Pre-fight jitters

[jake_us9]

Does anyone else get ridiculously stressed/nervous before a fight or comp?

If so, how do you deal with it/overcome it?

I'm not talking about an actual fear of being harmed or anything girly like that, but more 'performance anxiety', fear of failure that sort of thing.

I used to throw up before rugby matches and it's that sort of thing - basically a massive adrenaline spike that seems to sap most of my cardio.

[nom]

I used to get the jitters before attempting something that was outside of my comfort zone, whether it be some sort of performance or speaking in front of large crowds.

What has helped me is my total acceptance of this thing that I am about to do and to go into it eyes wide open, face first.

That's really the only way I know how to explain it. Umm ... it's like accepting your fate, there is no getting out of it so face it head on and get through it. Get through it like a man.

I don't know if this helps ... I only can tell you what I do.

Good luck!

[The Kidd]

Does sweating a flood and wanting to throw up count?

[nom]

About 9 years ago I broke an engagement and called off the wedding a month before it was to take place. Plane tickets had been purchased, invitations had gone out, presents had been purchased. I just realized that this relationship would not survive. Calling off the wedding and facing the aftermath was the hardest thing to date I had ever had to do.

That experience has helped me face challenges as they come, as most pale in comparison.

[disgruntled]

i just read an article on this... coachs suggest to their fighters to do anything to distract them the entire day of the fight..... sleep watch a movie, anything.... keep you mind off it the best you can

[jimmy9183]

I too suffer from this, can be fighting fit, great cardio sparring hard for hours, technically have no doubts but come comp time it all goes. Winyourmmafight.com is place where you can find more about how to relax before your fight or comp. The tips given there helped me a lot.

[Shinobi_Kokujin]

for some odd reason. whenever i used to get into a street fight or confrontation outside of the dojo/dojang i dont get nervous. an most of the time i ended up throwin the first punch or kick.


but in MA competition, like a tkd or karate tournament for example. to this day I always get nervous before matches, i dunno why . but after the first match it goes away

i awlays get nervous before rolling in combatives too.

try to use thought-form meditation

which is envisioning the fight/ match an me winning an focusing all my will into it

[Atral]

Well, i'm just fine before the fight.It's during the fight that gets me nervous.
You see...i'm a bit of a sadist.
Inflicting pain upon other people somehow brings me pleasure.
So i try my hardest to do perfectly during the fight.
But during this time i get nervous,
because I absolutely know that the pleasure i get out of other peoples suffering is absolutely wrong.I also feel a bit happy and guilty once i've won a fight.
If i ever get rid of the sadist thing,i dont think i will ever get nervous.


sorry if that was a bit confusing,its a bit weird to explain it perfectly.
In fact,I dont even understand it that well.

[disgruntled]

ah, you are worrying about nothing, there is nothing wrong with being a sadist, especially in competition.... if you were at the point where you were beating on people hard during sparing that would be wrong, but that is not the case. heck i wish i was more like that. i love strategizing.... i love working out what i could do to create an opening or exploit their weeknesses, but the problem is that when ever it works i let up because i don't want to hurt them. or if i know they are weeker or less skilled i don't even try. i say use it to your advantage.... don't be a prick, don't hurt just to hurt, but if they are open i say that is an inventation for a nasty lesson.

[Shinobi_Kokujin]

sounds like Atral has a warrior's killer instinct.

take disgruntle's words an youll be fine

[Agent_Tubnox]

I agree with the 2 above posts - if they've left themselves open, teach them not to do it again! My friend told me when I first started years back (he was a black belt even then) that a little sado-masochistic response to violence (as disgruntled said - not to the level of beat your opponent to death for the fun of it, that is precisely the thing MA stands against) is almost a requirement of MA - a coping strategy for frequent pain if you like. I thought he was mad at the time, but looking back I see he is absolutely right - face pain with equanimity.

As to nerves - I have acted, played instruments in front of an audience and that was nerve wracking but NOTHING compares to waiting for your name to be called at a judo comp/grading.

For coping I agree with Shinobi's meditation idea and would add that I think back to all the times I go out to fight the black belts at training which I do all the time - as my signature says:

[eyerolleddapiece]

right before hockey games my legs would get very bouncy and i would get tunnel vision and space a bit, but u hit the ice running take a couple pucks off the chest, and i was ready to go

[Ben]

Does anyone else get ridiculously stressed/nervous before a fight or comp?

If so, how do you deal with it/overcome it?

I'm not talking about an actual fear of being harmed or anything girly like that, but more 'performance anxiety', fear of failure that sort of thing.

I used to throw up before rugby matches and it's that sort of thing - basically a massive adrenaline spike that seems to sap most of my cardio.

and here comes the psychology student I may well have an explanation for this

il explain four approaches as to why this happens.. you decide which one is more appropriate

psycho dynamic approach
froids theory. stated that our life is divided into stages
when something bad or disruptive happens in one of these life stages part of us gets 'stuck there' for example you mentioned being sick this is to do with the ORAL stage at the very beggining of life when babies explore the world through their mouths, you don't have to tell us but something even a minor event may have happened during the oral stage that means a certain trigger (performing) sets of a reaction related to the stage (sickness) if this is the case then you need to talk to someone about this event you may not even remember it but you must deal with it before you can move away from the reaction

Biological
your brain is regognizing that you must do something that will be judged and watched by others, as a result certain chemicals may be released into your system that trigger a response (extreme nerves and sickness) if this is the case then speak to your doctor about drugs that will help calm you down during this pre performance stress

Cognitive
you may have a cognitive triad. this means SUBCONSCIOUSLY you have a maladjusted thought process to do with performance. eg

I have to perform well.
If I do not life will be unbearable
If I perform well people will judge me better

you may not know this is happening but the more you react in this negative way the more this bad thought process is reinforced, you will just have to gt over it so to speak and deal with the issue by breaking away from the cycle

Behavioral
this is to do with responses

trigger A - possibility of social harm or embarrassment
unconditioned trigger - performance
unconditioned response - hgh stress and sickness

eventually the trigger A will not need to be there for the original response to happen as your brain learn to respond in this way regardless of trigger A so the new process becomes

unconditioned trigger - performance
unconditioned response - stress sickness

You will need to unlearns this behavior by finding a way to deal with you nerves eventually your brain wil get used to not being sick and stressed and your symptoms will go away.

Note I am not saying any of this is right but these are the main psychological approaches to the condition, If I were you id speak to your doctor as Its difficult for me to tell you how to get rid of extreme stress unless I am there

Hope I was of somne help

[kenpodog]

Originally Posted by Ben

and here comes the psychology student I may well have an explanation for this

Oh No,
Ben is a................


HEADSHRINKER


Next thing you know, he'll be asking,
How does that make you feel??