Get Your Head In The Game

When someone watches fencing, they are taken back the moment a fencer yells or screams after getting a point. This isn’t because we are crazy, its because we want to win. Not every fencer yells, of course, but a large majority does. When scoring a point, one is ecstatic. Why? Because they beat their opponent for that one point, and every point is vital. Years of training coming together to execute a single action perfectly like they intended to. That’s something to yell for. When a bout gets especially close, the yelling intensifies from both fencers. The pressure increases because there are no room for mistakes. Being at a deficit in fencing causes an immense amount of stress. Yelling in celebration of your points pushes you to keep going, to focus, and demoralizes your opponent. After getting hit, and knowing your opponent is to receive a point, you already feel mistaken and outplayed. A roar from your opponent can put you deeper in the hole of self doubt, and sometimes thinking that there is no way out. The only way to escape that hole is to compose yourself, and try to stop their momentum by scoring a point of your own, and yelling back at them.  Some fencers will be extra and take off their masks and let it all go, yelling to the ceiling, getting on their knees and throwing their hands up, anything to pump theirselves up. I, being very calm on the strip, never really get to yelling much. If get mad or angry during the bout, the yell just escapes me. I lose control and find myself releasing some of the pressure by yelling. That’s the best yell in my opinion. When it just comes out naturally, not comically or forced. The weekend before Thanksgiving break, there is another fencing tournament at Penn state, come watch and experience for yourself. Even as a spectator ignorant about fencing, you can really see how the emotions can control the bouts and everything else I blogged about in my other posts.

Thanks for reading,

Mohamed

Icing. A form of “siking out” an opponent. There are many forms of it in different sports. For example, in soccer, before a penalty kick, the goalkeeper usually has some choice words for the kicker who is about to kick the ball from 12 yards. The words of the goalkeeper can sometimes have an impact on the player, making him/her unsure of themselves. Some players, like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic are like stone walls. With a mental shield against any verbal harm. Some other players however, crack under pressure and deliver a poor penalty kick.

I was out of town once on a fencing trip and was very bored in my hotel room so I turned on the TV to watch college football, something I never do. Notre Dame vs. Alabama, I believe. It was seconds before halftime Notre Dame was leading by one point. Alabama was in a position to kick the field goal and before the play started, the Notre Dame coach called time out on 3 consecutive occasions. This means the kicker had to position himself 4 times. With the score being close and Alabama having a chance to take the lead, the kicker already feels more pressure than normal compared to taking an extra point kick. With the Notre Dame coach “Icing the kicker,” makes the kicker think about the kick longer and longer, making him more and more unsure of himself. When it came time to take the kick, the kicker shanked it wide and Notre Dame retained the lead going into the second half.

In fencing, there are many different forms of getting into your opponent’s head and creating problems. The most common is tying your shoes. During a bout a fencer can raise their hand to the referee to halt the bout to tie their shoes. Even if the laces are not visibly loose, a fencer can just claim that they are just not tight to their preference. This stop in the bout can kill someone’s momentum (definitely expect a post about momentum) if they just scored a few consecutive touches and are looking for more to extend their lead or to come back from a deficit. A fencer can also waste time during the halts where they aren’t engaged in actual fencing by taking off their mask and delaying the bout. They can walk all the way down the strip then back to the starting line. Most referees are aware of this type of time wasting and “icing” so they are vigilant towards it. This is why tying one’s shoe is most common.

My favorite form of intimidation comes from my idol, Muhammad Ali. In press conferences and interviews, he always claimed he was the best that ever lived. That nobody can beat him. He talked about himself like he was the greatest before a lot of people claimed that he was. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” put fear into his opponent’s brains because of his fighting style being very floaty and agile while delivering powerful strikes. Simply put, his attitude was as huge of a part of why he was successful as much as his physical ability and skill.

