Stress

[David Miller]

Hello everyone,

I have my tournament next month and I feel really nervous and stressed out just by thinking of it. I had a tournament 3 months ago and it did not go well at all as I was really nervous. I was so nervous I could not even lift my leg up to kick (in kata). Is there any technique or exercises that I can do to not get nervous, I mean whenever I search on google this, the only thing that they say is to not think of the tournament that much, which never really worked for me. How can WKF Karate-ka's do kata in front of 100 thousand people?? I would appreciate if someone tells me what to do to not get nervous (except for "don't think of the tournament" technique cause that never works for me).

Thanks.

[singularity6]

I get pretty wound up when I have to perform in front of an audience (testings are emotionally brutal for me.) Repeated exposure seems to be helping some. I also try to breathe. When stressed, your heart rate will climb to be too high, and when stressed, people "forget" to breathe, then they lose control of their bodies (fine motor functions, then some less-fine motor functions, then biological functions, etc.) There are several sources online that will help you practice breathing techniques for relaxing, and I suggest you start working on them now, and every day before the tournament.

[KarateNewbie]

Although I haven't taken part in tournaments I'm exactly the same at gradings - my mind went completely blank with fear. I've just finished a book called Waking Dragons in which the author talks about how he overcame his fear (in his case of tournaments and a 30 man full contact Kumite to get to Nidan) He used positive visualisations, imagining a positive outcome eg the end of a brilliant kata, scoring each point in Kumite etc. He also had a rhyme he replayed in his head over and over while waiting for the tournament to begin. I'm really not looking forward to the next gradings but I'm going to try some of these techniques.

[mushybees]

When I perform kata I just tune out. I'm not aware of bystanders, I'm in the kata and until its done that's where I'm staying.

Same with kumite. The opponent is in front and there's nothing else.

When you are nervous what are you thinking of? How you look? What people are thinking?

You need to find a way to transport yourself away in your mind. I find I "get in to character" just before training and putting the gi on is part of that.

[DWx]

Why does the tournament make you nervous? I think it's important for you to understand the root cause of the stress and nervousness before trying to tackle it.

Exposure does help and the more tournaments you'll do the easier it gets. Try to perform your kata in front of people in the run up to the tournament. Ask your sensei if you can get up in front of everyone during class and have everyone watch. The more you put yourself in these positions the more natural it will be.

The other thing I would do is to forget about the outcome of winning or losing. Try instead to give yourself smaller, easier to obtain goals. For example think to yourself you are going to nail all of your stances in your kata. Or you're going to try to land at least 5 side kicks in sparring. Winning will come with time but you can't focus solely on that. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

[bushido_man96]

Why does the tournament make you nervous? I think it's important for you to understand the root cause of the stress and nervousness before trying to tackle it.

Exposure does help and the more tournaments you'll do the easier it gets. Try to perform your kata in front of people in the run up to the tournament. Ask your sensei if you can get up in front of everyone during class and have everyone watch. The more you put yourself in these positions the more natural it will be.

The other thing I would do is to forget about the outcome of winning or losing. Try instead to give yourself smaller, easier to obtain goals. For example think to yourself you are going to nail all of your stances in your kata. Or you're going to try to land at least 5 side kicks in sparring. Winning will come with time but you can't focus solely on that. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Great points. You have basically have to make yourself nervous, and then perform when feeling like that. You will get more acclimated to it, and you'll get better each time.

[MatsuShinshii]

First, there is no need to be nervous if you put the tournament in perspective for what it is, an opportunity to learn and improve.

Too many worry about winning and loosing or looking good. How do you think elite athletes become elite? Do you think they never lost? No, they learned from their loses. Loosing is a part of the learning process. Each time you'll pick something up and then you store that in your memory banks. It's a chance to figure out where your strengths are and what your weaknesses are and then improve them.

No one starts out being the best of the best. It's a journey and as long as you see it for what it is and learn from it you win. Trophies are nothing more than window dressing the real trophy is the knowledge you take away from the experience. Win or loose, it doesn't matter. Take something away from every Kumite session in class, every time you perform Kata and every time you compete and it will all work itself out. You will improve and the winning will come.

There is nothing to fear if you put the experience into perspective. It's just a tournament nothing more. Win or loose, tomorrow still comes and it brings another opportunity to learn and improve.

And as far as performing in front of people goes, you do this every time you go to class. It's really no different. Your there to perform just like you perform in front of the class.

Ok, I got it. Think of the crowd in their underwear.

[sensei8]

First, there is no need to be nervous if you put the tournament in perspective for what it is, an opportunity to learn and improve.

Too many worry about winning and loosing or looking good. How do you think elite athletes become elite? Do you think they never lost? No, they learned from their loses. Loosing is a part of the learning process. Each time you'll pick something up and then you store that in your memory banks. It's a chance to figure out where your strengths are and what your weaknesses are and then improve them.

No one starts out being the best of the best. It's a journey and as long as you see it for what it is and learn from it you win. Trophies are nothing more than window dressing the real trophy is the knowledge you take away from the experience. Win or loose, it doesn't matter. Take something away from every Kumite session in class, every time you perform Kata and every time you compete and it will all work itself out. You will improve and the winning will come.

There is nothing to fear if you put the experience into perspective. It's just a tournament nothing more. Win or loose, tomorrow still comes and it brings another opportunity to learn and improve.

And as far as performing in front of people goes, you do this every time you go to class. It's really no different. Your there to perform just like you perform in front of the class.

Ok, I got it. Think of the crowd in their underwear.

Solid post!!

I simply, easy for me to say, turn the audience off; they have no bearings. Now, I've not always been like that, especially when I was a kid. As I grew up, I saw the audience for who they were to me...unimportant.

I can also say that it has helped me a lot to turn the audience off at will because I'm on the floor quite a lot teaching IN FRONT OF PEOPLE, both students and visitors, in all sizes of classes/venues.

Teaching for as long as I've been, has numbed me to the presence of any audience type. So, yeah, teach for a while, and the audience factor is pretty much non-existent.

[JazzKicker]

Try to remember you are doing this just for fun. It's not life or death, it's not your livelihood. Your ego is simply trying to protect itself from what it sees as a threat.

Many schools, before a tournament, do a little simulation as prep. The have the black belts sit as a panel, and students sit and watch, and have you come up and do your form as you would competing, bowing in & all. Likewise sparring can be done that way, too, with corner judges, etc. Hopefully your school does this, too.

As you get more experience with it, you won't be so nervous, just like any kind of performing.

[David Miller]

Oh my god, I just finished my tournament and I got 1st place. I did not do the breathing exercises but instead, i tried to breathe deeply whenever I had that sense of stress. I still can't believe the fact that I did not get nervous one single bit, and by one single bit I mean it. I did 3 rounds and won all of them. From the bottom of my heart, i thank all of you guys for helping me do these exercises and techniques, it's gonna help me for the rest of my life. Thank you, I love you guys!!