Fear & Bravery

Fear & Bravery
04/03/2007

My 13 year old son and I went to the movies last week and watched “300”. Afterwards, my son made the statement “You know Dad, I don’t think anyone is that brave. If that was for real, they would be scared”.

It’s funny how you think when you are a kid – “brave people don’t experience fear.” Furthermore, you think - “well, I get scared…..hmmm….I must not be brave”.

My explanation to him is that fear is always a constant in any confrontation regardless of whether it’s on the battlefield or in a school hallway between classes. The trick is to accept the fear, manage it and use it. The best warriors, fighters, and athletes throughout history are those that can deal with this emotion and find a way to use it as a performance enhancer or at the very least, become good at neutralizing its negative effects.

Now, I have been teaching martial arts since I was a teenager and have said the above many times – “It’s okay to feel scared, accept it, make friends with it and then use it!” Easier said than done! Saying you are going to control your fear and actually doing it are different things entirely. I remember reading up on all this fear stuff when I was a teenager and then trying to apply it to an upcoming kickboxing match. Yep, I was still scared shitless stepping into the ring…ha ha I thought doing all this visualization stuff would damn near eliminate it – Not! (quick Borat reference) Like anything else, you have to practice it, make it a habit, and only then will it progressively start to work.

That is why I love the martial arts and Kettlebell Sport so much. They put you in situations that regular life doesn’t offer and thus provide you with a way to practice dealing with fearful emotions on a consistent basis. The end result – you get good at it.

I know some of you reading this may be thinking, “Yeah, I can see where competing in a martial art or boxing match would be tough, but what’s scary about Kettlebell sport?” Well, grab two 53lb bells or two 70lb bells and snatch or jerk them for 10 minutes without setting them down. Next workout – you will be thinking to some degree “this is freakin hard, I am nervous about doing this”. In addition, as you improve, your set’s become longer and thus uncomfortable for a longer duration. It’s as much a mental battle as a physical one. You have to get good at turning down the volume on that negative inner voice and become almost monk like. To view an example, click on the below link to watch a clip of Valery Fedorenko doing 130jerks with two 70lb bells for 10 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3BOsDVfSgk

Taking it to the extreme, do you want to get so good at handling fear you completely eliminate it? I don’t think so. Over the years, I have had the privilege of training with some elite martial artists and they all said to experience fear to some degree is not only expected, but good. Otherwise, you end up competing emotionally “flat”. So again, manage it and do your best to use it as something to stimulate better performance.

Anyway, after filling my son’s cup with all this wisdom, he responded with “Um, can we stop by Pizza hut”. And here I was fearful that he wasn’t listening 