Lower energy state always wins unless chasing energy source.
As a young impressionable, I set out to understand and overcome performance anxiety as someone who suffered from it. After some reading, one of my conclusions was that I should do the most stressful thing possible to understand stress better and develop physical tolerance to stress. This culminated in me signing up for a series of Muay Thai interclub fights because getting punched (or kicked) in the head while pushing your heart rate to ~200bpm is definitely up there for “stressful circumstances”.
Turns out breathing really helps in that situation too beyond just taking in more oxygen - relaxation is critical for both technical execution and strategic thinking.
Slow breathing also really helps with freediving - another hobby of mine that I dabble with that happens to involve going deep (no pun intended) on conscious relaxation.
But sure, it’s just you taking in oxygen to moderate your heart rate. Here are some papers I surfaced for you and others who are interested
[0] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aan1466
[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aai7984
[2] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti...
Your brain is attached to your inner skull with candyfloss like tendrils. They do not repair. Software engineering, even prompting, with a concussion or CTE is impossible.
I appreciate that studies show that the brain basically never heals but sometimes you've got to live the way you want to live...
While the findings around CTE are pretty damning I would also point out that at this stage it is hard to ascertain what degree of sparring/fighting leads to problematic CTE down the line because frequency and intensity are so hard to control for from a scientific perspective. The brain is fragile but humans wouldn't have survived if we couldn't tolerate some degree of accumulated rough and tumble over our lifetimes.
I do agree that getting constantly hit in the head is probably not a good idea (e.g. boxing). If you want the stress of public speaking join Toastmasters or something ;)
I like to do all kinds of silly stressful challenge runs in games or sweaty PvP and to your point I've actually noticed that I actually perform better in games like Elden Ring with the music off because the music is designed to heighten your stress.
That all said, I can assure you that none of that comes remotely close to the visceral fear you experience when someone bigger, stronger, faster and better is walking you down in the ring. But overcoming that internal struggle - that is where the true growth lies.
That all said I actually train in a gym that is highly respectful, we train technically and we don't spar to hurt. The desired intensity is mutually communicated and the coaches are at hand to keep us in check. A "fun" way to dial up the intensity is to do heavy body sparring because it's generally pretty harmless but gives you a taste of throwing and receiving power shots (it is exhausting).
A gym with this culture is a fantastic environment for people to develop and I would encourage people to give it a try, no amount of audio-visual simulation will be a replacement for the tactile sensation of being hit and the associated anticipation that accompanies the experience. Our machinery is still animal and we originate from the physical world after all...