As someone that has trained in martial arts and (unfortunately) had to defend himself in a life or death struggle, I can say I felt more fear before competing than when I was actually in a match. I was worried I didn't train hard enough, or that I trained TOO hard. Then when the fight started, I was fine. When someone was coming at me with a knife,I wasn't afraid at all. I was actually INCREDIBlY angry. It wasn't until after, when I realized I could have died, that I freaked out.
Damn bro. I had a similar experience but with a hatchet. I got so angry and then when it was over and I won the combat, I had a euphoria, and then later I started having nightmares.
Great video. The fear of getting hurt in martial arts is well placed. The worst injury I ever got was in a standard training session, as accidents can happen any time.
The generally accepted best way to deal with fear in real life combat is drill practice. That is why it is part of every army regimen, always has been, and probably always will be. And, as drill practice and martial arts are naturally related, fear becomes less of a distinction. A well trained soldier will have spent hours and hours of time doing what is basically martial arts training, until his reaction to a critical situation becomes less and less dependent on his personal fear level, and more and more relates to what he was taught in training.
Stefan B exectly: train the techniques - repeat repeat repeat. There is also a statement from Shioda Gozo, that everybody is nervous before a real fight, but this goes away when the fight starts. And I read an interview from a soldier telling the same. Or in short if you are knowing what to do you don't have time for fear, but before you will have fear.
Benjamin Brohmer that may be true for the majoritiy but there really are very different kinds of people. as example the berserkergengr feeds from turning fear and therefore adrenaline into rage and that is very effective in combat. Today with rifles not so much anymore but in melee combat the ability to transform fear into blind rage really gives you huge advantages over "drilled" soldiers or worse, fearfull soldiers. besides if someone is freaking out is very hard to not feel fear even when drilled.
Orkar Isber I think drill does not reduce fear as much as it reduces uncertainty. As long as you are certain what to do next, it isn't very important any longer, whether you are afraid or not, as you no longer have to weigh consequences of alternate actions to decide. Fear most of all impairs decision-making. If there are no decisions to make, fear has little consequence to actions. Berserkrgengr used combat drugs. I saw a documentary about Zulu warriors, that were given drugs by their shamans to attack the British. The rituals in preparation of the administration looked a lot like martial art katas conducted in a group. So, repetition and drill seems to be an important element, even when fighting drugged.
Stefan B sorry that may be the case with zulu warriors but berserkergengr did neither use alcohol nor drugs. i hate to repeat that topic again and again anda gain but it is well researched, the phenomenon is reproducable and even used in the US forces as project. It is all about mental / psychological conditioning and adrenaline high. No drugs used at all. Indeed the drugs needed for similiar effects didnt growe anywhere in europe and in special not anywhere near the germanic or norse people besides the gengr is also known to the celts, greeks and indonesians (amok) and those also did not use drugs at all Fear can make your attacks more nimble, less effective, prevent you from attacking and cause nausea or worse. Its not just about descision making
Badger0fDeath no they aint. but the gengr really is blind rage and that actually enhances your fighting capabilites a hell lot - as long as no tactic is really required because tactical thinking suffers a lot there. but the phyiscal capabilities are enhanced as is reaction speed and ofc someone like that is very terryfing
Good video, Matt. I can imagine what pressure someone like you would experience during competitions. Famous/good fighter will always have this pressure to look good as everyone expects from him, especially if he's an instructor as instructor must always look competent. I wonder in real life/death situation would it still be a room for a fear to look stupid? I will share with my short story: When I participated in "tanto-jutsu" (knife combat) competitions, I always had many fears - to look stupid, to be injured, to be not as good as I should (as everyone expects) and so on. before every fight I just tried my best to not think about those things, but pressure was always inside my mind and made me worry. but whenever the fight begin I had simply no room to think about those things anymore. I was so focused on fighting, attacking and defense that those fears didn't exist in my mind anymore. I forgot that other people watching me. and I did pretty good every time, I never actually looked stupid. even if I lost fight I didn't look stupid and my opponent never won easily. just my story :D sorry for my broken English.
My personal method for staying relaxed and managing my emotions is to just remind myself that I'm in it to have fun, regardless what the points claim the outcome was as long as I enjoyed my time, my objective was accomplished, so I win because I achieve what I was there to achieve.
I was a kickboxer/boxer and fought in many matches, as well as Tuff-man contests with opponents much taller and with greater weights. At no time did I feel fear. I was confident in my training, endurance, and felt more at home in the ring than anywhere else. Others in the locker room were deathly afraid, I didn't expect that. I think that gave me more confidence. I know for sure I would be afraid in a full out battle setting; I wouldn't feel that I had much control over the situation.
Obligatory quote: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." F. Herbert (Dune)
Matt, fascinating, & thought provoking.My experience has bee in 3 main forms of fear. (3) When I was in competitive shooting, the fear of as you say, "looking like a dumbass". This could be pushed down with a simple "forget it I'm going to hit my targets & forget about the time.Strangely I shot faster with this mindset. When I was boxing, (2), I was a champion, many years ago. I would be exhilarated, jumpy & laughing, until the first punch hit me, then I would "go to work". On the occasions that my experiences in the Army put me in a potentially dangerous place or situation, (1), I don't have time to feel fear right now" was what generally what I felt. "Get the job done, feel later". I suppose, in these situations, it was always "As you are trained, so will you do." I've felt fear so many times in my life I ought to be an expert at it. Maybe in just feeling it. Thank-you, Dante, .
I'm quite sure that fear of looking bad was HUGELY important in military situations throughout the ages especially where ones own unit are concerned, or any kind of "honour" ideals... One's reputation among close-knit communities and extended families would be vital and affect many other aspects of life in business, marriage, trade.. I would think it might outweigh fear of injury or death quite often.
TheBaconWizard You speak the truth, friend. A warrior's fear of dying in battle is vastly overshadowed by his fear of clumsily living through it; then he must suffer the mockery by his closest comrades until he proves himself the next time around, and even then might still at the very least be left with a degrading nickname to live with for the rest of his days
I can totally agree with that. The fear of getting blamed of course isn't as strong as fearing for your very life, but it can still be strong. I've experinecd that myself in a martial arts exam and shooting competitions. And, just like you said, if I know my competition isn't very good, or that I'm doing good right now, or that my performance doesn't matter, that is relaxing, and most of the times I do better then. Oh, and please do soemthing about your audio. My ears got reked. :'(
Risk compensation is an interesting topic too. when you're more heavily armored and protected, you are far more likely to take risks, because you are given a sense of security/invincible feeling. not sure if you've done a video on that or not.
I found that i got hurt more often when I was afraid or frustrated. Relaxing and taking things as they are and not as you want them to be should be taught in any discipline.
Interesting topic. I don't personally know about HEMA but having competed in boxing and Muay Thai the fear I felt was real. I've had to defend myself in real life and because I knew how to deal with fear and confident in my abilities I coped well.
I am a military combat vet. I feel that in any thing practice helps to overcome that fear. Whether it's repetition you fall back on in combat or comfort in knowing your prepared. I've never done HEMA but I think your training if ever called on for real would serve you in the same way as ours did. Just another opinion though. I love your vids, especially your movie fight analysis. Thank you, Sam
In my experience, regular exposure to adrenaline in martial arts/self-defense/combat sports training really helps you learn to handle whatever adrenaline you get in a real fight, be it an adrenaline dump or the slow release -type. There have been times when me and a few more experienced friends have decided to do full contact sparring on purpose to increase the stakes. We did self-defense drills where one person was the passer by being attacked, and one or more were the attackers, and the exercise was completely improvised: Sometimes only one of three would attack while two would not or they'd only join in once they saw their friend was losing, sometimes they all attacked at once without warning, sometimes they didn't attack right away, but instead started shoving the defender, hurling insults at him, sometimes one of them would draw a weapon halfway through the altercation etc. In essence, the defender never knew what to expect. Once, as the defender, I even managed to convince the antagonists to leave me alone. Over the course of a few years, having a session like that now and then, resulted in bleeding noses, cracked lips, broken bones (I got a couple broken fingers and a busted nose among other things), the odd KO etc, so I wouldn't advocate training that hard on a regular basis. Anyway, we realized 5 things from this type of training: 1. Because we all behaved as if we were really in a real situation, and because the danger of injury or a KO was so high (we only wore mouth guards and cups), we experienced bigger adrenaline levels during those sessions. 2. Exposure to those stressful sessions made less stressful, but previously adrenaline-inducing heavier sparring lose its intimidation factor: we needed more severe danger to get that adrenaline flowing. 3. When we did end up in real fights, we experienced lesser amounts of adrenaline than before these sessions, i.e. regular exposure to adrenaline lessened its impact on us in real situations, which meant we had an easier time coping with real confrontations against real attackers. The reverse was also observed: going a long time without exposure to adrenaline meant less stressful situations produced greater adrenaline levels than when one got more regular exposure. 4. The effects of adrenaline were the same regardless of whether we experienced it when doing a presentation in front of class, performing on stage with a band, training in our regular clubs (we all came from different self-defense and combat sports schools), doing those harder sessions, competing in a muay thai, BJJ, or MMA competition, or being in a real fight. The only significant difference was that the level or quantity of adrenaline varied; the higher the stakes, the bigger the rush. Incidentally, I've experienced a bigger rush of adrenaline playing live than when faced with a multiple opponent situation on the street (I'm guessing it's because I didn't have time to think much in the street situation whereas I had all the time in the world to contemplate my potential embarrassment in the band scenario), and one guy in the group said he was more afraid before his fight in an MMA torunament than he was when a guy attacked him at a subway station with a bunch of the attacker's friends standing around. 5. Overcoming the negative effects of adrenaline and harnessing its positive effects became easier and easier the more we were exposed to it, meaning we learned to control fear better and lessen it to a degree even though getting rid of it is impossible. Those are hardly objective or in any way empirical conclusions, just a few subjective observations that were uniform within a rather small group (size varied between 4 to 14), but I think the observations make sense. At any rate, just thought I'd share my experiences on the subject of fear in training vs. fear in real fights.
