"Hey, your shoe's untied…" as your opponent looks down, you clobber him with a devastating uppercut to the chin. Though most people wouldn't fall for this comical cliché, it doesn't mean that faking, deceptions and distractions aren't an important part of the martial arts.

There is more to faking than just throwing attacks. The first aspect is body language. If you are in a situation that you know is going to escalate into a fight, you can take a defensive stance and act afraid. Avoid eye contact and make statements like, "I really don't want to fight," or "can't we find some way to work this out?" This type of behavior will usually give your assailant an over-inflated sense of self-confidence. Often they will lessen their guard or drop it completely. This is when you attack. Since most street fights are over after only a few blows, getting the first strike will greatly improve your chances of victory. If your opponent attacks first, you can still fake by pretending to be injured or acting like you can no longer defend yourself. The result is usually the same, an over-confident attacker who will usually lower their guard.

Your eyes are also very valuable tools in the art of deception. Most martial arts instructors encourage their students to avoid looking directly at their intended targets; but by looking at a false target, you can mislead your opponent. The key is to make it believable. If you want your opponent to believe that your going to strike their groin, you need to stay focused on the groin. Start by doing a quick snap kick to the groin. Step into the kick and throw a punch to the head. The key is to continue to look and focus at the "false" target. If you change your focus towards your opponent's head, you will telegraph the attack and give your opponent a better chance to defend. It may take some practice, but you will get use to striking targets that you're not looking at.

What makes an effective fake? Basically anything that makes your opponent think your going to do one thing when you're really intending to do another. If done properly, a fake will create an opening that will allow you to strike your opponent. The key elements to a fake are believability and quick execution. Since it is virtually impossible to defend all striking points, an opponent will need to move their defenses. It is your object to get your adversary to move how you want them to and then throw an attack to their undefended area. If your opponent is protecting their head and upper body, you can fake to the groin and then throw a strike to the head. If they are protecting their groin and face, you can fake to one of the protected areas and then strike the Solar Plexus.

There are countless combinations of fakes and the following are just a few of the more common. A frequently used technique in Taekwondo is the low to high kick fake. You start by throwing a low roundhouse kick toward the legs. Without lowering the leg, another roundhouse is executed to the head. The first kick causes the opponent to drop their hand down to block and if done quickly enough the second kick comes over the arm before the opponent has time to respond. Another effective technique for faking is a punch and sidekick combination. The punch is thrown at the head and as the opponent raises his arm to block, a sidekick is then delivered to the side of the ribs or to the groin. Our final highlighted fake is the double kick. You start by throwing a snap kick off of your front foot towards your opponent's groin. When the opponent lowers his hand to block, you hop and throw a wheel-kick off the opposite leg to the head. Remember that with most faking moves, it is not important that the first strike actually makes contact, only that the opponent responds as if it will. If the fake is executed to slowly or limply, the opponent may see through the technique or he may not fear any injury from the attack and choose to counter-attack. On the other hand, if you commit to fully to the faked attack you may not be able to launch your "real" attack quickly enough to avoid your opponent's defense. Like any technique you should make sure that you have practiced "selling" your faking technique before using it in a tournament or real life situation.