Ancient Wisdom

When facing an opponent who is confident and aggressive and who also has lots of energy, the best method is to allow him to exhaust his or her energy, while you conserve your own. Once the opponent has exhausted his or her strength, you may move in quickly for the finish.

When you cannot detect the opponent's plans, you launch a direct, but brief, attack and observe your opponent's reaction. His behavior will reveal his strategy. A seasoned warrior knows this strategy well and will not reveal his true intentions. But the inexperienced, nervous of making a mistake, will over-react to feints and will thus reveal their intentions.

This strategy uses a feint to test the opponent's defenses. Quickly close the distance as though attacking, and then stop just out of range, and watch opponent's reaction. There are only three defensive strategies from which to choose: intercept, jam and block, or evade and counter. The intercept method is favored by the tall fighter with a long reach who may strike before the attacker is close enough to hit the fighter. The jam and block method is favored by the stocky, strong fighter who may stop all incoming attacks. The evade and counter is favored by the fragile, but agile, fighter who jumps away from an attack and then jumps back in to score. Each method has its strengths and its weaknesses. Once you know which strategy your opponent favors, you simply employ its counter.