Buka, I like this, can you explain further?
Fear is a survival mechanism, bred right into DNA for species survival. It's a response to a stimulus. Response to a threat or a perceived threat.
Sweating is like that. It's a survival mechanism, it's a response to heat - so our body doesn't cook.
Imagine what life would be like without some form of fear, a train could be coming at you at eighty miles an hour and you would be looking at it wondering why it isn't louder than it is. "Maybe when it gets here I'll hear the wheels better, maybe the whistle. Oh, look, I can see the guy driving!" SPLAT.
If you didn't understand sweating you might think, "Holy crap, I must be melting, there's water coming out of my forehead! And from under my arms! Hell, it's coming out of everywhere!"
A lot of times when a person feels fear, or feels that sense of "uh oh, I think he's moving towards me" it throws them off, the fear - that feeling that's running through your body and dumping adrenaline - sometimes gets all the focus instead of the actual threat. Even later in the safety of home, they'll think "why was I so afraid? Did I look afraid, did everyone else know I was afraid, did my gal know I was afraid? I hate being afraid, I want to be brave." Imagine if you thought like that about sweating?
I believe the context of this thread is fear as it applies to dealing with/fighting other people.
Think back to being a little kid in school or your neighborhood. For the sake of my ineptitude with words - I'll break down little kids into three categories. The kids who get picked on, the bullies (varying degrees) and the kids who aren't really involved but watch it all every day.
If you get picked on you build a certain radar. Not just knowing where the bully is, not just knowing when it's coming, but you read body language better than the other two groups. It's because you deal with it every single day - the others do as well, but they're not the ones getting their *** kicked, so their reading of, and understanding, of signs isn't as developed.
Flash forward to adulthood. I've worked with a lot of cops and a lot of Martial Artists. As I got to know some of them personally, some things became evident. The ones who got picked on as kids had incredible radar. They could pick an A-hole out of a group from a mile away. Even when there was no obvious tell. They'd say, "I'll bet that's our boy right over there." Most times they would be right. They could also pick up on someone else's fear, even when it was carefully being hidden.
I've always found it easier teaching Martial Arts to two distinct groups. Guys who were picked on as kids, and guys who grew up in a household of brothers, especially if they played sports. (they're used to roughhousing from the git go) I'm not talking about the actual physicality of learning technique, but rather the interaction in fighting different people. I find they're more used to dealing with the psychology of a fight. (be it in house or real deal)
On the other hand, sometimes when you get a guy who's been a natural athlete his whole life, and was never picked on by anyone, ever - he sometimes has trouble dealing with the fact that others in the gym who look like nothing (to him) are routinely kicking his *** without breaking a sweat.
If you ever compete in fighting, regardless of what kind of competition, you'll be nervous as hell when you're there waiting to fight. For the sake of discussion, let's call it fear. (nervousness, fear, just a degree)To me, a fact most people forget, or don't think of - is the other guy has that exact same feeling. He has fear like you, uncertainty, nervousness and he sweats just like you do. I think if that feeling ever goes away, that nervousness before fighting - a person shouldn't compete anymore.
Sorry to have rambled so much. It's tough in writing because there's no give and take. To me the bottom line about what I said in a previous post - "Most people think fear is about "them". It is not."
It's not about them, it's about "us". Just like sweating.
Fear is like a couple of good watchdogs. If someone is sneaking up to the window of your house there's a good chance the dogs will let you know.
