Testimonials

My manager Rickard and I often discussed the mental aspects of racing and their significance, especially as one ascends the ranks to categories like Formula 3 and Formula 1. He generously shared his experiences from his racing days, highlighting how he tackled the mental challenges, which provided me with valuable insights. Yet, my curiosity drove me to seek further understanding. Achieving your absolute best on the racing track involves a substantial mental component, and at times I felt a crucial piece was missing. Thanks to Igor’s training, I’ve been able to identify that piece much more easily than before. I now feel I can focus more effectively and achieve my flow state. The initial phase of our training regimen has granted me better control over my emotions during competition, and I’ve also developed increased confidence and motivation in my work.

I wholeheartedly recommend Igor; he is both personable and professional. While I had some understanding of mental training before, I have learned an incredible amount through our collaboration, and I look forward to gaining even more knowledge in the future.

Malmö City Properties held a Health Day in May 2024, focusing on inclusion, relationships, employee engagement, and personal responsibility. This is where Igor Adoris came in, using humorous and practical exercises to engage and inspire us, the 180 participants.

He did this brilliantly and with a twinkle in his eye, focusing on what is needed for us to consistently show our best sides and how we can help each other achieve the same. A mix of theory, concrete examples, and exercises contributed to an incredible atmosphere where no one was left untouched.

In our evaluation form for the day, the majority of the participants who responded highlighted that the best part of the day was Igor’s presentation. Many emphasized that this was exactly the focus and learning we needed, especially at a time when there is a lot happening in the organization and the atmosphere can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Through Igor’s presentation, we gained insights into theories that helped us understand how our brains work and how we can actively train them to better handle negative thoughts, situations, and people. We learned how we can collectively create well-functioning, positive teams that bring out the best in us.

Igor masterfully combines seriousness with humorous elements, making the topic relevant and motivating. During the presentation, we found ourselves nodding in agreement with everything he said and could easily relate it to our own everyday experiences.

What immediately struck me about Igor was his professional approach and attitude towards his role within the Swedish Judo Federation’s national team programme. He quickly grasped our situation and identified what we needed to advance the development of our national team athletes.

Igor conveys his insights and knowledge in a clear and effective manner, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of age or prior experience. His contributions have been highly valued by everyone in our organisation, and his expertise has left a lasting impact; we view him as an integral part of our journey towards achieving success on the world stage in judo.

I felt that I hadn’t performed as I wanted in my racing, even though everything else was working well. I had worked on my physical strength and practiced my driving, but I ultimately realized that my mental strength could improve significantly. I wanted to collaborate with someone who could help me in a professional way and who had experience in my sport, racing. Above all, I wanted to gain tools to manage the extreme stress of competitions. The more I worked with Igor and on mental training, the more I realized how important mental strength is and the opportunities it opens up. It has given me great calm and confidence, which have improved my racing, training, and overall presence in all situations.

I highly recommend Igor. I have learned so much from him, going from not really understanding mental training to wanting to continue working on it because I truly feel that it helps me week by week as we collaborate. Now it is just as obvious for me to train mentally as it is to train physically to enhance my performance.

After a long mental and physical slump in training and competition, I contacted Igor to rediscover the joy of competing and unlock my potential for maximum performance from both mind and body. Through many hours of conversation with Igor and the training programs, I have found an inner environment that better allows for physical recovery from training.

I started mental training with the goal of performing better as an athlete, but I have realized during this journey that it will also help me perform better in life as a whole. Igor is extremely knowledgeable on the subject and has a unique ability to break down and explain the processes that occur in the brain and body when we face different scenarios in life, as well as specifically as an athlete.

I chose to collaborate with Igor because I wanted to grow as a person and gain a deeper understanding of myself, both in sports and in everyday life. I aimed to learn how to manage challenges through mental strength. My work and training with him have provided immense value; I have learned to navigate difficult situations more effectively, think and reflect differently, and achieved a calmer mindset that allows me to make clearer decisions, all of which benefit my performance in golf.

I wholeheartedly recommend Igor to others, as I have gained so much from our collaboration. I have evolved and discovered so much more about myself in a way that I believe everyone should experience.

Being in a transformational phase of the company, we wanted to grow and expand our leadership skills of everyone at Stratiteq. Hence we built our own Stratiteq Academy, firmly rooted in our company culture.
A fundament of all change is self-leadership.

