20.10.2004, 19:54
Gehoert zwar nicht ganz hier rein,aber da wir gerade ueber Frank Shamrock sprachen.Der gab naemlich gestern ein Interview,indem er auch ueber sein Comeback sprach.
From insidefighting.com:
Interview by Benny Henderson Jr. (October 19th, 2004)
Benny Henderson Jr. - Looking back at your life with all that you went through, do you feel that played a significant role in the man you are today?
Frank Shamrock - Oh absolutely. I wouldn’t have gotten to where I did without going through all those experiences.
BH - With all that you have been through did you ever think that you would have accomplished all that you have?
FS - No, and I still pinch myself in disbelief as I get up and go about my business.
BH - Can you tell the fans what you have been up to lately?
FS - I have been teaching a lot, training a little bit and traveling a lot. I fought in the UFC and then took some time off and gave professional kickboxing a try. Then I was going to do professional boxing but I trained in it a little bit and I didn’t like it so I gave that up. Then I did a cage match about a year and a half ago. We just finished a movie with Gary Busey, Tom Sizemore and Pamela Anderson, and I am working on a video game. We got a video game deal signed and I have been fiddling around with that. I work on my website FrankShamrock.com and have been keeping myself busy. I teach every night as well. It is pretty much a constant whirlwind but that is how I like to live. It keeps me excited about living so I stack on as much as I can.
BH - Do you ever feel you will come back and fight again?
FS - Oh yes, that has always been in the cards for me. And my attitude about it wavers on how my body feels or how I am feeling personally that day. But that is the one thing that I really and truly love and I truly think it is one of the greatest art forms there is. I’m an addict. I always go back to it because it is the strongest thing I have ever experienced.
BH - What exactly are your disciplines?
FS - I have a base of knowledge that started in Japanese submission wrestling. After that I trained in Muay Thai with Maurice Smith. Then I trained in boxing and a little bit if Judo and just some various styles. I never really had an instructor after that point. Then I got a trainer in 1997 - Javier Mendez - and he has been my trainer every since. My studies are whatever interests me and my style fluctuates with whatever those studies are. I mean, I have a style of sorts but the style has no rules. So whatever is functional or there I use it.
BH - Can you give us a little insight on your training seminars?
FS - Sure, I teach all over the world and I really teach three different kind if seminars. The first one is for the traditional martial artists whom are interested into getting into the mixed martial arts or grappling. So I teach what I call a system adjustment, where people come to me with their system and say ‘what about this’ and I give them a series of techniques, drills and training to adjust their system to include grappling. And then I teach a fighting seminar where it is mostly just fighters. And then I also teach a certification seminar for teaching the program and style, and occasionally I will teach the police or Special Forces or something that is gnarly.
BH - That sounds pretty cool right there.
FS - Oh yes, it is neat work and it is very intense. The people are very intense and their job is very serious. But it is interesting to find out the application and the techniques to make it all work and keep them safe and not break the rules or anything. Now I am training a one armed Jeet Kune Do, so all the techniques have to be adjusted because he only has one arm.
BH - How is that working out?
FS - It works well. I mean it is a mental challenge. It is very compelling to your mind because you have to follow it and recreate it to make it work.
BH - You have a long list if accomplishments, can you give us a few of your most memorable or favorite ones?
FS - Oh yes, I have had a lot of them. I would say my biggest one was winning the first UFC Middleweight Title. I won the King of Pancrase in 1996, that was a big deal. The last cage fight I fought in was a big deal to me. It was the WEC light heavyweight championship because I went up in weight class, that was kind of fun. I really don’t count the titles, I count the moments in the fight where I learn something or something really makes since to me, I have had a few fights like that. Enson Inoue was one of those knock down drag out fights where you sort of question what you are doing. [Laughing] And how you are doing and if you should still be doing it. Fighting Tito Ortiz for my fifth title defense was a good fight, it was a big mental and physical strategy that I felt was a big accomplishment achieving. To be honest with you I get more out of participating in it with the fans and the sport. To me it was never about getting a title or wining a fight, it was about the moment and the path to get there. It was always a little different for me.