I've always been under the impression that one of the prime aims of martial arts is to make it easier to overcome the life and death fear that might arise in a "real life" situation by giving you something constructive to fall back on
I agree! Though there is no fear of true death when sparring or practicing, there can still be some level of fear. I've seen people run, or charge in madly when they were on the ropes during the fights in our budding HEMA/sword club. The shame of losing in competition can also cause people to fight differently. As you say, people react differently even on different days. I personally find once you lose morale, it's hard to get it back that day. We fight full speed with full force with heavy foam weapons, so there is fear of pain for us. You won't get seriously injured by a blow, but you will go home bruised or scraped. I have a couple cuts and several bruises from practice a couple days ago. Anyway, thanks for the analysis.
The more you train the more you stay focused on tasks. So If you live life and death situations many times, the next time you have an advantage over your opponents coz you have trained your mind for it. Same for sparing with a friend or in competition is very different reaction to fear too.
My martial arts instructor always says that one should expect to perform in a "real-life" situation at about 10% of the level that one performs in training, due to the higher levels of stress: when the adrenaline kicks in, all of the blood is shunted out of the outer cortex (and other nonessential organs) and into the muscles, rendering higher thought very difficult, if not impossible. Thus the importance of repetition and drilling in training to establish "muscle memory"--reacting without needing to think first.
One of the main reasons to consistently train (in self-defense arts) and to be consistent in you training is to "program" your body so it reacts the same way you've trained. Sometimes and with some people fear will shut down your higher brain functions and they react purely on an instinctive level. Part of training is to make those instincts match the form of your training.
Lacking the fear of death, in martial arts training, is largely immaterial. It's the same in training for other skills that may put your life in danger, when those skills are put into practice. It's about creating trained reflexes so that when actually put to the test, the trained reflexes automatically kick in. I'll use motorcycling as an example as it's the one I'm most familiar with, having taken 2 advanced street riding courses and 8 track schools in my lifetime. When you feel that you've entered a corner going too quickly, or encounter an obstacle mid corner, the gut instinct is to grab a handful of brakes. This is exactly the wrong thing to do as the physics of the situation would cause a rapidly decelerating bike to stand up and run off the outside of the corner, or overwhelm the friction of the front tire and crash. Sufficient training makes you automatically avoid the instinctive reaction and do the right thing, which is leaning into the corner more or just riding it out, nine times out of ten. The fear is no longer a factor, as the reaction is the 'new' instinct.
9 лет назад+7
morallyambiguousnet That"s the same thing for emergency care training : adrenalin works for you so you have to train and train and train so the reflex doesn't come from the natural reaction but the more efficient reaction. Firemen, doctors, cops have to train so their reactions are somewhat efficient instead of utterly dangerous.
morallyambiguousnet If you ever saw premium rush with Joseph Gordon Levitt he plays a bike messenger in NYC. in the movie he gets into these high pressure situations where he might get hit by a car or hit a random passer by. Joseph in that moment in time has to come to a decision. Keep in mind his character was very confident and had a basic 1 speed bike and no breaks. confident in his skills he wouldgo through a process of elimination of sorts deciding which decisions would have the best outcome based upon his skill level and peoples natural reactions and fear and if their movements would affect a particular outcome.
***** I've seen the movie. In my experience, in practice, it's nothing like the way that it's depicted in the movie. There is no time for conscious analysis of the situation. It simply happens and trained instinct takes over. Over 30 years of riding, 10 advanced riding courses, and more times on the track than I can count tell me this. Oh, and yes, a few impacts.
Regarding Premium Rush, it's the same thing in Sherlock with Robert Downey Jr. when he enters the fighting pits. Time slows and he analyses his opponents weaknesses before deciding which critical area to strike based on the observations he has made during the slo-mo (man scratched his watch from fumbling a lot, probably a drunk, hit him in the liver). It's total bullshit and not how real fighters fight. Decisions are made based almost entirely on experience and the instincts which have been bred from that. To relate my own experience with motorcycles, yesterday I undertook a stationary car in a parking lot (stupid decision, I know) and it turned into the parking spot I was using to undertake. I slammed on the brakes, locked the rear tyre, yanked the handlebars to the left and drifted my bike sideways to a stop just before hitting it. I didn't decide to drift sideways or lock my rear because I evaluated it at the time as the best option - I did it because I had done the same thing before to avoid a crash (that one not my fault, haha) and the instinct just kicked in.
The other thing to keep in mind is the emotional stress of knowing a perilous situation is imminent and not knowing when it is going to happen. Soldiers throughout all time periods have had to deal with this. It is fatiguing to the point that some find themselves anxious for the actual fighting to start so that the feeling will end. It is possible to simulate this, but it is probable the students will stop showing up ;-)
"Remaining calm [in stressful situation] is always a good idea." Or as I like to say it: panicking never helps. But this is what martial arts is all about, yes? Training your body to overcome your natural "fear based" response (which might be one thing or another depending on the person).
Fear of looking stupid is generally bigger for me as well these day. I was jumped by 3 chavs about 6 months back and whilst there was obviously fear present I managed to keep my emotions in check and deal with the situation perfectly by obeying Silver's principles. Tournaments are a different matter. I do well but inside I'm shitting myself.
I fear having a lack of control. It's probably the main motivator for why I have never had any alcohol or taken any mind altering substances. I don't even drink coffee, although that's probably more motivated by health and taste reasons. In mixed martial arts, this effects me on a trigger shy level. I am willing to go hard if my opponent and I agree to but even then I have to feel out the pace of the fight. My opponent's idea of hard may be different than my own. I'm not afraid to take risks that put me in danger and I have paid for it with injuries before. I am, however, afraid to put my partner at risk for injury or even just rattling them too much. If I go for a take-down I try to demonstrate control and if I start any ground and pound I use them only as distractions to setup submissions. I know it seems like an oxymoron for a mixed martial artist to be so concerned for their opponent but I find joy and excitement in the challenge of overcoming an adversary, not necessarily beating them to a bloody pulp. I fear in a self defense situation that my survival instinct may drive me to go too far and maim or kill my attacker unnecessarily even if I may be totally in the right to do so. If I could choose, I'd rather no one had to get hurt even if they are threatening me.
Excellent video with some very interesting thoughts good sir. There have been many different examples that both support and go against your final statement. Take pro boxers for instance. They get hurt a lot and have to deal with severe adrenalin dumps while participating in their sport/profession. Some manage to keep their discipline while in a street fight, others start swatting wildly and lose all form and technique. It may come down to HOW a person chooses to manage their psychological stressors, and HOW their coping mechanism(s) of choice can be transferred and utilized across different situations and scenarios. It may also come down to one's experience with different forms of violence (street, ring, etc.) and the level of violence and fear associated with it.
I can tell you from first hand experience that walking into a mma cage or a boxing ring will give you an adrenalin rush. Similar to extreme nerves and maybe even fear. For me personally I've always brushed aside any negative feelings or thoughts in the hours before a fight, but their is always a sense of doom and doubt lingering in your mind somewhere, but once your in the fight you don't have time to be afraid, and the guys that are afraid in the cage typically get beat quick. You can always tell the which guys in the locker room are dealing with the pressure and the ones who are not.
I got started doing historical MA in the SCA. the guy who too kme into it never even swung a stick at me before I fought in a big battle. I remember how it felt I was very afraid I didn't know if it would hurt or what it would be like or anything like that. I remember the thought of not doing it never crossed my mind I didn't want to go into the battle line but there were throngs of men kind of pushing me into it and my body sort of just did it. By the third day that feeling of fear had largely subsided. My two cents on fear in the MA.
***** I concur. Watching the masters with their manipulation of Chi via the channel of Unity is quite amazing to watch. Fear is a door to be broken and once on the other side there is only purpose - this applies to warriors of all stripes.
One thing I feel influences fear a lot with martial arts, and any sport in general, is any kind of serious injury. Each time I got hurt in a sport made me a bit more weary of certain situations. However, I always accepted that sometimes, I could get hurt and it never really had any serious effect on my performances or the way i practiced a sport. Unless i could do it safer. But I think this doesn't apply once you actually fear for your life. During a particularly fast paced bout, I saw my opponent's saber blade (the sport fencing kind, just to be clear) break while we were both lunging. I knew it would hurt, but when I felt it go through my vest and my skin, followed by an incredible amount of pain, I was sure I was done for. Seeing a rapidly growing spot of blood about 2 inches left of the center of my chest didn't help at all. Luckily for me, the pain I felt was from the sharp blade violently hitting one of my ribs and being deflected to the side. Since then, and until I stopped fencing a few years after that, I was a lot less aggressive, my lunges felt restrained, and I would often flinch during more "violent" bouts. And it was never a conscious fear. It did get somewhat better with time, but it never went away.
