Fear: Friend or Foe

FEAR! Can paralyze the most skilled grappler and cause him to become timid. A moment of self-doubt has caused many competitors to fear losing and focus on preservation rather than winning. An opponent who comes out stronger than expected, with a strategy you didn’t expect, has caused many grapplers to abandon their excellent game plans when they fear the match is slipping away.

Where does fear come from?

Fear is usually caused by an exaggerated emotional response to something known or unknown. Example: we hear about someone getting killed by a Great White Shark and refuse to go into the ocean, even though we have a 1 in 11,500,000 chance of being bitten by a shark and a 1 in 264,000,000 chance of dying from a shark attack. Is this an intelligent decision or an exaggerated emotional response? You have a better chance of being killed by a deer hitting your car! Do you still drive? Undue fear of a shark attack is clearly an exaggerated response. If your opponent comes out with better technique that you didn’t train for, does that mean you can’t win? Does it mean your strategy can’t work? If you get worked up and frustrated does it mean you can’t find a way to pull out a victory?

Flipside Technique

Just as every statistic can be used favorably or unfavorably, depending on perception or outcome desired, every fear can be looked at differently. The first thing we do is look at the flipside technique. How many people don’t get killed in shark attacks? The answer is: 263,999,999 people don’t get killed by sharks. How many times do grapplers come from behind in a jiu-jitsu tournament and win? How many times did the great Royce Gracie look like he was defeated only to pull out a miraculous victory? The flip side technique says there is always another way to look at things. There is always opportunity and a way to overcome self-doubt and fear.

Use Emotion To Be Fearless