Feints and Fakes

Inviting attacks from your opponent requires a courageous, active approach, not a defensive posture. Gauge how likely it is that your opponent will counter. If opponent is experienced, he or she will be constantly poised, ready to out-time your attack or to block and immediately counter. Plan your offence to encourage opponent to respond. For example, feign or fake with an attack that will draw an anticipated counter response and then counter with the real attack. Since your feint or fake will not be a fully committed movement, it will enable you to strongly block opponent's anticipated counter and follow up with a powerful decisive counter. 

Use feints and fakes as a strategy in the initial stages of competition when facing an experienced opponent to test his or her responses to them. Try to draw opponent's counter, rather than fully committing yourself. Once opponent’s weaknesses have been found, attack with full conviction to overwhelm.

Although feints and fakes are an effective sparring strategy, that does not mean you should use them all the time. If you are more experienced, faster, and stronger than your opponent, you probably only need to use decisive, direct attacks. If opponent's skill level is close to yours, you may want to use feints and fakes to create an opening.