I ended up forgetting about it in my first comment, but one of the points i wanted to make was that the effect of fear would be very different in a context where you don't expect injury and one where you consider it likely to happen. Also, whether or not you can escape from such a context would probably also change how you react to fear.
Me and my friend got jumped once and I went into a beserker rage which resulted in them giving up. Probably a result of bottled up emotions and stress and protection
simply remove your protective gear if you want the real feel of a 'spar'. i did that once and it was a horrible idea but it changed the whole fight. Both parties were scared of being hit pretty much and the duel itself was more intense than normal. Dangerous but fun! (oh and of course, use practice weapons not real sharp stuff )
I have trained kenjutsu with both wooden swords (full force) and sharp steel swords (not full force). It was enormously different, at least for me. It was like the difference between driving on a road with green fields by the side and driving on a road with a steep cliff by the side. You don't wanna get pushed out of the road in any case, but the level of tension is incomparable. I don't know about competition, though.
Hey Matt! I really enjoy these travel videos, but you need to buy a tripod for your phone! they shouldn't cost too much and it would greatly increase your production quality.
This is quite interesting. I remember from reading Mike Tysons book that he always was afraid of being humiliated in the ring. Not to loose the fight. To look stupid.
scholagladiatoria A good book that takes a critical look at fear and differentiates say, worry or anxiety from flight or fight responses is "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin deBecker. But I think that it's possible to train to compensate for fear through adrenaline dumping through intensive physical exertion during warm ups, roleplaying scenarios, and drilling at varying speeds with multiple partners. From what little HEMA I've trained in so far, the focus has been more on refining techniques than stress testing those techniques, and I think that we should see more of it in HEMA. Any comment Mister Easton?
Fear is something everyone has to deal with although some deny it. In my own experience the fear of screwing up and looking terrible was always greater than the fear of physical damage. In my misspent youth, I had more fear in performance situations than I ever had in real fights. I was born with a fighting response to panic or sudden threat. That is something you are born with, a general tendency to run, freeze, or fight. It has nothing to do with courage per se. Its genetics and insures the survival of some members of the group in a dangerous situation. It saves some of the genes by creating good odds for some of the group to survive and pass on their genes. Militaries spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to rewire those automatic responses to turn all of them into people that automatically fight back. For shooting purposes, you can simulate some of the physical responses to fear. I virtually grew up on the Practical Pistol Combat course in the American south. Dad was a serous competition shooter and instructor for police departments. He and I spent a lot of time at the range. My father had us (he and I) running laps around the range in the Alabama sun, until you are pouring sweat profusely, your grossly over heated, your vision is wonky AND sweat is pouring into your eyes, you are breathing hard and your sweaty slippery hands are getting shaky. Then run the PPC course, under time, with your old man yelling at you. I had a 99.2 average on that course under normal conditions. The score went way down once I was shaky and my vision was a bit impaired. However, for sabre and sword fencing, you would only be tiring your self out, not simulating the effects of fear, given the nature of your weapons.
For me fear has no place in competitions of any sort. When fighting MMA I disregard any idea that I might lose. When I'm in a life or death situation (had a couple, would like to not ever again lol) I had to put the idea of dying out of my mind. The reason is that I do best when I focus on my objective. If the task at hand is to beat the other guy then I don't have time for anything other than figuring out what needs to be done to achieve that.
Having gotten into a few fistfights as a teenager, I recall only anger during the fight. Fear was present beforehand, but once the fight started it turns into anger.
I can confirm when you fight Eastern Style reenactment fight with the risk of being caught between Poles and Russians, as at Wolin, there is an element of fear.
Speaking from experience having been in pretty dangerous fights in the street with weapons like baseball bats fear does play a role, but training and experience play a huge role in how afraid you will be and how you will perform. Personality also different from person to person some people forget their training other people with no training will fight like Tazmanian devils. 9/10 the training was worth it and people performed better.
I was reading an account of the Civil War by a Southern soldier in which he describes the opening attack of Jackson's flank movement on the unprepared Federal right: "Every soldier knows that the bravest command will go all to pieces when surprised and the lions turn for a time into sheep...a peaceful summer evening...the men building their fires and getting their suppers ready...like the bolt of a thunderbolt comes a deadly sweep of bullets...Run! why the Knights of the Round Table would have sprinted, and Leonidas and his Spartans would have caught up and passed the rabbits."
Fear of looking stupid can be stupidly powerful at times. Two years ago I was involved in a nighttime accident with a speedboat (it overturned) on a major river in Borneo 50 km away from the nearest town. Swam ashore, tried to figure out with some screaming where the other guys on the boat were. Then had a "doh!" moment when I recalled that we were supposed to swim to the OTHER bank in cases like this because all the villages were on that side (the other guys did, found the government road, and just walked to the nearest village 10 minutes away). So there I was, wet, alone, unarmed and unequipped for the rainforest full of vibrant - possibly dangerous - life behind me, and all I could think of was how stupid I was going to look when they finally found me (or my corpse). The human mind works in funny ways at times. The company's emergency response team took until noon the next day to rescue me.
When you go into full contact combat against Battle of the Nations guyz for the first time it really gives quite a bit if fear for your health. Well, for a good reason. Not for your life, of course. At the beginnning you simply loose hearing untill the fight is over, but you can get used to it. I believe - same is true for any other type of fear
There's this theory called "peltzman effect" which states that people usually adjust their behavior in their expectations for the level of risk they can perceive, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more comfortable. Some say that is an important factor on why a black belt can get mugged (they trust too much on their skill and have gotten used to the setup in violent scenarios, they try to "teach a lesson") while a fairly new student who is shitting their pants can escape with little or no harm due to them relying on instinct more than technique and the added adrenaline rush.
scholagladiatoria Hello Matt! As always Very interesting Video and provoking interesting discussions. I had a suggestion for another video, Could you Please talk about Jack Chains (I believe they are called). I've heard that they were used as a cheaper alternative to having elements of plate armor, is that true? Were they also used in Conjunction with chain-mail? Thanks!
I tend to recommend Rory Miller's Meditations On Violence when it comes to talk of fear and the differences between martial arts vs. real violence - it's a fantastic book and a quick read, with some great information. Is that something you've ever looked over, and if so does it seem similar to your experiences?
Confidence in your training and abilities decreases the amount of fear you feel when confronted with real life situations. Personally, I have pretty intense anxiety in social situations. I love games, sports and testing myself, and getting over my anxiety is one of the main reasons I put myself into competitive situations as much as possible. Once I actually get into whatever game I'm in, I get pretty focused and don't have a problem, but just traveling to an event often puts me on the verge of panic. I'll have second thoughts and think about forgetting it and going home, even in multi-week leagues when I am currently in first place.
And this fear of losing or looking stupid can cause a rise in competitive behavior in opponents. Which may lead to unsportsmanlike like conduct. The fear of cheating and unsportsmanlike behavior is my main fear. I override it simply by falling in love with the battle, the fight, because at that point, who cares who wins, it was a good fight. Even if you lose alot, make the superior enemy work for it. You'll both have more fun in the end. Who cares about the victory, it's whether or not you were able to fight well.
Fear of failure is what it is called. Bruce Lee had a good quote to deal with this, "Do not fear failure, in great attempts it is glorious even to fail". Well i like it anyway haha
Like the video more than usual, but you really need to figure out what is going on with your mic. Cheers! o/
9 лет назад
I think it can be a trap too... Dealing with fear in "simulations" situation is a great thing because of course you can be paralized by fear of ridicule or fear of injuries, but a "safety" feeling is (or at least should be...) always there. We act a little bit "off" and sometimes we forget almost all the technique we had by doing stupid things because of those fears, but the fear is just a prevision of a consequence. Now the problem is the rational mind... while the fear we live in the simulation situations are prevision of some unprobable situations and situations with almost no important consequences (being ridicule, being a little hurt, having pain), how does a mind like that, that has now the habbit to dominate fear, will react when facing a situation where the fear is now justified ? When the rational mind start to understand that if anything fail, or if chance is not on his side, or if he is a little clumsy, he will die, he will lose the one he loves, or he will fail to defend them... how do you dominate a fear like that ? While in a simulation situation, you can rationalise and just say to yourself "ok there is no need to feel that, the possible consequences of the situation are nothing serious..." , but if you try the same when someone in front of you is trying to kill you or your loved ones, how could you think that your fear is irrelevant ? It is totally justified ! You will die if you don't manage the situation ! It is radical and absolute ! So I think that fear should be treated (in martial arts) not with rationalization but as an enemy and a tool. A little bit in a jedi way : "fear is the path to the dark side" :p I think it should be treated as this : fear will make you do things that you don't want to. Dominate it, don't rationalize it, give yourself all the chances you can have and abandon yourself to the activity you do. Will happen what will happen. Be your excellence. And if you fail, try again. I think brainwashing in martial arts is better than rationalisation, even if as modern people we ttend to do the latter.
