When tempo is taught, the implicit axiom is the more action you can fit into a single tempo, the less time an opponent has to react. Step and extend and disengage in one single fluid motion that by the time your opponent has comprehended what you are doing, it is too late to prevent it. This is how I learned it; this is how I have taught it.
The limitation of this technique is that should your opponent correctly predict or react then they can with a single tempo counteract your three or more. We have all heard warning against over committing to a thrust, of extending beyond our ability to respond to changes. Excessively dense tempi are a form of over commitment. The brain has a full load of things to think about when executing the dense tempo, and cannot process any additional input an opponent might offer during the execution, let alone have time to effectively respond to. The Noble Gentleman who has been teaching us showed our little group today how by simply holding his blade correctly, he could steal back advantage against a dense tempo and strike.
Before we discuss his solution, we must understand the three extensions of an attack: extension of the blade, extension of the body, and extensions of the feet. The first is intuitive, I believe. One simply reaches out with their sword, following in turn from tip to shoulder. The third is also self explanatory. You step forward while attacking to bring your weapon closer to the opponent. The second, extension of the body, I imagine is less self evident but equally simple. One leans their body toward their target, bending at the hip. Each of these three extensions gives speed and power to a thrust. All three in concert is very fast and very powerful. And as I learned today, very easy to counter if you know what you are doing.
This Noble Gentleman's technique is to offer a single extension. Any of them work, but it must be a single one. The extension and the response is gauged. If the opponent offers a favourable response--one which you can still comfortably strike through--you proceed through the other two extensions. If their response successfully thwarts your plan, you retreat and try again. The Noble Gentleman, being a master for several years now, can do this in a fraction of a heart beat. The rest of us at the practice do not yet have such alacrity, but the slight adjustment did show improvements in form after only a handful of passes.
The drawback of the technique is it requires you to know what you want your opponent to do. I am in my third year of fencing and I still struggle with that kind of preplanning in the middle of a sword fight. Still, it helps to focus the mind. What do I want them to do and what do I do when they do it, so how can I make them do it. The rest is just fighting.
(And on a smaller note, I have also found that when I do passing steps, I am only doing half of the pass. My rear foot stops at my lead foot which is not a stable stance and robs me of the distance I meant to close. I must pass more fully when I press my advantage or I will continue losing the measure game.)
