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RAGE
12 Feb 2010
By Mike Leng
Anger, frustration, even hate. These all play a massive part in peoples motivations. It helps people lose weight, get a new job, leave an abusive partner and generally change their lives. It’s a powerful force, an inner fire that can’t be quelled by talk or taking 10 breaths. It requires action, as Michael Douglas said as Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street;
"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that anger — for lack of a better word — is good. Anger is right. Anger works. Anger clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit."
But what place does rage have for a fighter? Is the image of angry men waiting to knock seven bells out of each other a correct or necessary one?
Many fighters use rage towards their opponent, they conduct a negative mental image of the other fighter so that they can tap into a side of their personality that allows them to deal out the maximum amount of time in the shortest time possible.
Paul McVeigh has been quoted saying that he goes out of his way to feel negatively towards his opponents, he feels that this mental image lets him train harder and feel more prepared for what’s coming. This process is not always logical ‘to build up a healthy level of animosity I’ve been drinking Costa coffee everyday and because its tastes like its been strained through the devils jock strap it pisses me off. I then blame my opponent for this. My brain works funny a lot of the time’.
Dan Hardy is another fighter that likes to have a feeling that his opponent has wronged him. Recently Dan has encouraged people to Photoshop images of Marcus Davis on internet forums. This may be a two folded approach as not only does it insight a smack talk war that helps Hardy dislike his opponent it has also got under the skin of Davis with him talking about the images in several interviews.
However with most fighters this feeling of anger is over as soon as the fight is over. Fighters are known to say wonderful things and hug the fighters they hated but 15 minutes ago. Some fighters on the other hand continue this hate well beyond the bell. Houston Alexander is known to shout at his unconscious opponents and rivalries such as Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz go well beyond the bell.
Other fighters use rage as a motivational tool in a fight but not directly towards their opponent. They feel rage towards that the thought of losing will but them a step back towards a previous life. Many fighters main motivation to fight is to provide for their families. Mike Bisping frequently sights his children as a reason to fight. Many other fighters don’t want to be sent back to ‘The Hood’ by another fighter. Fedor is a fighter that often states this. He enters the ring looking right through his opponent to victory.
With some fighters they barely even register the flicker of anger and see the match as simply business. Fighters such as GSP, Anderson Silva and Couture always try to remain respectful towards their opponents even in the heat of smack talk. GSP took many an insult for BJ Penn up to the lead of their fight, Penn even continued to berate GSP in the programmes leading up to the fight, however GSP did his talking in the cage. Anderson Silver always talks very highly before and after fights often praising people’s abilities he has to watch out for.
However despite all this pretty much all fighters use rage at some point in their training. Whether it be for a previous poor performance or simply they gave up when they could have pushed themselves even further. Fighters summon up mental images of winning and use the thought of losing as a motivational tool. The thought of losing makes any fighter angry but they use that rage by pointing it inward to create strength.
Many people in the ‘real world’ see rage as a negative thing, we are taught to count to ten, take a deep breath and suppress things that are perfectly natural. People fail to use the power of a simple emotion that can change their lives. It is a sign that you are not content with your life. Fighters use and direct this rage and many of us would be better off if we could harness this rather than bury it. Rage allows people to change their lives if given focus (I'm not suggesting you go and double leg your Boss then pound him out, just make some changes).
To most people the thought of letting loose and using this rage as a life changing force is crazy, showing an actual emotion in the real world makes people ‘uncomfortable’. Maybe that’s why people are paying thousands of pounds for therapy while sitting there saying that fighters clearly have ‘problems’.
By a fighter’s very nature, they are emotional, primal people that use their fears and anger as a positive force in their training as well as their fights. This rage creates a passion that makes MMA the most exciting sport in the world. Long may people rage…….
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