Vor, Nach, Indes, & Gleich
From Scholar Victoria
The initiative of the fight can be expressed in the following four words:
While conceptually simple this set of terms is at the very core of the fencing styles which are based in the Liechtenauer tradition.
All combat should be seen as a flow of Vor and Nach between two fencers. If my opponent takes the Vor (initiative), I am forced to react in the Nach (after), but by responding Indes (in the moment) with the correct technique I can steal the Vor back, thus forcing my opponent to act in the Nach. The clever fencer recognises this, and can use the Vor to set up their own Nachschlag (after blow) as a second intention technique. This is the essence of Verfuhren (deceiving).
