Here’s the situation. I train judo, and I’m competing in my national championships this Saturday. If I win this (and I believe I have a fighting chance) this will open the door to the national side, major tournaments and the European Cup this fall in Warsaw.
So obviously this is important for me. Last Saturday I took part in a smaller tournament (which I won) and I again noticed a worrying phenomenon - my conditioning goes through the door in the first few matches, only to recover later.
During practice I can spar for more that an hour with the highest intensity without any problems, but when I step onto the mat for the first match in an official competition, I completely gas out. Surprisingly, after a fight or two I regain my “groove” and my conditioning and things go smoothly from there. I’ve been competing for the last 5 years so I’m not a novice.
I cannot afford to gas in the first fight or so this Saturday, so I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion/advice how to overcome this problem?
This is a common thing with wrestling (in the sense it seems to happen to me and everyone I talk to). I think a lot of it is just nerves, and the “body” not being ready for activity that intense, especially early in the morning as is the case with wrestling. (matches are always more intense than sparring, or they feel that weight because of the pressure).
Our coach suggests we do a faux-match (100% NHB wrestling) for a round, as part of/the end of, our warmup. Although it seems like a pain in the butt, and you might worry you’ll give up too much for the day’s work, it seems to work really well.
Obviously if you’re a top guy, you don’t need to worry as your early matches can be your warmup, but if you gotta win the first match and its not a walkover (which is the case for everyone at some point, either in a high school tourney or the olympics) the above strategy works well. If you’re worried about tiring yourself out for the day, just give a good amount of time (25 min say) between that faux-match and your first one.
It’s an issue with your adrenal system - not your conditioning.
Are you suffering symptoms of cotton mouth? Do you twich before you compete? These are just a couple of symptoms.
You can never replicate the adrenaline rush in practice. In practice, the stakes are so much lower.
There are many good books on sports psychology. Check some out. Also, you should be doing rigorous meditation and other breathing exercises. If you can control your breath, you can control your adrenaline response to conditioning.
[quote]loppar wrote:
I cannot afford to gas in the first fight or so this Saturday, so I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion/advice how to overcome this problem?[/quote]
It takes years to get over your problem. You have a few days… What can you do?
Being a meditation program immediately. Really focus on controlling your breathing. Meditate on your moves. Visual what you are going to do. Keep breathing.
Rent “Ghost Dog.” There is much wisdom in this movie and many great saying to mediate on. Ghost Dog amazingly captures the samurai spirit and applies it to modern day.
The reason you have adreanline problems if because you are afraid - of being humiliated or perhaps dying.
When you fight, you must fight as if you are already dead and utterly humiliated. See the Book of Five Rings: “Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.”
The man who goes into battle already accepting his death is the one most likely to survive. Viewing yourself as dead, you will have no fears going into the fight. It may take many years for you to fully understand this.