Fighters

No Fear Or Know Fear?

How often have we heard the saying, “Have no fear!” or “Don’t be afraid!”.

So, let’s say we are telling ourselves that we don’t have fear, meaning that we are basically suppressing it.

Hmm.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I think that denying and suppressing anything that is important in our lives is not constructive.

A better way of dealing with fear in my humble opinion is to be aware of it, acknowledge it and act despite of it.

Somewhere I heard the analogy of fear being a cobra and it would be way more beneficial to tame the cobra and not just kill it.

I think we need to have a look at what fear actually is.

Let’s start with something to think about like F-E-A-R (False Evidence Appearing Real). So is fear all just made up in our mind or is it something that is real?

A dictionary defines it like this “Fear is an emotion of alarm and agitation caused by the expectation and realization of danger. “

During this condition the hormone generally known as adrenaline is secreted which increases a person’s awareness and alertness.

Further, you become way more alert and sensitive to your immediate surroundings. Your senses are opened up to detect and tune in to the danger or the possibility of danger.

And you immediately decide between fight or flight.

The best example to show the difference would be comparing a rabbit with a grizzly bear.

Guess which one is always ready to fight and which one is prepared to flee.

You got it: Rabbits are always ready to skip town and grizzly bears hardly ever think of backing down.

The crazy thing is every one of us has actually inherited a specific amount of flight and fight adrenaline.

Everybody reading this post is equipped with different degrees of both reflexes based on our personal DNA dispersal.

I have heard of countless statements by professional fighters, law enforcement and military personnel that they all experience fear, but they use this emotion to operate at a higher level of alertness to reach their set objective. Whatever that might be.

What I’m saying is that we have to acknowledge that we have been pre-programmed and that we have to work with and around the cards we have been dealt.

It does not mean that we have to succumb to our fear, but rather control it and use it our advantage as described above.

I will elaborate more on this topic in the future, because I believe it is extremely important not only for martial artists but for everyone in daily life.

I welcome your thoughts in the meantime.

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