The 3 winning mindsets of a fighter

Master Kongling All, 6DKF philosophy, Conditioning, Fighting strategy, Mind / body control detachment, mental skills, mindset 2

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The mindset of the warrior: 3 rules

These are the best ways to see a fight (whether it is for self-defense or sports competitions):

Imagine seeing the fight from the outside
Imagine that our enemy does not exist, that he / she is only another element of the scenario
Imagine the fight as a game against ourselves

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

In martial arts and combat sports (read The 6 types of martial clash), victory is not solely determined by physical prowess or technique. The mindset of the fighter plays a crucial role in achieving success.

Whether we are stepping into the ring, defending ourselves on the street, or competing in a tournament, adopting the right mental approach can make the difference between prevailing and being subdued.

Let’s see what’s behind each of these three interconnected 6 Dragons Kung Fu mental rules for combat.

1. Seeing the fight from the outside

We have to imagine standing outside the struggle: near, very near, as an instructor during a training session, observing the battle unfolding before us (read The best way to fight).

All the sensorial noise of the combat scenario must totally disappear, our mind must learn to exclude everything that is useless. Let’s give some examples:

The past (reasons, our preparation, our limits, etc.)
The future (the possible bed ending, the next problems to solve, etc.)
The irrelevant sounds (insults, a far dog barking, the music, the roar of the audience, etc.)
The irrelevant body feelings (the pain from a cut, nausea, etc.)
…

A note by Master Kongling – This perspective shift is essential for strategic awareness. When we are able to see the fight from this perspective, we can empty our minds reaching the imperturbable point of view of an objective observer (like a chess player analyzing the board).

How to make this mindset ours:

Detachment – We must learn to embrace voluntary emotional detachment (read Martial arts: how to become invincible?); the opponent is not our enemy, he / she is merely a piece in the game, an element of the scenario; we have to analyze his / her movements, weaknesses and patterns without any personal animosity
Constant attention – we have to expand our awareness beyond the primary problem we are addressing; we need to pay attention to the entire environment (read Avert dangers: the concept of constant attention), the canvas upon which our fight unfolds to discover eventual less noticeable dangers and / or hidden opportunities
Time “dilation” – Time seems to slow down when we observe from the outside; let’s exploit this mental state to our advantage, we will be able to react calmly, anticipate and make more precise decisions

2. The nonexistent enemy

The idea is to consider that our adversary does not exist at all but indeed this is not just a stratagem, in fact, our only real enemy is truly just inside ourselves: all the rest can be (and it is useful to be) considered simply as part of a passive scenario.

In other words, the key point is that we are alone. If we make an error, we assume 100% of the responsibility and this way, at the next attack, we will correct it.

Let’s imagine stepping into an arena not to defeat an opponent but to surpass our own limitations: this mindset frees us from fear, anger, and hatred letting us express our full tactical potential.

A note by Master Kongling – It is also important to underline that emotions and sensations are not always and automatically an enemy, they become only when they are out of our voluntary control (to deepen this, read How to exploit emotions: in training and combat).

How to make this mindset ours:

Pain is just a signal – Our opponents’ attacks trigger what we call “pain” but the pain must be interpreted just as a precise signal that the body gives to inform us about the state of a single area of our body; essentially, to paraphrase the ancient philosopher Epicurus, if the damage is so great that we absoutely cannot continue fighting, why worry? We are already defeated but if the pain is instead limited or disconnected from an immediate physical deficit, why worry about it (read Pain conditioning for combat [MINI-GUIDE])?
Transcend ourselves – The best way to see our adversary as nonexistent is to return to the first rule and therefore see even us, as part of the scenario; what we are trying to say is that in the economy of a fight, there are things that we can control more or less directly and our body, our limbs are absolutely part of that ensemble of elements, nothing more, nothing less (read The combat scenario: how to control it)

3. See the fight as a game

The natural consequence and perfect completion of the first two steps is the third: see the fight as a game, a serious game. Every strike, every block, every breath becomes a sort of challenge, a puzzle to solve.

The hidden power of this way of seeing the battle lies in the fact that it is impossible for the human mind to focus on 2 things at the same time (read Multitasking: how to develop it and why): if in fact we let the thread of our tactical reasoning be constantly interrupted by things such as fear, pain, repentance (etc.), we will never be able to express it completely / effectively

A note by Master Kongling – To give an auditory example, we could say that feelings like fear and insecurity are like loud background noises that ruin the perfect melody of tactical reasoning; we are needlessly wasting much of our brain’s computing power, we are working against ourselves (why? For what? With what benefit?).

How to make this mindset ours:

Let’s do it for real – Let’s learn to watch the other people fighting and to advise them, even only mentally (better if in real sparring but it is good even watching combat sports)
Let’s deeply master combat – The higher our real practical combat experience, the better we will feel in elaborating useful and effective combat tactics (read How to learn to fight: all the steps)
Inner dialogue – During sparring (read Martial arts sparring [MINI-GUIDE]), let’s conversate with ourselves and let’s deeply evaluate anything we do; let’s encourage, analyze, and adjust our action, whether it’s a well-timed kick or a moment of resilience (let’s just be sure that to our mental discussion does not follow non-verbal indications of what we are about to do)

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

The common aspect of these 3 rules is the complete detachment from the fear of losing and even getting hurt, an incredibly big strategic advantage; naturally, it is useless to stress that reaching the highest level of this mindset is very hard (and even dangerous outside certain contexts) but its benefits can be accessed even at a lower level, guaranteeing us, even in the worst case, a better combat performance
The final goal of 6 Dragons Kung Fu is to move the combat in a sort of virtual mental dimension where we have no distractions; to make an example, this must become the same difference that passes between what a gamer could do in a real context and what he / she does instead when he / she is fully concentrated playing a videogame that deeply knows in a distraction-free environment
In conclusion, as warriors our mind is our greatest weapon; sincerely reaching these mindsets means doing 50% of the necessary work to prevail (where the other 50% is a specific and serious daily preparation, read How to use martial arts in a real fight)
…

In the next article of this series, we will see the 7 principles to improve our combat skills (read 7 principles to become a better fighter).

In-depth video courses

Mind self-control hacks – How to build a higher level of control over our brain
Meditation: how to start – The most effective tool for mental detachment
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – The fundamental conditioning methods of our Kung Fu
How to build strong self-discipline – The path toward the freedom of self-control

In-depth articles

Fighting and mind control: the anchors – An advanced trick to improve our mental performance
How to always have the possibility to prevail – A secret and endless source of efficacy

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

In your specific case, what rule is harder to put into practice?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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