You are a (perceived) threat!

So what do I mean by ‘perceived threat’?

Your body—your nervous system in particular—responds to danger. If you see sudden threat to your safety, like a stranger jumping out at you with an axe, or a car speeding toward, you’ll get an adrenaline rush and go into fight-or-flight to help you get out of danger and back to safety.

But, there’s an issue with this whole process: you don’t just go into fight-or-flight when you’re actually threatened, it happens anytime you think you’re threatened.

The problem is, your brain reacts to threats against your own self-image or your social standing the same way it reacts to threats to your physical safety.

For example, seeing your next DE bout is against a really good fencer might make you release some adrenaline, because you are afraid you’re gonna lose.

I know for me this often happens—I have this little voice in my head that goes ‘if you don’t win this one, you’re not really a good fencer, and you never will be!’

When I can step back, I see that that’s not true, but if I let my brain run on automatic, those thoughts make it really hard to focus.

So that’s where the term ‘perceived threat’ comes in. It’s anything our nervous system reacts to as if it’s dangerous to us, even when it’s not.

But on a positive note, remember: some of your opponents are going to be a ‘perceived threat’ for you . . . But for others, (or maybe even the same ones) you’re also gonna be a ‘perceived threat’ to them.

So, what can you do about it?

You’ll have to see my next post for the answer to that one ;-)

OR—sign up for one of my upcoming clinics to get real-world practice handling difficult moments or panic in a bout.