We found a perfect match in Igor with his background and expertise in mental training, team building and coaching of many sports professionals. He helped the whole organization prepare for the journey we are on and to be able to focus on what is important, starting with one-self. A challenging company journey ahead and wanting to prepare or build your team for it?

I more than warmly recommend Igor to help you in this process.

I started working with Igor 3 months ago not really knowing what to expect, but hoping to be able to be more relaxed outside my training and to become a stronger person mentally. And after these 3 months, I can say that training with Igor has improved my daily life a lot. Training with Igor has helped immensely with my focus and just feeling calmer through challenges in my every day life. I’m so happy with the skills that I have gained from training with Igor, I belive that they can benefit anyone, and the skills, that I have learned from Igors course I will take further with me, because I think that they will benefit me for the rest of my life.

I do hereby confirm that Mr. Igor Ardoris has been employed as Mental Coach for the Men´s National Team of the Faroe Islands Football Association since 2020.

Since Mr. Ardoris first joined the FSF in 2020as mental Coach, he has proved to be an excellent staff member – diligent and innovative.
During this period, we have seen a huge development among the players, that have been eager to develop ”the mental skill”, thanks to Mr. Ardoris professionalism.

Following this brief report, I would like to give to Mr,. Ardoris my best reference and recommendation.

Best Regards,

We have already had Igor as a guest several times as a source of inspiration for the integration of ”Change your Mindset” in innovative teaching and learning concepts for students. That was always very inspiring.

At our joint workshop ”Growth Mindset” in May 2022, the focus was on a project team that is to deal in particular with the phases of reflection and restrospective of the individual work and the work in the team within the framework of agile project management. Igor was appreciated by the participants as very authentic and charismatic.

All participants benefited greatly from the impulse from their respective perspectives. As the project leader, I am very happy to say that Igor’s input has created a valuable common basis for cooperation in the project. In addition, the participants received important impulses for their content work with the students.In addition, Igor inspired the group with the way he worked with us. He lives an attitude of openness and appreciation. He conveys to everyone that you are ok the way you are. As a project leader, I appreciate his high flexibility and relaxed way of adapting to the needs of the group at short notice. Thank you for everything!

I came out of a challenging season filled with injuries, and nothing went as planned. My mum gave me the book Strong Inside, and I read it in one go. After finishing it, I reached out to Igor. Before we started working together, I felt a constant tension in my body, letting my emotions dictate everything and absorbing everything around me, which created an inner stress as I always wanted to push myself to the limit in training.

I had many obligations and a strong desire to ski quickly, but the more I wanted it and the more I felt I had to, the tenser I became, which negatively affected my performance. After a few months of collaboration, I have never felt so energised during pre-season, as I can focus my energy on the right things. I feel relaxed and confident in my plan to become the best version of myself and an exceptional cross-country skier.

I no longer allow my emotions to dictate my decisions, and my ego no longer takes precedence. My shoulders have dropped significantly, perhaps a bit exaggerated, but it certainly feels that way, and I ski much more relaxed now, leading to tremendous improvements in my technique. Above all, cross-country skiing, both in competition and practice, has never been so enjoyable as it is now. Thank you!

Igor Ardoris facilitated a 2-hour session for our community of frontline humanitarian negotiators in fall 2019. We have organized a one-week Retreat around the topic of Hostage Negotiation where participants exchanged and learned ways to better manage stress when negotiating under pressure. Amongst several external facilitators invited, Igor’s contribution was one of the more appreciated by participants who particularly enjoyed the relevance and applicability of his approach. We greatly enjoyed working with him as a person as well and look forward to collaborating with him again in the future.

When I was 16, I was selected for the Swedish women’s underwater rugby national team for the first time, claiming a European Championship bronze in 1997. At 18, I secured a World Championship gold, followed by a silver four years later. For a time, I thought I had put my international career behind me, but my journey in mental training was only just beginning. The national team pursuit reignited ahead of the World Championship in Colombia in 2015, sparking my interest in mental training after discussions with Igor.

However, my true mental journey began between the 2015 and 2019 World Championships. Alongside my commitment to the national team, I faced various challenges that led to a sick leave for burnout syndrome. Mental training became my lifeline for recovery, and reading “Strong on the Inside,” which I still regard as a sort of bible, along with the accompanying training programme, proved incredibly beneficial for my comeback, supported by my conversations with Igor.

