Coping with Emotions/Thoughts

As we train and study in the arts, often we find that some issues come up related to performance and the effects of thoughts and/or emotions. If our mind-set becomes adversely affected by our thoughts (and their corresponding emotions) then we can see a drop in performance.

The process of undertanding your mind and all of it’s functions is a slow one. You can sometimes rely on simple physical training to cope with your fears, doubts, and reservations about your goals. 

“Really, there’s nothing to fear when you’re prepared. There’s no need to fear the results. There’s no fear when you do your work and you study. I try to look at each fight as the same mentality I had in my UFC debut, and that is no fight’s a big fight. Never fight the name. Just fight the body. Fight their reactions. That’s the way I’m going into it.”

-UFC Lightheavyweight Champion Jon Jones

Hard Training as a Coping Mechanism

Our short term goal is about using hard physical work to bolster confidence, but our long term goal is gaining a deeper undertanding of how and why your mind creates these fears, what they really are, and how to cope with them.

“When I’d get tired and want to stop, I’d wonder what my next opponent was doing.  I’d wonder if he was still working out.  I tried to visualize him.  When I could see him still working, I’d start pushing myself.  When I could see him in the shower, I’d push myself harder”.
Dan Gable – Wrestling Champion

Here is British fighter/martial artist Ronnie Mann on the benefits of anger management as a result of training: http://www.kyte.tv/ch/default-channel/anger-mannagement/p=7755&c=450183&s=1619524

Goal Setting: the Art of Positive Thinking

Another simple but very effective strategy to improve performance is the act of saying, then writing, then achieving self-created goals.

Try this: Write a simple goal for your training, make sure it is what they call actionable (you can perform the actions needed to get to the goal) and measurable, and include a timeline for completion. If I say that I want to be faster, I do not yet have a workable goal.