My athletic career started long before I joined the SCA, and it was there that I learned about Confidence making you a better athlete. Confidence in the way you walk, talk and carry your self, dramatically improve how you can fight.
How many times have you heard someone say “I can’t win” and actually seen that person go out and win? I don’t think I have seen that happen in my entire life. How is it that you can tell that a stranger is a good stick, just by watching them walk onto the field. The lack of confidence can destroy you, but having confidence can make you a more stable, better fighter.
The first step to feeling confident when you fight is to feel comfortable in your surroundings. Understanding how the game is played (even though you may not be able to participate in all aspects) will help you get comfortable. Watch fights, learn how to marshal, really work on being able to call blows correctly, get an idea of the good fighters frequenting the tourney circuit and fight! Also you must feel reasonably comfortable in your armor. I had a set a legs, that for a long time whenever I got hit on my left thigh, it would jag metal in to it and make me bleed (I still have scars from it). I never felt comfortable in those legs, because I knew pain was headed in my direction. So for as long as I wore those legs, my confidence was shaken, because I could not go meet my opponent with my mind completely on the fight.
The second step to confidence is faking it. Even though you may be unnerved in your mind, if you walk out on that field as if you own it and nobody can take it from you, you will give off an aura of confidence. If you tell yourself that you are the best fighter out here, and no body can beat you this day, you slowly start to listen to yourself. I think the phrase is “fake it, till you make it”. If you continue to make yourself carry those shoulders high, and have no fear in your eyes or your mind, eventually those traits will become apart of you and you will be all those things.
Confidence usually doesn’t come quickly in fighting (unless you’ve had martial arts or other athletic training), but it will come. Once you have it, it is something that will bolster your fighting career for the rest of your life. But do remember, everyone has their bad days. Just because you don’t feel confident in one (or a hundred) fights does not make you a failure, it is just something that has to be worked at. Confidence is something that needs to be learned, just as you have to learn how to use a sword and shield.
Written by: Kolfinna kottr
Edited & Commented by: Eichling von Amrum
