Building Combat Perception

During a slow-sparring session, a student accused me of speeding up. The actual issue was their inability to perceive the sword’s true position - they had to reconcile the disconnect between where they expected my weapon to be versus its actual location.

This is a perception gap, and it creates the illusion of speed in combat.

Training to See

Perception develops through immersion in diverse sparring experiences, but only with your eyes open. Many practitioners spend years fencing without truly observing their opponents, instead executing actions blindly while hoping for success. This approach requires less effort but sacrifices awareness.

Focused attention on one goal - like penetrating an opponent’s defense - reduces your capacity to process all available information in combat. When you’re tunnel-visioned on your attack, you miss the subtle cues that would tell you your opponent has already begun their counter.

Reduce the Stress

Combat stress narrows your focus and impairs observational thinking. To enhance perception, minimize that stress through these approaches:

Reduce speed - Use slow fencing to process information and lower intensity. When the stakes feel lower, your brain has more bandwidth to observe.

Scale speed - Progress between slow, medium, and full-speed drilling to build acclimation. Don’t jump straight to full intensity.

Reduce variables - Use directed sparring with limited techniques to build comfort before expanding options. Start with one attack and one defense before opening up the whole tactical toolbox.

Build Recall

Memory and perception are interconnected. Professional dancers learn choreography through defined “chunks” of movement. Similarly, fighters should develop vocabulary for techniques and positions to enhance recognition.

Practice these recall-building exercises:

• Learn named techniques and positions (e.g., “inside parry riposte,” “porta di ferro”)
• Build position and timing vocabulary
• Practice post-match recall with training partners - discuss what happened immediately after sparring
• Watch and analyze fights from observation - be a student of other people’s fights

What you can describe you can recall, and what you can recall you can plan for.

Reducing What You Need to See

Tactical excellence reduces cognitive load. Quality attacks “box your opponent into a corner” where limited escape options exist.

In Duello Armizare, stringere (constraint) uses weapon placement to eliminate options and create predictable responses. When you’ve constrained your opponent effectively, you can focus on when rather than what - you know what they’ll do, you just need to read the timing.

Sizing Up an Opponent

Advanced perception includes assessing psychological patterns and strategic tendencies. This comes from building both technical vocabulary and the verbal capacity to describe what you see.

Start by cataloging the obvious: What guard do they favor? Do they initiate or wait? Do they attack in single time or combinations?

Then go deeper: How do they respond to pressure? What happens when their first action fails? Where do they go when they’re defensive?

The more you can articulate about fighting, the more you can perceive in the moment.