Keith Krikorian detailed the mental shift that has him loaded with confidence ahead of ADCC 2024.
As he prepares to compete in his third straight ADCC World Championship, Keith Krikorian seems to have found the perfect formula to compete – and live – as his best self.
The accomplished 10th Planet black belt recently spoke to Grappling Insider about key changes in his mindset and mental health that have him feeling happier and more confident than ever.
A well-rounded submission hunter who is equally dangerous attacking the legs as he is taking the back, Krikorian has been a mainstay of the elite no-gi scene for over five years. But, despite impressive wins over ADCC veterans like Gabriel Sousa, Josh Cisneros, and Sam McNally, he has yet to taste victory across his previous two ADCC appearances.
Now in the thick of his training camp for the 66kg division of the 2024 ADCC World Championships, the 26-year-old says that his new and improved mindset is – ironically – a result of caring less about jiu-jitsu and more about himself.
Check out the full interview below to hear Krikorian discuss this pivotal mindset shift, as well as his thoughts on the Craig Jones Invitational, training under Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez, and the importance of being a steroid-free athlete.
In the past, Krikorian would often find himself overwhelmed with anxiety and the pressure to succeed. That’s changed in a big way, he says:
“Physically, mentally, emotionally, everything feels better. When I’ve talked to you in the past, I think my mindset was maybe a little more chaotic than it is now. Now, I’m a little more centered – I’m a lot more centered. I’d say I’m a lot more grounded. I feel better. I feel better day to day. I feel more grateful and thankful for things. I don’t feel stressed by responsibilities associated with being good at jiu-jitsu or being in the position I’m in within jiu-jitsu. It used to really stress me out. Now it’s fun.”
With a renewed focus on his mental health, Krikorian is now at his best as an athlete.
He says that thinking less about jiu-jitsu has given him the space and energy to improve by leaps and bounds as a grappler:
“I feel like it’s made me a lot better – competitively and in the gym. I feel way better. I have less stress and anxiety. I don’t beat myself up as much, and I just feel really good because of it… I thought you had to only care about jiu-jitsu to be good at jiu-jitsu. I just don’t know if that’s true, not anymore. That’s allowed me to take all the right steps to improve my game and skills and get better, stronger, faster… I feel much better than I ever have.”
Indeed, the Californian has gone on a tear since investing in his mental health, capturing titles at Subversiv and Polaris while successfully defending his Grapplefest belt. His lone loss in that span came in the final of the ADCC West Coast Trials against Deandre Corbe. That string of success earned Krikorian a well-deserved invite to ADCC 2024.
The mindset shift, he says, is a result of a shift in his priorities:
“In high school and college, everyone is measuring their success through grades or popularity and academics, extracurricular clubs and s***… I thought you gotta measure your self-worth by how people view you. It kinda took me removing myself from that and figuring out what I want, what makes me happy… I like being pretty simple and doing things that make me feel good and make people around me feel good, too. Once I kinda took small steps in the right direction, everything snowballed.”
Naturally, a healthy mind leads to a healthy body and, importantly, a grappler who can compete at his absolute best.
Krikorian explained:
“It’s really simple things. Be really kind to myself. Be really kind to the people around me. Love myself and them. That domino’d into ‘I’m gonna treat my body pretty good.’ I’m gonna eat well, sleep well, hydrate, take whatever supplements I think would benefit me, and that dominoes into great training, great attitude, great mindset… I feel like my jiu-jitsu has improved a lot.”
Like many other young men and women, and particularly those who find themselves in high-pressure competition situations, Krikorian has battled anxiety and depression.
Investing in himself – rather than the wins and losses on his record – has him feeling his best:
“As someone who’s consistently dealt with anxiety and depression his whole life, I can say for certainty that doing the personal work versus not doing it has made me feel like a new man. I’ve pretty much kicked all that anxiety and depression in the a**, and that’s a pretty gratifying feeling. When I put it in that perspective, jiu-jitsu doesn’t really matter to me. Jiu-jitsu doesn’t measure my self-worth… Ironically I feel that helps me have success in jiu-jitsu.”
Even though he has largely divested himself from the results at ADCC 2024, Krikorian is working incredibly hard to reach the podium in the talent-laden 66kg division. In addition to his regular training at 10th Planet San Diego under his longtime coach Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez, he has started taking his strength and conditioning seriously, improving his athleticism and strength at San Diego’s Electrum Performance.
He says that when he focuses on his day-to-day happiness, on his day-to-day improvements as a grappler, the results become secondary:
“You showing up to training consistently every day twice a day, that’s not luck, that’s consistency, and discipline, and effort, and that’s what I’m doing. Not because I care about the result of a two-day tournament. It’s because I care about now. I care about how I feel now. I care about how I feel every day. I want to be feeling like I’m being disciplined and building confidence in the training room.”
How to watch: Keith Krikorian will compete at the 2024 ADCC World Championships, set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 17-18, and will be airing live on FloGrappling (subscription required).
