Traditional and sport
Kumite principle
Feint
Feint, deception
What it is
In plain words
A movement made to be believed rather than to land, so the opponent commits their defence to somewhere the real attack is not. A feint that does not threaten is simply a wasted movement that shortens your own reaction time.
6 points
How it is taught.
The trigger that starts it, the distance and timing it needs, the decision it represents, and what it costs when it is wrong.
- Trigger
- Used against an opponent who reacts consistently. Against one who does not react at all, a feint is worse than useless.
- Mechanics
- The feint must look exactly like the technique it imitates for as long as the opponent needs to decide. A half-committed movement reads as a feint and teaches the opponent to ignore the next one.
- Timing
- The real technique follows on the opponent’s reaction, not on a count. Too early and the reaction has not happened; too late and it has finished.
- The decision
- Feint high to attack low, or the reverse; feint on one side to attack the other; feint an entry to draw a counter and take the counter’s opening.
- The risk
- A feint occupies time and a limb. Against a fighter using sen-no-sen it is an invitation.
- Application
- Opening a guard that will not open to a direct attack.
2 faults
Common errors, and how to fix them.
Fault
The feint is obviously not a real technique.
Why it happens. Half-committing to save time.
The fix. Throw the feint as though it were the attack, and stop it.
Fault
Feinting against someone who is not reacting.
Why it happens. Following a plan rather than the opponent.
The fix. Establish that the opponent reacts before spending a feint on them.
Practice
Drills
- Feint jodan, attack chudan, on a partner instructed to react honestly.
- Partner calls out what they believed the feint was, immediately after.
Kumite ↔ kihon ↔ kata
What it connects to.
Techniques
- Kizami-zuki Jab, leading-hand punch
- Uraken-uchi Back-fist strike
- Mae-geri Front kick
2 terms
The Japanese, explained.
- Maai 間合い
- Engagement distance. The distance between two people, understood as a relationship rather than a measurement: the same gap is close for a tall fighter and long for a short one, and it changes the instant either moves. Controlling it is the largest single skill in free fighting.
- Kamae 構え
- Guard, posture of readiness. The position taken up facing an opponent — feet, hips, hands and eyes together. A good kamae threatens without committing, and gives away nothing about what is coming.