How you compose yourself at a tournament is incredibly important. Local affairs are fairly nonserious and you may behave however you like. NACs, large tournaments in a city, and summer nats are a completely different affair. At those tournaments you can only express yourself when shopping for new equipment. Otherwise, you are limited to incredibly clipped and awkward conversations with people who would otherwise be your friend. The tension turns your bowels to water and the pressure is immense. Here is what I do at a tournament to relieve tension.
I hook up before my opponent every time I am on strip. I look at the order on the director's bout sheet and listen intently for my name or number and I am on strip as the final halt is called for the last bout, taking the cord from the last fencer. I then hook up at max, MAX, 20 seconds. I am then standing there, holding my mask and saber, waiting for the other guy to get hooked up. If he starts to fumble, I smile on the inside. If he starts to have trouble hooking up and the director looks subtly annoyed, I know I've got this guy.
I wear my knickers from the moment I wake up that morning to moment I stop fencing. This initially fails to relieve tension and in fact piles it on when I wake up. As the day wears on I adapt to the stress and relax a bit.
I eat almost nothing until I am done fencing. I know this is bad practice, but I feel it works somehow, and that is what's most important.
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