That's interesting points. Sometrimes the fear of looking stupid is even bigger than the fear of death (if you're a young man in front of hot chicks? Damn, yeah!) and that can affect the rationality of your decisions as much.
As others seem to have said, I'd say that the point of drills and training is to calm you if a real situation should arise. If you feel confident that you have a body of techniques to draw from, it'll help you calm down ("Okay...this is still pretty scary but at least I know what to do"). I'd say the idea of fear used in this video is really broad, though. Sure, someone might be "afraid" of looking like a fool, but is that really "fear"? The fear in that situation I would argue revolves around things outside of the fight itself and isn't really all that intense of a fear. As for the fear of injury...eh yeah that's a little better. I would still say that the main issue in my mind is that none of us will ever (I hope not) face the kind of fear you would face in a "I am holding a sharp longsword and this guy across from me is too and he WANTS TO KILL ME" situation. I know some people spar with sharps, and I think that's a really good tool, but they don't wanna hurt each other. It's the intent to kill that would make a real fight so terrifying.
Fear is the reason morale in essentially the greatest element in pre-modern combat. Contrary to popular depiction, melee troops don't march at each other and proceed to fight in close quarters combat. What usually happens is that the two battle lines of melee troops will stop, arrayed a dozen or so meters away from each other, and proceed to jeer insults and throw projectiles at each other. Once in a while, a charismatic leader from one of the sides will rally his friends to commit a sortie onto the enemy battle line, and when this happens, the enemy battle line will bulge backwards, before their own champions and leaders rally their own men and repel the sortie. The lost ground is not fully recovered, however, and in this way the enemy battle line shifts backwards. The sorties will continue between each battle line, both parties taking minor losses in the mean time, ground exchanging hands, until one of the lines just break from the pressure. This is where most of the casualties occur in combat. A retreating enemy is an enemy that is no longer a threat to you. You do not have to fear him, so what do you do? You pursue, of course, and rout the enemy, killing as many as possible as you attack them from behind. The rout is usually when the most amount of casualties occur, not during the battle itself. Clever generals will retreat in good order before their lines break, and will have a reserve of fresh troops ready to pursue the enemy when their lines break. It's very much like two trained riot police units facing each other. In fact, riot actions really explain well how melee combat works, in that there is very few actual clashes. See a few videos of riot police in action and you'll get the picture. Melee combat is insanely lethal. If you see trained martial artists go at each other in sparring, it usually takes no more than a few seconds for one of them to lethally slice or stab the other. And charging into an entire mass of enemies, all of who which can kill you in a few seconds? Human beings just aren't psychologically equipped to deal with that. This is also why pikes were such an effective weapon. A man in full plate armor has nearly nothing to fear from pikes, after all, the gaps in his armor are usually too small for the large unwieldy pikes to exploit. So why don't we see men in full plate armor charge into pike blocks? Because a dense forest of pikes is scary as hell and men, even soldiers, don't want to die. The pinning effect of pikes is more psychological rather than physical. Any way, just my two cents.
Having competed in combat sports(boxing and MMA) a fair amount I can absolutely say there is a huge difference between how you feel in the gym and how you feel in the ring. When you step in the ring, in front of hundreds of pople, with a guy on the other side who is looking to hurt you (potentially badly), your stress/fear level goes through the fucking roof. It gets better the more you do it, but I personally never fully got over it (I puked before walking out in almost every fight I had). It's part of why alot of fighters have no/little respect for traditional martial arts that don't participate in full contact bouts. You can see people who look great in the gym and sparring, but when they have an opponent throwing real shots with bad intent, they fall apart in seconds and look like they have never even trained. There is no way to tell how you will react until you have been in that position. I have never been in life or death combat, but I can imagine it would only be even more intense and mentally taxing. This is also why I have no respect for armchair bad asses that talk tons of shit but have never been on the recieving end of a solid beating.
Interesting video. I guess you could call the fear of embarassment, losing face etc. pride. On the subject of fear, I've never heard anyone talk about it specifically, but in group fighting; you can use fear as a mechanic for positioning. The threat of danger, voiding the space, force of presence to ward off an attack. With it you can protect your flank and work to isolate an opponent by fending off allies.
Eh, I'd say I've felt fear in video games, and I definitely feel fear when learning longsword (but mostly because I'm not wearing enough gear and am bad at it). I definitely agree that fear for one's life is stronger, but I would say as long as it gets your adrenaline flowing, and things are moving at full speed, what I get from sparring should be close enough to what I'd get if I were fighting to the death (at least if I was somewhat used to fighting to the death). It won't prepare me for the real thing, but I assume nothing will.
Looking stupid kinda comes close but a fear of legal repercussions in a self defense setting is another one in some countries / cultures. Tried by 1 or carried by 8 is not a fun thing to deal with in random situations. A part of the problem is not always knowing when what seems like a simple fist fight is going to turn into something more.
Being nervous would more accurately describe ''fear' in a modern 'combat sport-ish' situation. Also EGO comes into play people don't want to look foolish or weak.
hahahaha, the audio tricket me completely, I tought i had dots in my ears so i was trying to pop them, scratching my ear trying to get sound back to normal, without realising it was the video.
I was attacked by a man with a knife. I was intervening to stop a woman being mugged by two guys. The dude had a knife in his belt and came for me saying he would.kill me but he couldnt get the knife out it got stuck for like 4 seconds. I froze and kept thinking hit him with a right hand but another voice was saying what if you hit him and he doesnt go down now your dead. In the end he pulled the knife free and I backed up with my arms in front of me saying I didt want any trouble. I was holding an A to Z book in one hand and the guy stabbed the book maybe as a warning. anyway after telling me he would cut my heart out him and his friend ran off. Thing is for months after I would.lie awake at night thinking about how I froze and thinking I had so much time to take him out as a young athletic man who boxed at the time it really hurt my ego. However as 45 year old with a family and two beautiful daughters I realise that actually freezing probably saved my life that night. Sometimes those in built fear responses are there for a reason in all probability if id swung for the guy and escalated the situation I would probably be dead my intervention had turnes the mugging into a situation with a knife. I think if im ever in that situation again I would stay across the street and just shout out rather than trying to physocally intervene
Enjoyed your opinions and as always well said and explained, and mostly some food for thoughts! got a tip for you though, i will recomend you to get one of those www.sonymobile.com/gr/products/accessories/smartphone-tripod-spa-mk20m/ it will really help you as long as you areon the move! cheers!
I've been shot at, beaten, cut & stabbed, set on fire, and blowed up. I've also jumped out of perfectly good aircraft, off high walls, and tall poles. And I've felt fear for many other reasons. And you know what: they're all real.
Okay well, I just watched the video and noticed something... I watched it again and counted how often he would actually say "fear" in this video. He said it incredible 49 times! Well, I hope he doesnt fear saying "fear" now! ;) Good video tho, i am just joking ;P
if being afraid of looking stupid affects you there is something wrong...stop thinking about how others view you and start concentrating on how you see yourself, fear is part of being Human but you should not let it infect every part of your life
when shit happens you dont have time to think. I was walking down the street towards a friend's house and a vagrant tried stabbing me with a barbecue stick. I just ran.
mang kanor Fight or flight syndrome and it is completely okay to go with the latter. It's a shame how some people will criticize or look down on fleeing from a threat. I've been training in mma for over 10 years and I'm not stupid. If there is an escape route, I'm not going to gamble my life unnecessarily.
The disparity between fear in training and sparing versus real combat would have been much the same historically, so it isn't particularly a HEMA issue - and no one said it was anyway.
I like the format. Whereas Matt's regular style is that of a lecturer, this feels more like an afternoon chat.
As someone that has trained in martial arts and (unfortunately) had to defend himself in a life or death struggle, I can say I felt more fear before competing than when I was actually in a match. I was worried I didn't train hard enough, or that I trained TOO hard. Then when the fight started, I was fine.
When someone was coming at me with a knife,I wasn't afraid at all. I was actually INCREDIBlY angry. It wasn't until after, when I realized I could have died, that I freaked out.
Damn bro. I had a similar experience but with a hatchet. I got so angry and then when it was over and I won the combat, I had a euphoria, and then later I started having nightmares.
I fear Matt while rocking the Fu Manch. :-)
*****
Matt the Merciless
Great video. The fear of getting hurt in martial arts is well placed. The worst injury I ever got was in a standard training session, as accidents can happen any time.
Love your no-bullshit, fair approach to martial arts, training and combat.
medieval audio
MegaFarinato great video tho
MegaFarinato audio recorded with a calculator, but should not distract from the topic
The generally accepted best way to deal with fear in real life combat is drill practice. That is why it is part of every army regimen, always has been, and probably always will be.
And, as drill practice and martial arts are naturally related, fear becomes less of a distinction. A well trained soldier will have spent hours and hours of time doing what is basically martial arts training, until his reaction to a critical situation becomes less and less dependent on his personal fear level, and more and more relates to what he was taught in training.
Stefan B exectly: train the techniques - repeat repeat repeat.
