Confessions of a Shopaholic: Dan Hardy talks Mike Swick, Shaolin monks and his affinity for shopping
November 8, 11:39 PM
“They (UFC) put the heads on the chopping block and I keep taking them off.”
I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t think this quote came from a aspiring artist who happens to love to shop, play video games, and train with Shaolin Monks? OK, well maybe the latter.
But that is exactly the way Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy likes it. He likes being unassuming. Forget the colored Mohawk and the vicious striking prowess--this resident of Nottingham, England is a true renaissance man.
Hardy (22-6-1) burst on to the MMA scene at UFC 89 defeating PRIDE FC legend Akihiro Gono in a bloody war that saw the judges award a split decision to the flamboyant Brit. Since that time he has built a steady following of MMA fans, walking that fine line between underground legend and full blown superstar. A line that Hardy walks with immaculate precision. And in an era of “making it rain” at strip clubs and charging for signatures, Dan Hardy prefers to stay in with his girlfriend and take in a movie, or maybe play a little Xbox--all the while taking time out for the people who made him what he is today, the fans. “The Outlaw” is a fighter who likes to stay close to his fans, often times taking time off on the eve of a fight just to say, “thank you“ to the fans who make it all possible--a man who recognizes the importance of “keeping it real.”
In just about a week Hardy will be facing his toughest opponent to date in Mike Swick (14-2), at UFC 105 in Manchester, England. “Quick” Swick is by far the most dangerous opponent Hardy has ever faced, and with a title shot on the line, he is also his most important. In this exclusive Q and A learn what makes Dan tick. What he enjoys doing (shopping?!) in his time off, and just what it was like training with the legendary Shaolin Monks in northern China.
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(Examiner.com): Well here is what I’ve wanted to personally ask you about for a long time--the Shaolin Monks. How did a lanky kid from Britain get to train with some of the most polarizing figures in the history of Martial Arts. I mean we are talking thousands of years here man. Just talk about how you got there, what happened when you were there, and what you learned.
DH: You know, I get asked about this a lot and I’m actually thinking about writing an article about it with accompanying photographs and stuff. It really was a crazy experience and it’s not something people really expect from me. It’s very different from what other MMA fighters have done in the past as well. The way it came about is, I actually saw a documentary on the Discovery channel about the main Shaolin temple in central China. At the time I was just so into Kung-Fu and the old martial arts movies like, ‘36 Chambers’ and other stuff you know what I mean? I did a lot of research and I found out I wouldn’t be able to go to the main temple in central China because I wasn’t Chinese. So I looked around and managed to find a place that had taken a few monks and opened a temple in northern China where foreign students could come over and train at. So I contacted them and arranged to go over there and train for a couple of months. It was just the craziest and most awesome experience I’ve ever had really--obviously aside from the UFC success. Because it was just crazy, it was like watching a movie you know? Almost to the effect that it was like a movie that I watched and I remember in such crazy detail for it to NOT be a part of my life, do you know what I mean?
(Examiner.com): Oh yeah.
DH: So yeah, I spent a couple of months there and it was just…it was…the first couple of weeks were just really tough. It was the first time I traveled on my own and to be that far away from everything you’ve known was just a real shock to the system and on top of that you have 12 hour training days, 6 days a week. It really just breaks you down physically, and then once that is done you have to struggle with the mental breakdown, and I struggled with that for the first couple of weeks. You know I really didn’t enjoy it and I wanted to leave to be honest. I had long hair when I got there and they shaved it off, and it was just a lot of things changing. I really threw myself into the deep end. After a couple of weeks though, I met a couple of friends and I kind of found my rhythm a little bit and it was just awesome. I met some really good people and I learned a lot of stuff about Kung-Fu and all the philosophies that come with it. More importantly though, I learned a lot about myself and what I could accomplish if I really wanted to and the boundaries of my abilities. I mean I’ve always been pretty tough mentally but when I got there and I woke up on a Wednesday and Thursday and couldn’t bend my legs because my muscles were too tight and sore, and I really had no energy. Then I had to push through 10 more hours of training and then I kind of realized I was more mentally tough than I was giving myself credit for. And I think a lot of that has carried over to my training in MMA--that I’ve got such good work ethic and a lot of self confidence. Because I know that my boundaries are so distant and I have so much to learn.
(Examiner.com): What was your moment? Your breaking moment if you will? Was there one specific event?
DH: That 1st week was a real tough one because I just got there and didn’t know anyone and they had no electricity…it was actually in a castle. It was a temple inside of a castle. So there was no electricity in the whole place and maybe two showers for fifty people. There were rats in the windows and rats in my bed when I slept at night. I just went from comfortable living in England, with central heating and TV, to being in the middle of northern China right by the Mongolian desert, with nothing that I was used to, on top of a mountain, totally out of my element. I mean, we started training at 5 in the morning and if we weren’t up by 5 the monks would come and wake you up…with a stick. That was quite a shock at the time. Then we started the day with a walk, which was all the way down a hill and then back up---something like 460 steps I think, and that was an everyday thing. I mean I was new to it, I thought, “OK, up to the top of steps and then on to Tai Chi and Qigong.” And as we got to the top, my teacher was waiting at the top of the steps for me and I wasn’t really sure why he was there. For the next hour he had us going back up and down the steps. And when your legs gave out, you used your hands and…it was just very, very difficult. After that session, your training would continue until about 8:30 at night and after that I really had just nothing left. It was just a matter of pushing through it because you had no other option, you know what I’m saying? It was either do it or go home, and there was no way I was going to quit. I had set 2 months in my mind and that is what I was going to do. There were just a few times that the physical pain was something I never thought I would experience.
(Examiner.com): Wow, I’m really just blown away. I mean, this was 2002 and you were 18 or 19--hell were are the same age! That’s just insane. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and just from talking to you I can see you have a ton of self determination--so that had to feel pretty good for you when you walked out of that place, accomplishing what you did? It’s safe to say you were a changed man?
DH: Oh without a doubt, yeah. I was a completely different person. If I took those 2 months out of my life, the Dan Hardy that is here today would be a totally different person. First off, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. I wouldn’t be fighting in the UFC. I wouldn’t have traveled as much as I have. I would just have a regular job and be a regular guy drinking every weekend or something. Those few months really helped me focus and recognize just exactly what my existence was. And the years that I have left on this earth, I want to make the most out of them. If anything, that is what I took away from that experience, and to me that is just invaluable and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.
(Examiner.com): Well before we talked I read about this whole thing but I didn’t know the extent. It really is amazing to hear, just to the extent, that this event had on your life.
DH: Yeah, you know it was only a couple of months in my life but it felt like a lifetime. So many lessons learned and so many things gained from it and it was probably the two most important months of my life up until this point.
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