Coach Zahabi on fear and anxiety 

I wish I had a trainer like you when I was 15 …

All you have to do is tune into the fear/anxiety and it will subside. If you resist, it persists

I have been so nervous before a fight, walking in the cage etc so many times but he's right I'm never nervous for the second round

True confidence comes from making your peace, win or lose, knowing that you're a part of something greater than yourself. Being prepared mentally physically spiritually and emotionally is also essential. There's no guarantee of the outcome, but having those 5 things on point is satisfaction guaranteed.

I was a vocalist...performed hundreds of times sometimes to massive crowds...I loved the feeling on the day...my body and mind would store all my power. I would feel like I was getting sick...feel sleepy...disconnected and introverted. As soon as I grabbed the mic it would all come back like the most intense power surge. The longer we played the more intense and fluid i got. I miss that shit.

This is genius. As someone that experiences extreme anxiety this is so so helpful.

Jon Jones was definitily one of the most confidend fighters there is, but he said, that he always lost in training, got submitted manny times.

As an amateur fighter, (mma and boxing) you’re spot on. What great insight on anxiety when it comes to fighting, and life in general. Thanks Coach Zahabi, I have this saved .

I didn’t know that Greek philosophy was the father of modern psychology. Great insight into the mind of a fighter/athlete.

Your autonomic nervous system has two branches. Sympathetic ( fight or flight) and parasympathetic. Your parasympathetic can calm you down ( rest and digest, ventral vagal) or shut you down ( dorsal vagal freeze). Fun fact: liver shots activate your dorsal vagal response because that's all through your vagus nerve. The high of energy you described is the sympathetic, fight or flight. The lethargy can be rest/ digest kicking in, or bordering on freeze. Ventral vagal can feel lazy by in a relaxed way. Freeze seems to happen when fight or flight is too intense OR when fight or flight doesn't work. Dissociation is an extreme example. What I'm working through is my freeze response and I actually will dissociate mildly if things get rough enough. I might still be moving, but everything feels weak like in a dream and I feel like im going for a ride in my body or I'll tell my body to move into the fight but it'll feel like im in quicksand or concrete. I think you're onto something about freeze being too much energy and about moving helping. I noticed last time I froze after getting torn up in sparring, it really set in when I stopped . Once I sat down and rested, I literally felt frozen and like I couldn't get myself back into it. That's when that nasty feeling in my chest set in and I kind of just lingered. I think it started not because of the severity of what actually happened, but because I had no answers for someone and felt helpless. I tried HARD ( upped my pace and tried different strategies without escalating the amount of force innapropriately) , so I think I burned myself out by trying to go into a fight response but since I wasn't able to make it work I started to slip into freeze.

I've been mentally drilling and prepping my students and trying to get them into comp mode during rolls and open mat, very important indeed.

Most relatable thing I’ve ever heard in years

Such an important topic to cover 💯

This should be put in a museum, I had my first fight and even though I lost it would’ve been way worse had I not seen this video

Only 39k views? Oh yeah. Not everyone faces their fears and seeks a challenge! Thank you for this video 🙏🏼

Thanks for the tips. This happened to be this weekend on my first ever Muay thai tournament. Lost the first fight because of over reacting to everything my opponent was doing . Second fight I won because I felt a lot better I calm donw lot more and the initial adrenaline was gone I was able to move better and win.

As usual, great breakdown and great advice 👍

Good content. I thoroughly disagree on the Knees Over Toes stuff (has literally fixed my bad knees) but 100% agree with the conditioning for BJJ point.

Thank you for making it about more than just fighting.. Great advice we can all use in the face of many stressful situations. Thank you Firas Looking forward to learning about why we sometimes feel the opposite; lethargic.

I get it! This is the reason why I roll much more skillfully and effectively after a drilling session than at the start of an open mat session. Now I know that I have too much energy and I am forcing my brain into a very cautious mindframe. Fight, flight, or freeze. Now I have an adrenaline rush tricking my brain that I am currently in the fight but I am actually at home and not in the immediate danger our brain thinks that is in. Therefore my brain does not know wether to fight, flight, or freeze, and is now stuck in a feedback loop. Generating anxiety as a result. My energy levels are too high for my current environment and I need to balance them out. This can be done by shadowboxing. Not only will it balance out my energy levels, it will also assist my brain to pick, and settle into the desired mindset necessary whilst ignoring the others. - Sidenote: Our brain works overtime. The less we can think the more effective our actions become. Because we have a specific objective for our mind to accomplish. Like in dragon ball super.

very clever observation about how fear works, i think you're right in terms of practical solutions to it -- and it's such a big issue, this is very useful advice.

firas expertice is one of its own man

Firas, I get training anxiety. But when I look in the mirror I feel like a badass 😂 🤦‍♂️

Thanks coach

This is gold

Preparation is the best advocate for anxiety.. if u prepare for more than what is expected u can mentally “hack” one’s mind to beat it thru logical thought.. stilll sometimes we need a good punch in the face to get it poppin and removes those “butterflies”

You gotta be some sort of a mind-reader. I've literally searched for the old video in which you covered anxiety, like, two days ago.