There is also a statement from Shioda Gozo, that everybody is nervous before a real fight, but this goes away when the fight starts. And I read an interview from a soldier telling the same. Or in short if you are knowing what to do you don't have time for fear, but before you will have fear.
Benjamin Brohmer that may be true for the majoritiy but there really are very different kinds of people. as example the berserkergengr feeds from turning fear and therefore adrenaline into rage and that is very effective in combat. Today with rifles not so much anymore but in melee combat the ability to transform fear into blind rage really gives you huge advantages over "drilled" soldiers or worse, fearfull soldiers. besides if someone is freaking out is very hard to not feel fear even when drilled.
Orkar Isber
I think drill does not reduce fear as much as it reduces uncertainty. As long as you are certain what to do next, it isn't very important any longer, whether you are afraid or not, as you no longer have to weigh consequences of alternate actions to decide.
Fear most of all impairs decision-making. If there are no decisions to make, fear has little consequence to actions.
Berserkrgengr used combat drugs. I saw a documentary about Zulu warriors, that were given drugs by their shamans to attack the British. The rituals in preparation of the administration looked a lot like martial art katas conducted in a group. So, repetition and drill seems to be an important element, even when fighting drugged.
Stefan B sorry that may be the case with zulu warriors but berserkergengr did neither use alcohol nor drugs. i hate to repeat that topic again and again anda gain but it is well researched, the phenomenon is reproducable and even used in the US forces as project. It is all about mental / psychological conditioning and adrenaline high. No drugs used at all. Indeed the drugs needed for similiar effects didnt growe anywhere in europe and in special not anywhere near the germanic or norse people besides the gengr is also known to the celts, greeks and indonesians (amok) and those also did not use drugs at all
Fear can make your attacks more nimble, less effective, prevent you from attacking and cause nausea or worse. Its not just about descision making
Badger0fDeath no they aint. but the gengr really is blind rage and that actually enhances your fighting capabilites a hell lot - as long as no tactic is really required because tactical thinking suffers a lot there. but the phyiscal capabilities are enhanced as is reaction speed and ofc someone like that is very terryfing
Good video, Matt. I can imagine what pressure someone like you would experience during competitions. Famous/good fighter will always have this pressure to look good as everyone expects from him, especially if he's an instructor as instructor must always look competent.
I wonder in real life/death situation would it still be a room for a fear to look stupid?
I will share with my short story: When I participated in "tanto-jutsu" (knife combat) competitions, I always had many fears - to look stupid, to be injured, to be not as good as I should (as everyone expects) and so on. before every fight I just tried my best to not think about those things, but pressure was always inside my mind and made me worry. but whenever the fight begin I had simply no room to think about those things anymore. I was so focused on fighting, attacking and defense that those fears didn't exist in my mind anymore. I forgot that other people watching me. and I did pretty good every time, I never actually looked stupid. even if I lost fight I didn't look stupid and my opponent never won easily.
just my story :D sorry for my broken English.
Ouch, poor Rob ! Looking forward to seeing him (healthy) again !
Awesome topic as an am boxer there is fear but life was so violent back then and life was so short
Interesting and fair. I enjoyed your analysis and I admit, I have found in my limited experience that emotions can indeed be a liability for me.
My personal method for staying relaxed and managing my emotions is to just remind myself that I'm in it to have fun, regardless what the points claim the outcome was as long as I enjoyed my time, my objective was accomplished, so I win because I achieve what I was there to achieve.
I was a kickboxer/boxer and fought in many matches, as well as Tuff-man contests with opponents much taller and with greater weights. At no time did I feel fear. I was confident in my training, endurance, and felt more at home in the ring than anywhere else.
Others in the locker room were deathly afraid, I didn't expect that. I think that gave me more confidence.
I know for sure I would be afraid in a full out battle setting; I wouldn't feel that I had much control over the situation.
Excellent discussion. Fear and rage dramatically affect judgement.
Obligatory quote: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." F. Herbert (Dune)
The Bastard, RUclips Villain
"Worm Sign !!"
Matt, fascinating, & thought provoking.My experience has bee in 3 main forms of fear. (3) When I was in competitive shooting, the fear of as you say, "looking like a dumbass". This could be pushed down with a simple "forget it I'm going to hit my targets & forget about the time.Strangely I shot faster with this mindset. When I was boxing, (2), I was a champion, many years ago. I would be exhilarated, jumpy & laughing, until the first punch hit me, then I would "go to work". On the occasions that my experiences in the Army put me in a potentially dangerous place or situation, (1), I don't have time to feel fear right now" was what generally what I felt. "Get the job done, feel later". I suppose, in these situations, it was always "As you are trained, so will you do." I've felt fear so many times in my life I ought to be an expert at it. Maybe in just feeling it. Thank-you, Dante, .
I'm quite sure that fear of looking bad was HUGELY important in military situations throughout the ages especially where ones own unit are concerned, or any kind of "honour" ideals... One's reputation among close-knit communities and extended families would be vital and affect many other aspects of life in business, marriage, trade.. I would think it might outweigh fear of injury or death quite often.
TheBaconWizard You speak the truth, friend. A warrior's fear of dying in battle is vastly overshadowed by his fear of clumsily living through it; then he must suffer the mockery by his closest comrades until he proves himself the next time around, and even then might still at the very least be left with a degrading nickname to live with for the rest of his days
Gotta love those post- situation shakes.
I can totally agree with that. The fear of getting blamed of course isn't as strong as fearing for your very life, but it can still be strong. I've experinecd that myself in a martial arts exam and shooting competitions. And, just like you said, if I know my competition isn't very good, or that I'm doing good right now, or that my performance doesn't matter, that is relaxing, and most of the times I do better then.
Oh, and please do soemthing about your audio. My ears got reked. :'(
4:40 whoever is missing with the camera is FIRED
xCrimsonGear give them a a katana to the knee
but... he or she is an adventurer...
I'll leave now...
Risk compensation is an interesting topic too. when you're more heavily armored and protected, you are far more likely to take risks, because you are given a sense of security/invincible feeling.
not sure if you've done a video on that or not.
I found that i got hurt more often when I was afraid or frustrated. Relaxing and taking things as they are and not as you want them to be should be taught in any discipline.
Interesting topic. I don't personally know about HEMA but having competed in boxing and Muay Thai the fear I felt was real. I've had to defend myself in real life and because I knew how to deal with fear and confident in my abilities I coped well.
Good points - thanks for sharing!
I am a military combat vet. I feel that in any thing practice helps to overcome that fear. Whether it's repetition you fall back on in combat or comfort in knowing your prepared. I've never done HEMA but I think your training if ever called on for real would serve you in the same way as ours did. Just another opinion though. I love your vids, especially your movie fight analysis. Thank you, Sam
In my experience, regular exposure to adrenaline in martial arts/self-defense/combat sports training really helps you learn to handle whatever adrenaline you get in a real fight, be it an adrenaline dump or the slow release -type.
There have been times when me and a few more experienced friends have decided to do full contact sparring on purpose to increase the stakes. We did self-defense drills where one person was the passer by being attacked, and one or more were the attackers, and the exercise was completely improvised:
Sometimes only one of three would attack while two would not or they'd only join in once they saw their friend was losing, sometimes they all attacked at once without warning, sometimes they didn't attack right away, but instead started shoving the defender, hurling insults at him, sometimes one of them would draw a weapon halfway through the altercation etc.
In essence, the defender never knew what to expect. Once, as the defender, I even managed to convince the antagonists to leave me alone. Over the course of a few years, having a session like that now and then, resulted in bleeding noses, cracked lips, broken bones (I got a couple broken fingers and a busted nose among other things), the odd KO etc, so I wouldn't advocate training that hard on a regular basis. Anyway, we realized 5 things from this type of training:
1. Because we all behaved as if we were really in a real situation, and because the danger of injury or a KO was so high (we only wore mouth guards and cups), we experienced bigger adrenaline levels during those sessions.
2. Exposure to those stressful sessions made less stressful, but previously adrenaline-inducing heavier sparring lose its intimidation factor: we needed more severe danger to get that adrenaline flowing.
3. When we did end up in real fights, we experienced lesser amounts of adrenaline than before these sessions, i.e. regular exposure to adrenaline lessened its impact on us in real situations, which meant we had an easier time coping with real confrontations against real attackers. The reverse was also observed: going a long time without exposure to adrenaline meant less stressful situations produced greater adrenaline levels than when one got more regular exposure.
4. The effects of adrenaline were the same regardless of whether we experienced it when doing a presentation in front of class, performing on stage with a band, training in our regular clubs (we all came from different self-defense and combat sports schools), doing those harder sessions, competing in a muay thai, BJJ, or MMA competition, or being in a real fight. The only significant difference was that the level or quantity of adrenaline varied; the higher the stakes, the bigger the rush. Incidentally, I've experienced a bigger rush of adrenaline playing live than when faced with a multiple opponent situation on the street (I'm guessing it's because I didn't have time to think much in the street situation whereas I had all the time in the world to contemplate my potential embarrassment in the band scenario), and one guy in the group said he was more afraid before his fight in an MMA torunament than he was when a guy attacked him at a subway station with a bunch of the attacker's friends standing around.
5. Overcoming the negative effects of adrenaline and harnessing its positive effects became easier and easier the more we were exposed to it, meaning we learned to control fear better and lessen it to a degree even though getting rid of it is impossible.
