This has been on my mind a lot lately. Trying to pin-point what it is in martial arts (specifically Kenpo/Karate and Kobudo of Okinawan lineage) that makes for a "better" fighting method. It has taken some thought and study but I think I've nailed down some of it enough to write it out. In doing so, I have refined my ideas of overall strategy a little.
The setup
1. You have to know what question you are attempting to answer.
In our case, this is a question of how to prevail in a self-defense situation with a lot of unknowns and poor odds. One attacker or more? Armed, angry, under influence or any combination of these.
This is just defining our specific problem in order to define our solution.
2. The universal fight plan.
It seems to be true across cultures, locations and time (to some extent. technology will always play a role here). When a primate (including humans) aggressor or group of aggressors has cause or need worthy of physical violence, the plan generally breaks down like this: gain advantage by whatever means (numbers, weaponry, surprise, target selection...), use repeated strikes to beat the target into submission (either submission of will or physical ability), continue until resistance (resistance = a threat) stops, accomplish goals (steal wallet). Sometimes there is a verbal threat or challenge first but, this is usually how it works. I think on some level this has become instinct. It's in our DNA so it is probably a time-proven way of taking what we want. It is generally unspoken amongst attackers and requires almost no thought to carry out until non-melee weapons are introduced. See schoolyard fights of any age groups, professional hockey, Rodney King video, etc.
The strategy is the first piece. Training to implement and stick to it is the rest. As I see it now, I am explaining our strategy as follows:
(survive) this part kind of goes without saying, it's instinct. If someone is hitting you then stop getting hit by whatever means. The 'whatever means' is the tactic, and traditional MA can provide some help here.
Gain the initiative
The one with the initiative is in charge, be that person! This is the hard part because often this step involves recovering from things suddenly going wrong. You are likely to be on your heels at first. Launch some kind of offensive and make the other guy deal with it rather than just letting him dominate the offense. Again, MA has tactics for this but people don't like them because they are not easy to practice and not always successful (if you are practicing correctly). It's called a fight for a reason.
Control the initiative
Here's the real secret, if there is one. Don't try to fight toe to toe with someone and expect your kung fu to beat his kung fu. That's a different kind of fight and it is not in line with our strategy. Instead, get to a better position than the other guy and capitalize on the opportunity. The window, just like the fight, will not last long. You need to train to create dominance (openings) and know it the moment it is there so you can capitalize. "Hit" them when and where they are weakest, and repeat until the next step can be achieved.
Exit
As soon and safely as possible! This is the goal. Always remember the goal. You are either dominating or leaving. There is no winner but there may be a second, third or fourth opponent. Don't stick around. We used to always hear in traditional karate classes that, "If you are not there, you can't be hit." This was used in regards to moving out of the way of a strike but, on a larger scale it holds true. The ideal fight would go like this. He throws a punch, you dodge it. Then you run away. But there is often more to it than that. You're cornered in an elevator/train/bathroom stall. Maybe you have your grandmother with you and she's not much of a sprinter. Or one guy grabs/distracts you while the other guy swings. Everything is situational.
The piece I'm focusing on right now is finding the dominating position in the fight. If all goes to plan (which it usually never does) I will have a response that leads into some scenario where the opponent's options are limited or he at least has fewer or worse options than I do. Kata provide tactics to use for this and Kihon skills give us the dexterity and habits of movement (good techniques) that increase my odds of making these tactics work.
Just thinking out loud some.
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