Clops - May 14, 2001 o.o - December 23, 2001 v1.6 - added doublee swing in tricks - January 6, 2002 v1.9 - finally added whhhat I meant to a while back - June 1, 2004 v2.0 - touched up a teeny bit - October 10, 2004 v. 2.1 - totally new miindset -Sparring in brief: The main point of sparring is to dodge everything thrown at you, then attack at a safe time. (low chance of being hit in a counter attack, high chance of connecting with your swing) You should focus on improving your timing and reducing errors like swinging or walking in the wrong direction. Think of improving yourself instead of winning, then more wins will come to you anyway after you get better. **First thing first, if you want to get better, practice with whoever you can and learn from people you know are good. Just reading won't make you better, duh. Everyone has to learn for themselves, hopefully I can give you something to work toward. I'd like to recognize a few special people that stick out to me as great technical fighters. These are people that I love to watch, because they're style and precision of movement makes them look good whether they win or lose. NYChris - He can dodge just about anything, at his best, he's as unpredictable as you can get and I think he can call shots like me. When I watched him sparring in zol's a few weeks ago I knew he was now a master. He always knew just where to be to get the next hit, when you get this experienced it's funny to watch people. It looks like he just holds out his sword and people run into it. An obvious difference from people who swing in a c pattern as fast as they can hoping they might get a hit. Lonely Mirage - A few weeks back, he was it. If you faced him you either were hit or you both hit, hopefully you could trade more just so you didn't get whooped so bad. It was almost impossible to get close to him as if he had a little bubble around him that'd shock you, he dodged in ways you didn't expect and his charging slashes were lightning fast. And EVERY time you were in range, he'd hit you whether you expected it or not. His quick, sharp turning slashes almost made it like fighting Killermech. One can only hope a Killer will pop up again. *Methods of landing a hit (how to reach AND hit the opponent): short charge: run strait to the opponent and hit them revenge charge: after you are hit and blinking run after the opponent and hit while you are invincible attack the attacker: when the opponent swings at you and misses, hit them while their sword is out and you can't dodge baiting: run up to the opponent and swing from just enough distance that you will be able to dodge a counter, when the opponent swings at you where you are, move and hit them while they're mid-swing. path cutting: when an opponeng runs to or by your side, cut them first beat em too the punch: when an opponent charges you, hit them first aggressive dodge: instead of retreating from the opponent after one of you swings, move past or through the opponent and hit them in the side or back. catch up: if you can, hit the opponent in the back when they run away confusion: circle the opponent in an unexpected circle or l motion and hit when you find an opening -Sparring Tips: -Do's and Don'ts (The Mindset of Sparriinnng): Do whatever it takes to win. No style is too cheap, too newbish, too defensive or too offensive. If you're sparring just to make others happy or to let them win, then worry about that I guess, otherwise use what works for you. Do change your directions often in spars. When you walk in one direction for a long time, focused on your destination and not the other person, they'll catch on, predict where you're going and hit you. Do ask questions. Really good sparrers should be able to tell you what errors you make and what you do well when you spar. Also, offer to help others if they're doing badly. Keeping your "sparring secrets" to yourself is only limiting your own potential. If you help other people get better, you'll have better competition and learn more than you will defeating easy opponents. Don't walk too close to your opponent. It's not worth the risk of walking right by someone to get behind them or to some place in the room you like better. Keep your distance unless you know you can do better than them up close. Walking right past someone, within their swords reach will get you hit a lot of the time. This might sound obvious, but I see too many people do this when they fight me. Don't swing more than once or twice in a row when you swing. Swinging more than once will leave you standing in one place holding your sword out and give your opponent time to hit you in the side or back. Don't worry about getting the first hit. Don't worry if you were hit first. Don't worry about winning, if you're better than someone you'll win more often than them, but not necessarily every time. You need to concentrate on this exact moment in a fight, not if in the future you will win this fight or get more hits than they do. If you keep losing to someone, maybe ask them how you could do better. Getting down on yourself for a loss, only wastes time and energy. Don't think you have to catch up in number of hits, if you're losing, this will throw of your concentration. If you know how to hit this person, keep at what works and dodge as best you can. Focusing on what you're doing this moment and nothing else will help you do better whether you win or lose. -Stupid Human Tricks: Double Swing: Usually I recommend to only swing once at a time so you're not stuck in one place too long. But swinging twice sometimes hits people that like to jiggle back and forth really fast, at times when one swing would miss them. There should be a way to take advantage of the time it