# Superstitious Athletes/Strange Sports Rituals



## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

I don't watch much sports or TV for that matter, too busy with family, work, and various projects. But whenever I can I still try to watch boxing and MMA (mixed martial arts). I trained and competed in various combat sports for over 16 years and despite no longer training it's still something I have an interest in. Moving on...

Well, for those of you not familiar with the sport of MMA and it's #1 organization, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge), Canada has produced some of it's top notch competitors. Quebec's own *Georges "Rush" St.Pierre* has become one of the sport's elite fighters and is currently the UFC's Welterweight Champion. This is where the strange stuff comes in. During Georges most recent fight he was seen doing this:










Since this strange "twist of events" taking place the question of "why?" has been asked many times without a conclusive answer - until now. During the last UFC PPV one of Georges' teammates, Rashad Evans, fought and performed a similar pre-fight ritual. It has since been claimed that the fighters from this particular fight camp perform this ritual for good luck. Sure. Whateva.

Nonetheless, if you compare Georges trendsetting nipple tweaking to this old top 10 list of athletes and their sport related quirks I think you'll agree that Canada can claim superiority in this category. _"We're #1! We're #1! We're #1..."_  



> CBC SPORTS ONLINE TOP 10
> *Superstitious athletes*
> By Jason Murdoch, CBC Sports Online | May 10, 2005
> 
> ...


CBC Sports Online: Top 10: Superstitious athletes


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## iJohnHenry (Mar 29, 2008)

Try this one.



> According to NHL lore, (goalie Glenn) Hall threw up before each game, then drank a glass of orange ...


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

iJohnHenry said:


> Try this one.


Basketball's Bill Russell apparently did the very same before every game. Damn, those guys must have had some wicked bad breath :lmao: 

Most times I, like most competitors I would imagine, got "butterflies" before an event but I never felt like spewing. I knew a couple people who did but fortunately I was never that nervous.


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## iJohnHenry (Mar 29, 2008)

I bet the forwards didn't hang around Glenn's crease any longer than necessary. :lmao:


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

I noticed Rashad Evens doing this the last PPV. Very weird.  :yikes: 

I see a lot of soccer players drag their hands along the ground and touch the sideline before entering the pitch. 

Also, a lot of soccer players kissing their wrists for some reason.


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

ehMax said:


> I noticed Rashad Evens doing this the last PPV. Very weird.  :yikes:
> 
> I see a lot of soccer players drag their hands along the ground and touch the sideline before entering the pitch.
> 
> Also, a lot of soccer players kissing their wrists for some reason.


Every notice how soccer players fall down as though they've been struck by lightening whenever they lose the ball - weird  :lmao:


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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Welcome back MB, we missed you!


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

MasterBlaster said:


> Rituals put you into an optimized performance state.


I'll buy that for a dollar.

Imagine if Georges suddenly found himself in an arm lock on the verge of being submitted...

Georges (reaching with his free hand): "Must twist nipples...forgot to do it earlier...it's my only chance..."

Kind of like the tv cartoon of Hercules where at the critical moment he had to reach to his belt for his ring. Why didn't he just wear the ring all the time? Did it need charging between battles?

After reading a book called _Peak Performance_ I tried using visualization techniques when I competed. I believe it made a difference. When everything else was fine tuned the visualization sessions helped me clarify my overall game plan. In reality, it's just a another word for meditation.


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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Welcome back!

We missed you.

Does this mean you're going to retype and post all of your deleted posts? (Hey, don't let us scare you away!)






MasterBlaster said:


> Rituals put you into an optimized performance state.
> 
> People swear by the results of NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming.
> 
> ...


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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

MasterBlaster said:


> *Meditation is a completely different mental process from visualization.* A meditative mental state is NOT a peak performance athletic state.
> 
> The peak performance state is usually gone into before the event, as mental preparation and focus. During the competition, the athlete is then totally focused on the task at hand.
> 
> ...



I see the motivational speaker/con man influence has rubbed off on you. You've taken something that has existed for thousands of years and tweaked it just enough to make it sound like "a new and exciting break through".

Along the same lines I was toying with an idea where I would try and sell my own brand of tap water but cleverly "repackage" or represent it as something different. Thought of calling it "Revolutionary Containerized Hydration" or RCH. Meh, doesn't really have the Tony Robbins touch.  

BTW, welcome back.


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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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