Feinting is a strategy that has endured the test of time for the simple reason that it works. From open battlefields across the centuries to the back alleys of today’s metropolitan cities, fighters have used feinting to help them defeat even superior foes. The concept of a feint is to do just enough of a technique - punch, kick, stance change - to deceive your opponent into thinking that you are going to do the complete movement. Then, just as he responds to your partial technique, you initiate another to score.

Far too many fighters throw feints that aren’t believable and, therefore, fail to get a reaction from their opponent. To avoid this, your feint must be a real technique, albeit a partial one. Do it convincingly enough, by including body movement and even facial expressions, and your opponent will react, leaving him vulnerable to your second technique, the real attack.

A good feint can even break your opponent’s concentration and send him into a new OODA loop when he realizes suddenly that the technique he reacted to is no longer there. Kuntao expert Bob Orlando says, “Feint something that causes him to react, then pounce with something else once he commits to defending the feint. The best fighter I know is not particularly fast. However, he possesses an almost uncanny ability to hit his opponent whenever he wishes, especially when he sets him up with believable feints.”

Many people either feint poorly or time their feints improperly. Here are some points that will help your feinting skills be as good as the best fighters.

• Feint only when you have a follow-up to do. As ridiculous as it sounds some fighters throw a beautiful feint and then don’t do anything else. A feint all by itself is useless and can leave you open and vulnerable. A feint is meant to create a timing moment, a window of opportunity. If you don’t act upon it because you aren’t sure what to do, it will go away and you just might end up spitting out dirt from your opponent’s shoe.

• Be at the right distance for whatever technique you plan to follow with. If you are too close or too far from him, whatever opening you create will be long gone before you hit it. If you want to smash him with your roundhouse kick, don’t fake with an elbow strike since you will be too close to land a kick. Likewise, don’t fake with a partial sidekick when you plan to follow with a headbutt. This should be obvious but we see it happen all the time. Also know that if you feint from too far outside of your effective fighting range, your opponent realizes immediately that you are only feinting and will be alert for more.

• No two people react the same way to feints. Some will be as jumpy as an often-kicked dog and others will just look at you like a cow staring at a passing train. A good amount of fighting experience, no fighting experience, fatigue, alcohol, drugs, and even stupidity all affect how people react.

• It takes experience to know the right amount of motion to elicit a response. Do too little and your opponent won’t notice and won’t respond. Do too much and it’s as if you executed a real technique that missed. Do it too far away from your opponent and he just laughs at you. Experiment to find what works best in a variety of situations.

• Don’t use too many feints in the street. Fighters in the ring have several rounds to feel each other out, experiment with feints, and explore offensive and defensive techniques. In the street, however, fights usually last only a few seconds so there isn’t always time to dance around and throw fakes. Besides, you don’t want to prolong the confrontation any longer than you have to. Most often it’s best to feint only once or twice and then end the fight with your follow-up.

Square off with your partner and run trough your entire arsenal of feints using your head, arm, kicks, grabs, footwork, and even shouts. Your partner should give you honest feedback. If he feels your feint isn’t convincing enough, he tells you so. Now, don’t take it personally and come back at him with, “Yeah, but your mama’s a thief.” Learn from the critique and strive to correct the problem.

Here are a few tricks for you to try. They are simple because our fighting philosophy is simple. It’s already hard enough on the streets without getting complex in your self-defense.

Switch levels of attack Fake an attack to your opponent’s legs and when he moves to block, hit him in the face. The bigger the difference in the levels, the harder it is for him to defend against your follow-up attack. If you can’t hit at extreme levels, do less. Fake a head punch, and when he dodges, slam a hard punch into his liver.

Practice 1 or 2 sets of 10 reps of each combination on both sides.

Switch sides Feint to one side of his body and when he moves to protect it, hit his other side. For example, throw a left hook at his face and when he lifts his guard to block it, fire off a hard right palm strike to the other side of his face. Feint a punch to his right side and then land a kick on his left side.

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