Indes

"<86r> This is about wrestling. Whoever wants to learn wrestling, he should note at first that the principles Vor, Nach, speed, courage deceit and wits etc also belong to wrestling. And know that all grace and skill comes from wrestling and all fencing comes basically from the wrestling. At first the fencing with the long knife and from that the fencing with the long swords comes and so on. " translated by Christian Tobler

Indes (Instantly/During) is often a tricky thing to teach to students. Especially with new students who have no prior sporting or martial arts background this can be more difficult. The concept of Vor (Before) and Nach (After) is much easier to explain to them. Vor being about taking the initiative in a decisive and intelligent manner to attack the opponent. Nach describing the position your opponent is now in, forcing them to act in response to your action. Both of these are simple to demonstrate with basic fencing actions.

Indes though often is a little more complex. I can tell a student that when my opponent attacked with her Oberhau forcing me into the Nach I chose (in Indes) to defend with a Zorn-Ort. I can show them this, but often I have found that they at the core still remain puzzled.

Recently I have changed my mind on how to explain Indes. Instead of using fencing as an analogy I shall use wrestling, Judo in particular as I watch and understand that better than other modern forms. Due to the slower, and larger, movements that occur in wrestling it is easier to see when the competitor decides to act in counter to his opponent. This allows me to show Indes in action in a way that is simpler to understand.

Below are some examples that demonstrate Indes very well and clearly.