Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” That idea rings especially true in chess boxing. U.S. coach Matt Thomas says “the real battlefield is the minute in between the rounds.” The best competitors, he thinks, learn to control their breathing so they can shift from a high-intensity fight to cold calculation. “The more that you can downregulate, lower your heart rate, dump the adrenaline out of your system, and let your amygdala chill out for a round, the more of your potential chess strength you’re going to be using in the chess round,” explains Thomas. #chessboxing #miketyson #amygdala