Those are hardly objective or in any way empirical conclusions, just a few subjective observations that were uniform within a rather small group (size varied between 4 to 14), but I think the observations make sense. At any rate, just thought I'd share my experiences on the subject of fear in training vs. fear in real fights.
I've always been under the impression that one of the prime aims of martial arts is to make it easier to overcome the life and death fear that might arise in a "real life" situation by giving you something constructive to fall back on
I agree! Though there is no fear of true death when sparring or practicing, there can still be some level of fear. I've seen people run, or charge in madly when they were on the ropes during the fights in our budding HEMA/sword club. The shame of losing in competition can also cause people to fight differently. As you say, people react differently even on different days. I personally find once you lose morale, it's hard to get it back that day.
We fight full speed with full force with heavy foam weapons, so there is fear of pain for us. You won't get seriously injured by a blow, but you will go home bruised or scraped. I have a couple cuts and several bruises from practice a couple days ago. Anyway, thanks for the analysis.
The more you train the more you stay focused on tasks. So If you live life and death situations many times, the next time you have an advantage over your opponents coz you have trained your mind for it. Same for sparing with a friend or in competition is very different reaction to fear too.
My martial arts instructor always says that one should expect to perform in a "real-life" situation at about 10% of the level that one performs in training, due to the higher levels of stress: when the adrenaline kicks in, all of the blood is shunted out of the outer cortex (and other nonessential organs) and into the muscles, rendering higher thought very difficult, if not impossible. Thus the importance of repetition and drilling in training to establish "muscle memory"--reacting without needing to think first.
One of the main reasons to consistently train (in self-defense arts) and to be consistent in you training is to "program" your body so it reacts the same way you've trained. Sometimes and with some people fear will shut down your higher brain functions and they react purely on an instinctive level. Part of training is to make those instincts match the form of your training.
Interesting style of video, I'd be interested to hear more like it. Maybe try and fix the mic next time though haha
Lacking the fear of death, in martial arts training, is largely immaterial. It's the same in training for other skills that may put your life in danger, when those skills are put into practice. It's about creating trained reflexes so that when actually put to the test, the trained reflexes automatically kick in.
I'll use motorcycling as an example as it's the one I'm most familiar with, having taken 2 advanced street riding courses and 8 track schools in my lifetime. When you feel that you've entered a corner going too quickly, or encounter an obstacle mid corner, the gut instinct is to grab a handful of brakes. This is exactly the wrong thing to do as the physics of the situation would cause a rapidly decelerating bike to stand up and run off the outside of the corner, or overwhelm the friction of the front tire and crash. Sufficient training makes you automatically avoid the instinctive reaction and do the right thing, which is leaning into the corner more or just riding it out, nine times out of ten. The fear is no longer a factor, as the reaction is the 'new' instinct.
morallyambiguousnet That"s the same thing for emergency care training : adrenalin works for you so you have to train and train and train so the reflex doesn't come from the natural reaction but the more efficient reaction.
Firemen, doctors, cops have to train so their reactions are somewhat efficient instead of utterly dangerous.
morallyambiguousnet If you ever saw premium rush with Joseph Gordon Levitt he plays a bike messenger in NYC. in the movie he gets into these high pressure situations where he might get hit by a car or hit a random passer by. Joseph in that moment in time has to come to a decision. Keep in mind his character was very confident and had a basic 1 speed bike and no breaks. confident in his skills he wouldgo through a process of elimination of sorts deciding which decisions would have the best outcome based upon his skill level and peoples natural reactions and fear and if their movements would affect a particular outcome.
***** I've seen the movie. In my experience, in practice, it's nothing like the way that it's depicted in the movie. There is no time for conscious analysis of the situation. It simply happens and trained instinct takes over. Over 30 years of riding, 10 advanced riding courses, and more times on the track than I can count tell me this. Oh, and yes, a few impacts.
Regarding Premium Rush, it's the same thing in Sherlock with Robert Downey Jr. when he enters the fighting pits. Time slows and he analyses his opponents weaknesses before deciding which critical area to strike based on the observations he has made during the slo-mo (man scratched his watch from fumbling a lot, probably a drunk, hit him in the liver).
It's total bullshit and not how real fighters fight. Decisions are made based almost entirely on experience and the instincts which have been bred from that. To relate my own experience with motorcycles, yesterday I undertook a stationary car in a parking lot (stupid decision, I know) and it turned into the parking spot I was using to undertake. I slammed on the brakes, locked the rear tyre, yanked the handlebars to the left and drifted my bike sideways to a stop just before hitting it. I didn't decide to drift sideways or lock my rear because I evaluated it at the time as the best option - I did it because I had done the same thing before to avoid a crash (that one not my fault, haha) and the instinct just kicked in.
In the movie he's on a bike not a motorcycle. so if we apply it to real world situation he might still have time to think. :)
The other thing to keep in mind is the emotional stress of knowing a perilous situation is imminent and not knowing when it is going to happen. Soldiers throughout all time periods have had to deal with this. It is fatiguing to the point that some find themselves anxious for the actual fighting to start so that the feeling will end. It is possible to simulate this, but it is probable the students will stop showing up ;-)
"There is a fear of looking like a dumbass, basically."
Matt Easton 2015
DragonTigerBoss Its the fear of thinking that people view you as a flailing madman when going against soeone.
wut
Matt is conquering his fear of looking stupid by growing that mustache. :p
i would definitely fear my oponent in matial arts if I heard them in this type of audio
"Remaining calm [in stressful situation] is always a good idea."
Or as I like to say it: panicking never helps.
But this is what martial arts is all about, yes? Training your body to overcome your natural "fear based" response (which might be one thing or another depending on the person).
Fear of looking stupid is generally bigger for me as well these day. I was jumped by 3 chavs about 6 months back and whilst there was obviously fear present I managed to keep my emotions in check and deal with the situation perfectly by obeying Silver's principles. Tournaments are a different matter. I do well but inside I'm shitting myself.
I fear having a lack of control. It's probably the main motivator for why I have never had any alcohol or taken any mind altering substances. I don't even drink coffee, although that's probably more motivated by health and taste reasons.
In mixed martial arts, this effects me on a trigger shy level. I am willing to go hard if my opponent and I agree to but even then I have to feel out the pace of the fight. My opponent's idea of hard may be different than my own. I'm not afraid to take risks that put me in danger and I have paid for it with injuries before. I am, however, afraid to put my partner at risk for injury or even just rattling them too much. If I go for a take-down I try to demonstrate control and if I start any ground and pound I use them only as distractions to setup submissions.
I know it seems like an oxymoron for a mixed martial artist to be so concerned for their opponent but I find joy and excitement in the challenge of overcoming an adversary, not necessarily beating them to a bloody pulp. I fear in a self defense situation that my survival instinct may drive me to go too far and maim or kill my attacker unnecessarily even if I may be totally in the right to do so. If I could choose, I'd rather no one had to get hurt even if they are threatening me.
Excellent video with some very interesting thoughts good sir. There have been many different examples that both support and go against your final statement. Take pro boxers for instance. They get hurt a lot and have to deal with severe adrenalin dumps while participating in their sport/profession. Some manage to keep their discipline while in a street fight, others start swatting wildly and lose all form and technique. It may come down to HOW a person chooses to manage their psychological stressors, and HOW their coping mechanism(s) of choice can be transferred and utilized across different situations and scenarios. It may also come down to one's experience with different forms of violence (street, ring, etc.) and the level of violence and fear associated with it.
I can tell you from first hand experience that walking into a mma cage or a boxing ring will give you an adrenalin rush. Similar to extreme nerves and maybe even fear. For me personally I've always brushed aside any negative feelings or thoughts in the hours before a fight, but their is always a sense of doom and doubt lingering in your mind somewhere, but once your in the fight you don't have time to be afraid, and the guys that are afraid in the cage typically get beat quick. You can always tell the which guys in the locker room are dealing with the pressure and the ones who are not.
I got started doing historical MA in the SCA. the guy who too kme into it never even swung a stick at me before I fought in a big battle. I remember how it felt I was very afraid I didn't know if it would hurt or what it would be like or anything like that. I remember the thought of not doing it never crossed my mind I didn't want to go into the battle line but there were throngs of men kind of pushing me into it and my body sort of just did it. By the third day that feeling of fear had largely subsided. My two cents on fear in the MA.
There is nothing to fear, but fear its self. Defeat fear, and one becomes fearless.
David Cleveland Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.
***** I concur. Watching the masters with their manipulation of Chi via the channel of Unity is quite amazing to watch. Fear is a door to be broken and once on the other side there is only purpose - this applies to warriors of all stripes.
Many people young and old, have a complex when it comes to inflicting pain to another person. see it quiet often. Fear to hurt another person.
to defeat fear i become fear. (in other words i dress up as a bat.)
One thing I feel influences fear a lot with martial arts, and any sport in general, is any kind of serious injury. Each time I got hurt in a sport made me a bit more weary of certain situations. However, I always accepted that sometimes, I could get hurt and it never really had any serious effect on my performances or the way i practiced a sport. Unless i could do it safer.
