Sharing Full Tempos – Practice

Immediate Practice

10 minutes – Play the Sharing Full Tempos game.

• “Go” is best called by a third person but you could use a timer or metronome to set the rhythm as well.
• One tempo actions that can be conducted on your turn include:
  • 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).
• Conduct the action you plan even if it leads you to getting struck. The game is less fun and less useful if you are cheating.
• If you do not hit your opponent at the end of a lunge, you must remain there until the next time to move.
• See how you can use position to force your opponent to do something more predictable on their next turn that you can plan to counter.
• Start with a slow rhythm and gradually pick up speed as you get better at the game.

Ongoing Practice

• Make the three tempo games part of your regular practice. At Academie Duello we focus on tempo as a theme of drilling on the fourth week of each month. At this time we play this game and work specifically on timing focused drills.
• You can use tempo games also to freeze the action and inspect your posture and movement mechanics.