THIS IS A GREAT CONVERSATION BETTER THAN 250$ FOR AN HOUR! I Think fear is healthy and also harmful depending on how you utilize it.

I love your videos, my only comment and point of feedback is something that I am doing is that Greek philosophy and Vedic/Hindu philosophy have a lot of overlap. In fact, Sanskrit is considered a refined Greek. I would highly recommend, if you haven't already, start doing a comparative analysis of Greek and Vedic philosophy.

One of the best videos I ever watched, thank you so much coach for the lesson, god bless you. Knowing what's the issue is 99% of the solution.

Which famous philosopher would you say best answered the question "how do I know myself in relation to others"?

This is golden

Thanks coach!

Very knowledgeable human being! Appreciate you my friend

Omg I wish I had this advice when I was competing. Thank you for talking about this.

Great stuff! Just watched a video where Khabib says he took naps before a fight.

Randy Couture described it as "making friends with the worst possible outcome".

thanks a lot for these great Psychological advice ✌👍

A fight is 90% mental but everybody trains 90% physical.

This is very intersting

Motion alleviates anxiety was painted on my boxing gym's wall

Coach zahabi looks like Nacho Varga in the thumbnail😂

This is a great podcast 💪

Great 👍🏼 advice!!! I have to know how you dealt with the flying phobia…same problem…

Absolutely true

THIS 🔥🔥🔥

Great video.

Now a days most BJJ tournment at least in Ontario haven’t been rolling out warm up mats so I try to warm up heavy at home but by the time I get there I’m cold again

brotha zahabi, your podcasts on apple podcasts are saying it’s unavailable to play. please fix brotha insha Allah. May Allah reward you immensely

Very interesting. I do stand up comedy but I'm so ridiculously shy that even with years of experience I'm still like a deer in the headlights on stage. Instinctively before I go up I pace around like a caged animal. I suppose that's my body trying to burn energy. I don't like attention. I'm not a fan of being on stage although sometimes I do love it. But I just love my jokes and feel like I need to tell them. I'm going to burn more energy next time before I get up and see what happens.

Thanks for posting this shit keep It real

Coach when will you put out the video for people who feel lethargic and heavy before a fight / sparring? I really need help to overcome this.

Love your content coach, your a brilliant trainer MashaAllah

ما شاء الله. جزاك الله خيرا أخ فراس.

What about the Fawn response or trying to pacify or please the threst? Lot of people with abusive backgrounds learn to appease the enemy rather than fight stop or run away from them

I would fall into the over nervous category before fight

Supercross and freestyle motocross are both scarier and much more dangerous.

I want to get into mma never been in a fight before. 23 and hungry. But I have serious anxiety issues like going to the grocery store is a big deal for me. So joining a gym is something I can’t fathom. I want to learn and be a true martial artist. Maybe meet you or Khabib one day. I won’t join until I can run 10 miles no stopping. Any links are appreciated. Thank you.

It is scary to see another person using my same Apogee microphone

Fight, flight, freeze, faun, and f**** lol

Lol you can walk, stretch and shadowbox on a plane 😂😂😂 I'm doing that next flight haha

can u tell us how u dealt with the plane anxiety?

As a slowstarter i woke up only after kick in the face

Big wave surfing might be a scarier sport, id rather fight someone than surf a 50ft wave.

That's IT? Warm Up? Thought its gonna be much deeper

Did you ever touch on the fear of flying

Isle of Man TT

How about climbing free solo? Extreme parkour? Big wave surfing? 😅

But if I’m nervous before giving a speech? Do I do a heavy warm up too?

Khabib was a napper he said

If what you’re saying is right then why there is no UFC champ from your gym?

👍

Yeh McGregor running from Diaz lol

Smesh everybody bratha easy money 🤪

I would have to say big wave surfing might be scarier than fighting. Easy way to die. I'd rather fight someone than surf a big wave.

Bull riding? Moto cross tricks?

Israel Adesanya froze!

Trudeau has got to go

Rory was robbed last night

I couldn't find those words in my dictionary. I know not anything about those words, Never felt, heard or saw those words. Maybe its language of weak people.

I can’t see your videos without remembering how TIMTAM kept my $700 after a horrible customer experience last year. Got the emails 👍🏾