Leading up to the World Championship in Austria in 2019, the Nordic Championships in 2020 and 2022, as well as the recent European Championship in Norway in 2022, mental training has profoundly impacted me. I now approach matches with a sense of calm and a different mindset. Having taken on the role of team captain this year has added a sense of responsibility to instil calmness and encourage my teammates to engage in mental training.

Several team members have found my recommendations regarding “Strong on the Inside” helpful in their own training. The latest championship concluded with a European Championship bronze after extra time and penalties. Even in that intense situation, my breathing techniques, which are crucial in my sport, helped me maintain composure; I knew how to respond and had the right attitude, which was incredibly reassuring. Mental training not only enhances performance in sports but also enriches quality of life, proving beneficial in a myriad of situations.

Igor possesses a wealth of knowledge and has been an immense source of inspiration for me. Thank you!

For more than two years I have been working with Igor in the project „Change your Mindset“ at the THM University of Applied Sciences and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. 
The project mainly aimes at offering Mental Training to first year students with the aim to strengthen their self-responsibility in the learning process and to improve their self-regulation skills.To be able to provide Mental Training to the students we, as teachers, learned Igor´s theoretical approach, focusing and relaxation techniques, and experienced different exercises in two workshops.

Igor´s unique manner to teach created a very personal and open atmosphere amongst the participants. Furthermore I found Igor extremely supportive and always accessible for what question ever I had in between the workshops.The student´s feedback to the Mental Training Course I offered to the first year students of the THM Business School was extremely positive. They claimed to have learned more efficiently and effectively by being more focused when learning. By using relaxation techniques they were able to reduce their stress level before and during exams. Some students even mentioned positive effects on their general health and well-being.Given that feedback I continue offering this course to our first year students regularly.

What has made the project very special for me personally was that I felt inspired to teach in a different way in all my other courses of the Bachelor and Master Programm including focusing and relaxation exercises at the beginning of each class. This does make a big change for me as well as for the students.

After attending several of Igor’s seminars with my former Muay Thai club, I reached out to him for personalised coaching. Together, we focused on enhancing the power and precision of my techniques, as well as managing my nerves before competitions. Igor also provided invaluable support regarding my collaboration with the club and how to effectively balance my personal life with my elite aspirations in martial arts. I wish I had sought Igor’s guidance earlier in my career, as I believe it would have significantly impacted both my performance and my well-being throughout the various stages of an athlete’s journey. He taught me a great deal about the influence of breathing on both physical performance and mental state.

I highly recommend Igor to other athletes seeking to improve their game.

I have been working with Igor for a couple of months and I couldnt be more pleased with the development. I have been given tools to help me keep focus on what is most important to maximise my performance and become a better football player. Within this proces I have learnt to be and react calmly in stressful situations where I beforehand had some bad habits when the circumstances had oppurtunities to provoke me.

The reason why this proces has helped me so much is that Igor has the ability to always be able to give you very effective and helpful advice no matter what challenges you may face and also ways for you to work through these obstacles and keep your focus on whats most important. This is definetly something that I would highly recommend for anyone who really wants to take their career to the next level.

My work with Igor started through the Faroese National Team and has continued privately for 3 months. Through Igors expertise and guidance I have found an inner peace and calmess that reflects through my daily life as well as in my football. My reacting and/or not reacting to mistakes from myself, referees and/or teammates has dramatically improved through this period. By that, my focus has completely changed towards things that I can control and influence.

I would highly recommend anyone this program.

I have played professional basketball over 8 seasons and after having one unsuccessful end of a basketball season, something happened and I couldn’t recognize myself anymore. I felt trapped with a lot off different thoughts and feelings that I couldn’t handle, and this effected me on, and even off the court. My mental strength was failing me and I came to the point where I was going to give up everything and I wanted to quit playing basketball – the one thing that I had done throughout almost my whole life. After talking to a friend about this, I was recommended to contact Igor. At first I was skeptical getting help , because I really didn’t see how someone could help me with what I was going through. But I was desperate so I decided to give it a chance. Luckily Igor agreed to work with me even though I was honest about that I really didn’t believe that he could help making me ready to step back out on the court again.

