How scared REALLY are you to fight?

[glockmeister]

When I was younger, I got into my share of fights and looking back, no I was rarely scared because back then I was hot headed and had ahard time walking away even when I could have. Now that i am older and wiser and have more to lose ( House, Wife, Kid, Career) I can say that to some degree I am a little scared, not of injury, but what i may do to someone and if I injure someone badly then Could I possibly end up with charges and have to explain to my Lieutenant That I lost my head an hurt someone and now am facing my own charges. Could it cost me my job? Also, now that i am older, I think more about "what if's" What if a weapon was pulled, etc. What if the fight escalates and I end up killing someone or someone kills me?

Do I feel I would "freeze up?" NO. I am perfectly Sure that in the course of defending myself, I would do what it took. Fortunately, I do a lot of live training as well, free rolling and free sparring gets you used to getting hit and getting on the ground and "mixing it up" with someone who is well trained so you get used to the physical side of combat.

[Throwdown0850]

When I was younger, I got into my share of fights and looking back, no I was rarely scared because back then I was hot headed and had ahard time walking away even when I could have. Now that i am older and wiser and have more to lose ( House, Wife, Kid, Career) I can say that to some degree I am a little scared, not of injury, but what i may do to someone and if I injure someone badly then Could I possibly end up with charges and have to explain to my Lieutenant That I lost my head an hurt someone and now am facing my own charges. Could it cost me my job? Also, now that i am older, I think more about "what if's" What if a weapon was pulled, etc. What if the fight escalates and I end up killing someone or someone kills me?

Do I feel I would "freeze up?" NO. I am perfectly Sure that in the course of defending myself, I would do what it took. Fortunately, I do a lot of live training as well, free rolling and free sparring gets you used to getting hit and getting on the ground and "mixing it up" with someone who is well trained so you get used to the physical side of combat.

sounds like you have had your fair share of encounters.. You are pretty lucky on the whole "not Freezing" up thing or being scared in general to fight.. I think it kinda comes down on how you did in your child hood about fights and all that.. cause I was the same way as well.. but I can honestly say that I dont regret it all cause it has really prepared me for today..

[bushido_man96]

It is thinking about all the variables that could come into play that start messing with your mind at times, I think. One moment, you could be scrapping, you break, and then notice that your arms are bleeding, and the other guy has pulled a knife. Realism would set in real quick. Would you end up thinking about your family, and what if this guy kills you? What do you think?

[NightOwl]

However you have to keep in mind that if you act scared, it boosts the morale of your attacker AND vice versa. If you act calm and collected on the other hand (or go on a HULK SMASH! rampage, your choice), you don't give your opponent the psychological benefit. Likewise I have always been told that if you are tired during sparring not to let it show to much for the same reasons.

[bushido_man96]

I think that for the most part things like this will come down more to how the seasoned the other person is in this kind of situation. He may see people act like this all of the time, and may not think much of it. However, if they are not as seasoned, it could come into effect more. Just depends on the person.

[a_ninja]

Well before i get into a fight i am terrified, but i dont freeze up i just try to block too much stuff, but when they start to hit me if i get mad that fear is overcome.

[Adonis]

I am scared or nervous but I don't freeze up at all. I don't think I ever froze up at all actually.

[tallgeese]

I think that bushido man 96 has a good point, alot of this type of thing comes down to how seasoned the participants involved are. I'd take it a step further and say it's not just the other guys experiance that counts but your's as well.

One way to prep for that guy throwing wild, hard haymakers is to train aginst it. Practice it full contact with gear in sparring. Let the adrinanine dump hit and deal with it.

Combat psycology has a concept of systematic desenseitization to violence. In other words, contuned exposure to vilent encounter, even if simualted, lead to a type of "stress innoculation". This means that your exposure with routine practice to real world simulated encounters gradually produce less of the negitive physiological responses to combat. Your heart rate stays lower, your cognitive abilities under duress remain intact and you continue to maintain fine motor function as the threat emerges.

So to train this, look at the type of conflict you're worried about. Your example was the haymaker guy, and train as realistically as possible with as much contact as allowable, to counter and defend against that fighter. With progressive trainng, your "freeze up" respone should lessen and you'll be what one of the writers in this field calls "a pre-combat veteren". AAnd as such will respond in a more fluid and successful manner.

Just to note, I didn't come up with any of this. Guys way smarter than I authored all of it so I could steal it and call it research .