BLACKBELT MAGAZINE: Focus Like a Navy SEAL With Future Weapons Host Richard Machowicz
To learn more about performing under extreme stress and pressure, we recently sat down with former Navy SEAL and Future Weapons host Richard “Mack” Machowicz. Out of 140 soldiers, only 25 members of his SEAL class graduated. How did he succeed when so many failed? By sticking to a simple philosophy: “not dead; can’t quit.”
“It’s about self-sufficiency,” Mack says. “War is a metaphor we can relate to because you get only one shot. You get one opportunity, and if you don’t perform, somebody dies. War is a beautiful thing to understand, and the greatest battle that ever takes place is within yourself. The real war is the one that tells you that you’re too weak or too small, that you’re not good enough, that the odds are stacked against you, that you need help, that someone is coming to the rescue.”
So how do we break the cycle of insecurity and become self-reliant? According to Mack, martial arts training is only one part of the solution.
“The martial arts are so popular because society has gotten soft,” Mack says. “We’re peaceful. We don’t get in fights every day, but people want to be the hero in their own lives. Martial arts make a promise, and sometimes they deliver and sometimes not. Sometimes instructors focus too much on physical skill. I’ve seen too many people with no experience beat the crap out of black belts. Why? Because there are clear and concise principles for beating the crap out of somebody, and if you adhere to them, you’ll probably win a physical confrontation.
