Fear

[Ultimatewingchun]

Here's some incredible quotes from Cus D'Amato, the legendary boxing trainer of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres, and a host of other fighters.
.........................................

Story of Cus D'Amato and fear

originally posted : http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266

THE BLACK LIGHTS: Inside the World of Professional Boxing by Thomas Hauser

Pages 18-20

One of boxing's foremost authorities on the subject of fear is

Cus D'Amato, the legendary trainer of Mike Tyson, Jose Torres, and Floyd

Patterson. A diminutive, outspoken man who has worked with young

fighters for most of his 77 years, D'Amato often looks back on

his own experiences to put the subject of fear into context.

"I remember the first time I got involved in what I call a

waiting fight," D'Amato reminisces. "In the neighborhood in

which I lived, which was a pretty tough neighborhood, you got

involved in fights all the time. Whenever you got angry, you

fought or you lost respect. Under those conditions you didn't

think about being frightened. You replaced fear with anger. But

it's different when you have the experience of waiting, an

experience I had once. I lived in an Italian neighborhood, and a

few blocks away there was an Irish neighborhood. I never used to

have trouble with the Irish; I got along with everybody. But

then the neighborhoods had some trouble, and both sides

said, 'You bring a guy and we'll bring a guy, and they'll fight

it out. Instead of both gangs fighting, we'll have two guys

representing the neighborhoods.' I was 16," D'Amato

continues, "and the Italian guys chose me. I wasn't mad at the

Irish, I wasn't mad at anybody. But three days ahead of time I

knew I had to fight this big Irish guy at nine o'clock on

Saturday night. So comes the night of the fight, I didn't want

to fight because this guy never did anything to me, but I got no

choice. All the Italian guys and I go over to the street between

the neighborhoods, and wait under a big street light. We got

there, maybe five minutes to nine, with eighty or ninety guys,

and the Irish must have had a hundred but their fighter hadn't

shown yet. I sat down on the curb, and I was thinking to

myself. 'How the hell did I get into this mess?' To tell the

truth, I was scared. All my life, when I got mad I'd fought. I

was fighting grown men when I was fourteen, but now I'm

saying, 'Jesus Christ, what's the matter with me? I got to be

crazy to do this. The next time some guys try to get me to

fight, I'll fight them first; I got nothing against these Irish

fellows.'" D'Amato's eyes grow larger, his face more animated,

as his tale progresses. "Anyway, I'm sitting there, really

sweating. I reached up, felt the sweat on my forehead, and

figured it was blood, but it was only sweat. Nine o'clock comes

and the Irish guy isn't there. Quarter after nine, the Irish guy

isn't there. Nine-thirty, I'm still waiting, and all the time

the waiting is getting worse because this guy is gonna be there,

and I'm gonna have to fight him. Finally, at ten o'clock, one of

his buddies comes and says the Irish guy is scared. He ain't

showing. It was the happiest moment of my life."

Fighters are the most exposed athletes in the world. During a

fight, the crowd observes every twitch and movement. Still,

spectators rarely see fear in a quality fighter. "That," says

D'Amato, "is because the fighter has mastered his emotions to

the extent that he can conceal and control them." But whatever a

fighter says, the fear is there. It never goes away. He just

learns to live with it. "And the truth is," D'Amato

continues, "fear is an aspect to a fighter. It makes him move

faster, be quicker and more alert. Heroes and cowards feel

exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently. On

the morning of a fight, a boxer wakes up and says, 'How can I

fight? I didn't sleep at all last night.' What he has to realize

is, the other guy didn't sleep either. Later, as the fighter

walks toward the ring, his feet want to walk in the opposite

direction. He's asking himself how he got into this mess. He

climbs the stairs into the ring, and it's like going to the

guillotine. Maybe he looks at the other fighter, and sees by the

way he's loosening up that his opponent is experienced, strong,

very confident. Then when the opponent takes off his robe, he's

got big bulging muscles. What the fighter has to realize,"

concludes D'Amato, "is that he's got exactly the same effect on

his opponent, only he doesn't know it. And when the bell rings,

instead of facing a monster built up by the imagination, he's

simply up against another fighter."

