This is a guest post from Tom Garland who was a professional boxer for 9 years and now runs Extreme Strikers where he writes about boxing, muay thai, mma, and more. In this article Tom is going to talk about a very important and critical topic that I’ve seen most males failing with and that is overcoming the fear of fighting. Understand as a man you have to be ready and willing to do violence. Tom lays out how to overcome the fear of this. Enjoy.
So you got into a fight but instead of becoming the warrior you thought you were, you froze. Why does this happen though?
I mean it’s a perfectly reasonable response it’s a scary thing to go through. Fight or flight is all it comes down to, but what if you don’t want the flight action to kick in? What do you do then?
Well in this article I’m going to explain what fear is, how it affects your body, what the scary aspects of fighting are and how to overcome them. After this, you will be able to say bye, bye to flight and hello to the fight.
What Is Fear?
Fear is the perfectly natural response to a perceived threat, it leads us to run away, hide or freeze on the spot.
It’s an everyday feeling that all men get, however big and bad they are. You might have felt it the first time you spoke to a girl, or in this case when you first time you step into the ring.
Your hands become sweaty, heart rate goes through the roof and mouth becomes dry. It comes back to fight or flight. This is what Mother Nature gave to all men to protect ourselves when faced with danger.
So What Fears Might You Face During a Fight?
So what things can lead you to be scared of getting into a fight? In my experience, there are four main reasons behind it.
- Oversensitivity – this comes down to being scared of hurting someone, it’s natural some men just aren’t fighters. Being an oversensitive person, you would probably try to avoid fights at any cost.
- Lack of fighting experience – the first time you drove a car was scary right? Well, it’s the same when you step into a fight. You need to build self-confidence. If you haven’t been in a fight before there’s a good chance fear will strike.
- Bad fighting experience – we have all had this at one point in our lives. We go out as a cocky young man thinking we can rule the world, only to find out we can’t the hard way. So it gets stuck in your head and the past repeats it’s self over and over.
- Confidence in fighting abilities – having a lack of fighting skill will certainly hold you back when stepping into a fight. If you think you are going to lose then there’s a good chance you will.
What Happens To Your Body?
As mentioned before when you go into a state of fear you will start to sweat, your heart will pound out of its chest, muscles freeze and your legs start to shake. But why does this happen?
Well, say thank you to your amygdala, it’s the part of your brain that rests behind the eyes and to the side of your ears. There are two of them and they’re tiny, don’t let this fool you.
Without this part of the brain, it’s very unlikely that men would have survived throughout history. It’s the natural alarm system telling us something bad is going to happen.
It uses sight, sound, taste, touch, and pain and sends signals for the body to respond by increasing blood pressure or respiration. Testosterone will be pumped into the blood, all this happens within a matter of seconds. Cool right?
Well, not always it’s these series of events that cause the fight or flight action to happen. But there are ways to help overcome flight and stick to the fight. But how?
Overcoming Fear
So we know what fear is, what fears we may face in a fight and we know the science behind it. But how do we overcome these fears?
Training will help you overcome the fear of fighting, it will make you more comfortable being in a fight situation. Why not try taking up Boxing, Muay Thai or become a real badass and hit up an MMA gym.
As a fighter myself I have been in many situations where getting into that ring was a fearful experience. Fighting someone one with a weight and reach advantage isn’t fun! Here are some things that helped me out.
- The first thing is to take some time to process, granted this is not always an option if it’s a street fight.
- Breath slowly and deeply this is going to help lower the heart rate.
- Face the fear head on, this is going to be scary but once it’s done it’s done. You can go on with your life knowing you tried.
- “Do what is yours to do” accept that feelings and thoughts have shown up then focus on behaviours that can help.
There you have it a quick antidote to fear and how to overcome it. But what about when it comes down to getting punched? Obviously, if you’re going to get into a fight there’s a good chance you will take one to the chin. Well, don’t worry I have your back!
Dealing With The Blows
The thing that you need to know before you overcome this fear is why you’re afraid of getting punched. For me personally, there are two reasons:
- They hurt
- Hard to tell when they’re coming
So this is the big one, who in their right mind enjoys getting hit? I can tell you now there is not one fighter in the world that enjoys it.
It’s perfectly normal; one thing you need to remember is that you’re not made of glass. If you got hit in the face do you think it would shatter into thousands of pieces? Of course it won’t!
Don’t get me wrong, punches hurt and they’re supposed too. Your opponent isn’t trying to give you a tickle their out to hurt you. Anything that hurts or causes pain is going to induce the feeling of fear, its normal. So how do you overcome this?
Well in my experience there is nothing better than going to the gym and sparring. Over time you will gain experience and you will learn how to deal with the pain.
Ensure you involve slow sparring in the training; it helps you to learn what’s coming and to have the ability to react. The problem with being a new fighter is that you don’t have the ability to see the punches or react to them. Over time you will gain instantaneous reflexes making you able to deal with it more effectively.
Getting Fight Confidence
This is key when it comes to fighting, no confidence before or during the fight you’re set for failure. How many boxers have you seen that believe wholeheartedly they are the best in the game. Think of Mohamed Ali he had confidence unmatched to anyone. But how do you get fight confidence?
- Believe you are special – as soon as you get into the fight you are the man, the special one, you are the most important person out there.
- Learn something – get to that gym and train hard, harder you train the more confidence it will give you.
- Kill negative thought – believe 100% that this is your fight, your time to shine.
- Act positive – don’t tell yourself you can’t, put energy into your actions.
Now even if these things come hard to you that’s fine, fake it till you make it. Here are a few tips on how to fake it.
- Stand tall – standing tall with shoulders back will make the opponent believe you are confident.
- Adopt a fighting stance – your opponent will believe you know what you are doing.
- Keep eye contact – this shows that you’re not scared it also keeps you aware of punches that may be coming.
Boosting your confidence can be hard and takes time but with these steps anything is possible. You might even become the next Muhammad Ali.
Reading Your Opponent
Being able to read someone will massively reduce the fear of fighting if you know what he’s going to throw why would you be scared? But how do you this?
Well, there are two types of tell:
- Universal tell – this is based on the physiology, like the way the hips move before the punch is thrown
- Idiosyncratic tell – these are based on the opponent’s unique habits
But how do you read them? Well, universal tells come from watching the hips, how their shoulders twitch and how they load the arm back.
Idiosyncratic tells are a lot harder to work out this comes from trial and error but here are a few tips. Look into his history do your homework. Let the inner mind work it’s amazing what your brain can pick up.
There you are everything you need to get the fear out of you and step into that ring. With time and practice on all the tips I’ve given you, you should become the beast you want to be. I hope this article helps you become the man and take on any situation, not only in your fighting life but in everyday life to.
