Argues that playwrights looked to fencing theory and performance for physical cues and formal structure Demonstrates alternate historical understandings of judgment training that are useful to modern pedagogical contexts Analyses historical and formal elements of plays and fencing manuals to reveal previously unnoticed shared strategies for teaching timing Excavates an underexplored archive of fencing Italian, English, and German fencing texts and brings to bear their explicit instruction on teaching timing and judgment to early modern drama Intervenes in current scholarship on Shakespeare and Jonson to motivate misunderstood plotting and pacing decisions Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage reveals an underexplored archive of Italian, English and German fencing texts, which were designed explicitly to teach tempo and judgement. This intervention in Shakespeare and Jonson scholarship provides critical new insights into the plots, pacing and characterisation of drama and attends to the ethical and pedagogical work displayed and accomplished by fencing and dramatic devices. It yields a robust theory of active waiting and brings the imbrications of appropriate timing and ethical decision-making to the fore.Argues that playwrights looked to fencing theory and performance for physical cues and formal structure Demonstrates alternate historical understandings of judgment training that are useful to modern pedagogical contexts Analyses historical and formal elements of plays and fencing manuals to reveal previously unnoticed shared strategies for teaching timing Excavates an underexplored archive of fencing Italian, English, and German fencing texts and brings to bear their explicit instruction on teaching timing and judgment to early modern drama Intervenes in current scholarship on Shakespeare and Jonson to motivate misunderstood plotting and pacing decisions Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage reveals an underexplored archive of Italian, English and German fencing texts, which were designed explicitly to teach tempo and judgement. This intervention in Shakespeare and Jonson scholarship provides critical new insights into the plots, pacing and characterisation of drama and attends to the ethical and pedagogical work displayed and accomplished by fencing and dramatic devices. It yields a robust theory of active waiting and brings the imbrications of appropriate timing and ethical decision-making to the fore.