
(04-14-2015, 01:36 AM)Tiergan Wrote:(04-14-2015, 01:11 AM)Domri Blackblade Wrote: Something I wrote forever ago. I didn't reread it so it may be awful.
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So, after reading someone else’s post, I figured it would be good to let people in on a little bit of psychology of the mind when it comes to fighters. To be clear, I have been studying various martial arts and Bushido since I was eight years old. I have formal training in bo, sai, katana, open hand, and have picked up nunchaku and tonfa.
While I’m not going to go into how formal physical training is a huge factor, the thing about fighting is extremely a psychological battle. One of your biggest battles? Your eyes.
When I’m sparring open hand, I never look my opponent in the face. It is actually for two reasons. One? Where I focus determines how much peripheral vision I can utilize. Two? It’s unsettling. You give your opponent the illusion that you are disillusioned. It immediately can make them believe you are, frankly, extremely confident.
I participated in tournaments for about seven years and my trick was to always read the face of my opponent. Reading their eyes, if they are frowning, if they are nervous. It almost always played into how I proceeded with the fight. If someone looked very nervous, I’d immediately go aggressive. If someone looked more or less confident, I’d find a better balance.
I find in RP people are actually over focused on the aggressive and physical aspects, but the fact is, nerves and psychological standing can determine where a fight goes. Toss in an /e stares just to the left of his opponent’s head.
Also, to toss in, sometimes I find RPers can tend to misread another person’s emote intentions due to inexperience or misunderstanding. For example, if someone sweeps your ankle, that is actually not an opportunity to say you locked legs. A properly executed and successful sweep has one intention and that is to knock your foot from under you. If you miss the ankle and try to sweep higher, then it can become a leverage fight. Grab a friend and give the two techniques a work. There is a pretty significance in difference.
Lastly, one rule I was raised on in training is every action opens you up to be struck and the same goes for your opponent. Don’t just throw one technique and don’t throw one technique then stop and reset. Every time you reset, your opponent resets. The key is to know what hits you can take as a trade off.
If your opponent’s ribs are open for a very hard strike, take that blow to the shoulder. It hurts a lot less to get punched in the shoulder than getting broken ribs. Never let being hit discourage.
BEING HIT IS A PART OF FIGHTING.
You will always get hit. If your character somehow blocks and avoids all of their opponents strikes, it becomes extremely unrealistic. Fighting is a mind game of thinking on the spot. What blow can you take to strike back tenfold. What would be the best course of avoiding? He just opened up, can I take advantage of that? Will I reach? What direction is he moving? Can I use that to take him down? Is he extremely mobile? Can I let him tire himself out? Is he not moving a lot? Can I use that to take him down? Is he overly defensive? Can I use that to open him up?
After you train this questions aren’t spoken in the mind, it’s just like a process done. You analyze the situation in the moment and you act. It’s all in your brain.
And as always, I’m always available as a resource for more realistic melee combat. Just toss me a PM. I’m happy to help out and offer insight. I will say, my studies are more Okinawan and Chinese influenced. I am not the end all be all voice on combat, but I can certainly help you out with a lot of theory if you need.
Good lordy. Thank you for writing all of this out! I will probably take you up on your rp battle help offer in the future. :>
Yah, you can always prod me.:3
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[5]<Kayllen Stormbringer> I'm kinda wondering if Rhalgr and Halone's relationship
is like strong independent warrior queen and her tourettes-ridden father with a drinking problem.