Conditioning: Patterns, Rhythm and Mind Games
Conditioning is a part of fighting games that is scarcely talked about and when it is, it’s done so in passing. It is part of the chasm that separates the average Competitor from the seasoned Veteran. It is something that is used to dominate the lesser competitors making them look hapless and incompetent to the casual observer. It features heavily at high level in competitive play of fighting games in different forms. If you hope to have any significant success competitively you must understand and apply this concept.
Conditioning is the act of intentionally setting up pattern and or rhythm of action (which the opponent picks up on consciously or subconsciously) which you intend to break and or exploit at your opponents’ expense.
Conditioning is merely a psychological tool used to influence the behaviour of the opponent. It can be applied offensively and defensively in the context of movement, timing/rhythm, how you wake-up, strike, throw or steal turns etc.
Conditioning with Actions
A simple implementation of conditioning can be the pattern “a/a/b” where a=string(multiple strikes that combo on hit) and b=throw. This pattern could be used by an aggressive competitor to break his opponent’s (OP) defense between waves/turns of attack. In your 1st turn, a string is used, in the 2nd turn a string is used, by the 3rd turn the opponent expects the same string and is likely to be caught out when you do something (even slightly) different. The reverse can equally be done conditioning with throws rather than strings.
Equally, within each turn (opportunity you have to attack), you can use the pattern “a,b/a,b/a,a” where a=single strike and b= “throw”. After the first and second strike-to-throw combination, the opponent will pick up on the pattern and most likely duck to avoid the expected throw only to get hit by a surprise second follow-up strike.
In the context of Zoning, a=Low fireball and b=High fireball; imagine that the OP is trying to get in and you are defending/controlling your space from a far range, first you throw Low Fireball and they jump over it then advance forward (you backdash to maintain your spacing)> you throw another Low Fireball and they jump over it advancing forward yet again(you backdash)> (By now the OP is fed up chasing you down and is already “conditioned” into expecting another low fireball and jumps preemptively at the slightest sign of movement because of muscle memory) High Fireball!! The OP gets hit! To Zone effectively you have to be very good at conditioning.
Defensive Conditioning
From a defensive position, you can condition as well. Imagine that when you are knocked down by your OP in a match and you are limited to these defensive options; Option 1= wake-up attack, Option 2= wake-up “strike”, Option 3=wake-up forward roll, Option 4=wake-up backward roll, Option 5=wake-up “throw”. You could implement either of these patterns, “1/1/5” or “3/3/1”. The 1st time you are knocked down you wake-up attack [Option 1], the 2nd time you wake-up attack [Option 1], by the 3rd time you are knocked down, your OP is likely to believe you will use [Option 1] again and devise counter-strategy to deal with that option only to be hit with [Option 5] a wake-up throw! After this, at very least your opponent will be more respectful of your options when next you are knocked down or would just keep a safe distance and let you get up for free to avoid dealing with your defensive options.
Conditioning with Rhythm
An additional dimension of conditioning can be set up with rhythm alone, or adding rhythm to the patterns of action; this adds more depth to even the simplest of patterns. Continuing with simple patterns, (1)a,/b/_,a (2)a,b/a,_,b/a,a or (3) a,b/a,b/a,_,c where a=strike, b=throw, “_”= slight pause in action and c=back dash.
This will confuse and unsettle the OP to the point that they make logically irrational decisions and make mistakes they wouldn’t make under normal circumstances. Consciously or subconsciously your OP notes the timing/rhythm of your attacks so that they can take their turn in the back and forth of a match, when you have established a rhythm you intentionally delay or hasten your strikes to the time your OP thinks your attacks have ended (and it’s their turn) or just begone. This will make your opponents stop blocking/guarding or try to attack at the wrong timing leaving them vulnerable to your attacks.
Conditioning with Movement
In addition to Rhythm with regards to timing, Rhythm in movement can be added to the blender for comically devastating results as shown in the clip below where the Opponent was nothing more than a Deer in headlights.
This is the foundation on which great Neutral is built. In the Footsies or shimmy game, both opponents are trying to condition themselves into expecting or doing something which would leave them vulnerable to attack. The conditioning may not even come from within that particular match but rather the previous experiences of the opponent. For instance, when an OP moves into point-blank range while you are blocking the normal expectation is a throw which can be countered with a poke or crouch/duck. A typical shimmy would entail moving into point-blank range the dashing out. This is likely to elicit a muscle memory reaction of the opponent to poke or release block/guard. Then you punish them.
For an action to be established as a noticeable pattern it will need to feature 65-70% or 2/3 of the time. If the action(s) is less than that and closer to 50% it will come off as random and won’t have the desired effect. The Op is more likely to take the “wait and see” approach or just guess rather than take the bait.
This is often why on review of match videos you may see a glaring opportunity for a competitor to take their turn and punish slip away because he/she has been ‘conditioned’ to expect something else which never came. Depending on the experience and mental capacity of a competitor conditioning may go several layers deep. It could be at the level of “a/a/b”, “a,b/a,b/aa” or in rotation between different patterns ..“(1),(2)/ (1),(2)/ (1),(3)”. The scope of conditioning can be within a round, within a match or even across a set of matches! Unraveling these layers just like an onion will bring salty tears to the eyes of opponents.
Humans and Habit
Humans by nature are creatures of habit and gravitate towards patterns of behaviour even against their best efforts. Tennis legend Andre Agassi laid this bare when he spoke about how he beat Boris Becker who was dominating mens Tennis at the time.
How you(or your opponent) react under pressure (with or without meter), wakeup (with or without meter), when you attack, when you push buttons and when you take risks are windows to the mind. This is why sometimes you can just “feel” what your opponent is going to do. Though you may not be able to consciously predict the exact pattern, you subconsciously take note and just know what they will do next based on their habits.
That is why you need to keep things “fresh” and be a bit unpredictable (random) so as not to fall into a very predictable pattern and be read like a flow chart by your OP. Sometimes choosing the most optimal option is the wrong choice because it predictable rather every once in a while take the 2nd or 3rd best option unless there is absolutely no escape from that optimal option. Decision-making of this sort forms the foundation for psychological battles in Fighting Games.
Conditioning is a tool, or a means to an end, the “end" being to set up mind games (Yomi). Mind games relate to reading the mind of your opponent and predicting their actions. Some Veterans at a very high level can profile their opponents and read them after just a few exchanges. Yomi can be several levels deep, for instance, I have hit you with 3 throws in a row while you are blocking and I “read" that i have conditioned you to come up with a counter-strategy for my throw loops (best option #1 for the opponent is to crouch and punish). You (the Opponent) KNOW that I KNOW your best counter action is Option #1(crouch and punish) so you(the Opponent) predict that I will try to strike you instead so you block once again (Yomi Level 1).. I the aggressor KNOW that you KNOW that I KNOW your best action is option #1 and will probably adjust your action and block again so I throw you the 4th time! And it hits! (Yomi Level 2). The average jobber will wrongfully think that "hey, that guy is so dumb, I would never fall to the same move for times in a row. Is that guys controller broken? What a noob!"oblivious to the fact that a technical battle is being fought in another dimension be their comprehension!
This Minigame of “Rock Paper Scissors” within the round carries on with multiple options, permutations, and combinations throughout a Fighting game match. So go forth into the world comrades! Read your opponents like a book, fool them into believing they are in the ascendancy and lead them on like a siren further into the ocean of despair!😈🧜🏾♀️
