Watch: Interview with Tom Blackledge, former MMA fighter

Insider Media

Ahead of UFC 304 in Manchester, Insider editor Simon Keegan interviews (and spars with) UFC legend Tom Blackledge and finds that techniques fighters use can be applied to mindfulness in business.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Simon Keegan, I'm the editor of the Northwest Business Insider and I'm in

00:14Wigan today to meet Tom Blackledge, one of the British legends of the UFC and mixed martial

00:21arts.

00:22Hi Tom.

00:23Hello Simon, you okay?

00:24Good to see you Tom.

00:26So Tom, first of all we're going to get into a little bit of your UFC career.

00:30So how did you get involved in the UFC first of all?

00:35Well I mean, first off I would probably say there's the differentiation between MMA as

00:40the sport and the UFC as a brand.

00:43Obviously the UFC is what most people understand and recognise as that is the ultimate level

00:49of the sport really.

00:52So my start in MMA is a long time ago, back in the 90s when I first started to do it.

01:00It wasn't even called MMA back then, it was called No Holds Barred.

01:04It didn't get its moniker of mixed martial arts until probably 2004, 2005.

01:09Because back then it wasn't the sport that it is now, now there's all the weight classes,

01:15people all wear the shorts and the gloves, but back then it was a bit more of a wild

01:18west wasn't it?

01:19Yeah, the sport was, obviously it started in 1993 in America, but in the later 90s in

01:27the UK it started to get a bit more prominent as far as the ability to go and fight and

01:35to be on really small shows to be honest.

01:39And like you said, there wasn't really any structure to what was happening, it was very

01:43much born of which martial art style is better.

01:47So you would have a karate guy against a sumo or a boxer against a judo guy, that kind

01:52of thing?

01:53Yeah, it was all stylistic traditional martial arts, facing against each other.

01:58And then gradually it became a style unto itself of various mixed martial arts, obviously

02:04Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wrestling and kickboxing and Thai boxing.

02:08So you were doing MMA, or what we now call MMA to begin with, and then you got the call

02:14to go and fight in the UFC?

02:16Yeah, that was a long time coming, that was years and years and years later.

02:22I'd fought on big promotions around the world, there are other big promotions, I'd fought

02:26on quite a few promotions around the world in Amsterdam and Japan and places like this.

02:32And obviously I was working towards to get to the UFC.

02:36By the time, to be honest, by the time that I got signed to the UFC it was too little

02:41too late probably and I'd suffered bad injuries with my neck, a fracture on part of my spine

02:51and prolapsed discs and things like this and issues.

02:55And to be honest it was the beginning of the end already by that point, which then led

03:01me into a lot more coaching because I wasn't able to do the things that I wanted to do.

03:06So you coached very successfully, you were on the, there was a UFC TV show called The

03:11Ultimate Fighter I believe, you were a coach on that, and you also coached the world champ

03:16didn't you, who some people will know from the A-Team movie, Quinton Rampage Jackson

03:21who played BA.

03:22Yeah, that's right, yeah he's, you know Quinton's like a really close friend of mine, he's a

03:28phenomenal fighter, he was an amazing champ, I was fortunate enough to help him in lots

03:35of his fights and we remain close now still.

03:38Now when I arrived this morning and you were teaching class, I saw another famous face

03:43in your class, the Scouse comedian, Paul Smith.

03:48Yeah, Paul, yeah Paul trains, again Paul and I are really good friends, I'm fortunate enough

03:54that I get to coach him pretty regularly, we get a few days a week where we're training

03:59together and I'm helping him do little bits of Jiu Jitsu and little bits of conditioning

04:04work and things like that, ever since he signed up to do a fight we've become close

04:10friends.

04:11I think some of his one-liners are more brutal than some of the strikes that you see in the

04:15UFC aren't they?

04:16Yeah, he's very funny, very funny.

04:19So on to some of the other things that you do, because you've gone beyond even fighting

04:25and coaching, I know we had you at the 4242 last year where you spoke to the entrepreneurs

04:30in the room about mindfulness, meditation and breathing techniques and things like that,

04:37so tell us a little bit about how some of these techniques can be employed by people

04:42outside of fighting.

04:43Yeah, so I think people misconstrue martial arts and fighting, it's very misunderstood

04:51I think by a lot of people who don't see, like a lot of the things that we are taught

04:55in traditional martial arts even when we're young and what we study and might be exposed

05:00to get missed a lot by the general public and I think for years and years they just

05:07think it's all made up stuff and doesn't work and understanding that the importance of good

05:14breath work and what it does to your body and to your mind and for calming yourself

05:19and to help you cope with anxiety and fear and nerves, that's one of the key points that

05:25I write about in my book, Feelers by Design, it's a good regulator to change your state,

05:31to change the way that you feel.

05:32So this is breathing techniques, the way that you breathe, it's kind of like yoga, that

05:36sort of thing?

05:37Yeah, it's in yoga, there's yoga techniques and obviously understanding the way that we

05:44breathe can alter our state, so we have our autonomic nervous system has two branches

05:49of the rest and digest or the fight or flight, which people would know the terms.

05:57Many times the way that we breathe can alter which state we're in, if we're breathing shallow

06:01and fast, we put ourselves in this fight or flight state and then wonder why we're feeling

06:05anxious and getting anxious thoughts, but it's because we're putting ourselves in a

06:08state of fight or flight, which serves a purpose.

