Have ever been involved in a street fight?Let’s see if you can recognise any of those symptoms!
Did you turn pale?
Did you experience nausea?
Did your legs go jelly ?
Did you sweat a lot ?
Did you freeze?
NO WORRIES you are not a coward,you are not the first one to feel like that! It happens to every one.
When you are exposed to a dangerous confrontation like a street fight your brain switch on the fight mode.
As a consequence of this the blood flow move faster even from your skin,to supply other parts of your body, that’s why you turn pale.
You also start sweating more to keep your body cool,avoiding overheating.
Your Adrenaline stops temporarily digestion, your blood leaves the stomach to move to your legs and skeletal muscles to run and move faster if you need to.The sympathetic nervous system is in charge to release adrenaline to the skeletal muscles which could turns your body into a war machine if you decide to take action and do something.
In case of no action, the adrenaline released in your blood will stays circulating in your body causing your limbs to tremble.
HOW CAN I OVERCOME THOSE SYMPTOMS?
The first thing to do is to understand them, by acknowledging them.
You have to understand that what is happening to you is completely normal,your body is giving you the tools and the right gear to defend yourself and feel less pain.You just have to move and use it!
Freezing is very common in this situation! It can even happen to experience fighters.
Even a snake would fake its death to seize the opportunity to flee.
It’s a natural reaction. Of course there is a way to train for it, and it is pretty straight forward..
YOU HAVE TO FACE YOUR FEARS.
Sparring works very well but have to be full-contact from time to time and has to cover all the ranges of fighting ( punching, kicking,close combat ,standing wrestling,and ground defence).
Light and semi-contact sparring is good for establishing technique, but it does not simulate a real fight.
Maybe get involved with some competitions if you can.You need to stimulate repeatedly your emotional responsiveness to street fights to reduce the effects of the fear.
Remember…if you can’t win,run fast.
Mauro Sulcis