Suddenly, Kobe Bryant’s clear voice echoes through the classroom. “I meditate every day. If I don’t do this, I suffer my day, rather than being able to control it. No matter what happens to me, I am in perfect balance. » In front of the video extract featuring the basketball legend, who died in 2020 in a helicopter accident, seventeen young foilists training at the Center for Resources, Expertise and Sports Performance (Creps) in Châtenay- Malabry (Hauts-de-Seine).
Aged 16 to 26, they are part of the next generation of men in the French team, the most promising of whom will then join the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance. For them, Paris 2024 is too close a horizon, but some will perhaps have the chance to compete in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
This September 22, as summer continues into the fall, Maël Goisbault and Jean Fournier, respectively a research engineer and a researcher in sports psychology, have chosen to relay the words of Kobe Bryant to introduce young fencers to appropriate mindfulness to their sport. Both are working on the Train Your Brain program, initiated by the University of Nantes, in collaboration with the French Fencing Federation. This is one of two projects focusing on psychology funded by the Very High Performance Sport priority research program, launched in 2020, four years before the Olympic and Paralympic Games, by the National Research Agency.
Acceptance of thoughts
Started in February 2021, Train Your Brain aims to optimize the mental training of French fencers. The three weapons (epee, foil and saber) are studied. “The particularity of this program is that it is transdisciplinary. We do physiology and psychologyexplains Jean Fournier. We first worked with the national teams for men and women. To have broader studies, we decided to focus on emerging athletes, because there are much more of them. »
None of the foilists present that day had ever heard of mindfulness. “It’s about focusing in the present moment, we want you to develop non-judgment and acceptance of thoughts”summarizes Maël Goisbault, before an initiation session. “But, sometimes, letting yourself be carried away by emotions is successful”, intervenes a teenager. The dialogue is intended to be constructive. “When you deny your thoughts during a fight, you are fighting against yourself, as well as your opponent. We would like to help you only have one opponent…”explains Jean Fournier in a colorful manner.
You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.