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On Combat Sports and Combat Tactics
by Woody Long, Author of Martial Mind for All
(For more information on Woody Long and where to find Martial Mind for All, please click on the above banner.)
Do combat tactics affect the outcome of a combat sports fight? This is the question this article will explore. First let me say I’m amongst the biggest fans of mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and boxing. In fact, I think they should be the American football of the off-season. In other words, if you love the hits and crunches of football, then you gotta love these combat sports, as must-see TV. It is, I believe, the lack of strong promoting of this "three-ring circus of combat sports" and their stars that is holding this floodgate of support back. This, and no common fan lingo.
As football fans we all need to know the lingo of offense and defense to best enjoy the sport, and this is what makes it so interesting to follow along, and see how the two teams stack up. This, and the crunches! And the same is true in combat sports. The football fans, who would be diehard fans of combat sports, need to know a basic, common lingo of combat sports, in order to get fully onboard and loving it. This, plus strong promotion of the stars, and these combat sports could become wildly popular.
As for me, mine is the humble art of combat tai chi, but my claim to fame is my seven years of study of every publicly available US combat tactics manual I could find. I have thoroughly studied this tactical science, and applied it to combat sports. From this I have gleaned the basic, common combat tactics lingo, as it applies to combat sports. I made this lingo colorful enough that the fans could easily learn it and apply it to the fights. For example, there is “rolling the dice” for offense against the “stooge” and “setting up shop” for defense against the “incoming puppet.”
So back to our question, can combat tactics actually affect the outcome of a fight? We all have fighting techniques, just as in football there is the end run, the side line pass, the Hail Mary pass, etc. Combat tactics are the stringing together of these individual techniques to achieve the victory. It is easy to see how the football coaches strings of techniques can greatly affect the outcome of the game, and the same is true in combat sports.
A famous example of this is the “Rumble in the Jungle” between Ali and Foreman. Tactically, Ali used a classic exploitation tactic, or what I call "splitting the cracked board." This tactical mode creates disintegration in the opponent mentally or physically, called a cracked board, and then tenaciously exploits the fog and exhaustion in a hard close. Ali caused Foreman to disintegrate and wear out physically, and then at just the right moment, exploited it to close hard and fast for the victory. This was the key to this fight. I'm sure that many martial artists have heard of this tactical mode, but we lack the common lingo to communicate about combat tactics. And the fans do too. To make this a Monday morning water cooler discussion, the fans need to know that they witnessed Ali intentionally causing Foreman to punch himself out until he was weakened, and then tenaciously exploited it for the victory.
How about another common offensive combat tactic, the spoiler? You have probably used it more then once, but maybe didn’t know the standard name for it. An exploitation tactic creates the disintegration, whereas a spoiler tactic is used when you suddenly notice mental fog, confusion, or positional weakness in your opponent. This state is called a “glazed board,” and a spoiler tactic is immediately and tenaciously executed to splinter the glazed board. I have seen combat sports fights where the fighter did not have these combat tactics memorized, and missed golden opportunities to win the fight. I have also seen the premier tactician Vinny Paz give a tactical clinic in his 50th fight win.
So just as it is good to program your muscles with techniques, it is good to program your mind with these ten standard combat tactics, so you can transition to them when the opportunity arises. Your trainer cannot string your techniques for you in the middle of a match. This is the fighter’s job, and the fighter who has them programmed in his mind has a definite edge. As the premier US manual on combat tactics states:
"The tactician who employs the more appropriate tactics given the existing situation has a distinct advantage over his opponent, even if they have Equal Combat Power.”
This quote is from a top of the line US combat tactics manual that is in fact the best, most modern combat tactics manual on this planet. Their point is that, all else being equal, as in many fight matches, tactical skill alone will give you an advantage that could affect the outcome of the fight. That is the power (te) of learning their fundamental combat tactics. Martial artists involved in combat sports should seriously consider this.
But let’s start at the beginning. In the same combat tactics manual we find:
“A tactician is an individual who is devoted to mastering the art and science of tactics.”
So combat tactics are a level of study that goes beyond techniques. Combat tactics is the art of stringing your techniques together in a fight match for the victory. An easy way to begin this study is to watch fight matches and look for glaze in the fighter where it appears that he is taking a break to regroup, or is uncertain about what to do next, and trying to decide. When spotted, these are excellent opportunities to quickly execute a spoiler tactic, using whatever technique is warranted, and close quickly on him. Then keep your eye on a retrograding fighter who is moving away from his opponent to regroup, and so in between techniques. This is when it is time, not to rest on your own, but to immediately execute a pursuit tactic and close quickly,
“pushing your systems to the limit” as the manual states.
And finally, look for a cracked opponent, who has been caused to be dazed and confused, or physically damaged or weakened. This is the time to quickly and tenaciously execute an exploitation tactic to close hard on the opponent for the victory. If you watch for these three conditions you will soon see that they happen time and time again, and the fighter either executes the correct tactic or misses a golden opportunity. It soon becomes apparent that these tactics can affect the outcome. And when the fans become aware of these basic combat tactics, the fight becomes much more interesting to watch, just as in football.
Other combat tactics that you are most likely already aware of are the offensive feint and defensive bluffing, all of which are to throw the opponent off as to your true intent. The opponent sees you here but your true intent is to attack from there. Or the opponent believes you are closing with one technique, but your true intent is to use another. As he throws up a block, or moves into a position, against your apparent approach or technique, he opens himself up for your real intent. This is seen a lot in combat sports, where the fighter will execute feint tactics as he advances, or execute a bluffing tactic against an advancing opponent to confuse and mask his true intent. They are also used to cause the opponent to respond and put himself into a weak position for the true intent.
Another quote from the combat tactics manual that is relevant to combat sports is:
“The tactician invokes the art of tactics to solve tactical problems by choosing from options including:
1. Types and forms of operations.
2. Tempo of the fight.
3. Risks the fighter is willing to take”.
This is easily seen to be directly useful to combat sports. The types of operations are either offensive, defensive, or retrograde operations, where you move away from the opponent to avoid strikes or regroup. The forms referred to are the two basic defensive tactics, the six basic offensive tactics, and the two basic retrograde tactics. These are the ten fundamental combat tactics, and the fighter who has them programmed into his mind gains a distinct advantage. The tempo refers to the controlled ebb and flow of the fight, where sometimes it is best to increase the tempo and push your systems to the limit, and sometimes it is best to slow the tempo, to cool off the opponent or regroup. And the risks you are willing to take means employing riskier techniques when called for, which can be decisive though risky, or employing more conservative techniques, to feel the opponent out, or stay in the fight.
One final basic tactical point to consider here is the principle of shaping and closing. This refers to the stringing of techniques so that some are used merely as support assaults, to “shape” the situation for the main, decisive "closing" assault. This you have all probably heard of, but perhaps don’t know the tactical terms for it. This is nothing more then say executing a shaping assault low on the gut, in order to open up a closing assault on the head. Once again, if you watch combat sports fights you will see times where the fighter had shaped the situation but failed to follow it up with a closing assault on an exposed flank or the head. So the basic rule of combat for this is ‘move through shaping assaults to a closing assault.’ All told, there are twelve of these fundamental rules of combat (ROCs). It is true that studying and applying these basic combat tactics takes some time, but it is clear that the fighter who programs them into his mind has a distinct tactical advantage over fighters who don’t.
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 All, now on sale at his website (see above).
* Article by Woody Long, Author of Martial Mind for All.
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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