If you’ve ever competed in a martial arts competition, you’ll have likely found that certain things that you could successfully, and repeatedly, pull off in the training environment, didn’t work so well for you, when the stakes were higher. It took me a lot of competition time, when I was practicing Judo, to get to a stage where I was consistently replicating what I could do back in the Dojo – and at times, even perform better. In this article, I want to look at some of the issues that arise when you are put under stress and duress, whether in a competition setting, or when dealing with real life violence.

One of Judo coaches back in the day, used to remind me that, “time exists to stop everything happening at once”. The flip side of this, is that when you panic, you try to do everything at once i.e. you forget the process and the order of doing things. To throw somebody, you first have to break their balance, and then fit in – even seasoned Judokas sometimes forget this when competing, and try to “force” a throw, by moving towards their opponent. When panicked, we seek the outcome the first, and put the process into second place, rather than following the process to get to the outcome. In my early days of competition, when the clock was ticking, I remember the urgency I felt, and the desperation of just needing to get the throw – “how” I got the throw became less important. Invariably, this saw me rush the technique, miss out the crucial steps, and put in more effort than should have been necessary. In this exhausted state, the pressure became greater, and I would repeat the same process again and again, to no avail. I often see this same thing in my Krav Maga classes, when a student is put under stress and duress (and this is class, not real life) and is attempting to perform in an exhausted state; they will rush to the end of a technique, missing out some of the crucial and life-saving components. Understanding the time that you have, and the process that needs to be followed, and committing to it, are key fighting skills for both competition, and survival.

Another issue I faced when competing, was trying to attack, when my opponent was in a strong position, and not first positioning them in a disadvantaged one (a situation that usually arose out of panic), where the attack stood a chance of working. One of the things I used to see a lot of with junior belts who competed in BJJ, was trying to apply arm-bars that were meant to be applied when in mount, when they were in somebody’s guard; the more the technique didn’t work, the harder they tried. What had happened was that they’d see an opening, such as an outstretched arm, and seize the “opportunity”, forgetting that the position they were in wasn’t one from which the technique could be applied i.e. their opponent wasn’t in a disadvantaged position. Being able to recognize the position you are in, relative to your opponent/assailant, and how to reposition both of you, so that they are in a disadvantaged positon, is a key fighting skill. This is also why it is important to understand all the phases involved in a fight, including the pre-conflict phase, as it is often during the verbal exchange, that precedes most fights, where you have the best chance of altering the positioning.

Under stress and duress, when adrenalized, your movements shrink and become smaller. This can see your techniques lack the “commitment” that is necessary for them to work e.g. the punch becomes shorter, the drag on the arm becomes less, etc. One of the things that we used to do leading up towards a competition was exaggerate our movements in randori (Judo sparring), making them much larger than was actually necessary, understanding that they would “shrink” to normal size, on the day. This is a method of training I still employ when teaching Krav Maga. There is a benefit to training big and with exaggerated movement, especially on certain techniques where there is a tendency to naturally shorten the movements, such as with hammer-fist strikes.

Sometimes when you look at novices compete, it is hard to understand why they are exhausted so quickly, having done very little actual physical work – certainly not enough to warrant their level of fatigue. The two reasons I put down to this (and learnt to manage during my competition days), was 1. Not breathing properly, and 2. Not managing adrenaline. When I first started competing, I’d take a deep breath, and hold it, and I know I am not alone in this. This would then upset my entire breathing rhythm, and put me at a disadvantage throughout the bout. Learning to regulate your breathing in order to avoid exhaustion is as relevant in real-life as it is in competition. Being able to set a regular, steady, aerobic breathing rate when fighting is an essential skill, and it is something that has to be worked on in training. Next time you spar, roll, etc., consciously work on your breathing; this also has the added benefit of giving your techniques their own timing and rhythm. Competition, is adrenalizing, and it should be, but it is important to control and manage your adrenaline, because whilst it does equip you with some major benefits, it can also impede you e.g. giving you tunnel vision, shortening your movements, etc. Also, if you don’t control it, and your adrenaline “dumps” on you (within about 15 seconds), when it wears off you will be exhausted, and your body will be wanting to go into recovery mode. The best way to regulate adrenaline is through regular, aerobic breathing (breathe in for a count, hold for a count, breathe out for a count).

Although competition will never reflect reality e.g. there are rules, the environment is controlled, there are designated outcomes, a referee manages the contest, etc., there are certain parallels, and certain lessons that can be drawn. Many of the problems that competitors face and have to deal with, are experienced in real-life encounters, and learning how these problems are dealt with in competition can guide us in our training for reality.