Acute Stress Response

Unmanaged stress can trigger a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.

Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn. These are four common ways we “choke” in high-pressure environments like Jiu-Jitsu. Here's why this happens.

Feeling threatened can trigger a natural human reaction that physiologists refer to as the acute stress response. This is the so-called “fight-or-flight response.”

Over time, our understanding has evolved to include two other possible reactions: freezing and fawning.

In BJJ Mental Models episode 347, Off the Zone founder Laurien Zurhake briefly discussed these four elements of stress response. Let's quickly identify them here:


#1: ⚔️ Fight.

The “fight” response to acute stress occurs when you become overly aggressive or combative. Think “drunk asshole in a bar” energy. At first, this response might sound useful in Jiu-Jitsu, but it's not; surrendering to an acute stress “fight” response leads to losing your composure and making increasingly poor decisions mid-roll.

If you've ever been in a roll that escalated out of control and resulted in fighting or injury, there's a good chance the acute stress response was involved. Keeping your composure is key to executing your Jiu-Jitsu strategy, and smart opponents will exploit your “fight” response to fluster you.


#2: ✈️ Flight.

The “flight” response to acute stress occurs when you try to escape the situation. In the context of Jiu-Jitsu, this most often occurs when an athlete loses confidence, refuses to engage, or “looks for a way out.”

Under enough pressure, even the best athletes will mentally break. They may welcome the opportunity to be submitted because it ends the match.


#3: ❄️ Freeze.

The “freeze” response to acute stress occurs when you find yourself unable to react in the face of a hostile situation. This is especially dangerous in a sport like Jiu-Jitsu, where a moment's hesitation can cost you the match.

Freezing can occur for a variety of reasons. Movement-based athletes like Margot Ciccarelli use their speed to overwhelm their opponent and create cognitive overload.


#4: 💕 Fawn.

The “fawn” response to stress occurs when you attempt to appease your attacker to make them stop. Unlike the other three responses, fawning is not considered a physiological response but instead a socialized coping strategy.

This stress response might sound more applicable to relationship abuse than to Jiu-Jitsu, but it very much occurs in cult-like gyms that exploit their students. Sadly, there are too many of these in our sport.


🤔 So, what to do about it?

The best weapon for combating the acute stress response is awareness. By becoming mindful of when these stress responses arise within you, it's easier to avoid falling into the fight/flight/freeze trap because you see it coming.

This can also be trained! If you believe you're susceptible to these acute stress responses, then train them. Tell your partner to try to make you mad mid-roll. Or try to make you quit. Or try to overwhelm you and make you freeze up. Mental performance is a skill, just like Jiu-Jitsu technique.

On the podcast:

• Ep. 347: The ABCs of Mental Coaching, feat. Laurien Zurhake
• Ep. 162: The Language of Coaching, feat. Nick Winkelman
• Ep. 311: Complexity and Intensity, feat. Chris Paines

Further study:

• Ecological Dynamics