Psyching Up for a Fight

The final key to psyching up effectively is mental conditioning. In combat, there is often little time to prepare for what might happen. You must be able to reach your optimum level of intensity any time. This is beyond just psyching-up. Instant intensity comes from consistent daily training. To improve your mental condition:

1. Practice every skill and movement with full intensity.
2. Make each repetition better than the previous.
3. Follow your plan with consistency and determination.
4. Live life with the same alertness you fight with.

Maintaining your peak intensity throughout a bout is the result of conditioning plus endurance. If you get distracted by pain, fear, your opponent, your environment, or other external factors, mental conditioning will help you to refocus on your original goal. Without a strong mind, your focus can easily be distracted by nonessential external factors. Mental conditioning helps you to psyche-up quickly and improves your mental endurance.

In a match of two equally skilled opponents, the one with greater mental endurance will prevail. Mental endurance allows you to be persistent and reach your goal, despite the blocks your opponent puts in your way.
Mental endurance will give you an aura of toughness and aggressiveness

that is intimidating to opponents. There is no opponent more intimidating than the one who attacks consistently, no matter what you do. He is impervious to your attacks and seems determined to fight until he prevails. This is the result of strong mental endurance.

Mental conditioning is related to the toughness of the fight and mental endurance is related to the length of the bout. With a combination of both conditioning and endurance, you will develop a determined, indomitable warrior spirit. Warrior spirit gives you the guts to attack, the patience to wait for a better opportunity, and the persistence to finish the fight though you are exhausted. Among the most highly skilled combatants, warrior spirit is all that separates the winners from the losers.