Who owns the rhythm?

This bit from Malcolm Gladwell's piece, How David Beats Goliath, in this week's New Yorker resonates with an idea I've been incubating for a while... And in case the title isn't clear enough, the article is about underdogs and why they win when they win.

"'And it happened as the Philistine arose and was drawing near David that David hastened out from the lines toward the Philistine,' the Bible says. 'And he reached his hand into the pouch and took from there a stone and slung it in his forehead.' The second sentence - the slingshot part - is what made David famous. But the first sentence matters just as much. David broke the rhythm of the encounter. He speeded it up."

I'm always aware when someone asserts a new rhythm, often in conversation, and usually to redirect the energies at hand. But sometimes a new rhythm is as simple as an unexpected posture or positioning that totally screws with Goliath's head.