I thought one aspect of the 'tunes' thread interesting, which I'd like to isolate from the personal discussions there: the importance of rhythm in MA or competitive sports.
I think that human movement naturally happens in some sort of rhythm, starting with the contraction and relaxation of muscles. In competitions, it is important to realize your adversaries rhythm in order to catch him in a phase where he is not so mobile. On the other hand, you got to be able to control your own rhythm in order to adapt to the speed of the other person. This clearly goes hand in hand with the ability to guess the opponents intentions.
One other aspect is to understand the intrinsic rhythm of certain movements (meaning its progression of extensions and contractions for example) as a guiding principle in which to adapt the movement to changing circumstances, e.g. the opponents movements.
I wonder if there are systematic drills in MA to school this kind of ability. Capoeira seems to place a lot of emphasis on that, since they embed all of their movements in a rhythmic frame and teach you to move in rhythm with the other person in the ring ... Any comments ?

there are various methods of training rhythm, in judo, foot sweeps require timing, and in order to time a sweep you must catch the rhythm of your opponent.

you can also get on a drum set, which will familiarize your mind with different rhythmic patterns that you can use. although with sparring, you have to train your "body" to move, rather than just your hands, as opposed to drumming.

1-2-cha cha cha.