"practice makes perfect"
Perfect practice makes perfect. Its an important distinction.
This is why I wish I wasn't garbage, tournament nerves wouldn't effect me much. I don't say that from some stupid bragging standpoint, I've just never really had an issue getting in front of crowds of people. I get nervous, sure, but its the same type of nervousness that Id get if I was home by myself playing in a tourney, or anything, I want to win, so your adrenaline gets moving and you get hype.
The best advice I can give you, is take a deep breath as your walking up to play and realize that everyone in that room, is everyone in that room. Its a conglomerate of random people with random skills, likes, disliked, beliefs, etc. You are separate only in that they are looking at you, which changes nothing. The weight of a stare can be overwhelmingly heavy, until you consciously realize that its *not*.
When I used to fight, as Id walk up, Id just kinda of accept the people around me and in the stands and once I accepted them, Id shrug and do a little ego building. It sounds stupid, but, in your own mind, build yourself up. YOU are competing, not them. They couldn't hack it. They couldn't do what you do. So what if you get laid out? You are still putting your ass on the line, not them. And if the people staring at you are also competitors like yourself, shrug again, its your turn, they've done this before and know how it goes, you win or you lose, both outcomes happen to EVERY BODY, and if they're judgmental because you got your ass beat, then you know they are in the wrong sport to begin with, thus beneath your notice and concern.
See, you had a positive experience, you just don't realize it. Lemme ask you a question, are you worse at Jax (or mkx in general) after the tournament? Are your fingers broken or hands damaged? Are people on your lawn with signs that say you suck and your cancels weren't crispy? I'm betting not. I'm betting your sitting at home, chilling out and relaxing (I'm resisting more lyrics here). I'm betting you aren't barred from Gamestop or any further competitions.. You had, essentially, a worse-case scenario. You fucked up, you feel apart to a degree and you lost. But.. the worlds still spinning and you are still the same man, body and spirit that went to the tourney to begin with.
Which means NEXT TIME, why worry so much? I mean, you have already experienced the WORST POSSIBLE OUTCOME that a case of tourney-nerves could account for, and you are still whole, standing and unphased. Not to mention back and ready to compete again. Ill bet those nerves don't mean shit, why should they? We get nervous because we fear, you already faced your fear and realized it wasn't worth your notice or concern.
I won my first 6 public fights. Crowds were 50-1500 people and for me, it got harder each time. I knew a loss would come, anyone who says they used to fight then says some none-sense about a perfect record, is lying through his/her teeth. ESPECIALLY mixed martial arts. And I was never dumb enough to think I was a virtuoso, I was solid, I thought I was quite good, but an undefeated legend? Um, no. I've been MOPPED in the gym by guys who were barely even part-timers and were three weight classes UNDER me. I knew a loss would come.
It finally did. A skinny black guy submitted me in the middle of the second round with a rear naked choke. I tapped out before I passed out, but I was still barely able to stand, had to be helped out of the ring and past 1500 people, back to the dressing room/janitors closet we were using. Everyone was crowded around me and offering condolences and trying to make me feel better, all I was doing was trying to clear my head and see straight.. But once I kinda came to, I popped up and was like fuck yeah, lets go get some food boys, I'm hungry. And from that day on, what nerves I had built up were totally gone. I could nap before fights, I didn't get freaked out or even overly hyped up. I had experienced almost the worst case scenario (worst would have been getting knocked the fuck out, which didn't happen until my 10th fight - DON'T FIGHT ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT CLASS. DON'T.) and I was still standing and fine. I fought for fun, it didn't put food on my table, so a loss was just a thing that happened. I was still standing (after the fact... lol) eating, drinking, I had intentions of making a few calls and finding female companionship for the evening (god I miss being single.. and in my early 20s), and I was ready to hit the gym after work the next day and keep training.
The world keeps turning and in that, I find a great deal of solace.