takes people to double swing, but I don't seem to be able to do it. **bi-directional double: some people don't notice this, but you can swing in 2 different directions quickly in a row depending on your timing. If you don't get it just practice swining left then right or left then up and you'll notice sometimes there is half as much time between one swing and the next. Remember the timing for swinging twice quickly. Charging: To keep people from being comboed to death, they blink and become invincible for 3 to 4 seconds after they take a hit. When sparring run up to your opponent while blinking and take careful aim, you'll more than half the time get a free hit on them. Don't swing to early though, you lose your invincibility once you do. On some servers like Npulse, or maybe every server besides classic, your invinciblity time isn't long at all so you can't really charge. Backstab: Often during matches I'll run right through people then immediately turn when I pass them and stab behind me, hitting them. This hits almost every time and surprises a lot of opponents. For some reason I don't see many others use it, maybe because they're not quick up close. Front Slash: This is a quick move that takes some skill/practice. When someone swings a sword at you, wait half a second, move toward them to the side of there slash, but just out of the reach of it, then move to where there sword was and slash them from the front. It kind of looks like you walk right through their sword and hit them. Path cutting: Even some not so new people still try to swing directly at opponents. In this world-o-lag, it's much easier and more reliable to swing a little bit in front of people or where you think they'll go next, especially useful in control and c-divide. Direct hits: Hitting people dead on is still an option, just wait until they swing at you and hit them in the side while they're holding their sword out like an idiot. Faking: This is most useful in the overly predictable c pattern, if you come forward once in a while and don't swing, people won't expect it. They'll either swing at where you just were or turn there back to you trying to evade your imaginary swing, make them pay. If you want to show off or you're just not doing well with your favorite style, switch to something else once or twice in a match. Sometimes this will totally take people by surprise and give you an advantage. -Etc. Repeat offenders: Some people just cannot take a loss, they will spar you 4 or more times until they can finally win. I don't know if this should be considered a win, after that many times I can usually care less about winning and won't try that hard or make really stupid mistakes. Try going for best 2 out of 3, if people just won't give up, then it's because they're really better than you and j00r pwned, j/k, say no dammit. Common Sparring Styles: **Counter Style? - Offensive Rating: 0 / Defensive Rating: 7 / What's this behind your ear sonny? Rating 10! I've only seen one person use this. It was someone on Archangel's "Ultimate Weapon" account, but Arch said it wasn't him. This guy would mostly just dodge the whole match, but not stay too far away. When you'd swing at him and miss, he's whap you, when you'd get too close and not swing, he'd whap you. The only time he'd swing at all was when you make some careless mistake, otherwise he's just stay out of your sword's reach. People use this if they can't beat you up close. How to stop it: Stay at a bit of a distance and wait for them to attack. If they won't, bait them into trying a counter at the wrong distance for them. They should miss and you should get your chance to hit safely. the chase - offensive rating 9.5 skill to use this - RAGE I usually attribute this style to Sdg, though he didn't invent it. The theory behind this is simple enough, but unless you're practiced at it, you'll easily be stomped by a skilled or defensive opponent. The basic ideas is to run straight at your opponent and keep hacking at whatever direction they're standing in, stay on them, don't let them have time to stay in a pattern. I usually only use this if I'm pissed. OK, the tricky part is that you don't exactly run straight at them. It's easier to run toward them, but a little off the the side of a direct path so they can't just swing and have you run into their sword. If you're really skilled you CAN run straight at them, then dodge their slash to the side, hitting them while they're still holding their weapon out. People that can use this should be able to kick anyone's ass if they stay within 3 pixels of them, getting 2 to 3 hits at a time if they corner someone. How to stop it: use a retreating wall or counter style, or maybe just be better up close than they are, it's hard to dodge when you're chasing someone and the point of chasing isn't to dodge so let 'em have it defensive h00rs C-pattern - defensive rating 7 mindless rating 9.5 This is THE pattern everyone uses. Originated by Gandarian, he became unstoppable in spars using this. Almost immediately anyone who was a decent sparrer would use this and the current skilled sparrers could be beaten by any wannabe sparrer with a decent connection. People run forward, slash, run away to the left or right then run forward and slash again, their path forming the letter c. I suppose you can be skilled at this, but you really don't have to aim at anyone with your slashes to eventually hit them. Current sparrers shouldn't have to much trouble defeating mindless c-users. I wonder if there are actually skilled c-users though. How to stop it: use c-divide advancing/retreating wall annoying rating 8.5 Enter the skilled c-user, or as close as you can get. Draxi made this one famous, well not really, only