Most people when faced with a violent attack are afraid of the unknown. Fear and anger can take a trained black belt and reduce him to a white belt in a matter of moments. In other words, not knowing what your attacker’s opportunities are increases your anxiety exponentially when you are “in the moment” of a violent confrontation with little to no preparation for what happens next.
What if I told you that you could completely negate all of your enemy’s attack opportunities by a simple 3-step formula?
- Before
- During
- After
These are all of the options that both your enemy and you have to end the fight quickly.
He can only attack you:
- Before you attack him (ambush): Early Phase
- During your attack (maybe you telegraphed your intentions enabling him to counter your attack): Mid-Phase
- After your attack (you may have thought a single direct attack was all you needed, but he recovered and counter attacked; now he is pissed off) Late Phase
Important Notes:
- You will negate virtually all of your enemy’s early phase options by simply getting your hands up and begin your attack with a pre-emptive strike.
- By minimising your intentions – not telegraphing your attack – you will negate virtually all of your enemy’s mid-phase options.
- By attacking in a continuous “uninterrupted” onslaught in close quarter range, you will negate virtually all of your enemy’s late phase options.
The last statement doesn’t imply that every action you take has to be a calculated lethal combination. This dilemma is dealt with “in the moment” within the chaos of warfare. Good judgement and continuous training enables you to use only that force which is proportionate to neutralise the threat that you are facing to degree. Remember the Finishing Options Continuum:
- Control & Containment
- Disablement
- Unconsciousness
- Death (Only as a last resort survival measure- Somebody is trying to kill YOU!)
Good Guy Attack Options:
- Before he attacks you: Pre-emptive Strike – Early Phase
- During his attack: Defend & Counter Attack – Mid-Phase
- After his attack: You have been stunned and diminished. Regroup & counter attack – Late Phase
Survival Summary:
Early Phase: Adopting a non-fighting posture with your hands up, you are looking for opportunities for defusing the conflict, but at the same time setting your enemy up with an inverted ambush. You want to use a deceptive delivery system in order to trick the enemy into believing that you are not a threat. This is especially effective due to the large percentage of bad guys that cavalierly have their hands down.
Mid Phase: Sometimes we really are committed to defusing the conflict and to our surprise he throws a punch, grabs you or perhaps tries to tackle you. We are all flawed and imperfect, so it behoves you to have a game plan at this phase. It is very important here to counter with forward pressure and not adopt a defensive structure when he starts throwing bombs at you.
Late Phase: It is here where you screwed up. Maybe you were tired. Maybe you were caught totally unaware. Who knows? It’s “Shit Happens 101”. It is here that you must train to fight past the choke; past the injury; past the stab wound; past the broken nose. You get the idea? This is why we emphasise the mental attributes such as “controlled aggression” and “the will to survive” in order to prevail in this late phase attack model and fight through the set backs.
Dedicated to YOUR Survival
Joe
