Photo: Vitor Freitas
Ana Schmitt has had an outstanding 2019 so far. After winning the silver medal at the Brazilian Championship she turned things around at IBJJs World Pro after she won her second world title as a black belt. The stage was set in California, and Marcos Cunha’s student was excellent, winning all of her three fights to reach the gold medal.
But now, the 29-year-old fighter wants to give 4 tips to everyone who’s been looking to improve their jiu-jitsu game.
1) Live in the moment.
“Jiu-Jitsu has taught me that you can go whenever you want if you are dedicated enough and motivated enough to do it. Enjoy the ride, not only the result. Enjoy every day and learn everything that you’ve been practicing. Be happy with all of your improvements. Be happy with your good days but learn how to take lessons with all of your bad days. Live in the present. Live in the present as much as you can, on or off the mat. My main goal is to always be living the moment. I’m not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, I just want to live this exact moment.”
2) Mindset: winning.
“I changed my mindset to win as I was preparing for the world championship. I put it on my mind that I would win and nobody had trained more than I. Every day I was thinking that I was already the champion and I really felt that way. My sister and my brother-in-law went with me and we did some yoga and meditation for me pre-fight ritual. I never felt calm like that in my whole life. I was so confident that it didn’t matter how hard my weight class was, I knew that I was going to win. Put the victory on your mind. Your goals are very important. My mental preparation was very strong for the World Championship.”
3) Forget your ego
“My boyfriend and jiu-jitsu brown belt Yago always teaches me to let my ego aside. That’s very hard but it’s completely necessary to evolving your game. He’s always telling me that. My main goal is to forget my ego. Your ego stops your evolution.”
4) Trust the process
“There’s no secret to evolution. It’s all training, dedication, being humble and being smart. Your body and your mind are the same things. Trust the process.”
[Source: PR.]
