Exchanging Full Tempos – Practice

Immediate Practice

5 minutes – Take time to explore the concept of tempos as units.

• What types of actions can you do in one tempo?
• How many tempos is it to lunge and recover?
• Can you lunge and recover in four tempos?

5 minutes – Play the Exchanging Full Tempos game.

• Sides can be called by a third person or by one of the players of the game.
• Some further examples of actions that can be taken in a given turn:
  • Advance, retreat, step right, step left.
  • Half of a passing step (a full pass would take two turns).
  • Changing guard (in place or while stepping).
  • Striking with a lunge (can include a disengage provided you move forward throughout the disengage).
• If you do not hit your opponent at the end of a lunge, you must remain there until it is your turn to move again.
• This game is largely about staying out of measure from your partner. More advanced versions of this game follow.