But I think this doesn't apply once you actually fear for your life. During a particularly fast paced bout, I saw my opponent's saber blade (the sport fencing kind, just to be clear) break while we were both lunging. I knew it would hurt, but when I felt it go through my vest and my skin, followed by an incredible amount of pain, I was sure I was done for. Seeing a rapidly growing spot of blood about 2 inches left of the center of my chest didn't help at all. Luckily for me, the pain I felt was from the sharp blade violently hitting one of my ribs and being deflected to the side.
Since then, and until I stopped fencing a few years after that, I was a lot less aggressive, my lunges felt restrained, and I would often flinch during more "violent" bouts. And it was never a conscious fear. It did get somewhat better with time, but it never went away.
I ended up forgetting about it in my first comment, but one of the points i wanted to make was that the effect of fear would be very different in a context where you don't expect injury and one where you consider it likely to happen. Also, whether or not you can escape from such a context would probably also change how you react to fear.
Me and my friend got jumped once and I went into a beserker rage which resulted in them giving up.
Probably a result of bottled up emotions and stress and protection
simply remove your protective gear if you want the real feel of a 'spar'. i did that once and it was a horrible idea but it changed the whole fight. Both parties were scared of being hit pretty much and the duel itself was more intense than normal. Dangerous but fun! (oh and of course, use practice weapons not real sharp stuff )
Well put, sir.
I have trained kenjutsu with both wooden swords (full force) and sharp steel swords (not full force). It was enormously different, at least for me. It was like the difference between driving on a road with green fields by the side and driving on a road with a steep cliff by the side. You don't wanna get pushed out of the road in any case, but the level of tension is incomparable.
I don't know about competition, though.
Hey Matt! I really enjoy these travel videos, but you need to buy a tripod for your phone! they shouldn't cost too much and it would greatly increase your production quality.
This is quite interesting. I remember from reading Mike Tysons book that he always was afraid of being humiliated in the ring. Not to loose the fight. To look stupid.
he should have thought twice before getting those tattoos then
scholagladiatoria A good book that takes a critical look at fear and differentiates say, worry or anxiety from flight or fight responses is "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin deBecker. But I think that it's possible to train to compensate for fear through adrenaline dumping through intensive physical exertion during warm ups, roleplaying scenarios, and drilling at varying speeds with multiple partners. From what little HEMA I've trained in so far, the focus has been more on refining techniques than stress testing those techniques, and I think that we should see more of it in HEMA. Any comment Mister Easton?
Fear is something everyone has to deal with although some deny it. In my own experience the fear of screwing up and looking terrible was always greater than the fear of physical damage.
In my misspent youth, I had more fear in performance situations than I ever had in real fights. I was born with a fighting response to panic or sudden threat. That is something you are born with, a general tendency to run, freeze, or fight. It has nothing to do with courage per se. Its genetics and insures the survival of some members of the group in a dangerous situation. It saves some of the genes by creating good odds for some of the group to survive and pass on their genes.
Militaries spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to rewire those automatic responses to turn all of them into people that automatically fight back.
For shooting purposes, you can simulate some of the physical responses to fear. I virtually grew up on the Practical Pistol Combat course in the American south. Dad was a serous competition shooter and instructor for police departments. He and I spent a lot of time at the range.
My father had us (he and I) running laps around the range in the Alabama sun, until you are pouring sweat profusely, your grossly over heated, your vision is wonky AND sweat is pouring into your eyes, you are breathing hard and your sweaty slippery hands are getting shaky. Then run the PPC course, under time, with your old man yelling at you.
I had a 99.2 average on that course under normal conditions. The score went way down once I was shaky and my vision was a bit impaired. However, for sabre and sword fencing, you would only be tiring your self out, not simulating the effects of fear, given the nature of your weapons.
For me fear has no place in competitions of any sort. When fighting MMA I disregard any idea that I might lose. When I'm in a life or death situation (had a couple, would like to not ever again lol) I had to put the idea of dying out of my mind. The reason is that I do best when I focus on my objective. If the task at hand is to beat the other guy then I don't have time for anything other than figuring out what needs to be done to achieve that.
Having gotten into a few fistfights as a teenager, I recall only anger during the fight. Fear was present beforehand, but once the fight started it turns into anger.
Anger sometimes comes from unacknowledged fear, it is more comfortable to the ego to process it as fear
I can confirm when you fight Eastern Style reenactment fight with the risk of being caught between Poles and Russians, as at Wolin, there is an element of fear.
Speaking from experience having been in pretty dangerous fights in the street with weapons like baseball bats fear does play a role, but training and experience play a huge role in how afraid you will be and how you will perform. Personality also different from person to person some people forget their training other people with no training will fight like Tazmanian devils. 9/10 the training was worth it and people performed better.
I was reading an account of the Civil War by a Southern soldier in which he describes the opening attack of Jackson's flank movement on the unprepared Federal right: "Every soldier knows that the bravest command will go all to pieces when surprised and the lions turn for a time into sheep...a peaceful summer evening...the men building their fires and getting their suppers ready...like the bolt of a thunderbolt comes a deadly sweep of bullets...Run! why the Knights of the Round Table would have sprinted, and Leonidas and his Spartans would have caught up and passed the rabbits."
Fear of looking stupid can be stupidly powerful at times. Two years ago I was involved in a nighttime accident with a speedboat (it overturned) on a major river in Borneo 50 km away from the nearest town. Swam ashore, tried to figure out with some screaming where the other guys on the boat were. Then had a "doh!" moment when I recalled that we were supposed to swim to the OTHER bank in cases like this because all the villages were on that side (the other guys did, found the government road, and just walked to the nearest village 10 minutes away). So there I was, wet, alone, unarmed and unequipped for the rainforest full of vibrant - possibly dangerous - life behind me, and all I could think of was how stupid I was going to look when they finally found me (or my corpse). The human mind works in funny ways at times.
The company's emergency response team took until noon the next day to rescue me.
When you go into full contact combat against Battle of the Nations guyz for the first time it really gives quite a bit if fear for your health. Well, for a good reason. Not for your life, of course. At the beginnning you simply loose hearing untill the fight is over, but you can get used to it. I believe - same is true for any other type of fear
Everyone should read the manga Vegabond, it is the greatest expression of fear in combat.
Thankfully I'm so incompetent at HEMA I've never experienced any anxiety before a tournament, I must never improve my skill!
There's this theory called "peltzman effect" which states that people usually adjust their behavior in their expectations for the level of risk they can perceive, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more comfortable. Some say that is an important factor on why a black belt can get mugged (they trust too much on their skill and have gotten used to the setup in violent scenarios, they try to "teach a lesson") while a fairly new student who is shitting their pants can escape with little or no harm due to them relying on instinct more than technique and the added adrenaline rush.
Matt's looking like he hit the blunt too hard in the thumbnail.
Have you read Uhtred series from Bernard Cornwell. He describes the fear in the sheldwall quite good.
scholagladiatoria Hello Matt! As always Very interesting Video and provoking interesting discussions. I had a suggestion for another video, Could you Please talk about Jack Chains (I believe they are called). I've heard that they were used as a cheaper alternative to having elements of plate armor, is that true? Were they also used in Conjunction with chain-mail? Thanks!
I tend to recommend Rory Miller's Meditations On Violence when it comes to talk of fear and the differences between martial arts vs. real violence - it's a fantastic book and a quick read, with some great information. Is that something you've ever looked over, and if so does it seem similar to your experiences?
Confidence in your training and abilities decreases the amount of fear you feel when confronted with real life situations.
Personally, I have pretty intense anxiety in social situations. I love games, sports and testing myself, and getting over my anxiety is one of the main reasons I put myself into competitive situations as much as possible. Once I actually get into whatever game I'm in, I get pretty focused and don't have a problem, but just traveling to an event often puts me on the verge of panic. I'll have second thoughts and think about forgetting it and going home, even in multi-week leagues when I am currently in first place.
And this fear of losing or looking stupid can cause a rise in competitive behavior in opponents. Which may lead to unsportsmanlike like conduct. The fear of cheating and unsportsmanlike behavior is my main fear. I override it simply by falling in love with the battle, the fight, because at that point, who cares who wins, it was a good fight. Even if you lose alot, make the superior enemy work for it. You'll both have more fun in the end. Who cares about the victory, it's whether or not you were able to fight well.
Fear of failure is what it is called. Bruce Lee had a good quote to deal with this, "Do not fear failure, in great attempts it is glorious even to fail". Well i like it anyway haha
I'm guessing that introducing large amounts of pricemoney would simulate a sort of fear or cautiousness as well.
Like the video more than usual, but you really need to figure out what is going on with your mic. Cheers! o/
I think it can be a trap too... Dealing with fear in "simulations" situation is a great thing because of course you can be paralized by fear of ridicule or fear of injuries, but a "safety" feeling is (or at least should be...) always there. We act a little bit "off" and sometimes we forget almost all the technique we had by doing stupid things because of those fears, but the fear is just a prevision of a consequence.
Now the problem is the rational mind... while the fear we live in the simulation situations are prevision of some unprobable situations and situations with almost no important consequences (being ridicule, being a little hurt, having pain), how does a mind like that, that has now the habbit to dominate fear, will react when facing a situation where the fear is now justified ?
