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Tactics VIII
by Woody Long, Author of Martial Mind For Martial Artists
(For more information on Woody Long and where to find Martial Mind for All, please click on the above banner.)
Tenacity. Audacity. Powerful words but what exactly do they mean in tactics? A combat sports fighter who fights with tenacity never gives up on fighting cold and hard. He presses the fight tenaciously - cold and hard - to its conclusion. A combat sports fighter who is fighting with audacity is employing unexpected, bold techniques involving controlled risks. He pushes his systems to the limit in unexpected and bold actions, while accepting possible risks of damage.
Technical and tactical knowledge is crucial, but not sufficient to make the combat sports fighter the best he can be. Combat sports fighting, and martial arts in general, also requires you to be disciplined, efficient, tenacious and bold.
Disciplined martial artists are self-controlled, honorable, and orderly. They train and practice in a disciplined manner. They do their duty promptly and effectively in response to their personal orders, and without complaint. By honorable is meant without causing street offenses or treating the opponent with disrespect. By efficient is meant wasting little time or energy in their training and practice.
A combat sports fight is a "coordinated symphony" of movement, shaping, and closing. These are the basic building blocks of the combat sports fight. A combat sports fighter should always be aware of when he is moving into a position, when he is striking to shape, and when he is striking to close for a major disruption (check).
 So in this atom diagrahm the yellow core represents movement in and around the ring or cage. The green rings represent shaping strikes. And the red ring represents a closing strike. So this is a clear and revealing portrait of the combat sports fighter. Remember a "strike" in tactics can mean a hand strike, foot strike, takedown technique, or ground technique. But in any case, the strike is either to shape (green ring) the opponent into a weakened position, or close hard (red ring) for major disruption, relative to the rules of the combat sport.
Tactically the combat sports fighter should be aware that he has three options. He can shape and close on a backed-off opponent, called an offensive operation. He can shape and close on an incoming opponent, called a defensive operation. Or he can move away from the opponent to avoid strikes or regroup, called a retrograde operation.
In the last article we saw how the Long Tactical Chessboard can be used to make this easy to remember. For example we might say that the knights rode out of the castle on a backed-off opponent. They continued their advance until their operation lost energy and waned, i.e., reached its "culminating point." Then quickly our fighter set up a castle defense right at this point. But perhaps the defense was breached by incoming knights, and so our fighter had no option but to retreat out the back of the castle, praying to his Bishop. Then maybe he was able to turn and set up a castle defense and thwart the incoming knights so the opponent is forced to stop the advance and set up a castle defense of his own. Seeing this our fighter quickly sends his knights out on the now backed-off opponent. And so on. So this is one way to easily study the ebb and flow of the "coordinated symphony" of our combat sports fighter.
While not easy, the science of tactics is relatively straightforward. According to US combat tactics manuals the science of tactics is employed by choosing from options including:
1. Risks the fighter is willing to take.
2. Tempo of the bout.
3. Types and forms of operations.
The general tactical rule is to first shape the opponent into a weakened position, and from there close for major disruption (check). These checks are then "stacked" until the opponent goes down or out (checkmate). The same is true in chess and many arts where you must first shape the situation before you can close for your desired effect. So in tactics the focus is on shaping and closing to accomplish the desired mission. And there are two possible times to shape and close: offensive operations on the backed-off opponent (in the castle), or defensive operations on the incoming opponent (riding in with the knights).
So the types of operations referred to above are offensive, defensive, and retrograde operations (where you move away with the Bishop). And the forms referred to are the eleven general combat tactics: two retro tactics, three defensive tactics, and six offensive tactics. Future articles in this column will discuss these further.
Note about the author: Woody Long has studied combat tai chi and US combat tactics since 1987. This article was adapted from his book, Martial Mind For Martial Artists.
* Article by Woody Long, Author of Martial Mind For Martial Artists .
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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