[Dragonzbane76]

remember the first kickboxing fight i ever did, in front of a big crowd, felt exactly the way he describes at the end. :)

[Ultimatewingchun]

And closely related to the subject of fear - and the will to prevail - is what you'll see and hear on this amazing vid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ6C1pNy0GI

[sanjuro_ronin]

Very well put.
I remember my first boxing match, I wasn't scared of getting hurt, I was scared of losing.
I remember my first fight, I was scared of BEING IN a fight, LOL !
The fear is always there, but I never "overcame" it with anger though, I was always a very cold and dispassionate fighter.
I fought to test my skills ( in the ring) and never held any personal issues to my opponent, so I never got "mad".
The fear was always of not being "good enough" in the ring.
I don't ever remember being afraid of dying or getting hurt per say...
I remember the first time I went out on a mission, that was scary and I was afraid but in a whole different context, I remember how cold it was, how everything smelled, I remember vivid things that seemed so unimportant...funny how that was.
The rest is rather personal of course and not to be shared on a forum, but fear comes in different forms but i t is always there, always.

[Ultimatewingchun]

It's funny, this article brought back a lot of memories, as I went to a Catholic grammar school filled with lots of Irish guys (I'm Italian)...and then an all-boys Catholic high school wherein Irish guys made up about 80% of the enrollment.

I really have nothing against the Irish - but I remember similar situations to what Cus D/Amato describes from his old Brooklyn days: anticipation of upcoming fights when some arguments led to the proverbial "we'll meet later after school and settle this thing."

And my father, RIP, used to tell me lots of stories about the Italian-Irish rivalries and fights here in Brooklyn in those days (he was from the same generation as D'Amato).

And then there was that guy when I was about 29: I knew there was going to be a fight the next time I saw him - given the circumstances that were going on where I worked at the time...big, nasty, street fightin' semi-pro football player dude...anticipating that fight over the weekend that preceded it - that was scary.

But I ate the fear and turned it into some serious anger...and when it came time - i just went for it full blast.

I loved this article, and actually remember an appearance on the Johnny Carson show way back by Mike Tyson - wherein he talked about how much Cus D'Amato taught him regarding how to deal with fear.

[TenTigers]

my first tournament was a total shock to me. My friend and I just decided to enter this tournament, figuring it was just like sparring, only when we got there and read the entrance forms,we realized it was a full contact TKD tournament. (no headgear, bare-knuckle, only hogu) I looked at my friend and said,"This is full-contact!" He said, "Cool! Let's do this!"
And that was it. I was sh1tting a brick, but I entered.
Everyone there was in pure white do-boks, we were there in "salt n'pepper gi's" white tops, black pants. (we had studied TKD, but now were enrolled in a Kenpo school) we stuck out like sore thumbs. That added to my nervousness.
I get in the ring, and all the judges are Korean, my opponent is Korean, and I just felt like I just didn't belong there.
Then the bell rang.
My opponent charged at me, and I turned to run.
Well, my head said,"run!" But my body did a spinning back kick that nailed him-hard. The crowd roared, and everything changed.
I fought, grabbed him by the jacket, punched him several times to the body, shoved him and kicked him out of the ring with a crossover sidekick (a kenpo staple-remember Joe Lewis..) the only strike he landed was an illegal punch to the jaw. (no punches to the head allowed)
They raised his hand at the end...(lots of booing from the crowd) My card was torn up by the ref, and I was told to "go home!"
Apparently, though grabbing and punching and shoving, etc was perfectly fine in Kenpo (we used to grab hair, kick to the groin, etc) In a TKD match, it is somewhat frowned upon...DOH!
It was a great experience, though. I guess I was kind of forced into it-peer pressure by my friend, and all. But I fought through my fear.

I wonder what would've happened had my body obeyed my head, and I had run.
It probably would've been an experience that would haunt me for life....

