Engaging Your Opponent: Overcoming Hesitation

I shared a couple anecdotes about the importance of actually swinging on your opponent last week. However, it's not always so simple. Many fighters who are naturally more timid or those who get wrapped up in their own thoughts find it difficult to "just swing." For some, the hesitation may even develop over time as they start mentally cataloging all the times they get killed by a counter-swing. When you don't have a clear course of action, the natural reaction is to do nothing.

Deciding how to engage your opponent isn't always easy.
Photo © Ellie Apland.

In light of that, I'd like to offer a method to overcome your hesitation to engage with your opponent. The goal at the end is for you to be capable of fighting on your own terms, even if you are still bested by your challenger. This isn't something I've seen formally taught in Belegarth, so I've adapted this technique from other competitive endeavors in which I've participated.

There are four steps which should be followed more or less in turn. You will be growing your confidence and knowledge as a fighter, and in doing so, reduce your tendencies towards inaction.

Step 1: Always swing first

Easily the most simple step, but probably the biggest hurdle. Force yourself to always engage your opponent before they engage you. You will die a lot - that's good!

The purpose of this is to overcome your fear of losing because you are too aggressive. You'll need to do this in more than just sparring to be very effective. The field is your friend here, even though you will spend a lot of time dead. If you find yourself getting frustrated, you might ask your herald for a regen battle so you don't need to sit out quite as much. Remember, victory at this stage is not in beating other Belegrim, but in beating your hesitation.

As soon as you find yourself engaging more freely, move onto step 2.

Step 2: Swing first, with a plan

This is a slight variation on step 1 to begin fixing your kill to death ratio. Here, we are changing the focus from accepting you will die when you engage first to learning to kill when you engage first.

You will need to start working out the patterns of your opponent, so that when you attack, you have a rough idea of what shots you will throw and how you expect your opponent to respond. With enough good practice, this will help you control the fight and reduce your fear of dying to a basic counter-swing. Just remember to disengage after your plan has been executed. Standing around in the enemy's range without intent is a way even skilled fighters often die.

I highly recommend getting an experienced veteran to help you out at this stage. They should already know several basic patterns and be willing to work through them slowly with you so you can build muscle memory. They can also teach you different ways to engage and disengage your opponent, so you aren't stuck muddling through it on your own. By fighting mindfully, you'll know what to expect and can be prepared.

As soon as you feel fairly comfortable with swinging first and have the basics down about formulating a plan and controlling the fight, move onto step 3. You'll probably want to come back to this at some point, but it's important to learn both ends of the spectrum before you focus on specific skills.

Step 3: Opponent swings first, you counter

This is the opposite of step 2, and requires you to rely on the aggression of your opponent. This is designed to not only teach you more skills, but break you of the habit you've been building to always attack first. Instead of swinging first, as you've previously trained, you'll need to actively wait for the first attack from your opponent. Your job will be learning to counter.

There is much less obvious control involved in this, since countering is reactionary by definition. However, this active anticipation is more than just standing, mindless, waiting for the first blow. It is reading your opponent and understanding what their likely actions are so you can effectively counter.

Step 3 is another stage where having a veteran around to help you build your muscle memory is important. You'll be learning the same patterns you went over in step 2, but from the other side. This is also a great opportunity to begin learning how to capitalize on your opponent's mistakes if you didn't cover it earlier. Almost every shot or shot pattern has a series of "bad habits" that are common, and your veteran should be able to teach you those to make your counters more effective.

This step may take much less time than the others because counter-swinging is something many learn first, and you've already done some pattern training. You can move right through to the last step if you find countering isn't something you struggle with.

Step 4: Putting it all together

Finally, we take it all back to where you were before starting this process: using your judgement to decide when and how to engage. You will be aiming to control the fight, attacking and defending yourself without hesitation.

With your practice and knowledge of patterns, you should now be able to make your decisions with significantly less difficulty. You will probably find you still have moments of hesitation, either beginning a fight or capitalizing on mistakes, so continue to revisit what you've learned. You may even need to go back to the very beginning where the aim was not to win, but to avoid hesitation. There is no shame in needing to repeat lessons. Even the best go back and drill basics occasionally.

Above all, keep fighting as much as possible. Experience imparts knowledge, knowledge bolsters confidence, and confidence kills hesitation.

Have your own tips to beat hesitation while fighting? Share them below!