation, mentally practised netting the ball. At the end of the month both groups met up at a basketball court and competed to see which of the two could net the most shots. The group that had practised using visualisation won by a considerable margin.

That isn't to say that you should replace physical practice with visualisation, but certainly use it as a strong supplement. In a self-protection sense I have successfully commissioned the use of visualisation on many occasions, and genuinely believe that almost anything is attainable through its conscientious practice.

Many top martial arts competitors are starting to latch onto visualisation and the benefits it can offer. Chuck Norris, in his competition days, used it before he fought, and said that many times he scored points on his opponents with the exact moves he had beaten them with in his minds eye only minutes before.

Floro Villabrille, the famous unbeaten Filipino martial artist, the victor of countless full contact Escrima and Kali matches, practised visualisation whilst he actually trained. He would always go up to the mountains alone before a match, and in his imagination would fight his opponent over and over again until he felt he couldn't lose. He was quoted as saying 'I can't lose, when I enter the ring nobody can beat me, I already know that man is beaten.'

Before I actually go into the practice methods of visualisation let us first examine what the famous humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, termed the Jonah Complex or, in layman's terms, the fear of success:

'You may be surprised to learn that the Jonah Complex stifles the advancement of as many people as the fear of failure.'

Maslow also stated:

'We are generally afraid to become that which we can glimpse in our most perfect moments, under the most perfect conditions, under conditions of greatest courage, we enjoy and even thrill to the God-like possibilities we see in ourselves at such peak moments, and yet, simultaneously, shiver with weakness, awe and fear before the same possibilities'.

Many people would, for instance, enjoy the prestige of representing the K.U.G.B. national squad, but how many of those same people, I wonder, would relish the thought of facing the like of Ronnie 'the Tasmanian Devil' Christopher and others of his ilk at squad meetings once a month. Not so many I think!

METHODS OF PRACTICE

Visual rehearsal, self-actualisation, going to the movies or visualisation, call it what you will, the process is basically the same and really quite a simple way of utilising a little more of your mental muscle.

Initially, the best way of practising visualisation is lying down in a quiet, darkened room. Close your eyes, breathe in and out deeply and relax. Once a relaxed state is acquired try to picture in your mind's eye the goal desired. At first you might find this difficult, but with practice it will get easier and the mental images clearer.

Picture yourself facing your fears or utilising your game plan in a confrontation, again and again, until it is well and truly programmed into your mind. Try to see the desired goal in as much detail as possible. The brain finds it very difficult to discern between what is imagined and what is actual; all it knows is what is programmed into it, so when you come to perform the goal that you've visualised, the brain gets straight into gear. You've rehearsed it so often it thinks it has done it before.

Many people who already practise visualisation only use one of the senses (imagined senses), i.e. sight, out of the possible five. Psychologists talk of the three out of five rule. Using three out of your five senses, they say, will enhance your visualisation practice. Tom 'Mr Legs' Platze, one of the world's greatest body builders says, and I quote:

'If you can use five of your senses in visualisation practice I'm confident that you can triple the results of your visualisation process.'

For instance, if you employ the three out of five rule, and as a hypothetical example your desired goal is to successfully employ your chosen game plan in a self-defence scenario, imagine the feeling of fear within, and you confidently controlling that fear. Imagine the sight and sound of your potential attacker before you, the sound of your voice refusing to baulk at his threats and perhaps as a climax see, hear and feel yourself neutralising him with your well-practised pre-emptive strike, the sound of his body falling, the sound/feel of your feet running away.

The more real and the more detailed you make your imagined performance the better your results will be.

I often practised just before I went out to work as a doorman in the nightclubs, mentally rehearsing techniques that have been successful for me in the past (it's always easier to visualise something that you have done or experienced before). In this sense I have found its practise an invaluable asset.

GOING TO THE MOVIES

As a final note, if you have trouble visualising images try going to the movies. In your mind's eye imagine a huge cinema screen in front of you, and on the screen picture yourself succeeding in your desired goal, confronting the bully, etc. Make the image as vivid as possible, use the three out of five rule and repeat the sequence as often as you can (15 minutes per day) and it will eventually become programmed into your mind. But please remember it is not a substitute but rather an additive to physical training.