It seems that every fight I was ever in, whether it was tournaments or street, it went down the same way. I was always scared going in, and my body operated on its own. Win or lose, as soon as it's on, I always fought without hesitation.
(thank God...)

[Ultimatewingchun]

Here's Tyson talking about fear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khiiv19SVpI

..........................

And this vid just about says it all - he could have been the greatest boxer ever. And if D'Amato had lived - I don't think we'd be talking about "coulda been".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAcB2GhFns

[sihing]

Very well put.
I remember my first boxing match, I wasn't scared of getting hurt, I was scared of losing.
I remember my first fight, I was scared of BEING IN a fight, LOL !
The fear is always there, but I never "overcame" it with anger though, I was always a very cold and dispassionate fighter.
I fought to test my skills ( in the ring) and never held any personal issues to my opponent, so I never got "mad".
The fear was always of not being "good enough" in the ring.
I don't ever remember being afraid of dying or getting hurt per say...
I remember the first time I went out on a mission, that was scary and I was afraid but in a whole different context, I remember how cold it was, how everything smelled, I remember vivid things that seemed so unimportant...funny how that was.The rest is rather personal of course and not to be shared on a forum, but fear comes in different forms but i t is always there, always.

I know you already know this Paul, this effect, your ability to vividly remember things, it happened because you perceived those moments in time differently, you placed an importance upon them (probably cause your life was on the line..)and your senses elevated, you lived each moment by the moment. This is the way we should live every moment, cause it could be your last even in everyday life, but we get used to things, habits form, our comfort level adjusts and our senses relax. But when a fight happens once again it starts up again.
Thanks for sharing that:)
Great quotation on Fear by Gus D'Amato, and it's so true, and I like how he says that all fighters feel the same feeling of fear but it's just how they react to it, awesome stuff...

James

[Wayfaring]

Nice quote, Victor!!

[Phil Redmond]

I had butterflies in my stomach before my fight with kick boxer Jonas Nunez. Especially after seeing him do full splits and high kicks in his corner. But after the first exchange they went away. I had the same feeling before we went into the field in Vietnam. Once the sh#t hits the fan your training takes over.

[shawchemical]

Fear is healthy and a useful tool.
But just like everything it needs to be focussed into the task at hand.

Anger too is a gift, but if it or fear control you the fight is lost.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I know you already know this Paul, this effect, your ability to vividly remember things, it happened because you perceived those moments in time differently, you placed an importance upon them (probably cause your life was on the line..)and your senses elevated, you lived each moment by the moment. This is the way we should live every moment, cause it could be your last even in everyday life, but we get used to things, habits form, our comfort level adjusts and our senses relax. But when a fight happens once again it starts up again.
Thanks for sharing that

Well, its hard to share personal stuff on a forum, as you know.
Its a funny thing though, that very feeling I felt, that awareness, I never really felt in the ring, but did, on occasion while bouncing.
I recall one time we threw a coupled of vietnamese kids out of the night club I worked at, Venus2, and they came back, drive by type, with guns.
Now, no one got hurt, but I remember the events so vivid, in slo-mo really, the felling that one gets when **** is gonna hit the fan, the car driving up slowly ( White honda civic, supped up) the windows down and the hand with the gun coming out, the sound of the shots, me diving over a girl that was beside me and cover her up, the yells and screams and sound of the car screeching away...

Anyways...

Fear is a good thing, it keeps us alert and it is there for a reason.

[HumbleWCGuy]

On some level what Cus was discussing is irrelevant to the average WCer. As a self-defense martial artist choosing not fight and to fight has the same outcome which is self-preservation. As a self-defense martial artist, fear is almost irrelevant because in the heat of the moment, the training will take over and allow one to preserve life.

What Cus is getting at is the fear that can ultimately consume a fighter's amateur and professional career. Pat Smith was a good example of a guy with some talent who had a lot of trouble with the "jitters." Not to say that he was more jittery than the next man, He just didn't handle it well.