Through out his work he supported me and step by step he made me ready to get back out there. He encouraged me to start playing for a lower ranked team in the highest Swedish league where I wouldn’t have so much pressure. And within a short period of time he helped me to get my confidence back and I even made my personal, and the season record, by scoring 40 points and I had an efficiency of 54 points! Coincidence or not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I started to play basketball with love again, and I now feel the joy of the game. In addition to this, I have also learned how to deal with emotions like anxiety and fear and how not to get attached to them. His tools have helped me to stay in the moment, to follow my instincts and also how to stay relaxed and calm in uncomfortable situations. This is something I will carry throughout my whole life!

I strongly recommend Igor to anyone who’s struggling mentally, but also for those who wants to take their game to the next level or just learn the way of the Budo Mental Training. Personally I will always be thankful towards Igor for helping me through one of the toughest periods of my career! Thank you!

I started working with Igor through the faroese national team and after that, we worked together privately. Immediately I realized Igor’s ability to read and understand my situations. Not only does he have excellent and knowledgeable advise, he is a great listener when you want to reflect and get things off your chest as well. I have learned to focus in a whole different way, and to know the difference between unnecessary pressure and the positive inner demands that you have on yourself. After working with Igor, I dont let the anxiety of irrelevant and negative thoughts to determine my outcomes, you learn to focus in a way that gives you the confidence to do what you see yourself doing. I am very greatful to be working with Igor and look forward to keep working together in the future, always in a good mood and inspirational enthusiasm.

2-3 months ago, I started the Budo mental training programme with Igor. I have since been able to grasp and handle specific situations and circumstances with an elevated level of control and calmness. I found Igor to not only be an exceptional teacher, who is able to offer an overwhelming level of knowledge in numerous languages, but also a person who is able to connect on so many levels, demonstrating passion, empathy and an overall deep understanding of almost every situation or thought I found myself presenting to and discussing with him. During this time I learned a number of easy to use techniques and mindsets that I now regularly apply whilst playing football, which can in future, also be applied to other situations in life.

I highly recommend this programme and it’s teacher to anyone willing to improve their performance and am happy that I, myself, participated.

My journey with Igor started on the Faroese national team. At first, I was sceptical to say the least. Through my personal experience as a footballer and my general stubbornness, I did not believe that mental training could improve any athlete or person, let alone me. But he Igor proved me wrong. After many lessons, I did not feel any progress, but a single moment in a football match changed my thoughts on mental training. It was a stressful time for me. I had a lot on my plate and situations that usually triggered my nerves were suddenly less difficult to face. Since then, I have benefited enormously from Igor’s techniques.

Looking back at all the good session with Igor, where he gave me the right guidance, understanding and patience, I have seen clear progress for myself as an athlete and person. Now I am grateful that we started working together, and I would highly recommend working with him to everyone.

I started working with Igor through the faroese national team and after that we have worked together privately
When we started working together i was a bit unsure what it was about, but more and more i had conversations with Igor and used his program, i realized it helped to be more relax and less stressful on the pitch and outside the pitch and my performance level started to increase a lot after a period of time, i highly recommend anyone to try this program, cause i know im gonna do it for a long time, cause it has helped me alot

I have worked with Igor on a personal level as well as on with the national team
Through my mental training with Igor I’ve improved my focus, become better to cope with pressure and lowered the voice in my head saying I cant do it. The doubt
Budo mental training has become for me the point in day where I can dream, visualize and refocus. I leave every training session just that little better, calmer and confident. For every athlete or person that wishes to be more present and aware I recommend Budo Mental Training.Since working with Igor:
Faroe Islands National Team 3 games/1goal
Bryne FK (Norway) 3 games/ 2 goals and 2 assist

Igor Ardoris I saw teaching the first time at a congress in Beijing starting one day after end of Olympic Games in 2008. I was fascinated by his teaching and invited him to an International Congress of Mental Techniques for Coaching in Sport, Business and Performing Arts in Heidelberg. Since that Igor Ardoris was invited all 3 congresses I organized about this topic. More than 100 international experts among them some of the most well-known names in International field are teaching at each of such congresses. At two of the three congresses Igor Ardoris had the best evaluated workshop of all speakers. At the last congress 2017 with 1500 participants his two workshops have been on place Nr.1 and Nr. 4 in the feedback list!!! He is teaching with heart and brain.

