The Bullpen
I was asked the other day by a competitor who was warming up in the bullpen how I would deal with the stress of competition. I quickly had two answers.
Number 1:
Sometimes after losing a match I would get the unsatisfied feeling of ‘I could have done more’ during the match. If I lost to a better competitor it would be different. If they were better than me it was ok. But if I failed to ‘do’ I felt horrible, and rightly so.
There is nothing worse than preparing for something and failing at the easiest part of it. All of the blood, sweat and tears put into something with no result is painful. It is like a joke without a punch line, a job without pay or an appetizer without a main course. If you say ‘yes’ to competition, than you come prepared, not only in training, but you are prepared to die fighting!
Number 2:
I remember the times I succeeded in high-level competition. They were filled with memories of a respectful, relaxed and cocky mind. I say cocky because I think you should always have a small sense of cockiness within you when you fight. This is not to say it is ok to be overconfident, or even confident.
I sincerely believe that confidence comes after many victories. But cockiness is what drives you on the day of competition! It drives you to tell jokes before a fight, it drives you to get the takedown, and all in all, the most important thing, is it gives you a feeling of aggressive relaxation. To put it simply with cockiness you will: Fight your heart out while strategically focusing on the win. That is when you shine, that is when you are at your best!
The Bullpen:
So the next time you line up next to a bunch of fellow bulls, remember: the ones that remember what it is like to lose, and at the same time come in with a bit of cockiness are the ones that come out of the gate charging!
October 24th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Great insight.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
[...] is a top-notch judoka, so I think he’s qualified to speak the subject. Here’s what he says in his blog: [...]