In canon, Snape was able to shut down everything Harry tried against him in combat in the sixth book, because as long as Harry hadn’t mastered occlumency or silent spellcasting, his attacks were all sufficiently telegraphed that a superior duelist and leglimens like Snape could simply counter them all before he could fire them off.
Indeed. I’m reminded of martial arts—in a sparring match between a very fit beginner and a creaky master, the master still just toys with the beginner because their movements are so predictable. I’ve seen this in fencing, taekwondo, and karate, and it’s a mixture of hilarious, impressive, and sad all at once.
If you’re really good, you can toy around like that even with people who’re quite proficient. I haven’t seen it myself, but my sifu said that his teacher, grandmaster Al Dacascos, who’s a first generation martial arts hall of famer, really is that good in his sixties, and on the wikipedia page of Kenshiro Abbe, it says that he recalled how his own kendo instructor, a 75 year old tenth dan (back when tenth dans in kendo actually still existed) couldn’t be touched by any of the students or younger instructors.
In canon, Snape was able to shut down everything Harry tried against him in combat in the sixth book, because as long as Harry hadn’t mastered occlumency or silent spellcasting, his attacks were all sufficiently telegraphed that a superior duelist and leglimens like Snape could simply counter them all before he could fire them off.
Indeed. I’m reminded of martial arts—in a sparring match between a very fit beginner and a creaky master, the master still just toys with the beginner because their movements are so predictable. I’ve seen this in fencing, taekwondo, and karate, and it’s a mixture of hilarious, impressive, and sad all at once.
If you’re really good, you can toy around like that even with people who’re quite proficient. I haven’t seen it myself, but my sifu said that his teacher, grandmaster Al Dacascos, who’s a first generation martial arts hall of famer, really is that good in his sixties, and on the wikipedia page of Kenshiro Abbe, it says that he recalled how his own kendo instructor, a 75 year old tenth dan (back when tenth dans in kendo actually still existed) couldn’t be touched by any of the students or younger instructors.