Igor is the person who understood my ignorance of the difference between ‘fighting’ and Thai boxing techniques. How important self-confidence / self-esteem is. What is going on in my head when standing in the heat of battle. How to control it, etc. In broad terms, I can say that Igor has helped me to see fighting for what it is! Many different emotions! Today, when I have gained a lot of experience in just fighting, I can look back at things that he has said and learned and can relate to it in another way.

The Rookies (first year professionals) on the Ladies European Tour met with Igor during the LET event in Sweden. Igor is very knowledgable, professional, calm, inspirational and a good communicator. It is motivating to listen to him and we learned a lot from Igor and his mental coaching and also from his way of communicating and presenting a subject. The Rookies thought it was a very useful session and we hope we get the opportunity to work more with Igor in the future.

Igor Ardoris was very concerned about having a good meeting before the assignment. He wanted to understand what we wanted to accomplish, it was nice considering that it was the first time I planned a conference to this extent.
We wanted to see a continuous thread through the two days and he was very sensitive to that.
He came in good time to the conference and he listened to one of our internal lecturers who spoke before him. Igor managed to change a little of his PowerPoint presentation just before his lecture to link to what we just listened to and connect it to the internal lecturer before him. It was professional!
”Igor talked about mental training and personal responsibility but at a much more advanced level than other lecturers. The participants who worked a lot on these issues appreciated Igor’s lecture extraordinarily since it gave more dimension and depth to the subject.


Igor was also amusing, singing upon entering the stage, using good body language and with a twinkle in his eye. He managed to deliver some personal keys to each and every one regarding personal responsibilities.

I have now trained for six months with Igor and my results have increased dramatically. Mental training has always been something I have wanted to work on but had not found anything that suited me.

It is only now that I really see the difference and I strongly believe in daily training just like in golf. It is not only possible to talk yourself into mental strength, but it is something we must work on in daily life. And the mental training with Igor has not only helped me tremendously on the golf course but also in my daily meetings and adventures.

suppose we all would like to become the best that we can possibly be….
Igor just happened to have a well developed talent to reach you, and he just might have a few suggestions or tips on how to develop yourself. At the end of the day, we were exhausted by being exposed to our egos, but Igor looked like he could go on forever. He kept our attention with his ernergic way of elaborating on personal issues in an understandable manner, and by pinpointing his theory by good examples and his own experience. The feedback from the team is without exception -extraordinary. Prepared and ready to adapt to the audience I would say, is Igor’s trademark. He is willing to listen, he is able to understand, and he is willing to share of his experience to help you reach your goals. I feel lucky to have met Igor, even only as a team member. I am so grateful that he put all my doubts to shame, and made the MOTIVATION DAY everything but a cliché. I would recommend everyone who thinks he might have the possibility or need to improve his ways, and have the change, to expose himself to Igor. Now I know…you won’t regret it.

A one day Leadership Resort at Copenhagen Business School: “Power and Presence. Mindful Action for Effective Results”
Igor Ardoris and Jeremy Hunter from Peter Drucker School of Business hosted a one day Leadership Retreat at Copenhagen Business School (CBS). Invited were CBS executive MBA and master students and alumni communities. Thus, leaders and managers who are daily involved in leadership dilemmas and demanding decision making processes in both private and public, Danish as well as international companies.
There is no doubt that this programme was an eye opening and extremely useful experience to the participants. On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being best) more than 80 % rated the retreat above 8 and none below 7. The most valuable take away was unanimously described as: The body exercises, the experience of a body and mind connection, the examples and insights into how to begin to train control in situations of pressure, the balance between theory and practice was excellent as was the instructors. One of the participants remarked: “I have heard about this before but never created enough motivation to actually do it – I WILL now!”
Thanks Igor & Jeremy – it was a great day!

After hearing a lot about Igor’s mental training, I contacted him and we started to collaborate. I was very skeptical in the beginning but after a few weeks I gained my own experience of the benefit of mental exercise. I have developed a better focus and have also learned to maintain it for longer periods.


Since I started mental training with Igor, I have been able to discover many positive aspects of myself that I had not known before. For me, who is very goal-oriented, it has been crucial for my future that I met Igor, because through mental training he made me realize that the road to the goal is at least as important as the goal itself. With the help of Igor, I have regained the joy of swimming.