If
your emotions are not in sync with the rest of your mental preparation, then
you may not be as successful in effectively applying your game plan. In this
chapter, we are going to study two critical emotions-anger and fear-that often
negatively impact a grappler’s or combats athlete's performance, and we'll look
forways to deal with these emotions.
How
do these emotions become stumbling blocks?
Anger or fear can affect
your concentration, since these emotions fill your mind, and you will be
unable to maintain the high involvement necessary to play your game.
Anger can alter your
attitude from being positive and assertive to being hostile and
intimidating. If your emotion is fear, your approach may become distinctly
diffident and hesitant.
Your judgment gets
affected: You may not think clearly enough to use the right moves. Your
game is now directed by your emotions instead of by your true motivators.
Triggers for anger
Anger
is actually a form of stress and can result from any of the following in a
grappler or combat athlete:
frustration with your
performance
failure to win in recent
matches
animosity built up in a
previous encounter with the opponent-you believe that someone did not
behave properly toward you.
Its
expression
A negatively activated
state-of-mind: aggravation, annoyance
Retaliation against
opponent
Anger
is an emotion that fills the mind with feelings of fury and rage. This fury
translates into extreme antagonism toward the opponent. When a grappler or
combat athlete feels angry, the power of the emotion can break concentration
and cloud the mind with thoughts that hamper the effective use of game plan and
strategy. Anger causes a shift in focus in the mind. Instead of concentrating
on techniques and tactics, the mind is now filled with revenge and rage.
Impact
of anger on you
Anger
is something you can do without on the mat. Anger is an emotion that is
completely counterproductive. Anger leads to:
loss of control
loss of concentration
inability to pay attention
inability to recall your
strategies
Anger management
The break in concentration is one of the most
significant harmful fallouts of anger during a game. The other unfortunate
fallout is bad behavior. Grapplers and combat athletes, who make a conscious
effort to overcome anger minimize this effect and instead play the game as the
situation demands. To stay focused during a match, there are several
anger-management techniques that can be applied by a grappler or combat
athlete.
Refocus thoughts when concentration breaks: Regain
concentration levels by replacing angry thoughts, with thoughts of giving
a good performance
Use the cue technique: This is something you can do during the
match to gain control and weed out anger from your mind. You can also use
"word cues" to manage your anger. This method is based on the
premise that you are aware of your uncontrolled anger that surfaces from
time to time on the mat. When you begin to notice your anger growing
during a match, give yourself the following cue word: "Replace:' As
soon as the cue "Replace" enters your mind, you have to actively
intercept the angry thoughts and replace them with tactics that you can
use in the moment. In other words, you refocus yourself on an immediate
task and slowly move away from the anger. You are actually restoring and
reinstating relevant thoughts and cutting off angry thoughts before they
overwhelm you. Granted that there are times when your anger has been
genuinely spurred by an injustice or unfair behavior toward you. But the
time to show this anger is not on the mat, where you need to apply your
judgment and use your strategies. Once you replace the unwelcome thoughts,
you will again find yourself working at full potential.
Anger management through yoga - you can have control over
yourself if you want to. And that's an absolute fact! You can gain control
of your emotions if you try, but there is help in the form of yoga
techniques. Pursue specific yoga techniques with the help of an instructor
in the days before a tournament. Specific yoga exercises can assist you in
keeping your temper cool. It will help you control your thought processes
and manage your anger.
Enlist the intervention of
friend and well-wisher to talk about the anger that often builds up in
you. When you have it out in the open, you begin to think about the basis
or cause of your anger and can reason yourself out of it through
discussion.
Don't fret over failure: Losses and wins are part and parcel
of being a grappler or combat athlete. Fretting or worrying over a lost
game increases your disappointment and aggravates the senses to a state of
frustration and annoyance. It is like letting a wound fester. The
ultimately leads to anger building up. A better approach is to introspect
about the match and look for reasons for failure. Here's what NHB Champion
Mike Easton had to say after he lost in the semifinal round of the Muay
Thai Championships: I will think back a little bit about this match, but
I've learned so much from it. I have to get back to the basics and not try
things that aren't a part of my game plan."
Question the anger: When you find yourself getting angry, ask
yourself why. This can momentarily arrest the angry thoughts and replace
them with a more rational thought process of understanding your anger.
