TFA: 007 The World of Archery & Airplanes with Rod Machado – TheFlyingArcher.com Discover Your Passion For Archery and the mental aspects that can change a life

Today’s podcast is a written question and answer session that I did with Rod Machado, who is an amazing aviator and he holds black belts in several different disciplines of the martial arts. I think you must all know by now that I like things that fly in the air :). But did you know that Archery is a martial art?

What is possibly the most important thing to get very good at when learning to fly airplanes, doing any kind of martial art and when learning to shoot arrows? It is focus, mind set, and the ability to deal with distractions under pressure. Even though archery doesn’t require that your feet come off the ground, like when you fly an airplane, but it does require mental training to be able to keep shooting well after you miss your mark.

I started flying back in 1986 and I met Rod in person at a few major air shows where he was giving seminars, which were always standing room only with lots of laughter. I also met Rod when I worked at Aircraft Owners & Pilot’s Association in Maryland. I’m very exited to have had the opportunity to ask Rod a few questions about mindset and how it applies to Archery (which is a martial art) as well as to Flying Airplanes.

In This Episode You’ll Discover …

Rod’s passion for aviation
Rod’s favorite book
Why Rod started studying the martial arts and his answer may surprise you
Why having balance in your life is important
Rod’s craziest weather day that he has flown in, and what he learned from it
Rod’s favorite airplane
Rod’s tip on how to stay focused on the archery range and in the cockpit of an airplane

Sponsor:

New England School of Archery and Supplies llc www.nearchery.com Where we also offer the mindset of a champion coaching to athletes as well as to the business world. How to think like a champion at work, in life and on and off the archery field.

Our Guest’s Links:

Visit Rod Machado at:

Website: www.rodmachado.com.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rod.Machado

The World of Archery & Airplanes with Rod Machado

Rod Machado traded his motorcycle for flying lessons at the age of 16. His parents were delighted he gave up riding with the vegetarian motorcycle gang known as the Sprouts. Captured by the romance and adventure of flight in a Taylorcraft L-2 at Amelia Reid Aviation in San Jose, California, Rod has remained hooked ever since. In fact, he is one of the few airline-transport-rated pilots who still gets excited by a Cessna 150 fly-by.

Rod is a professional speaker who travels across the United States and Europe delighting his listeners with upbeat and lively presentations. Machado truly loves mixing it up with the audience. His unusual talent for simplifying the difficult and adding humor to make the lessons stick has made him a popular lecturer both in and out of aviation. Rod speaks on both aviation and non-aviation topics, including risk assessment, IFR charts, aviation weather, in-flight emergencies, and safety awareness. He is also known for his rapid fire, humorous banquet presentations

A pilot since 1970 and an active flight instructor since 1973, Rod is also a National Aviation Safety Counselor. You might recognize Rod as the instructor on Microsoft Flight Simulator or as the author of seven aviation books. He has over 10,000 hours of flight experience earned the hard way—one CFI hour at a time. Since 1978, Rod has taught hundreds and hundreds of flight instructor revalidation clinics and safety seminars across the United States and Europe. He was named the 1991 Western Region Flight Instructor of the Year. You can read his monthly column, “License to Learn,” in AOPA Pilot magazine as well as his monthly columns in Flight Training Magazine.

Rod’s eclectic interests are reflected by his equally varied academic credentials. He holds degrees in aviation science and psychology.

Rod believes you must take time to exercise or you’ll have to take time to be sick. Holding black belts in the Korean disciplines of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido and ranking in Gracie Jujitsu, he gets his exercise from practicing and teaching martial arts. He also runs 20 miles a week and claims it’s uphill both ways.

Visit Rod’s web site at: www.rodmachado.com.

Interview with Rod Machado

Lucy Morris: What got you into doing martial arts and flying airplanes? (not at the same time lol )

Rod Machado: I started doing martial arts in high school just a little before I began taking flying lessons. In my neighborhood, we needed to learn how to defend ourselves, and I figured karate was a good way to do that since I didn’t have a big brother. I was always interested in airplanes, so it was a natural thing for me to seek out ways to learn to fly when I was of age.

Lucy Morris: Where have you traveled for competition in martial arts as a contestant and/or as a coach?

Rod Machado: I’ve never traveled far from Orange County, California for martial arts competition. I wasn’t all that interested in traveling to compete. There was plenty of competition in my local area. I didn’t coach competitions, either. I did teach Hapkido early in my training development.

Lucy Morris: What was your craziest weather day when flying an airplane and do you think the mental training as a martial artist s helped you with the situation?

Rod Machado: In the late 1970s I was asked to speak at Pappy Boyington’s birthday party in Bakersfield, CA. I was living in Orange County, California at the time so the producers of the event sent a fellow in a Cessna 310 to pick me up and take me to Fresno. As is my way, I asked the fellow how much time he had and he said, “Fifteen-hundred hours.” I thought that he probably had enough flight time to know what he was doing, so I relaxed my normal “instructor demeanor” as we flew to Fresno. Our route took us over some very tall mountains upon which were building cumulus clouds—a lot of clouds.