Thanks For Reading,

Mohamed

This weekend, as mentioned in the “GOTO” discussions we have in class, is the fencing tournament Stefania and I will be competing in at the White Building. Although the tournament materially counts for nothing (points or ranking), it means a lot to the coaches. Stefania and I are freshmen, which means we have something to prove, so already, we have a chip on our shoulders. The coaches also mentioned that in the beginning of the season, making the travel team is up for grabs for anyone. However, we do not have the luxury of the coach’s knowledge of how we compete or do in tournaments like the upperclassmen do. There is a plethora of thoughts running through my head. I hope I don’t lose early. I hope I get first. I hope I fence my best. I hope I don’t meet this specific fencer in the direct elimination rounds. What will happen if I lose? Will my chances of making the team diminish? Will I be looked at as a disappointment? There are so many more frightening thoughts flooding my brain that essentially make me nervous to my toes. However, I have to block all these thoughts out when it comes down to competition day. Imagine someone walking up to you and saying “if you think about strawberries, you will subconsciously smell them.” Also imagine you the the scent of strawberries. There is a huge chance that the first thing you do after this person walks away is think about the strawberries. The scent will engulf your sense of smell and you will be forced to think bout how bad the smell is. You won’t be able to get that smell out of your nose until you do something that distracts your thoughts. The same with fencing and the jitters. While waiting for my name to be called to the strip (equivalent to the court or field), I am constantly thinking about all the bad and wrong things that can happen. However, once I get on the strip and put my mask on, believe it or not, the smell of my sweaty mask will help me clear my head. Every time I put it on, I say “Oh shit” the way my dad says it in his heavy Egyptian accent when he tried imitating the way Samuel Jackson said it in a movie. It distracts me long enough until the referee lets me and my opponent go at it. After that, I am focused on my actions and my fencing. My head is “clear”. When I was younger, I could not keep out the thoughts. I would freeze on the strip. My legs get heavy and my arms get stiff. I would actually get the feeling that I would shit myself. It took me years to master controlling my thoughts and not letting them affect me to the point of physical discomfort. My father never understood my jitters, always telling me to man up, to stop being scared. The truth is, I was scared, but only scared of things that COULD have, but not yet happened. The same thoughts will most definitely creep into my head and possibly my bones this weekend, but I am confident in my sweaty mask, and my years of practice and experience in dealing with my jitters to overcome the obstacle and reach my intended goal of simply fencing the best that I can.

Thanks for reading.

Fencing is a sport often referred to as “Physical Chess”. Why? Because you must read your opponent and predict what they will do before they do it. Not just that, but a fencer must set up his/her opponent to do exactly what they want their opponents to do when they want them to do it. One must always change their technique in their heads to win the mental battle and to outsmart their opponents. Unlike football or soccer where simply being faster gives you a significant advantage, a fencer can come in any size, shape, or form. The advantage lies in the mental ability, honed through practice and perfecting one’s technique. Its so fascinating to me that any person’s personality will always reflect how they fence… and play chess. Conservative people who do not take risks will be more cautious and more defensive when playing chess, always letting their opponent come forward too far and capitalizing on their mistakes. The same goes with a conservative fencer, patiently waiting for the best opportunity to hit their opponent. Waiting to see if they come forward too fast, or their arm is out of position, or if they seem hesitant. The flashy risk taking person in life will go out with the big pieces in chess and try to see how much damage they can cause to their opponent. Flashy fencers will try to humiliate their opponents with fancy moves or constant pressure to try to win physically. There is no right or wrong way to fence, to a certain extent, it is all about finding the best way for success. In chess, one does not have to win perfectly with no pieces lost. Same thing with fencing, sometimes it can and will be close, maybe even too close for comfort. Sometimes, a fencer can be much more skilled and “better” than their opponents and still come out a loser. If that lower level fencer played their pieces correctly, they will indefinitely win the match. Just like chess. On the strip (the equivalent of a field), as a fencer, its just you and them. You have to stay focused upstairs to physically be able to win. This is enough for this post, the next post will most likely discuss willpower and desire/passion and the effects they have on giving someone the edge in winning.

Stay tuned,

Mohamed

Sports Psychology is an intriguing topic of study because it challenges the ignorant idea that sports only require practice, muscle memory, skill, and athleticism. In my opinion, the mental game is just as important as the physical game. To beat an opponent, one must want the victory more. This blog will cover aspects of sports psychology through various team and individual sports.

Thank you for reading, enjoy.

Mohamed