Rage, friend or foe?

[Bjjexpertise@be]

Rage. It is the thing that kicks in during the middle of a fight. For all of those who fought at leaast once in their life, they know what it's like to have rage. But is it a good thing or a bad thing? I have felt that rage is simply a factor that hurts you more than it helps you.
When in rage, people tend to swing wildly without care for consequences or what they're doing. I have seen many times when people have charged me that they leave openings that bring their demise.
What are the up sides of rage? I mean, it gives you a tad bit more strength but is that all?

Comments?

[Tom Yum]

Rage is great for power lifting!!!

As for fighting, its a mixed blessing at best.

You can have the mentality of fighting to cripple or maim and not be in a rage. Its the zone that some fighters get into - glazed eyes that stare through you. But this is something that fighters get from a lot of experience.

Watch the earlier UFCs. The guys that shout the loudest with red faces were not necessarily the best fighters - Ken Shamrock was in the zone; Royce Gracie was in the zone. Just cool, calm and collected. I have seen this with boxers & kickboxers as well.

[Great Sage]

Well... I'll tell you my experience with rage.

Fighting is a frightening and extremely stressful and emotional experience. The first time I got into an altercation, the fear and adrenaline shook and weakened my entire being. I basically couldn’t react out of fear and exhaustion.

In my second fight, the fear turned into rage when I got popped pretty good and everyone was laughing. You could say the rage fueled me with renewed strength. I don’t really recall being out of control, but I do remember feeling like everything was surreal and my senses felt like they were heightened.

I guess you never want to be consumed by rage to the point where you become brainless, but at the same time sometimes the “raging bull” within you will save your life in extreme situations. However, for the most part, you should remain collected and use the rage or anger as fuel for a purpose. There are very few people who can actually handle a situation calmly.

[Tom Yum]

Ever see Royce Gracie's stare down. He's proficient in English, but he doesn't say much; same with Severn & Shamrock.

[Bjjexpertise@be]

You mean the famous Royce stare

[Tom Yum]

or Shamrock, Klitschko, Tyson, Kerr, Severn, Hoost etc.

[Thai Bri]

In sporting competition rage is probably an inhibitor. In a life or death struggle, it could well be your best asset.

It works against the use of clever strategies and complicated techniques in modern sports. But someone who trains in high percentage successful blows, using only gross motor skills, will find rage invaluable.

Thats my two cents.

[terry]

A couple of cops I know got trapped in an elevator with 8 enraged Samoan gang members while they slugged it out with sticks and empty hands for 4 long minutes. One of 'em said that the only reason he's still alive is because he got really mad.

[Tom Yum]

I guess rage helps one overcome life-threatening circumstances. Adrenalin too.

[terry]

Yep, but I would also agree with the perspective that rage isn't what you need in a boxing match in most cases. You'll need focus, determination to be sure, but you'll also need to have a level enough head to execute a strategy and to listen to the guys in your corner on when to change that strategy.

[falcon3624]

Originally posted by terry
A couple of cops I know got trapped in an elevator with 8 enraged Samoan gang members while they slugged it out with sticks and empty hands for 4 long minutes. One of 'em said that the only reason he's still alive is because he got really mad.

I'm sure the strict diet of doughnuts and bear claws helped too. If they were gang members, seems like they would have had guns or maybe at least a knife or something. I would think that if they didn't have weapons and they were in a gang they would be bad enough to take out a couple cops.

[Toudiyama[NL]]

hehe bear claws , we have those too but it is something completely different ( sliced meatbal with slices union and Peanut satehsauce over it

But just as fatening

As for Rage, I'm a controlfreak, losing my temper during a fight ( or getting raged) wouldn't help me unless against a much much bigger opponent (like the 8 samoans) but then I would probably use the rage to scare the shit out of him ( it would scare the shit out of me personally)

[Bjjexpertise@be]

So you're saying that as long as you know how to channel the rage then it's a positive thing?

[Lizard]

Not having enough rage is worse than having too much. If you are scared and don't feel any rage then you won't fight back properly.

Controled rage (if it exists) would give you the best of both worlds: Improved strength and reduced mercy but still being in control and capable of clear thought. Sort of like an Evil emotion, a desire to cause pain.

[falcon3624]

To end the argument.....what does the incredible hulk kick ass with? RAGE!!!!!

Who in here thinks they can kick the hulk's ass?