Since we were on an IFR flight plan, we were poised to fly directly through them. I sat there saying nothing hoping he would choose a route to the north around the convective buildups. As soon as we entered the side of one cumulonimbus cloud, lightning flashed across the panel. Then a second flash of lightning was followed by the most intense ice build-up I’ve ever observed to this day. At that point I asked him what he intended to do and he said, “I don’t know.” That was good enough for me. I took the controls, made a turn in a direction I thought would lead us out of the clouds quickly and tightened my seat belt for the ride. Eventually we exited the clouds but it was twilight and there wasn’t much to see through an iced-up window. Eventually, I released the controls to the embarrassed pilot.

After landing, I asked him how much of his 1,500 hours were spent flying in weather. He replied, not much because 1,300 of them were acquired in Vietnam flying helicopters. Yikes. I let a pilot with less than 200 fixed-wing hours take me into a thunderstorm simply because I didn’t want to pry into his weather experience level after departure. Never again did I, or will I, fail to investigate the airplane and the skill level of the pilot who is in the left seat during a flight. A great lesson learned here.

Lucy Morris: What do you to help yourself stay in the moment when there are a lot of distractions?

Rod Machado: Normally, I find ear plugs to be a good modifier of my environment. Then again, when I’m having to focus on a particular task, I use a silent internal dialogue to guide my behavior step by step. When I talk to myself, I try not to use the word, “You” or “I” as a self- reference. Instead, I use my name. This gives the internal dialogue more power. I find that when I’m grappling with a larger opponent and want to work on conserving my energy, I’ll say something like, “OK Rod, deepen the belly breathing, focus on the defense…” and so on. Self-referential talk is powerful when you use your own name to guide your behavior.

Lucy Morris: Do you have any mental tricks that you offer your martial art clients to help them keep focused? Would these be the same mental tricks that you would offer an aviator or for archers when they are shooting?

Rod Machado: Yes, see the answer above this one.

Lucy Morris: What great books have you read on the mental aspect of competing or flying?

Rod Machado: One fantastic book that I’ve always enjoyed reading and rereading is by Joe Hyams and is titled, “Zen in the Martial Arts.” It’s a simple book with powerful stories about contemporary martial artists.

Lucy Morris: Do you have any mental tricks to keep yourself focused during a stressful situation?

Rod Machado: Yes, as I mentioned earlier, using a good internal dialogue works in these situations. Then again, my martial arts training helps in these instances, too.

Lucy Morris: Is it important to have a balance of rest (me time), recreation, exercise, eating healthy and being around friends and family, rather than work all the time?

Rod Machado: Without a doubt, having time for yourself is important. It’s not possible to remain mentally balanced and healthy without balancing the work with the play. Having a hobby is essential here. I read a lot and that’s one of my most important hobbies.

Lucy Morris: Do you think that mental training should be more of an integral part of training for new pilots and also in martial arts?

Rod Machado: Yes. When I began training in Jujitsu with Rickson Gracie (Gracie Jujitsu) in his garage in Torrance, California starting in 1989, we would occasionally stop the hour’s block of physical training and discuss the philosophy of martial arts. In this sense, I was learning cognitive skills as well as physical skills. In this sense, I was learning how to look at the defensive strategies for grappling, which was very different from the stand-up strategies I learned as a practitioner of takwondo and hapkido.

Lucy Morris: What were your earlier challenges in the martial arts and as an aviator?

Rod Machado: I began martial arts training in 1972 and earned several black belts in the late 1970s. I knew that I didn’t have much skill at grappling so I decided to learn jujitsu from the Gracie brothers. I was always anxious about being taken to the ground in a fight. Then again, the reality of it was that 95% of street fights end up on the ground. So I began training with Rickson Gracie knowing that I was very anxious about doing so. By confronting the thing that I feared, I became a more complete martial artist.

Lucy Morris: What is your favorite airplane and why?

Rod Machado: The Piper J-3 Cub is my favorite. It’s one of the smallest thing you can fly with the window/door open and feel as if you’re really flying.

Lucy Morris: Why do you think there is power in humor?

Rod Machado: Yes. Humor is a great behavior modifier. I use it as a speaker to make my audiences more receptive to my message. By telling an appropriate joke to support an idea, that idea becomes more permanent in the listener’s mind. When I begin speaking, I always open with a joke since this makes the audience more relaxed at the beginning of the program.

I also use humor in the same way I use music to modify my behavior. By attempting to “play” with others, I’m using humor in its most natural form. For instance, when I walk into Starbucks to order a coffee, they’ll often ask my name to place on the cup. I tell them that my name is Mr. T, H, U, R, S, T, Y. (I spell it for them so they don’t get the idea quickly). Then, when my coffee is ready, the barista will call out, “I have a coffee for Mr. Thursty.” I’s good fun in the spirit of play.

Be the Captain of your own life 🙂 .