‘It’s almost magical’: How Geyl is getting an edge in titles pursuit

Many people think hypnotherapy is just for fears, phobias or quitting smoking, but Cairns Muay Thai champion Jessica ‘The Real’ Geyl is using the relaxation technique to take her fight game to new heights.

Many people think hypnotherapy is just for fears, phobias or quitting smoking, but Cairns Muay Thai champion Jessica ‘The Real’ Geyl is using the relaxation technique to take her fight game to new heights.

Ever since she started training under current WMC Queensland super middleweight champion and Fusion Fight and Fitness head striking coach Paul Hosking three years ago, the goal has always been to fight for a title.

It has been a long process, and one that was dragged out even further due to the impacts of COVID-19, but Geyl can now say she has not only achieved her goal, but exceeded it.

In the past five months she has fought for — and won — two titles, defeating Kristin Filitonga to claim the Muay Thai Queensland junior middleweight title in November, before defeating Hannah Dalby to claim the WKBF Australia super welterweight title last month.

Cairns Muay Thai fighter Jessica Geyl is the Australian WKBF Super Welterweight title holder after defeating Hannah Dalby over 5 rounds in Brisbane on March 13. Picture: Brendan Radke

While Hosking is credited for getting Geyl in peak physical condition before a fight, it’s her work with former English and British Muay Thai champion Richard Hart, better known as ‘The English Hypnotist’, that has allowed her to develop a champion’s mindset.

“I would normally get nervous (before a fight) but in my last two camps I’ve been working with the English Hypnotist,” she said.

“He used to be a British champion and now he works with fighters all over the world in helping getting their mind in the right space going into a fight.

“I worked with him for 3-5 weeks leading up to both fights and that made all the difference.

“He just really helps to focus on the positives and work on your subconscious — it’s almost magical. It’s a really interesting process.”

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Cairns Muay Thai fighter Jessica Geyl is the Australian WKBF Super Welterweight title holder after defeating Hannah Dalby over 5 rounds in Brisbane on March 13. Picture: Brendan Radke

Throughout the history of combative sports, certain fighters have found ways to weaponise their minds, using mental toughness to break their opponents in the same way others use speed, conditioning and technique.

Geyl said Hart gave her the tools to add this kind of psychological weapon to her arsenal.

“I’m fairly unassuming and most people that meet me wouldn’t think I’m a fighter,” she said. “When I first started working with him I thought there was this inner beast that I needed to unleash and all that kind of stuff, but it actually isn’t that at all.

Cairns Muay Thai fighter Jessica Geyl is the Australian WKBF Super Welterweight title holder after defeating Hannah Dalby over 5 rounds in Brisbane on March 13. Picture: Brendan Radke

“I found that it was a really easy process and it just skyrocketed my confidence in my skills and my abilities and stopped me from overthinking in the fight. It was very cool.

“He goes through processes, you’ll visualise the fight before it happens and the different possibilities.

“It’s really just reassuring yourself that you know what you know.”

The fight itself was a five-round war, and Geyl said she had to dig deep to come away with the decision victory.

“She was definitely on me, especially in like the first minute of all the rounds,” she said.

“I was pretty tied by the fourth round, but I have this knack to kind of become my best self when I’m exhausted, it happens in every fight.

“Usually in the first round or two I’ll trip over or do something dramatic — get an eight count or something — but by the third or fourth it’s like all my walls drop and it all becomes more instinctual, which is really cool.

“I think that’s the stuff you get addicted to.”

Geyl will compete at Muay Thai Australia’s Allan Bell Open Tournament on the Gold Coast this May, with plans to defend her titles or potentially fight for a WKBF South Pacific title later in the year.

Originally published as ‘It’s almost magical’: How Geyl is getting an edge in titles pursuit