like one other person uses it. It's the c pattern miniturized. You slash, barely move away and move right back and slash again. Make your mini-c's to the left or right making a semi-impenetratable wall. Move each slash closer or further than the last from the opponent for some much needed variety to your annoyance. How to stop it: try the big c pattern, good luck hitting them from the front, getting to their side or behind them can mess them up control - offensive patience rating - less than none skill to use 9.5 Discovered by me, I use this just because I can and I used to hate long fights. Your goal is to decide where your opponent will move next by herding them with your slashes. You need to be fast and a good close fighter. Chase your opponent to a wall, they can't move forward because you're there and if they try to move left or right, cut off their path by getting their first and slashing. You decide which way they go and you decide when to hit them. I might be pretty vague, but if you can't figure this out, you shouldn't be using it. How to stop it: no movement, juking, if you're not moving anywhere you can't be predicted and your path can't be cut off, just wait for him to make his move then dodge the slash, free hit c divide - offensive After many hours of watching, fighting and yelling at stupid c-users I noticed when they take hits and also that the part of their movement that you would think helps them out the most is their weakness. The whole c pattern seems to be weak, if you move fast and you're not lazy, you should own most c's. You know exactly what they're going to do, so when they run back, hit them before they get all the way forward and swing, or after they swing before they can move again. The big surprise for me was their weakest point, when they move back. When people are moving forward they can always fake and retreat again, but when they move back they usually are kind of oblivious to what you're doing. You can follow them back, hit them while they're moving away, hit them while they're at the back of the c, they'll just follow their pattern and usually won't try to hit back at you. C sucks, the end. How to stop it: uhhh, don't use c? big c - balanced skill to use running in circles This style surprised me the first time someone used it against me. I lost to someone I shouldn't have, didn't make that mistake again, but this is still a decent style. It seems like it's the same as c at first, but plays completely different, for some reason people never expect it and it's not a defensive h00r style. You don't go back and forth waiting for someone to run into your sword, after you slash, you take a long walk around the room, then come forward and slash at the opponent's side or back. You're actually aiming for something in this style so it's not defensive. This is for defensive people you can't approach from the front. It looks like it's slow and leaves you vulnerable, but that depends on your skill with it. How to stop it: hit them and don't trip out by people doing circles around you no movement - patience rating 9.5 skill to use sleeptyping My rival Shadow (NK)'s style was the most obnoxious before c came along. Just stand still, or walk around a little, look like you're doing anything but fighting, then when someone tries to hit you, move out of the way and slash them in the side. That's about it, but fights like this can take forever. A lot of the time I'll get frustrated and just chase the opponent down mid fight. If you want to try it, it's actually pretty good, most likely the style you can perfect someone with. How to stop it: Don't swing directly at them as if they're not going to dodge, kick their ass for trying to show off, nothing really to explain, if you lose to this... spastic movement (juking) - skill to use cable modem, crack This is another style that is too popular, thought I probably shouldn't consider it a style. I first saw Flash (NBK) use this when I got back from vacation once. This is for people that can't stand still and like to hump walls. Never stop moving, if you're not going anywhere move around anyways like you're having a seizure. You can be offensive or defensive. Use fakes alot, run up, run away, spaz out, the point is to be fast and unpredicatable. How to stop it: maybe control or no movement would work, try chasing them down too, they probably can't fake you out if they're a pixel away from you Advanced Keyboard - rumor? Possibly used by Doomsday, this style consists of key combinations making your character move in ways not meant to be possible. Strafing, as in holding down the up and down arrow keys, then moving left, causes you to move to the left while facing down, also you can slash in directions other than in the one you are moving without actually changing directions. I dunno if it really helps in a fight, just included it because I heard about it the other day. The dance - skill = hanging around Wu for too long Forget sparring, forget everything in the room around you. Don't watch your opponent, be your opponent. You aren't at odd with each other. You are partners sharing a step, a movement. You both advance, you both retreat, you both stay still. You both orbit an imaginary sphere that is the only thing separating you. Copy the opponents movements exactly, if he moves towards your left, move towards his left. It'll look like you both run past each other, but keep it up. Copy them in all things, an equal, an opposite and you will end up having the in vulnerable positions you didn't intend to be in. This will cause many, many chances for you to take a free unavoidable hit. This also takes the utmost concentration on your opponent to pull off. If you're thinking it won't work.