Can Anger Be Used in Competition?

[Tristan]

QUESTION:

Anger is a powerful and destructive emotion that usually tears down relationships. But is it feasible for us to learn how to apply anger in certain conditions such as to defeat an opponent in boxing or martial arts, or in combat situations?

Please comment

[Shamou]

Emotions are like power tools that can make it possible to accomplish certain things that could not be done without the empowerment of that emotion…

Anger is probably the most powerful of those emotions… when under attack… if a person gets angry enough… a person becomes many times more effective at defending himself…

However, anger has to be controlled so as not to degenerate into rage where caution and judgment are thrown to the winds and the person becomes way more ineffective…

I have used anger very effectively in situations where I was not performing as well as I could have… becoming angry will give an additional boost of adrenalin and energy that would otherwise not be available…

But, like I have said previously… the anger must be controlled… and must not be allowed to control us…

.

[Peleke4]

Originally Posted by Tristan

QUESTION:

Anger is a powerful and destructive emotion that usually tears down relationships. But is it feasible for us to learn how to apply anger in certain conditions such as to defeat an opponent in boxing or martial arts, or in combat situations?

Please comment

This reminds me of that boxer Fernando Vargas. He something along the lines that he imagines his opponent messing with his mother, thereby inducing anger in him. And he uses that anger to defeat his opponents. Well, guess the technique didn't work on the main fights of his career.

[elainevdw]

Your question reminds me of Star Wars... Was it Vader or Palpatine that urges Luke to use his anger? Join the Dark Side?

I'm not sure anger is necessary in the situations you mentioned, and this is why:

"Depression is just anger without enthusiasm." (Best quote ever!)

What you're looking for isn't anger per se, but enthusiasm! Energy! Drive, and motivation to succeed!

If you can tap into that energy without getting angry first, I you're more likely to make reasonable decisions vs. rash ones (like biting off someone's ear in the boxing ring), and you're more likely to enjoy the event overall (once the intense anger is dissipated, you're left with -- yup -- depression).

What do you think?

[Tristan]

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.

[Uplift]

I don't think anything beats confidence, and preparation. To fight successfully you also need need aggression, determination and will... loads of attitude, which is only real when something is backing it up. But if you are going to rely on anger alone, or think that anger is what gives you the edge, you'd better be selective who you fight. When Tyson was prepared, and in good mental shape, he was invincable. When he started relying on his anger alone, he was in trouble. Better prepared, and so more truly confident fighters beat him. I would sum it up this way, you can put a world champion flyweight in with a world champion heavyweight, and the flyweight can get as angry as he likes. It takes more than anger.

[Max Power]

I don't believe consciousness emotes, that's for humans, so I would say that to align yourself with creative source/force, then staying neutral, emotion wise is the way to get clarity and control.

Not understanding leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to suffering, much fear is the dark side

Max

[kat]

I'm no fighter or martial artist, but everything that I've read about these topics suggests that you should avoid getting angry at all costs - and if your opponent is angry, it is to your advantage. Anger tends to cause stupid lashing out, a lack of tactics, falling into obvious traps/feints, overreaching/attacking too aggressively for the current situation, etc - elements that add up to an easy defeat for the angry party.

[Ilya]

The original question was about the possibility of using anger in a very specific situations. I would, however suggest using the term aggression instead of anger. Anger is a derivative emotion it is a strong fear component in it which makes it weaker. Aggression or rage is the primary physiological state. It is one of the two basic responses to danger: Fight or Flee. If you find yourself physically threatened and you consider yourself stronger - aggression is your best friend. Otherwise, it is better to run away, however humiliating this can seem.

So the answer is yes, it is possible. Boxing or combat or street fight are the best situations to use aggression. Martial arts are too different to make generalizations.
The general rule is: the better you fighting skills, the less should be your reliance on aggression. A skilled martial artist would defeat several aggressive mobsters without loosing peace of mind. But such mastery requires practice.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Ilya

Aggression or rage is the primary physiological state. It is one of the two basic responses to danger: Fight or Flee. If you find yourself physically threatened and you consider yourself stronger - aggression is your best friend. Otherwise, it is better to run away, however humiliating this can seem.

Thank you for that clarification... I must admit that I had never seen or heard the word "aggression" to define an emotion... however, it does make a lot of sense...

.

[elainevdw]

Originally Posted by Tristan

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.

Hi Tristan,

Positive thinking and fluffy bunnies certainly won't help you in an attack situation!

Energy is the main reason "kiyahs" as so important in martial arts. It's really easy to do a gigantic shout when you're responding to an attack -- you don't have to be angry, but it serves the dual purpose of surprising/scaring your attacker and making your attack more powerful. If I were attacked, honestly, I wouldn't get angry until well after the fact. I'd either be scared for my life or -- more likely -- I'd be feeling nothing at all; I'd be in survival mode. I'd be working from instinct -- doing the easiest and most-practiced of my martial arts moves with some yelling thrown in, all because it was hammered into my head so much during practice.

However, a life-threatening situation is very different from a sports situation. Take martial arts again as an example -- martial artists at tournaments can get fierce, but they don't necessarily get angry. They can still pat each other on the back afterwards.

I also disagree with anger motivating us to better ourselves ("to change" you said). It's easy to use anger to reach new limits -- I got into running during one of the most difficult periods of my life. However, in that case, channeling anger towards myself, though I got really fit, also caused me to injure myself. Now that I'm not so emo and I don't have excess anger to use to better my running, I use friends as motivation to succeed... and that burning desire to see myself run farther than I ever have before.

[justfiverules]

Watching top track and field athletes in action seems like a controlled release of aggression. The explosive events (sprints & some field events) do that quickly, while the endurance events have to release the valve more slowly.

Rare to see angry t&f athletes in actual competition...though I have seen some angry shot putters in my time because they hadn't been aggressive enough on the day! Better to buy them a drink and commiserate :-)

So; anger, no.
Aggression; yes.

Isn't giving birth one of nature's more aggressive activities for many species?
Maybe some female readers can comment better...

Just my 10 yen