BH - On your website you have an open journal where you post your thoughts and it is for the fans to read.
FS - [Laughing] Yeah, and I am always behind on that anyway.
BH - You are busy so the fans understand. But on your site you interact with the fans a lot. How important is that for you to have a good fan base and to interact with them, and what does it mean to you to have a good solid fan base?
FS - To me it is one of the most important things, because they are the sounding board of reality. If you present yourself a certain way you draw that type of people. If you present yourself in another light you draw another certain type of people. I present myself in a way that the people that I draw as my fans and my friends are really good people. I totally enjoy the interaction; they are my friends, I see them all the time. I am always traveling across the world and I see them and we talk and hang out and they tell me about their journeys. Theirs are similar to mine, I just got in the cage and won all the titles and kicked everybody’s ass. But I am no different than any other person. I saw it and I went after it and I did it.
BH - Out of all your bouts do you have just that one unforgettable fight?
FS - I look at it two ways, memorable for me and memorable for the crowd. The biggest one for me was fighting for the light heavyweight world title in Vale Tudo Japan in 1997 against Enson Inoue. He had like eighteen pounds on me and was really just smacking me around and in the second round he mounted me and started beating the crap out of me basically. And I got out and knocked him out eventually. But it was one of those fights where everything got quiet and you could hear what was going on. I was thinking is the right decision that I stay here and fight and do all these things. Then I came back and won and in that was even a bigger story than just a regular fight.
BH - What runs through your mind walking down to the octagon entrance?
FS – Well, you are scared and you have the adrenaline. For me I go over things in my head and I put on a face and all that stuff. I go out and try to present myself. I try to clear my mind of things and let whatever happens just let it flow, just breathing, relaxing and focusing. A little bit of showmanship, but at the same time my real thing is to get my brain focused so whatever happens I can react as quickly as my brain can think.
From insidefighting.com:
Interview by Benny Henderson Jr. (October 19th, 2004)
Benny Henderson Jr. - Looking back at your life with all that you went through, do you feel that played a significant role in the man you are today?
Frank Shamrock - Oh absolutely. I wouldn’t have gotten to where I did without going through all those experiences.
BH - With all that you have been through did you ever think that you would have accomplished all that you have?
FS - No, and I still pinch myself in disbelief as I get up and go about my business.
BH - Can you tell the fans what you have been up to lately?
FS - I have been teaching a lot, training a little bit and traveling a lot. I fought in the UFC and then took some time off and gave professional kickboxing a try. Then I was going to do professional boxing but I trained in it a little bit and I didn’t like it so I gave that up. Then I did a cage match about a year and a half ago. We just finished a movie with Gary Busey, Tom Sizemore and Pamela Anderson, and I am working on a video game. We got a video game deal signed and I have been fiddling around with that. I work on my website FrankShamrock.com and have been keeping myself busy. I teach every night as well. It is pretty much a constant whirlwind but that is how I like to live. It keeps me excited about living so I stack on as much as I can.
BH - Do you ever feel you will come back and fight again?
FS - Oh yes, that has always been in the cards for me. And my attitude about it wavers on how my body feels or how I am feeling personally that day. But that is the one thing that I really and truly love and I truly think it is one of the greatest art forms there is. I’m an addict. I always go back to it because it is the strongest thing I have ever experienced.
BH - What exactly are your disciplines?
FS - I have a base of knowledge that started in Japanese submission wrestling. After that I trained in Muay Thai with Maurice Smith. Then I trained in boxing and a little bit if Judo and just some various styles. I never really had an instructor after that point. Then I got a trainer in 1997 - Javier Mendez - and he has been my trainer every since. My studies are whatever interests me and my style fluctuates with whatever those studies are. I mean, I have a style of sorts but the style has no rules. So whatever is functional or there I use it.
