This is proprietary material and has been given permission to be reposted on SwordMaiden.com. © Copyright is retained by the author, Duke Sir Patrick Devilin of DarkWrath Keep (Jerry R. Chavez).
This article is taken from my book Trompe L’oeil. (www.spookyfx.com/book/tromp.html)
Timing
By Duke Patrick Devilin of Darkwrath Keep.
Good timing is being in the right place at the right time. In order to understand when to be were you need to be, you must first understand the individual components of the rhythm of combat.
In researching timing in sports and other martial arts I found it to be an elusive subject often described holistically and not scientifically. The following is my attempt to quantify timing using music as the analogy. As music has in fact been quantified over thousands of years I discovered the tools used to dissect and measure music worked very well for combat timing. I feel this could be one of my best contributions to the science of combat. However I also feel there is still a lot of room to expand on my original work.
Rhythm is the duration, tempo, meter and measure of combat actions, weapon attacks and countermeasures.
Beat is one or more attacks, actions, blows, feints, fakes, countermeasures, etc. that will affect the opponent in the same moment. For instance, the actions of shield hooking with the left arm and landing a slot shot to the head with the right arm in the same instant is one beat. The act of a raising your shield to parry a head blow head parry is one beat, moving the shield back down to see again is another beat.
Duration is the time it takes from start to finish of one beat. For example the time it takes to move the shield up for a head parry. Or how long it takes to move the shield down from your face after a head parry.
Tempo is the rate at which each beat starts, the time in-between beats.
Meter is the pattern of high energy beats (fast or strong body movement such as killing sword blows, a quick charge to close range, shield smash, snapping the shield to parry) and low energy beats (slow or weak body movement such as a stance change, slowly falling back to increase range or lowering the shield after a high parry.)
Keep in mind that your counter rate will be dictated by your opponents attack rate. This means you could be moving your parries at one speed and moving your attacks at another preferable faster speed. Together the two rates make your combat “Meter.”
Measure is the number of beats that are combined into one series. Such as how many blows your opponent throws at you in a combination shot.
The Fundamental Rule of Timing:
Take advantage of an opponent’s physical movement by taking advantage of their Rhythm.
When you know when and were your opponent will move their body, limbs and weapons you then know their options, what they physically will be able to do and will not be able to do at that moment. You can then exploit openings in their defense and include their committed movements in your tactics.
To know when and where they will move their body, limbs and weapons you must observe how they move, when they move and how fast they move.
Assess your opponent’s duration, tempo, meter and measure and then integrate your own movement with your opponent’s rhythm by moving your own body, limbs and weapons faster, slower or at the same speed in order to be where you need to be and at the right time.
Keep in mind that speed is time divided by distance. If your opponent can move their body, limbs or weapons through a distance in less time than you can, overcome their speed by shortening the distance your body limbs or weapons need to travel or by lengthening the distance they need to travel.
The Tools of Timing:
- Perception
- Estimation
- Reflex
Instead of estimating the opponent’s timing, it is also possible to set his timing by forcing him to match your speed. For example If you attack him with a slow shot, he may time his parry at the slow speed to match your trajectory in order to block it.
Timing strategies:
If you can deduce your opponent’s actual rhythm, you can:
Attack him in-between his beats.
Anticipate when your opponent will attack based on his pattern of beats.
Anticipate what position his body will be in and when.
Once you have perceived his patterns of duration, tempo, meter and measure,
you can then make predictions that will enable you to attack “openings”.
The off speed shot is a good example, were a fake is thrown to make your opponent raise his shield, then the real blow is thrown as his shield lowers back down so he can see.
As you may already know, the off speed shot starts as a normal shot (such as a flat snap), then hesitates for a split second, then suddenly continues into its target.
The opponent reacts to the sudden movement, expecting the blow to arrive within a reasonable DURATION. The defending fighter parries in accordance to what he thought the duration of the blow might be. Mistiming his counter-reaction will most likely force him to miss his response and you will land your blow.
A good example of using your opponent’s committed movements in your tactics is to wait for him to throw a blow with his sword before you throw a rising snap to his head. This trick to move the shield down out of the way is sometimes countered by the fighter shifting his sword over to parry the headshot. This timing tactic can prevent him from utilizing his sword to parry your raising snap to his head because his sword’s movement is already committed in another direction.
Attack him when his “meter” is “high”.
This will force him to strain his energy for his actions. He may miss his parry or fail his attack because he depleted his energy in that moment trying to do too many things at one time.
Attack him with a barrage of blows when his “meter” is “low”.
If his low meter means he is gathering his energy, attacking him at this time means you may not need to counter any of his blows and will thus help you to avoid your opponent’s counter attacks.
The resonance ploy
Because your opponent can use the principles of timing against you, you do NOT want to develop a regular rhythm. However, you can fake a regular rhythm. The idea is to established a fake rhythm of blows, combat moves or counters only to the point where your opponent becomes neuro set and/or muscle set and/or mindset. Then, without warning, you suddenly change your rhythm or a part of your rhythm.
Master Korwyn Ariannaid turned me on to the magic number 3. Combinations tend to be too long at 4 and too short at 2. Any time you need to make a numerical decision on a series of actions, try to use the number 3. Adjust this as necessary but you will find the magic number 3 will work more often than not!