06:12If you're fighting.

06:13If you're fighting or you're running or you're in danger, it serves a purpose, but when you're

06:17sat at home or you're lying in bed at midnight and you can't sleep and your eyes are wide

06:23awake, it's because you're in this state of fight or flight.

06:25You're in fight mode kind of thing.

06:26Yeah, and your body doesn't understand the difference and so embracing certain breath

06:31work modalities can really alter the way that you feel, the way that your brain works, the

06:36way that your body works and the physiological state that you're in.

06:40I talk a lot in the book and obviously in the talks with businesses about how we can

06:45alter them states and the best ways to do that, but breath work is one of the best ways

06:52if you understand the way to do it.

06:54You've also involved with a charity as well now where you help people with these techniques

07:00as well.

07:01Yeah, that's right.

07:02We have CIC Ataraxia and it's a lot of mindfulness tools and courses like this, what we try and

07:09deliver to people locally and online, which feature a lot of the breath work stuff that

07:17I aspire as well.

07:18Right, okay.

07:19Yeah.

07:20And so if there's any business people who are maybe interested in managing their stress

07:23levels, it must be very stressful running a business as you know.

07:27Yeah.

07:28What can they do?

07:29Is there a way they can contact you?

07:30Yeah, they can go to my website at tomblattledge.com and send me a contact message on there.

07:35Yeah.

07:36Or they can go to Ataraxia if they wanted the charity side of it, they can go to that

07:39website too.

07:40Brilliant.

07:41Okay.

07:42Well, we've got the UFC coming up in Manchester at Co-op Live.

07:44I think some friends of yours are probably fighting in that, aren't they?

07:47So have you got any tips for us?

07:49Anybody you're rooting for?

07:51You know, obviously MMA is a small, it's a pretty small sport really.

07:55So any of the gyms, like obviously I've been involved in the sport since it started.

07:59So a lot of the guys I know, I either know them or I know the coaches and obviously Tom

08:05Aspinall's on that card.

08:07He's a wigglin' lad too.

08:08He's from Atherton, Tom, yeah.

08:11He's trained with us, he's trained with some of our guys.

08:13I'm good friends with his dad too.

08:15We used to speak quite regularly, we don't speak very much now.

08:19You know, Tom's a really good guy, really good prospect, trains with some nice lads

08:25and I think Tom beats all the heavyweights in the UFC to be fair.

08:30And then you've got Paddy on the back.

08:32This is Paddy the baddie.

08:34Yeah, Paddy.

08:35Paddy's a really good lad.

08:39What Paddy brings is really exciting and my son's like a massive fan of Paddy.

08:44So whenever I see Paddy I always ask him can I have a little video from his son and my

08:49son puts it up.

08:50And all the kids in the academy that I coach really like Paddy, they have this affinity

08:54to him.

08:55Because he's a great character but he's also very skilful, you know, he's very good.

09:00He comes from a very good team.

09:04So I really hope that Paddy goes.

09:06And I think Paddy was talking about the mental health stuff and things.

09:12He had a friend who committed suicide, I think his friend had a bad time, close to one of

09:21his fights, close to one of Paddy's fights because he upset Paddy at the time.

09:26So it's good that he brings to the forefront a lot of the stuff.

09:30Especially someone who's doing something as macho as fighting for him to talk about.

09:33That's the issue, isn't it?

09:34I think, where a lot of people who do fight, and the people who, like we were talking about

09:38earlier about martial arts, and the pretenders pretend, aren't they?

09:42And they think they have to be tough but the tough guys don't have to pretend because they

09:46are.

09:47And so it's like when they know that they can, you know, it's like I'll talk about vulnerability

09:52and being vulnerable and the strength of being vulnerable.

09:55To be vulnerable you need to be strong and to be open and to say, I'm struggling at the

09:59minute.

10:00And it's like an important part.

10:01For Paddy to say, look, it's important that people talk, he's got a big voice on a big

10:07stage.

10:08And so I think he rightfully earned a lot of fans when he spoke like that and just spoke

10:12honestly and openly.

10:15And obviously I've always liked watching Paddy and always had a big lot of respect for him.

10:20But you know, I had even more when he was so open.

10:24Well maybe that's something that business leaders should bear in mind as well, that

10:28kind of openness and not being afraid to show what could be weakness.

10:32Yeah.

10:33Oh, for sure.

10:34I think in business, I talk about this a lot too, about the fear of failing and understanding

10:39a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

10:41And these fixed mindsets are fear-based and they don't want to make mistakes or don't

10:44want to be seen to make mistakes.

10:46And the whole point of whatever it is you're doing, you are going to make mistakes.

10:51The fear of making a mistake stops you actually doing anything and leaves you unable to progress

10:58all the time and do more and more.

11:00So in business, I do think trying to embrace the fact that making mistakes and things like

11:06that is a big part of success.

11:07Brilliant.

11:08Well, wise words, Tom.

11:09And listen, we're going to put the link to your website below this video.

11:14So you'll probably just get about 10,000 people contacting you today.

11:18Okay.

11:19Thanks a lot, Tom.

11:20Thank you, mate.

11:21Thank you.

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