Frank Shamrock’s (Downloadable?) Code

Sherdog: When did you know for sure that it was time?
Shamrock: After the Cung Le fight I knew I was mentally fatigued from fighting. I broke my arm. I’m a scientist. I looked at the formula. Why did I stand with Cung Le? I was fighting to put on a show rather than following my plan and fighting for the W. The Cung Le fight was a wakeup call. I thought about it for a year. I asked myself, “What am I fighting for?” I began to get bored and tired of fighting. But my fighter heart said to get back in camp, to go at it again, to get it right. So I rested up, and as soon as I began training I got hurt. More time off. Then I started training again and got hurt again. I went on with the Nick Diaz fight anyways and fought my soul out, but my body just couldn’t respond. It just wasn’t happening. I couldn’t do it. I’ve never been unable to physically perform. I was shocked because I knew how to fight with a torn ACL, when hurt, with pain, but this time I just couldn’t do it. I realized with the Cung Le fight that my mind wasn’t in the right place. I realized with the Diaz fight that my body wasn’t either.

I rested four months, got back into training then got hurt. I again asked myself what I was doing. I was sitting on ice. I’ve been literally living on ice my entire life because of my inflamed back. The doctors always wonder how I do what I do when my spine is so inflamed. This time though, something clicked. I looked over to my wife and said, “Hey babe, I’m done.” That was it. She was so supportive. It felt good to say it and mean it.

Sherdog: What are your primary professional goals in life?
Shamrock: To build global awareness and a brand of martial arts that can help the world. I have one goal. That’s what I’m doing this business for. The breast cancer awareness, the Shamrock Way, the mentoring, the coaching -- they are all tentacles leading to this one goal, to change the world for the better and to do it through MMA.

I grew up on the streets. I was locked up most of my young life until I found this sport. I’d have been in prison or dead. I know exactly where I’m going. This sport can and will change the world. It will change how we workout -- Mickey Rourke even trained in MMA with me. It will put a dent in the obesity epidemic. MMA will change how people think. It will help people around the world. It’ll build a sense of community. It’ll build ethics.

Sherdog: Speaking of ethics, it seems the individual martial arts instill them, but MMA often avoids them at all costs. Would you say your goal is to bring morals, discipline and the honor code back into MMA?
Shamrock: Absolutely! Unfortunately, because our sport is sexy, people use it in the wrong way to get ratings, and the really cool stuff gets shelved. There’s nothing all that sexy about bowing and respect. Whole groups of kids think you’re supposed to act crazy and violent and curse and that MMA is just to beat someone up. MMA is about the journey of respecting yourself and your fellow man. You can’t do this sport without a trusting opponent, a trusting partner and a trusting team. MMA is about being a better human. It’s a dichotomy -- we need to respect each other to beat each other up.

Parents see their child get bullied, then tell them to get their butt down to the MMA school to learn how to defend themselves. But there’s so much more they can learn. Right there is the huge disconnect. What’s on TV isn’t what’s in the dojo. I want the next generation of parents to see this, then the next to see it a little more and so on. Eventually, the spiritual and mental aspects of the individual martial arts will be what MMA is about. And we will all be better in body and mind.