nervous in taikai/ other things

[aru-ma]

wasnt sure where to post this so here,

I know some of you have been doing kendo or any other budo for longer than I have lived and have been to more and bigger taikai/demonostration/gradings than I've ever been, I guess the first the question is do you still get nervous doing it?

also, I'm generally nervous standing in front of people, whether it'd be class presentations, short speeches or, to alesser extent, taikai, this leads to my second question, how do you overcome these things?

[KATSUJIN]

well...i have not been doing kendo for that long...so i am not the right person to answer this...but I think even at higher levels, they get nervous...but just a little bit....

[xvikingx]

the nice thing about the men is, that it acts like blinders for horse... during demos, once I get my men on all nervousness goes right out the window. I wonder if that has to do with not being able to see the audience or if I become more concerned about the guy who is trying to hit me. hhmmmm...

[Lynn]

yupz!
i still get pretty nervous during competitions and gradings....as for demos...haha...i dun think im up to the standard of giving demos yet.

i think for me it's a progressive thing. i didn't used to feel that nervous during my first competition. i think it's bout one month after i wore bougu, me and my mates joined this youth competition with our seniors. it was the only competition i was not feeling nervous. coz basically i was the most junior there, i had the mentality that i had nothing to lose. i dun know if it's the correct mentality or not, but that was how i felt back then.

as i joined more competitions and went for gradings, the feeling of nervousness just increases. right now, with the grading just 2 weeks away, im reaching new heights in nervousness....*groanz*


w

[M.K. Kawai]

Yes.

But, not as much as when I was a kid. I'll give a tip on getting rid of that nervousness... Just yell your head off!

Seriously, it really works. Everytime you feel a little nervous out there... just yell!

It worked for me, I hope it works for you :D

MKK

P.S. Do your yelling (Kiai) on the court ;)

[Hai_hai]

As a beginner, I have no idea what you are talking about. However, it sounds like you have the symptoms that are a cross between fear of public speaking, stage fright, competition butterflies, and fear of embarassment in public.
You lack a certain degree of confidence. Lack of confidence does not necessarily mean lack of knowledge or ability.

(cue in "I Believe The Children Are Our Future" by Whitney Houston)

aru-ma, you need to practice in front of a small group before doing presentations. Also, practice in front of a mirror or in front of someone you know. You may be doing things you don't realize you are doing... like looking down, fumbling with your hands, etc. Show them all the beauty you possess inside.
As for competitions, you need to psyche yourself up for the event. Have a pre-taikai warm-up routine. Other athletes of other sports do this. I decided long ago, never to give up in anyone's shadow. If I fail, if I succeed... okay, I'm plagarizing now, but, talk to others in your dojo.

[Goyaman]

Feeling nervous is natural during a taikai, especially before the first match of the day. However, as you gain experience, you will also build confidence which will ease *some* of the nervousness. Different kenshi have different ways that they deal with this, and for me, I try to focus on warming up carefully and just staying loose as possible. MKK's suggestion of using kiai is also good.

It's useful to try to examine the root of nervous feelings directly too; this is a point of training as nerves arise from two of the "four poisons" of kendo (fear & doubt). These are ultimately self defeating of course, and by sincerely confronting them you can manage it better over time. After all, what really is the worst that can happen?

We all have good days and bad days during shiai, and as your begin doing shiai you'll learn from mistakes and develop consistency which eventually will help your results. You will probably never lose the nervous feeling completely, but don't worry about your opponents and instead concentrate on doing your best kendo. Approach it as chance to learn and show what you can do, and perhaps most importantly, try to have fun!