Radek Šefčík
Radek Šefčík’s frustration under sparring pressure led him into mentoring and mental coaching, alongside his early BJJ teaching in Slovakia.
Biography
Sources for this profile
MF DNES, Karel Knap’s interview, July7,2018, public PDF copy(opens in a new tab)
Radek Šefčík is Czech and has made his home in Slovakia.
Where in the source: Page16, biographical sidebar identifying him as Czech.
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In2018 he described working with Petra Kvitová a few times monthly, mainly by telephone, respecting her preference for independence and remote contact.
Where in the source: Page16, answers on frequency, personal meetings and her preferred arrangement.
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SME Žena, Viktor Kiššimon’s Q&A, May20,2021, public PDF copy(opens in a new tab)
He explained that he moved to eastern Slovakia after school to help his father’s business, and stayed after meeting his wife.
Where in the source: Final personal-history answer, father’s company and marriage.
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Discussing Dominika Cibulková, he explained that feedback from coaches Matej Lipták and Jozef Ivanko and her partner helped him understand the player and work through her team.
Where in the source: Answer on observing Cibulková’s matches and working with her support team.
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He contrasted fighters’ long preparation for a small number of bouts with tennis players’ repeated weekly opportunities, while saying the underlying mental issues could overlap.
Where in the source: Answer comparing tennis players and MMA fighters.
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He regarded coaching as a process rather than an instant fix and sometimes asked people sent by others to clarify their own goals before beginning.
Where in the source: Opening questions on client goals and later answer on quick solutions.
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He said he continued regular work with his own mentors because the demands of coaching required reflection and ongoing development.
Where in the source: Answer on whether a mental coach needs a coach.
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MentalCoach, Šefčík’s first-person career story(opens in a new tab)
Around2000 his work centred on close-combat instruction for police and military units; his background included intensive martial-arts practice, a karate black belt and BJJ instructor training.
Where in the source: Beginning, opening paragraph.
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On a training trip to San Diego he developed his fighting skills under Roy Harris.
Where in the source: Beginning, California trip in opening paragraph.
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He recalled frustration after hard sparring: despite training five hours daily on six days a week, he struggled against people who trained much less.
Where in the source: Second paragraph, sparring and training-volume comparison.
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He knew techniques but could not apply them freely under pressure; that gap made him search beyond technical instruction and later helped him relate to elite athletes.
Where in the source: Second paragraph, applying skills under pressure and later understanding athletes.
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When Rodney King visited Slovakia, Šefčík asked about that performance gap; King directed his attention toward mental preparation and became his first coaching mentor.
Where in the source: Third and fourth paragraphs, King’s visit and mentoring.
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He describes the resulting career change as a move into mental preparation, with subsequent work for teams, athletes, business leaders and the Slovak security services.
Where in the source: Final mentoring paragraph, renewed contracts and wider clientele.
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TÝDEN, Lucie Macháčová’s interview, December2016, public PDF copy(opens in a new tab)
In his2016 interview he recalled national-team karate and travelling to America and Australia to find answers to questions about confidence and recognition.
Where in the source: First PDF page, answer on entering coaching.
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He said physical instruction gradually gained mental components from2000, while from2001 he worked mainly with athletes because professional sport offered a fresh challenge after earlier work became routine.
Where in the source: First page, answers on special units and transition to athletes, continuing onto second page.
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He explained that coaching football manager Adrián Guľa meant helping a coach work on himself as well as lead other people.
Where in the source: Second PDF page, Guľa and coaching another coach.
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When clients competed against each other, he said he kept their information separate and did not reveal one player’s weaknesses to the other.
Where in the source: Second page, answer about Kvitová playing Cibulková.
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BJJEE, Štefan Hupka Q&A, January8,2014(opens in a new tab)
In2014 Štefan Hupka credited Šefčík with teaching him his first BJJ fundamentals and described him as the person who introduced the discipline to Slovakia.
Where in the source: Answer2, opening account of learning BJJ.
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Hupka remembered Šefčík’s Spišská Nová Ves school as the country’s only BJJ school roughly six years before that interview, before groups spread to other towns.
Where in the source: Answer3, Šefčík’s school and later expansion.
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VATAHA, Michał Kiczela’s first-person instructor biography(opens in a new tab)
Michał Kiczela credits Šefčík with teaching him Floro Fighting Systems, particularly its knife-work, during his development as a cross-training martial artist.
Where in the source: Autobiography, early JKD paragraph naming Šefčík.
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Kiczela also recalls meeting Rodney King at one of Šefčík’s seminars; his archive captions place their training in Harichovce in2002.
Where in the source: Early JKD paragraph and final2002 Harichovce captions.
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International Mental Game Coaching Association, certification testimonials(opens in a new tab)
The IMGCA’s published testimonial identifies Šefčík as a BJJ brown belt and a LevelIV certified mental-game professional coach.
Where in the source: Šefčík testimonial, signature immediately below his statement.
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In that testimonial he says King introduced him to Bill Cole’s work and that he applied the training to coaching both athletes and special-unit groups.
Where in the source: Full Šefčík testimonial, opening and application paragraphs.
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IMGCA, September10,2015 appointment announcement(opens in a new tab)
On September10,2015 the IMGCA announced his appointment to its advisory board, where he would contribute experience and practices to its programmes.
Where in the source: September10,2015 release, appointment and contribution paragraphs.
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That announcement describes a five-year coaching relationship with Tomáš Berdych, whose2010 Wimbledon final formed part of that period.
Where in the source: September10 release, Berdych paragraph.
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His work extended to the Slovak national golf team and professional team sports, alongside workshops on leadership, communication and focus under pressure.
Where in the source: September10 release, golf and workshop paragraphs.
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MentalCoach, Šefčík’s professional profile(opens in a new tab)
He describes his specialty as helping people use their trained skills in decisive moments rather than merely possessing technical knowledge.
Where in the source: First-person specialty paragraph after the introductory profile.
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His stated curriculum includes handling pre-competition nerves, rebuilding confidence after errors and maintaining concentration under pressure, adapted to the sport and the individual.
Where in the source: Final two paragraphs, context-specific examples and client skills.
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Český rozhlas Dvojka, Blízká setkání written account, February20,2019(opens in a new tab)
In a2019 Czech Radio interview’s written account, he emphasised the pressure sponsors and media place on elite athletes and the need to train attention around decisive points.
Where in the source: Published written interview summary and concentration paragraph.
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Somacoach, Šefčík’s first-person professional biography(opens in a new tab)
His later Somacoach biography describes expanding from sports mental preparation into somatic coaching after questioning the limits of his earlier methods and pursuing further mentoring, including with Cloe Madanes.
Where in the source: About biography, paragraphs after the client list.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage