I've been reading on this site every few years or so, since my last message in 2013, and I thought that after 6 years of silence, I'd ask another question.
![wink ;)](./images/smilies/yabb_wink.gif)
Anyway, on to the question...
In your encounters in the gym, competitions or on the street, how much do you feel that you've been able to influence the outcome through psychology? Winning without throwing a punch, or perhaps "setting the stage"?
One experience I had on the street (or rather, on the bus, to be more correct) a few years ago, was when I asked a young gentleman to remove his feet from the seat, explaining that the seat is for sitting and not for dirty shoes. This young mans reaction surprised me quite a lot. He jumped up, called me a racist and screamed at the top of his voice that he would kill me.
I tried to talk reason into him explaining that it is quite uncalled for to kill someone over leaving dirty foot prints on the seat, and that this is not the proper way to behave on the bus. The result was that he hit me with a sloppy hook on the cheek bone. Now keep in mind here that I was extremely lucky! This was on a moving bus so he could not get any weight behind the punch, he also hit me straight on the cheek bone, so probably hurt his hand more than me, and from a psychological point of view... I've been hit in the face several times before during boxing training, so although unpleasant and in a hostile environment, the experience of being hit in the face was not new to me.
So what did I do?
Instead of attacking, raising my voice or anything like that, I lowered my voice, raised my guard, and told him that it is quite a mistake to hit someone in the face for a verbal argument while looking him straight in the eyes.
I have a feeling that this was not what he expected, since he again shouted that we would kill me, but didn't hit me again, and on top of that, one of his friends jumped in between and begged me to stop talking to his friend, while his friend made half hearted attempts to hit me although in my opinion he wasn't really trying. Shortly after that the bus stopped at the next station and the two guys left the bus and so did I and we went separate ways.
Now of course I was just plain lucky, since they were 2 against 1, and he could have had a knife, been on drugs or what ever, but sadly for my mother and loved ones, I can be quite stubborn and proud in the wrong situations.
But I have a feeling that I did not give them the reaction they were used to when hitting morning commuters in the face, and that perhaps this caused them to hesitate?
Oh, and there were other people on the bus, but all of them looked the other way and did their best to ignore the situation once the shouting started, but that could also of course have added a bit of "pressure" to the guys even though no one was intefering.
Anyway, this is my experience.
What are your experiences when playing a psychological game?
Best regards,
Dan