Fight Term. - Yomi

That's Yomi man, that's Yomi.

I’m a few steps behind the world here, but a key stone of fighting psychology is I something the Japanese call Yomi..

A term meaning "Knowing the mind of the opponent", and is essentially an intangible asset required in fighting games. It's the ability to know what your opponent is going to do, and act appropriately. Whether you achieve this by "conditioning" the opponent to act one way, and then acting in another way, or simply working your way into the head of your opponent, Yomi is just that: the ability to know what your opponent is going to do.

"I got owned by an insane Akuma rushdown. He kept hitting me with flip throws and flip kicks, so I decided to shut him up with a wake up Shoryuken. He parried it and punished with a Raging Demon! Talk about Yomi."

If you can condition your enemy to act in a certain way, you can then use his own instincts against him (a concept from Judo). Paramount in the design of competitive games is the guarantee to the player that if he knows what his enemy will do, there is some way to counter it.

So, I didn't pen this myself, but you get the gist right? The mentality behind it is pretty deep, applying to all kinds of games and sports. In terms of Tekken and Street Fighter the options are genially between 2 and three, making a rock, paper, scissors type situation. A correct guess on a wakeup usually has a huge impact on the hit points, but also the conditioning of your partner.

Food for thought .. But that's some next level shit yo!