BH - Can you give us a little insight on your training seminars?
FS - Sure, I teach all over the world and I really teach three different kind if seminars. The first one is for the traditional martial artists whom are interested into getting into the mixed martial arts or grappling. So I teach what I call a system adjustment, where people come to me with their system and say ‘what about this’ and I give them a series of techniques, drills and training to adjust their system to include grappling. And then I teach a fighting seminar where it is mostly just fighters. And then I also teach a certification seminar for teaching the program and style, and occasionally I will teach the police or Special Forces or something that is gnarly.
BH - That sounds pretty cool right there.
FS - Oh yes, it is neat work and it is very intense. The people are very intense and their job is very serious. But it is interesting to find out the application and the techniques to make it all work and keep them safe and not break the rules or anything. Now I am training a one armed Jeet Kune Do, so all the techniques have to be adjusted because he only has one arm.
BH - How is that working out?
FS - It works well. I mean it is a mental challenge. It is very compelling to your mind because you have to follow it and recreate it to make it work.
BH - You have a long list if accomplishments, can you give us a few of your most memorable or favorite ones?
FS - Oh yes, I have had a lot of them. I would say my biggest one was winning the first UFC Middleweight Title. I won the King of Pancrase in 1996, that was a big deal. The last cage fight I fought in was a big deal to me. It was the WEC light heavyweight championship because I went up in weight class, that was kind of fun. I really don’t count the titles, I count the moments in the fight where I learn something or something really makes since to me, I have had a few fights like that. Enson Inoue was one of those knock down drag out fights where you sort of question what you are doing. [Laughing] And how you are doing and if you should still be doing it. Fighting Tito Ortiz for my fifth title defense was a good fight, it was a big mental and physical strategy that I felt was a big accomplishment achieving. To be honest with you I get more out of participating in it with the fans and the sport. To me it was never about getting a title or wining a fight, it was about the moment and the path to get there. It was always a little different for me.
BH - On your website you have an open journal where you post your thoughts and it is for the fans to read.
FS - [Laughing] Yeah, and I am always behind on that anyway.
BH - You are busy so the fans understand. But on your site you interact with the fans a lot. How important is that for you to have a good fan base and to interact with them, and what does it mean to you to have a good solid fan base?
FS - To me it is one of the most important things, because they are the sounding board of reality. If you present yourself a certain way you draw that type of people. If you present yourself in another light you draw another certain type of people. I present myself in a way that the people that I draw as my fans and my friends are really good people. I totally enjoy the interaction; they are my friends, I see them all the time. I am always traveling across the world and I see them and we talk and hang out and they tell me about their journeys. Theirs are similar to mine, I just got in the cage and won all the titles and kicked everybody’s ass. But I am no different than any other person. I saw it and I went after it and I did it.
BH - Out of all your bouts do you have just that one unforgettable fight?
FS - I look at it two ways, memorable for me and memorable for the crowd. The biggest one for me was fighting for the light heavyweight world title in Vale Tudo Japan in 1997 against Enson Inoue. He had like eighteen pounds on me and was really just smacking me around and in the second round he mounted me and started beating the crap out of me basically. And I got out and knocked him out eventually. But it was one of those fights where everything got quiet and you could hear what was going on. I was thinking is the right decision that I stay here and fight and do all these things. Then I came back and won and in that was even a bigger story than just a regular fight.
BH - What runs through your mind walking down to the octagon entrance?
FS – Well, you are scared and you have the adrenaline. For me I go over things in my head and I put on a face and all that stuff. I go out and try to present myself. I try to clear my mind of things and let whatever happens just let it flow, just breathing, relaxing and focusing. A little bit of showmanship, but at the same time my real thing is to get my brain focused so whatever happens I can react as quickly as my brain can think.