SabreurLady

 “Aggression Among Athletes:  An Asian versus American Comparison” was published by Tom Ferraro—a sports psychologist from Williston Park, N.Y.

He explains how Asian athletes tend to be more “perfectionistic, work-oriented, receive more family support, and are more family oriented.”  He also comments on how they seem to be less aggressive and less angry.

The Americans, he claims, have a tendency to be quite the opposite.  He describes them as “more aggressive, less work-oriented, often complaining more about practice, have looser family ties, and are less guilty about defeating opponents.”

Asians, as before stated, stress perfectionism, anality, and control.  It has been researched that although this encourages great athletic development, it doesn’t mean that winning is guaranteed.  “There is a big difference between athletic skill and the ability to win.”  My view is that an anal fencer will practice their lunges, their footwork, their timing, and everything they can possibly control during practice.  However, when it comes to the bouting, they might be losing to the few fencers who don’t strive to perfection, and rather strive towards the win. 

The drive of this goal is more common, as he explains in the article, in the American culture, due to the role aggression plays in the lives of Americans today.  For example, the amount of sexual assaults, as suggested by the article, is a lot higher in America then anywhere in Asia.  He reminds us of how the U.S. Hockey team, after losing, raged out in anger, trashing their hotel room, and displaying their aggression.  We’re used to being aggressive, without much thought to it, so winning doesn’t mentally discourage us, or give us shame as it might to an Asian.  Ferraro states that, “These athletes are undeniably more phallic and less troubled with ideas of separation and winning.  However, they are angry and have more of a tendency to lose control of this anger.”

The Asian side of this is that, for the most part, they display a greater calmness as well as less anger.  They are able to control their emotions more readily then Americans, and have been taught correct concentration methods which help lead to success.  “Many Japanese athletes practice up to 10 hours a day.”

It is in my belief that we can look at this situation and learn a good deal from Japan and China, and how they teach their athletes.  Being on the Aggression end of the spectrum, many of us must learn to control our emotions upon defeat.  We must realize that winning isn’t everything, and that to create more of a balance, we must spend more time striving for perfection.  For a fencer, in my case, I should spend more time thinking about my positions, my timing, my footwork, etc.  Winning can be important, but so is technique.  To balance this out, I suggest that while at practice, proper technique is stressed at all costs, even when many times it means losing.  Then, when at competition, it gives the chance to use what one has learned to the best of his or her ability.