| As Veeco and Prototoast said, so is it with me.
There are certain people whom I fence so much that I have come to know their peculiarities and preferences well, and have adapted to deal with those. For instance, with X I need small steps, precise, staccato footwork. Against Y on the other hand a more fluid, seemingly "sloppy" footwork is more useful. Against Z, I scarcely need footwork at all. Or, against A inviting an attack to flank or arm to set up a seconde parry and riposte is a consistently successful tactic. Against B that won't work at all, and instead it's necessary to attack and beware of the stop cut. Etc.
But I have just learned these things by long experience, fencing them day in and day out. Most opponents I fence I do not know well enough to have idiosyncratic "prepared variations" against. So it's test, invite, observe their reactions, see if they've a favorite line, a pattern or rhythm to their footwork, if they're primarily an attacker or defender, and then do things to deal with those. On the fly, as it were. |