How do you mentally prepare for a fight/tournament?

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Originally Posted by Brandon Mccaghren

Gabby, have you ever read "The Art of Learning" bu Josh Waitzkin. He's a Marcelo Garcia Black Belt and Chess genius. He gives some awesome insight into how to prepare for competition and how to "build a trigger." Check it out.

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Great tip, thanks again genius! Thats 2 for 2 in one Friday night mate. Beast!!!!

Quote from Kyle Dake about feeling pressure going for his 4th NCAA title, “There is nothing tangible about pressure,That’s one thing Coach Koll told me when I first came to Cornell. He said, ‘Tell me what pressure is’ and I couldn’t tell him. Then I said, ‘It’s something you put on yourself.’ He said, ‘Exactly.’ Why would you burden yourself with something that doesn’t exist? So instead of feeling pressure, I just go out and have fun.”
I know a lot of you saw this on my facebook but it fits for you Gabby

“Boxing is a sport of self-control. You must understand fear so you can manipulate it. Fear is like fire. You can make it work for you: it can warm you in the winter, cook your food when you’re hungry, give you light when you are in the dark, and produce energy. Let it go out of control and it can hurt you, even kill you….Fear is a friend of exceptional people.” Cus D'Amato

Same goes for all fighting sports :)
Feed the fire Gab, good luck

I've only done a few tournaments but we had two on back to back weekends. The first one I didn't go til 5pm so keepin warm and mentally ready the whole day sucked. I noticed I was far less nervous the second tournament.

beta blockers

So here's the thing. Your anxieties are essentially just your own thoughts run amok. When you feel nervous or scared and you start trying to coach yourself through it what you're actually doing is trying to out think your own thinking and rarely does this ever work. Quite the opposite actually, it usually winds up making things worse. When you feel that anxiety pang instead of trying to think your way out just clear your mind, think of nothing and focus on your breath. When you breathe in count "one" in your head, when you breathe out count "two" and so on until you get to ten and then start over. If you can do this and keep all other thoughts out of your head you'll notice the anxiety pass in about 30 seconds or so. When/if it returns do the same thing. Everyone gets nervous, it's about how you handle it. Also, this is the same mindstate I try to cultivate for actual competition as well. When I'm fighting I try to think of nothing and just "Flow with the go" as master Rickson puts it. This is much easier if you meditate for 10-20 mins a day. the book I would recommend is turning the mind into an ally by Sakyong Mipham

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Originally Posted by einstein

beta blockers

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or this

I dont know if you realize it gabby but you have done well over 300 tournament matches. Just because you 'sold tickets' to this one doesn't mean its any different than the previous 300 matches you have done. Some of your competitors may be higher belts but have only competed a handful of times. Imagine how they feel!! You are battle tested, you have been taken into deep waters an survived you have overcome mental battles an self doubt. You have already overcome most of the obstacles that these girls are only now starting to experience. Your also training harder than ive ever seen you train. For the first time since you started you are truly doing everything possible to prepare yourself for this tournament. You are dominating EVERYONE in the gym, males an females. Your the best i've ever seen you an people in the area are talking about how good you have become. YOU have the advantage...you have been through this, you have overcome it already, they are are only beginning to experience it for the first time.

Win or lose ill be in your corner. I couldn't be more proud of the work you have put in...an in my eyes you have already won. This is all for experience for MMA anyway...its all for fun...if you win you get 1 more belt you can hang on the wall with your others..if you lose you have one less plastic belt. Put it in perspective my dear. Just be you.

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Originally Posted by einstein

beta blockers

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LOL!Visualization an embrace the madness. That energy you feel before the fight is a motivator. For me the trigger is when everything get quiet much more quiet than it should be. Embrace that place, that is the place where the Monster lives. Thats when the monster gets to comeout and play. Its a calm but evil place, you kind of feel numb then your training guides you the rest of the way. You aready have the answers to everything that is going to take place. Just another day at the office! Smash em and remember everyone has your back!

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Originally Posted by VJ Bella

I dont know if you realize it gabby but you have done well over 300 tournament matches. Just because you 'sold tickets' to this one doesn't mean its any different than the previous 300 matches you have done. Some of your competitors may be higher belts but have only competed a handful of times. Imagine how they feel!! You are battle tested, you have been taken into deep waters an survived you have overcome mental battles an self doubt. You have already overcome most of the obstacles that these girls are only now starting to experience. Your also training harder than ive ever seen you train. For the first time since you started you are truly doing everything possible to prepare yourself for this tournament. You are dominating EVERYONE in the gym, males an females. Your the best i've ever seen you an people in the area are talking about how good you have become. YOU have the advantage...you have been through this, you have overcome it already, they are are only beginning to experience it for the first time.

Win or lose ill be in your corner. I couldn't be more proud of the work you have put in...an in my eyes you have already won. This is all for experience for MMA anyway...its all for fun...if you win you get 1 more belt you can hang on the wall with your others..if you lose you have one less plastic belt. Put it in perspective my dear. Just be you.

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Good stuff!!