Issue 120

The drives, fears and instincts of fighters are a world away from those making a living in team sports. Sports hypnotherapist Paul Concannon examines the mentality of combative athletes.

Separating fighters from other athletes is what UFC featherweight Cub Swanson eloquently described as their propensity to deliver “beautiful violence.” Within a fighter’s make-up is a desire to break bones, open cuts, and remove people from consciousness while risking having the same done to themselves.

But what is it that separates the puncher from the pitcher, the pro fighter from the power forward? Psychologically, what is required to drive a person to want to compete alone rather than as part of a team?

STAT ATTACK

The amygdala, the part of the brain which controls fear, is composed of 22 different regions on each side of the brain.

“Fighting-athletes are fundamentally proactive with a propensity to sort things out physically to take action and a willingness to take risks,” says sports psychologist and Japanese jiu-jitsu black belt Paul Burden.

“One of the drives that can get people to become a fighter can be feelings of insecurity and fear about things like being picked on

or actual physical violence.

Paradoxically, in these circumstances people will often unconsciously seek to confront this fear and create conflicts to test their own ability to cope with it. Whether they are consciously aware of this fear or not it can often drive someone to take an interest in training (in martial arts).

They are drawn to practicing martial arts to help them deal with that fear.”

According to Burden, fear is not the only motivator that draws people towards punching for pay.

“Another and more obvious factor is the fun and camaraderie involved in being a fighting- athlete – there is a lot of play and excitement,” he acknowledges. “For the winners, there’s potential for prestige and status, which is also attractive to the opposite sex.

“Fundamentally there will be many similarities in the make-up of high-performing boxers and, for example, a golfer. When you are in the ring or cage you want to be in a state of flow with all conscious attention on what is happening outside you in effect, not aware of thoughts, You want to be reacting as trained instinctively.

And, of course, competing in a sport like MMA involves real physical danger. A case in point: one of my guys won a title fight recently but still came out with a broken jaw and cheekbone. That does not happen when playing golf.”

Sam Kotadia, a sports psychologist who has worked with elite athletes and Premier League soccer players agrees. “When fighters fight much of it is instinctual. Their state of mind can be closer to fight or flight and making decisions in that circumstance is much harder. In team sports there are different stakeholders and multiple intelligences on both a team and individual level. Taking football as an example, there are more breaks and longer disruptions in play, and players will get longer and more direct access to coaches, more time to make assessments, adjustments and put together strategies.

“Fighters have different pressures. This is not to say you cannot think and make decisions while fighting, but it can be more difficult as it tends to be more raw and instinctive.

If you get hit there’s an instinctive response to retaliate but that’s not always the best thing to do, as techniques can quickly be abandoned for brawling. Because of the intensity it can be much harder for a fighter to keep on top of their game.”

When it comes to the myriad of potential injuries in fighting, Kotadia acknowledged the stakes are also higher for fighters in terms of success and failure.

He explains: “When a person competing in a team is suffering from low confidence there is a tendency – and opportunity – to hide. They retreat so they don’t get caught making mistakes and being exposed. Combat athletes simply cannot do that. In fighting there is nowhere to hide. 

“Fighters are putting themselves on the line in a more direct biological way. If you are taking a beating the brain will want to pull you out in order to keep you safe, so there’s no room to be half-hearted in combat sports.

“Often fighters will only start seeing a sports psychologist in order to help them come back from a beating or a knockout loss, because what’s happening is the brain is saying, ‘This is not good for me, don’t do this.’ Both the mind and the body is saying ‘No.’ So we will often work with them from a ‘repairing and relearning’ point of view to make the context of the ring or cage safer, which is similar to working with someone who has had a traumatic car crash.”

However, according to charted sports psychologist Rebecca Symes, there is a counterweight to the crushing loneliness of the cage. She says: “One key difference is that fighters have a team of trainers, sparring partners, kickboxing and grappling coaches, etc — all centered on them. While working with people within team sports there’s a big focus on communication, and other elements such as how each individual works, what they will bring in terms of skill or their specific role, and how they will work together. “Fighters do have a team, but a team of coaches or training partners.

They still need that element of communication with coaches to get to what the athlete is working towards, but it is all centered on them.”

Ultimately, Rebecca agrees with her peers about the potentially deeper psychological vulnerabilities faced by fighters, as opposed to other athletes.

“Mentally speaking, combat athletes are more exposed than someone in

a non-contact or a team sport," she explains. "Teams have a collective responsibility. An exception to that would be in baseball or cricket where, for example, batters, while part of the team, have individual responsibility.

"But this pressure is even more relevant for a fighter because ultimately whether they win or lose solely comes down to them, similar in that respect to a tennis player.

“One of the problems with this is that sometimes a lone athlete’s sense of self-worth is wrapped up in performance so they take the losses personally.

"So we would work with them to ensure their self-worth does not get wrapped up and defined by whether they are winning and losing.”

SAM KOTADIA’S TOP 5 TIPS FOR GETTING IN THE ZONE

1: GREAT GROUNDING

“Grounding is a powerful exercise to strengthen your sense of the physical space you occupy and to bring your mind and body into balance. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths to relax your mind and body. Direct your focus to the contact points of your external environment. For example, this could be the sensation of your feet on

the touching the cage floor. Keep your focus there when you open your eyes to encourage a composed mindset that can create effortless performances.”

2: BACK TO BASICS

“Directly after making a mistake, try something simpler. You're more likely to succeed at a basic task, and this small success will prevent the initial mistake from damaging your confidence. Once this simple task is completed, push beyond your comfort zone and try something more challenging. When you are in the cage and retaliate uncontrollably it is unlikely that you will regain your composure. Take small steps to regain your momentum.”

3: SUPER STATES

“One of the biggest predictors of confident behaviour stems from your ability to generate a resourceful state. Get yourself feeling good by creating positive internal visions, maintaining an encouraging internal voice and adopting positive body language. Thinking about loved ones, special memories, and some of your best performances are some ideas. Feeling good is the source of all inspired performances, especially in intimidating environments.”

TIMELY TRIGGERS

“The brain often learns through association, by paring two experiences together. Close your eyes and recreate in your mind the last time you performed at your best in the cage. Generate the images, feelings and sounds that you experienced and pair that image with a physical action such as squeezing your thumb and finger together. Open your eyes and repeat this process several times. Your brain will learn to feel inspired whenever you repeat the action. Use this whenever you are finding it hard to perform at your best in the sporting arena.”

GET A GRIP

“One cause of failing to find your best performances is believing that everything is out of control. This is common in high-performance settings where there is constant pressure to achieve desirable outcomes. To overcome this, focus on the controllable elements of your environment. Ignore events beyond your own influence and direct your attention towards actions and processes that you have control over. Positive results will follow.”