Psychology of fighting: fear 09:00 08/13/2014 Present in nearly every sports discipline, concerning losing, failure, shame. In injury risk sports, like armwrestling, fear may also concern getting injured. How should one cope with fear? Not what you were looking for? Search for other text. How should one cope with fear? Fear is a reaction to a situation that we interpret as a threat. When under attack, our body triggers the fight or flight reaction. It’s an evolutionary mechanism, allowing to fully utilize the capabilities of our bodies in order to deal with a threat – defeating an opponent or avoiding engagement. But fear also appears when we imagine an oncoming situation – then the reaction happens a few days before a fight and is prolonged, exposing our energy reserves to stress. It’s a dead end for our body – the mind keeps imagining danger, the body triggers the fight-or-flight response, but the danger is still present in our mind. And when the real fight comes, we are worn down