The Martial Arts Manual

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When facing an opponent do not focus your eyes on any single point on their body. Do not focus on the neck, leaving the legs unwatched. Do not watch the feet, leaving the hands unobserved. Un-focus your eyes and gaze at your whole opponent. In this way, you can take in all at once. You will be able to see any small telegraph, any movement that gives you foreknowledge of what your opponent intends to do.

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Gaze at your opponent and add to your lexicon the fore movements that your opponent provides you to tell you what they intend to do. These are called telegraphs. Telegraphs are the most important pieces of information that you can collect when you intend to be victorious in a fight. Use what you know of your opponent's reactions to force him to repeat a technique so that you can identify a given telegraph. Everyone telegraphs, but some people have much smaller telegraphs than others.

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Some argue that when gazing, you may not be able to register and react to a telegraph so obliquely observed. However, if you have trained properly your subconscious will have picked up on the telegraph and your body will automatically react correctly.

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When you are fighting, it is important to build yourself a lexicon of your opponent's habits, reactions, and inspirations. Do this by testing them. Throw a technique and remember how he responds. Do the same technique again to see if he responds the same way. Repeat this test with many techniques so that you know how your opponent will react. Then, you can use this against him.