The Illogical Moment
An opponent that misses a vital clue will be at a great disadvantage to spot a trick. The technique of doing things at this “illogical moment” provides an effective way to misdirect your opponent. This moment normally comes right before or after the logical moment. This is one of the big reasons why a counter-punch is so effective. The opponent expects you to be busy defending against his attack and he is busy thinking about his own attack. In effect, you are able to start a blow before your opponent thinks you would attempt one. By the time he perceives your counterattack coming in, he may not have enough time to evoke his own countermeasures.
The opposite of this is Premature Conclusion. When a climax is reached, the opponent lets his vigilance relax. For example, you wind up your body and limbs for a flat snap. But, you throw a low-power, fast swing, using only your wrist. The fast jab bounces back off his parry weapon into a position that allows the full power flat snap to be thrown with the entire body and arm. To your opponent, the shot was already thrown and he blocked it with his parry weapon (such as a shield). In reality, the real blow is thrown just as he thinks the shot has ended and while he is in the process of lowering his shield.
Timing and the “Magic Moment”:
Good timing is being in the right place at the right moment. For the most part, all combat with any weapon will abide by the following universal formula of “Time and Place”.
- Range
- Defense Geometry
- Offense Geometry
- Opportunity
- Close to attack
- Retreat to start over
Range
Maintaining the optimal distance just out of the striking reach off your opponent, but close enough to take advantage of opportunities such as openings in their defense.
Defense Geometry
Positioning yourself around your opponent and positioning or moving your weapons relative to his to deny angles of attack for him to easily pass (his limb, body or weapon) though to strike you.
Offence Geometry
Positioning yourself around your opponent and positioning or moving your weapons relative to his to achieve angles of attack (openings) on him.
Opportunity
This is the moment when you may easily strike your opponent without him being able to effectively respond with his own attack. This refers to an opening in his defense. Either a physical opening such as when he drops his shield or some other opening such as when he is so involved in other actions that it hinders his parry. This can happen for example when he swings but hits nothing but air. If he struggles to recover from the over swing this can leave him open to your attack. Also in the case of single sword combat; when your sword blow is coming in on him while he is still winding up for his own sword blow. His sword will be too involved at that moment to be used to parry your shot.
Close to attack
Once you have the opportunity you immediately reduce your range and/or move your weapon to reach (strike) your target with your weapon. Preferable you “close to attack” (strike your opponent) at the same moment that “Opportunity” occurs. This can happen with luck, or from a good sense of your opponent’s movements. Successfully predicting your opponent’s actions (rather than waiting to see what he will do, and then finally attacking based on your observation) is one way to accomplish this. You can force him into a predicable action with the use of fakes, feints or other tricks. The fighter that is best able to decrease the time between the Opportunity phase and the Close to Attack phase will have an overwhelming chance to win.
Retreat to start over
Failing your “Close to attack” will not necessarily mean you will be hit with a counterstrike if you used and maintain good Defense Geometry. Good Defense Geometry can give you the chance to “Retreat to start over”. However you must also understand that you can create a new Defensive Geometry while Closing to attack at the same time. For example there are simultaneous STRIKE and PARRY moves that some people erroneously believe are impossible to do when fighting single sword. One example is to block an onside head shot by throwing an offside head shot. The top of the blade hits your opponent at the same time that the bottom of the blade blocks the opponent’s incoming head shot.
To summarize, you try to win Range to earn good Geometry, win the Geometry to earn Opportunity, wining the Opportunity with a successful “Close to attack” earns you the right to avoid “Retreat to start over”!
The Magic Moment
The time it takes starting from when the Opportunity appears (or is created) and then the completion of your action to take advantage of that Opportunity is what I call the MAGIC MOMENT! This “Magic Moment” and how to be able to use it before it vanishes is what timing is all about!
Long lived Opportunities, that is Opportunity that exists for more than a brief time in the fight is very rare. So the more efficient you are at using these Magic Moments the more likely you will succeed at your action. The faster you are at recognizing the Opportunity the faster you will be able to use it. Effectively using the Magic Moment can be done with a very fast action. However preplanning and expertly executing relatively slower actions to climax at the same time the opportunity appears is really what GREAT timing is all about!
Initiation
Knowing when to start your action so that it will climax when Opportunity appears. This can be done by observing your opponents movements and watching for any “Tells” he has that signal what he is about to do and thus what position he and his weapons are about to be in. Another way to do this is to influence your opponent to move in the way you want him to at the time you want him to. Such as with an off speed shot where you pretend to throw a blow but hesitate, then actually throw the blow at him. Doing this will entice your opponent to drop his shield for a moment to see why your blow did not land. As you planned for this occurrence you will know when to start your relatively slower action (moving your weapon some 96 inches to his head) before he can perform the faster action of moving his shield up (3 to 6 inches) to block.
Speed
The faster you can perform your action to take advantage of the Opportunity the more likely the Opportunity will not disappear before you have completed our task. Training until you perform the action reflexively rather than consciously will dramatically increases the speed of the action. Learn to balance your power and speed depending on the situation. Hitting your opponents Arm or thrusting into his face may take less power to get the job done. So you could trade out less power for more speed by using the mechanical advantages you learned in the chapters on movement efficacy. For example you may choke up on a battle Axe to allow you to swing the top-heavy weapon faster.
Distance
Instead of just increasing your speed you can also reduce the distance your body, limbs or weapon must travel to complete the shot. For example a tight rising snap where the sword dips down just past the edge of your opponents shield will allow you to move your sword less distance than an exaggerated rising snap that dips way down to leg level.