When the rational mind start to understand that if anything fail, or if chance is not on his side, or if he is a little clumsy, he will die, he will lose the one he loves, or he will fail to defend them... how do you dominate a fear like that ?
While in a simulation situation, you can rationalise and just say to yourself "ok there is no need to feel that, the possible consequences of the situation are nothing serious..." , but if you try the same when someone in front of you is trying to kill you or your loved ones, how could you think that your fear is irrelevant ? It is totally justified ! You will die if you don't manage the situation ! It is radical and absolute !
So I think that fear should be treated (in martial arts) not with rationalization but as an enemy and a tool. A little bit in a jedi way : "fear is the path to the dark side" :p
I think it should be treated as this : fear will make you do things that you don't want to. Dominate it, don't rationalize it, give yourself all the chances you can have and abandon yourself to the activity you do. Will happen what will happen.
Be your excellence. And if you fail, try again.
I think brainwashing in martial arts is better than rationalisation, even if as modern people we ttend to do the latter.
That's interesting points. Sometrimes the fear of looking stupid is even bigger than the fear of death (if you're a young man in front of hot chicks? Damn, yeah!) and that can affect the rationality of your decisions as much.
As others seem to have said, I'd say that the point of drills and training is to calm you if a real situation should arise. If you feel confident that you have a body of techniques to draw from, it'll help you calm down ("Okay...this is still pretty scary but at least I know what to do"). I'd say the idea of fear used in this video is really broad, though. Sure, someone might be "afraid" of looking like a fool, but is that really "fear"? The fear in that situation I would argue revolves around things outside of the fight itself and isn't really all that intense of a fear. As for the fear of injury...eh yeah that's a little better. I would still say that the main issue in my mind is that none of us will ever (I hope not) face the kind of fear you would face in a "I am holding a sharp longsword and this guy across from me is too and he WANTS TO KILL ME" situation. I know some people spar with sharps, and I think that's a really good tool, but they don't wanna hurt each other. It's the intent to kill that would make a real fight so terrifying.
Fear is the reason morale in essentially the greatest element in pre-modern combat. Contrary to popular depiction, melee troops don't march at each other and proceed to fight in close quarters combat. What usually happens is that the two battle lines of melee troops will stop, arrayed a dozen or so meters away from each other, and proceed to jeer insults and throw projectiles at each other. Once in a while, a charismatic leader from one of the sides will rally his friends to commit a sortie onto the enemy battle line, and when this happens, the enemy battle line will bulge backwards, before their own champions and leaders rally their own men and repel the sortie. The lost ground is not fully recovered, however, and in this way the enemy battle line shifts backwards. The sorties will continue between each battle line, both parties taking minor losses in the mean time, ground exchanging hands, until one of the lines just break from the pressure. This is where most of the casualties occur in combat. A retreating enemy is an enemy that is no longer a threat to you. You do not have to fear him, so what do you do? You pursue, of course, and rout the enemy, killing as many as possible as you attack them from behind. The rout is usually when the most amount of casualties occur, not during the battle itself. Clever generals will retreat in good order before their lines break, and will have a reserve of fresh troops ready to pursue the enemy when their lines break. It's very much like two trained riot police units facing each other. In fact, riot actions really explain well how melee combat works, in that there is very few actual clashes. See a few videos of riot police in action and you'll get the picture. Melee combat is insanely lethal. If you see trained martial artists go at each other in sparring, it usually takes no more than a few seconds for one of them to lethally slice or stab the other. And charging into an entire mass of enemies, all of who which can kill you in a few seconds? Human beings just aren't psychologically equipped to deal with that. This is also why pikes were such an effective weapon. A man in full plate armor has nearly nothing to fear from pikes, after all, the gaps in his armor are usually too small for the large unwieldy pikes to exploit. So why don't we see men in full plate armor charge into pike blocks? Because a dense forest of pikes is scary as hell and men, even soldiers, don't want to die. The pinning effect of pikes is more psychological rather than physical.
Any way, just my two cents.
Having competed in combat sports(boxing and MMA) a fair amount I can absolutely say there is a huge difference between how you feel in the gym and how you feel in the ring. When you step in the ring, in front of hundreds of pople, with a guy on the other side who is looking to hurt you (potentially badly), your stress/fear level goes through the fucking roof. It gets better the more you do it, but I personally never fully got over it (I puked before walking out in almost every fight I had). It's part of why alot of fighters have no/little respect for traditional martial arts that don't participate in full contact bouts. You can see people who look great in the gym and sparring, but when they have an opponent throwing real shots with bad intent, they fall apart in seconds and look like they have never even trained. There is no way to tell how you will react until you have been in that position. I have never been in life or death combat, but I can imagine it would only be even more intense and mentally taxing. This is also why I have no respect for armchair bad asses that talk tons of shit but have never been on the recieving end of a solid beating.
Is fear, or anything related to the mental game in general, mentioned in the treatises at all?
Interesting video. I guess you could call the fear of embarassment, losing face etc. pride.
On the subject of fear, I've never heard anyone talk about it specifically, but in group fighting; you can use fear as a mechanic for positioning. The threat of danger, voiding the space, force of presence to ward off an attack. With it you can protect your flank and work to isolate an opponent by fending off allies.
I had some serious sound problems listening to this video. Up to about 5:30 it was pretty good though.
Eh, I'd say I've felt fear in video games, and I definitely feel fear when learning longsword (but mostly because I'm not wearing enough gear and am bad at it). I definitely agree that fear for one's life is stronger, but I would say as long as it gets your adrenaline flowing, and things are moving at full speed, what I get from sparring should be close enough to what I'd get if I were fighting to the death (at least if I was somewhat used to fighting to the death). It won't prepare me for the real thing, but I assume nothing will.
Looking stupid kinda comes close but a fear of legal repercussions in a self defense setting is another one in some countries / cultures. Tried by 1 or carried by 8 is not a fun thing to deal with in random situations.
A part of the problem is not always knowing when what seems like a simple fist fight is going to turn into something more.
Are I the only one, who is the crazy one. the one who knows the one in the red haze. when I was younger I loved the adrenalin rush.
What would you say about the cutting ability of a scythe, maybe even a warscythe??
Being nervous would more accurately describe ''fear' in a modern 'combat sport-ish' situation. Also EGO comes into play people don't want to look foolish or weak.
I'll try Kali in two days hopefully. This club in Stockholm looks great:
www.kalisikaran-stockholm.se/
For those of you who are interested.^^
hahahaha, the audio tricket me completely, I tought i had dots in my ears so i was trying to pop them, scratching my ear trying to get sound back to normal, without realising it was the video.
How about letting a table (or a tripod) hold the camera next video?
I was attacked by a man with a knife. I was intervening to stop a woman being mugged by two guys. The dude had a knife in his belt and came for me saying he would.kill me but he couldnt get the knife out it got stuck for like 4 seconds. I froze and kept thinking hit him with a right hand but another voice was saying what if you hit him and he doesnt go down now your dead. In the end he pulled the knife free and I backed up with my arms in front of me saying I didt want any trouble. I was holding an A to Z book in one hand and the guy stabbed the book maybe as a warning. anyway after telling me he would cut my heart out him and his friend ran off. Thing is for months after I would.lie awake at night thinking about how I froze and thinking I had so much time to take him out as a young athletic man who boxed at the time it really hurt my ego. However as 45 year old with a family and two beautiful daughters I realise that actually freezing probably saved my life that night. Sometimes those in built fear responses are there for a reason in all probability if id swung for the guy and escalated the situation I would probably be dead my intervention had turnes the mugging into a situation with a knife. I think if im ever in that situation again I would stay across the street and just shout out rather than trying to physocally intervene
Enjoyed your opinions and as always well said and explained, and mostly some food for thoughts! got a tip for you though, i will recomend you to get one of those www.sonymobile.com/gr/products/accessories/smartphone-tripod-spa-mk20m/
it will really help you as long as you areon the move!
cheers!
I've been shot at, beaten, cut & stabbed, set on fire, and blowed up. I've also jumped out of perfectly good aircraft, off high walls, and tall poles. And I've felt fear for many other reasons. And you know what: they're all real.
Okay well, I just watched the video and noticed something...
I watched it again and counted how often he would actually say "fear" in this video.
He said it incredible 49 times!
Well, I hope he doesnt fear saying "fear" now! ;)
Good video tho, i am just joking ;P
if being afraid of looking stupid affects you there is something wrong...stop thinking about how others view you and start concentrating on how you see yourself, fear is part of being Human but you should not let it infect every part of your life
Fear is complex. I react differently each time.
when shit happens you dont have time to think. I was walking down the street towards a friend's house and a vagrant tried stabbing me with a barbecue stick. I just ran.
mang kanor Fight or flight syndrome and it is completely okay to go with the latter. It's a shame how some people will criticize or look down on fleeing from a threat. I've been training in mma for over 10 years and I'm not stupid. If there is an escape route, I'm not going to gamble my life unnecessarily.
no point in fighting if youre not getting paid imho.
So what you're saying is that how fear manifests depends on context.
Who operated the camera?
The disparity between fear in training and sparing versus real combat would have been much the same historically, so it isn't particularly a HEMA issue - and no one said it was anyway.