Hi elainevdw,
I agree with you that empowerment is better than anger on the whole, but that approach is somewhat clinical in nature and not foundational or realistic on the concepts of competitive combat.
I'm not entirely convinced that the "motivation or enthusiasm or positive thinking" applies in combat situations, whether for sport or real-life. Although, I lack any hard research to back it up, I'm inclined to say that it does not and here's why....
Say you are being attacked on the street. What frame of mind is most conducive towards surviving this confrontation, assuming that combat is the only means of survival in this situation? Will you repeat incantations such as,"I'm super motivated and enthusiastic to win!"? Or will getting extremely pissed off and developing a burning rage that's directed entirely at your opponent help you win a confrontation?
I think enjoyment of the activity is not part of the emotional equation as it applies to this situation because we are speaking of motivation here in essence. Enjoyment = pleasure and when we are in a state of pleasure, we are not motivated to change. But when we are placed in a situation that causes us pain, then we are very motivated to get out of that position of pain. I think applied anger gets us out of this pain.
But like Shamou said, anger must be controlled. In the example by Peleke4, Fernando Vargas....a fighter I am not afraid to say I heavily dislike because of his personality, was arrested numerous times for doing some real damage in street brawls that did not need to happen. I think for him, anger controlled him, not the other way around.
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