[Lee Chiang Po]

I was challenged to a fight once when I was a young man, and everyone told me that I was going to be really beat up and possibly killed. The guy was reputed to be a dangerous fighter. I had all week to think about it and several times started to leave town. I was fearful. Then came the Saturday afternoon when I got off work in the Restaurant I worked at, and everyone gathered in the alley. He was so confident, and I could hear my own heart beating. Then when we started fighting, I decided that I would give it all I had, and maybe he would not bother me again, even if he did beat me badly. I was so savage that I beat him to a pulp easily, and then everyone was giving me the stink eye and saying I was un-necessarily brutal. I probably was, but I was in great fear for life and limb.
In the 60's I volunteered and went to war. Vietnam was another fearful experience. I don't think there was a day that went by that I did not have fear in my heart. It kept me allert, and it kept me alive. I was shot, blown up, and yet I knew that if I gave in to the pain and fear I would never see home again. I never closed my eyes, but remained allert until I was safe again. Real fear is when you are facing certain death. When death is actively seeking you out. It is at these times that you learn certain things about yourself. Who you truely are.

[Ultimatewingchun]

Read this:


These quotes are from Mind Games: Psychological Warfare in MMA, an article in issue 56 of Fighters Only magazine.

The psychologist quoted is Joe Bell:

"The best when it comes to the staredown is Fedor Emelianenko. Watch him: he does not make eye contact and his entire expression is extremely relaxed - you would think he is about to sit down for dinner or something.

"But here is the crucial thing. When the referee tells them to head back to their corners, Fedor suddenly darts a short look directly at his opponent - or through his opponent, I should say.

"This kind of look is associated with antisocial behavioural disorders and psychopaths. They don't look at you, they look through you. It's emotionless, it goes deeper than skin level.

"You will get a lot of fighters who will catch that look and suddenly realise they don't want to be there.

[Ultimatewingchun]

...into the man is this:

"Years ago we hardly had anything to eat. Now I earn more money and I see every opponent as a man that tries to put me back to that poorer period.
That man has to be eliminated."

-Emelianenko, Fedor

[Zhang Yong Chun]

Teddy Atlas, back in 1987, taught me a lot about how to deal with fear. He was and is one of the best trainers ever and had a lot to say about Mike Tyson that I just couldn't believe at the time.

My Dad was probably my greatest teacher. Growing up in East New York and the Lower East Side, the possibility of your life being over was pretty high. Fighting one guy in a scheduled event never quite lived up to the same random terror of the sudden gang attack when you would be alone against more than two guys who may or may not have knives, bottles, and God Knows What Else.

The first time you fight someone bigger, more muscular, and seemingly tougher than you are, you know the outcome of the fight in the first five seconds. That's when you find out how the guy responds to adversity and you determine what it will take to break his will.

[bennyvt]

my teacher once told me fear and anger are the same chemical in the body. Its how you have been conditioned to respond. Like when a baby vids to pat a wild animal. He always had a reading list and the main one was 'on killing, the phsycological cost of killing in war time' by lt grossman. It not only goes into what is fear and why people get post tramatic stress but also how they train people to kill each other which can be applied to drills etc.

[sanjuro_ronin]

...into the man is this:

"Years ago we hardly had anything to eat. Now I earn more money and I see every opponent as a man that tries to put me back to that poorer period.
That man has to be eliminated."

-Emelianenko, Fedor

Many old school fighters think that way, I recall Tyson mentioning that when he was younger.
" I have THIS and you wanna take it away from me, I must destroy you for that".

The mental edge of intent and it ALL goes back to intent.

[Ultimatewingchun]

Great posts, guys...

and Zhang: I can identify with that a bit. I had to fight a bunch of guys in my earlier days who were bigger than me...and also had to deal with four attempted muggings (none of which succeeded)....one of which included three guys and just me alone in a subway train station.

It's scary as hell alright.

But like sanjuro says, in the final analysis it's about INTENT.