Directional Principles of Striking and Throwing Combinations

A directional classification defines your movement in relation to the position of your opponent. Direction is an obvious and external quality of a combination. We can easily see it and it is rarely deceptive. There are two types of directional classifications: lateral and planar.

Lateral Combination
Lateral combinations are those that attack the sides of the opponent alternately or randomly. They are primarily combinations of circular movements including striking, kicking, throwing, locking and takedowns. They can consist of any combination of high-low, foot-foot, hand-foot or hand-hand attacks.

Lateral combinations work well for fighters with good mobility and speed. Their randomness confuses and frustrates opponents, especially those who are big or slow. When forming lateral combinations, include variety in the type of skills, and the height and direction of approach.

Planar Combination
Planar combinations are combinations that attack the opponent on a single plane running through his body from front to back. A plane can run directly through the center line or at a slight angle to the right or left. The only requirement is that all movements are consistent in their line of approach.

Planar combinations consist of penetrating and thrusting linear attacks to the center line of the body including punching, jabbing, linear kicks, knee thrusts, back fists, and tackling. Planar attacks are meant to do serious damage by aiming for vital targets such as the face, spine, groin and internal organs. Create quick techniques and develop total body shifting to take advantage of and penetrate openings on the center line.

Planar attacks also can be combined in groups of high-low approaches with foot-foot, hand-foot or hand-hand skills.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Combinations in Fighting

Advantages of Combinations:

1. You can capitalize on your physical and mental momentum without interruption.
2. You don’t have to wait for another opening to appear.
3. The opponent is forced into a defensive posture.
4. The opponent is confused, allowing you to control the rhythm of the fight.
5. You can achieve a powerful finish.

Disadvantages of Combinations:
1. You have to be agile and skilled in attacking.
2. An experienced opponent can escape by stepping back or to the side or jam by stepping in.
3. You can easily lose your balance when shifting from one technique to the next.
4. You can lose control of the distance between yourself and your opponent.
5. You need stamina to attack strongly until the final movement is completed.
6. You become vulnerable to counterattacks.

Combat Assimilation Practice

Beyond technical, tactical and strategic training, combat training requires combat assimilation practice. In assimilation practice, replicate as closely as possible the conditions under which combat might take place. If your training is for competition, secure the necessary equipment and people to help you create a competition-type atmosphere. If you train for spontaneous combat, such as self-protection, try to estimate the climate of such combat and recreate it within reason.

Safety is the only limitation on what is practiced in assimilation training. If your anticipated combat is full contact, practice full contact fighting within the confines of safety rules and equipment. For full contact fighting, prepare
yourself to deal with the pain and fatigue you will experience. Both fatigue and pain can cause unexpected reactions if you are not familiar with them. Practice training through similar levels of discomfort to prepare.

When you practice assimilation drills, fight with the same mental and physical disposition you would in a real confrontation. Practice reaching and maintaining your focus under pressure. If you feel comfortable with assimilation training, move to over-assimilation training.

In over-assimilation, the realities of combat are exaggerated to make training more challenging. Fight against bigger, stronger, and more experienced opponents. Train with a weight vest or other physical impediment to your movement. Give yourself disadvantages such as using only one type of skill or bodily weapon. Over-assimilation uses anything that exceeds the normal stresses of combat.

What is Fighting Strategy

Strategy is a plan or method for maximum utilization of power through long range planning and development to obtain a specific goal such as security or victory. Strategy begins long before the confrontation. It begins with your first day of training. If you train well, with a goal in mind, your strategy is already being carried out.

By seeing training as a part of your overall combat strategy, you conserve time and energy. You will be well conditioned to perform the movements required to implement your strategy. You also will have confidence in adapting your training to actual combat, because your training has been modeled after real combat all along.

Strategy is long range and intricate. It takes careful consideration and purposeful planning. Strategy allows you to maximize what you already have through skillful execution of your best weapons. Strategy should not be confused, however, with tactics. Tactics are the actual deployment of the physical skills you have prepared. Strategy is the map and tactics are the vehicle you use to navigate the course you have plotted. One without the other is like being lost without a map or having a map without viable transportation—useless.

When to Block a Strike

A block is a movement that forcefully interrupts the opponent’s attack, thereby extinguishing it. Blocking is an aggressive, initiative action that requires commitment. It is most useful against evenly matched or smaller opponents because in blocking, force is met with force and the stronger person will likely win.

Because blocking naturally creates opposition by the opponent, immediately follow a block with a series of finishing blows. If you fail in initiating a quick secondary response, you risk an aggressive counterattack by your opponent. Blocking, like parrying, is often done with the hands and forearms. Blocks are described by the section of the body to which they are applied (high section, low section, and middle section) or by the direction of the application of force (inward, outward, upward, or downward). They also can be classified as straight or circular.

Leg blocks are useful for stopping attacks to the legs and lower trunk, however, they require speed and anticipation. Beyond the commonly practiced arm and leg blocks, there are several uncommon but highly effective blocks such as the V block.

How to Draw your Opponent into a Trap

Drawing is similar to baiting the hook in fishing. The fish sees only his lunch, not the hook that lies inside. To bait your opponent, intentionally expose a target for him to attack. This can be done by three methods. The first is to assume a vulnerable stance that leaves an opening. Try this in the beginning stages of the fight. Once you have shown your true stance, the opponent is unlikely to believe that it will change. The only exception to this is if you appear tired or hurt.

The second draw is to expose a vital point such as your head, and let the opponent come in for an attack. When he commits to a high attack, evade and respond with a counterattack to his low section. Use this formula for high-low, right-left and back-front attacks.

The final case is to step back and let your opponent step forward. As soon as he begins to step in, go in suddenly like a tidal wave, and overwhelm him. Drawing, like feinting, requires practice and deception to be effective.

How to Practice Fundamental Fighting Skills

When practicing fundamental skills, strive for perfection in every step of the movement. Break down the movement into its most basic components and practice each stage with careful attention to detail. Every movement has five stages:

1. Preparation is the action you take to ready yourself for the movement.
2. Execution is the initiation and path of the movement as it advances to the target.
3. Impact is the culmination of the execution when you deliver the total force created by your weight and momentum to the target.
4. Follow through is the action that follows the impact to complete the path of the movement.
5. Finish is the relaxed and natural withdrawal of the body part used in the movement.

Practice each skill in the fundamentals section according