The Impact of our Subconscious While Fighting

[Kelly Creegan]

So I fought tonight and I'm fighting 2 more times in the next 2 weeks. This is the first time for me that I've fights (scheduled) so close together!

 

I won the fight, but typical me not happy at all. I won comfortably enough. When we got back to the gym after my manager said to people ooh she fight maybe 30% and win haha. I can see how he thought that as I dunno it wasnt a ya know toe to toe war!! But I actually really wanted to win by stoppage (it was my 4th fight v same opponent I've won every time). I hesitated a lot and I'm wondering if I was thinking subconsciously that I've 2 more fights I don't want to get hurt!

Maybe that's an excuse in my head for my average performance but I wonder for people (especially say sylvie) who fight so often does that ever go through your mind!

 

I could be chatting shit I can't sleep after fights and I over think too much but just wondering peoples thoughts

[threeoaks]

Wish someone would reply.  Love to understand more about this & thanks for posting.  Dana aka three oaks.

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

Hey, I actually happened to run into Kelly on a visa run to Laos and we got to chat for a moment outside 7-11 about this. I do believe there's a subconscious tendency to "save" for the later fights, either not wanting to get hurt or hoping you won't be too tired for the others, etc. I definitely have a "just don't get cut," mantra going on in my head when I have fights scheduled close together.

It's interesting because my attitude toward the frequent (like, days apart) fights became "just knock her out," which seems reasonable enough but as Kelly points out, it kind of leads to doing nothing. You can't look for the KO because it becomes evasive. You have to just relax and set everything up and the KO will come. I fought a really good opponent recently, whom I'd lost to before, and did much better the second time around. I was hurting her with my hands but then I decided I wanted to really whack her, which resulted in my waiting for the right moment and basically loading up for these power punches that never got thrown. I threw, like, two punches in three rounds because I was trying to land something to rock her, rather than just punching and letting the power come through on the 3rd or 4th shot in a combination. Worthless. I lost again.

I think when you fight close together and look for a quick fight or to not get hurt, you end up doing something similar to loading up. You get passive, in a way. From my experience, fighting a few days apart, or even fighting 15 hours apart, you don't feel the previous fights very much. You might have a sore shin or bruises or be a bit tired with muscle aches, but you don't care about any of that stuff in the fight. You may be focused on it in a bad way leading up to the fight, like "what if I feel this in the fight," but in my experience even if you feel it, you don't care. It doesn't matter.

Once you've done it, you'll have better internal or subconscious understanding of what it is for you. It becomes easier as you continue to do it, same as when you train through something and realize it wasn't a big deal at all. I feel like I fight better when I fight frequently, so I reckon I'm not so anomalous that others don't also end up feeling this way - you'll probably feel really good if you work on your mental side to let go and fight every fight like it's the only one. You don't have to "save" anything.

[Kelly Creegan]

Yea I think it's just all down to experience aswell like back home I fought so infrequently it was like fighting for 1st time over and over!"

 

anyway really looking forward to sharing the ring with my buddy juliana on sat I reckon it will be a great scrap I hope so anyway :)