Does anger hamper (yes) or help (no) your fencing?

[ZenEpeeist]

I am curious what everybody's reaction to this is.

[noodle]

anger can open my eyes
rage can close them

[Dan H]

Don't get me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

[Inquartata]

Anger can be energizing, but it has to be a cold anger. Otherwise it just blinds and limits you.

[Cavatione]

Fencing is a science. And you can't get any math when you're angry and blood gets to your head...

[nahouw]

Anger can be energizing, but it has to be a cold anger. Otherwise it just blinds and limits you.

Exactly. With uncontrolled anger, you are now your own worst enemy; with controlled anger, you rise above the emotion and you are better able to focus, and your actions are faster. Look at the title of Peter Westbrook's book -- "Harnessing Anger"

[ZenEpeeist]

Anger can be energizing, but it has to be a cold anger. Otherwise it just blinds and limits you.

Why am I not surprised.

[Pointy]

Exactly. With uncontrolled anger, you are now your own worst enemy; with controlled anger, you rise above the emotion and you are better able to focus, and your actions are faster. Look at the title of Peter Westbrook's book -- "Harnessing Anger"

I agree. I remember fencing a practice bout that ROYALLY pissed me off. I was so mad that I parried my opponent's blade quite hard ...... straight to my leg. It left me with a HUGE bruise. Oh, and, for some reason (gee, I wonder why?), I couldn't score on my opponent that evening. Rage = no good. I find that if I'm getting annoyed, I stop fencing. It doesn't help anyone, really.

[40Saberthieves]

Anger, properly channeled and directed is good.
Anger without focus is not.

[Pun]

I dont know... come to think of it I have never even fenced angry, when Im fencing Im happy... no one has ever kicked me in the balls right before I had to fence them or nothin so... ???

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Its about thinking, but using the anger to power your muscles.

[mrbiggs]

I wanted to vote in this but I realized that I don't really get angry during a fencing bout. After, yes, from time to time, but not during.

[wflaschka]

I voted that anger helps.

But it depends what you DO with the anger. Like other things useful to fencing (twitch muscle, reflex, instinct) it has to be directed. I like anger, because controlled anger is intensity. When you're angry, it's very hard to concentrate on things other than what you're angry about. So if you take that aspect of anger, and stir in some humility or a philosophical outlook, you get a very goal-oriented mix of energy and commitment.

A big problem with many fencers is that they're not "there" for the bout. They might be a little too laa-de-dah, a little too hands-off about making things happen. Add controlled anger and ego so that you fight for each touch.

[Katman]

I think it runs both ways. It sucks if I'm so mad I can't see straight, but it's great if that's how my opponent is.

[Epictetus]

I think it really depends on the person. Intensity, certainly, is important, but anger implies that there is something wrong. Bouts go one way or the other, and you do everything you can to make them go your way. However, getting angry does not serve any purpose (for me) other than breaking my concentration on the task at hand.

Calm mind, active body.

[Mo]

I think anger is a distraction. You can be motivated, focused, concentrating and fencing your guts out but having to be angry to fence does not seem logical. Anger is a confusing emotion.

I looked it up on Google. Here is one statement:Anger in most cases leads to a break in concentration. In order to stay focused during competition, athletes should make a conscious effort to overcome a tendency to retaliate by learning and applying concentration strategies.

Here is an interesting website about sports psychology and competition.
http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/psych.htm

If someone trash talks you during warm-up that is usually an impetus to go out there and beat them but GOOD, however, there is a difference between that and anger. Anger causes all kinds of responses in the brain and takes away from the task at hand.

I know when I am angry when I am driving, that is not good, I am distracted. Fencing is such a brainy sport, clear thinking seems preferable to an emotional anger response.

The best fencers I see, seem to be playing a game, enjoying the movement, fencing is a joy. I got to see some footage of Mariel Z before her final bout in the Olympics. She walked out there full of confidence and very happy, almost buoyant. She could not have done what she did in anger.

[FriendlyMonkey]

OK, we're fencers not S I T H




Sure, maybe you have a problem with another fencer.
Beating them can give you satisfaction. Having anger
on the strip, that'll just get in the way.

You need focus. You need energy. Anger can give you some
energy, but it'll hurt the focus!

Why are you angry on the strip anyway? Too much hate these
days anyway.


Fence. Be Happy.


-FM

[ZenEpeeist]

I think it runs both ways. It sucks if I'm so mad I can't see straight, but it's great if that's how my opponent is.

Lol...

This is my take on it as well...go ahead get angry; I'll just be intense.

[RebelFencer]

Strangely enough anger helps me a bit. I don't get wildly angry or anything like that, but just pissed enough. Just the thought that someone wants to send me home from the tournament early is really all I need. But there's a difference between utilizing your anger and just becoming reckless with it. A reckless person might start swinging their foils doing huge parries and crappy (sometimes painful) "flicks." With me my blade work just becomes quicker and I become a lot more intense. Although off the strip I'm a pretty happy, nice guy (unless I'm just a jerk and don't realize it), when I'm on the strip it's business...nothing personal. Of course the first priority is to go out and have fun, but getting a little angry (and not flustered) is a way, at least for me, to kick my fencing up a little bit.

[MyraTrue]

I voted that it hampers, but I guess like Walter says, it depends on what you do with it. For me, getting "angry" will make me take a bout more seriously. I stop "dinking around" and realize that I really need to fence. But anger can go too far, and I've seen the fencers who get angry... so they hit too hard, engage in childish antics and acts on the strip, either to satisfy themselves or make you angry, things like that. I'm not too cool on that.

I remember a bout in a team event where the team captain of the other team did something "within the rules" to one of my fencers that I felt was unsportsmanlike, and unnecessary. I felt terrible watching my girl come off the strip, and try very, very hard not to blow up, or cry. I told her what I thought and let her be, because I couldn't do anything. But I was angry... so when I fenced the other captain, I took a bout that I typically lose, by a little, and won it by a large margin. I was dead serious- I had stakes in this bout, and I really did care which way it went. Being angry made me give more than I usually did.