Zyaga Writing about whatever the hell I want, cuz it's the Interwebz!

Detecting Intent

Often in sparring we try to detect, or read, our opponents intention so that we can tell what their next movement is going to be. There are key signatures, as I like to refer to them, that give away an opponents intent.

Out of all the different things to do to detect an opponents intent, here are some of the main points to pay attention to:

1. The Elbows. The elbows are one of the biggest hints as to when and where an opponent is going to throw a punch. As most people throw a punch by moving their elbow before moving any other part of their arm, you can usually count on being able to get at least a faster reaction speed by just noticing their elbows.
2. The Shoulders. After the elbows, the shoulders are the next best thing to focus on, because they move when the opponent pivots or throws a full punch.
3. The Eyes. People have a bad habit of watching where they are punching. If you watch your opponents eyes and he happens to have that bad habit, you can get an idea as to where he is going to make his next move.
4. The Knees. When an opponent goes up for a kick, you can rest assured the first thing that is going to move is his knee. Obviously, you can’t always detect what type of kick is going to occur just based on him lifting up his knee but you now know he is going to do something with it(Or at least attempt to fake you out with it).
5. Nervous Habits. Many people have nervous habits that are easily distinguishable if you pay proper attention. It’s the same thing as in poker, such as twitches, facial expressions, etc.

Just remember that most people tell everything about what they’re going to do, before they even make their move. We’re all pretty guilty of it, but if the other person doesn’t know how to pick up off of those, then they can’t use those to his/her advantage.