MLG Chicago is this weekend!  Ahhhhh!  I mean that scream in the best way possible.  It seems like we just got done with MLG Dallas… then, outta nowhere, Chicago just snuck up behind me and went, “Bugga bugga bugga!” We didn’t quite make it into the championship bracket in Dallas, so we’re training extra hard to prepare ourselves to make it this time.  Here are some ways in which I’ve been preparing myself for the tournament… **Cue montage music from Team America: World Police…** (“Gonna need a montage. Montage!” ... Have this open and listen to it while you read my montage.)

• Show Calyber running on her new treadmill.
• Calyber reading her sports psychology book with a really serious face, nodding.
• Zoom in on Calyber’s hand writing ‘Kill!’ Pan out to the chalk board where she’s written it one hundred times – an homage to The Simpsons.
• Frag Doll R6V practice… intense facial expressions and air-high-fives all around.
• Show Calyber running through downtown pushing people out of the way.
• Show Calyber doing thumb push-ups and clearly mouthing, “Nine-hundred ninety-nine-thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine, ONE MILLION!”
• Calyber twirls an Xbox360 controller over her head like a lasso, then jumps rope with the cord.  But the craziest part is… it’s a WIRELESS controller!  (Wrap your head around THAT, David Lynch!)
• Calyber rappels off her balcony into the backyard, looks at the camera and throws up the FD gang sign… Freeze frame on her yelling face – yeah!

One thing I have a problem with at tournaments is controlling my anxiety.  But when I’m able to completely focus on the game, it seems like nothing can stop me from getting that head shot and maneuvering in unpredictable ways.  “The Mental Edge,” the sports psychology book we’re reading, teaches ways to calm myself down during those intense moments right before a match.  The author describes a breathing technique, where your belly moves instead of your chest. This aids in bringing oxygen into your brain cells which helps you to relax, think clearly, and concentrate on the task at hand.

Try it! Breath deeply in through your nose and allow your belly to expand with air (don’t move your chest). Hold your breath for two or three seconds, and then slowly exhale through your nose.  Take a little longer exhaling as you release all the air out of you.  Continue to breathe slowly.  With each breath, your belly should rise as you inhale and contract as you exhale.  Do this for five to seven more breaths and feel yourself experience more relaxation with each breath.  Cool, huh? 

There’s lots of tidbits like that which, I believe, will give us that extra edge needed to make it into the championship bracket and beyond!  Rawwrrrrrr!