Saber Combat Academy Ltd.Longsword SyllabusLevel 1: “Tempo” – Timing

What is Tempo?Tempo is how the Italian masters refer to the idea of ‘timing’ during a contest. This is not the time limit, time of day or whatever else. It is, by definition, the point at which an action begins and how long it takes to finish. What is an action? Any deliberate movement of the body or sword, from a change of guard posture, to a single step, a cut or a thrust, these are Actions and Timing defines how they should be used.

Tempo is important to a combatant as it governs the entire fight, two fighters moving at the same time and speed will double hit, if one fighter is slower they will lose. It is that simple. Fiore breaks Tempo down into five possible moments during an action:

Before the Act – At the Act – During the Act – Just Before Contact – After Contact

The five points during any action seek to define when certain things happen, for example Before the Act the swordsman must check his measure, his footing, weight etc. During the Act, the defender will position to block, After Contact a new action will begin in the defender’s counter or a secondary attack. By looking at Before, During and After, we can reduce Fiore’s complex timing structure to better suit our modern needs and add a layer of simplicity to training.

At the Act – 1st InitiativePerhaps we shouldn’t remove the two harder to define terms before we have understood them fully. At the Act refers to the time at which an action begins, at this moment the one who moves first has the 1st Initiative in the fight. The one who moves first is the one who decides what is happening in that one action. For example, a fighter decides to immediately throw a Mandritto Fendente at their opponent and does so before they move against them. The attacker has the 1st Initiative and to some, the advantage.

Just Before Contact – Bravery or DesperationJust Before Contact, following the above example, the defender has decided to employ the La Soprana defence against the Mandritto Fendente and must move into position before the attack lands. If it were a simple block, the time in which the defender has to begin their action has a higher margin of success. The complex position of the La Soprana means they must begin earlier, During the Act and be in position Just Before Contact. Moving in this way taps into Brave fighting, a willingness to get into the combat, failure to be in position in time will result in a desperate, off-weighted and badly performed defence which may not work. Moving during an act is referred to as ‘Mezza Tempo’ Middle Timing.

Mezza Tempo & Due TempoMezza Tempo, middle timing is when one fighter begins an action during the other fighter’s action. This is most often seen in simple attack and defence plays. The attacker cuts, during their cut the defender must get into position to block. Once contact is made and those actions finished, it is then the beginning of the next action and a race to be the one to regain the 1st Initiative.

Should the defender be looking for a counter after their block, and this was planned, it is known as entering Due Tempo, Double-Timing. This requires one action to finished before the next action can begin. Following above, the La Soprana block works and finished the defensive action. The second action begins with the La Soprana counter and ends with a contact. Again, the first attacker could block, moving at Mezza Tempo, while attempt a counter of their own and be working in Due Tempo themselves.

After Contact – 2nd InitiativeAfter Contact refers to the most likely outcome of an action, in broad terms it is relating to an attack which makes contact with either sword or flesh. However, as a step can be considered an action, we could argue that the foot making contact with the floor follows the rules of the terminology, but we like to be clear and call it the end point of an action. As such, missing a cut or a thrust will also finish an action.

Reacting to an opponent who cuts at you, you step back and they miss, ending that action. You can reclaim the initiative by attacking back without the need to riposte or make contact with their sword. In these situations, this is known as the 2nd Initiative or the Taken Initiative. The 2nd Initiative is a genuine advantage as a missed swing will require the attacker to recover before being able to defend fully to your attack. It is far less even than the 1 st

Initiative.