Laws and Principles of Combat

This is an old article about AMOK! Combatives and any form of combat.

Laws and Principles of Combat
© Tom Sotis

A Law of Nature - Combat is a natural phenomenon governed by physics and human anatomy, which exists purely as a function of nature, and humans must adapt to it.

The Law of Self-preservation - every living creature has the right to defend itself from harm.

The Law of Universal Human Design - our universally designed human bodies are subject to and affected identically (but not equally) by the same forces, thus establishing fundamental unchanging principles of combat shared by all humans.

The Law of Variation of Human Proportions - human anatomy is universal in design but varies widely in their proportion; which explains why sound principles produce widely varying effects.

Because combat is not experienced in fixed or absolute terms and because of the Laws of Variation and Effectiveness, when erecting problem-solving guidelines we can, because of universal design, use rules of thumb to draw those lines.

Combative Rules of Thumb -useful principles or courses of action that have proved to be widely true or effective (because of UHD) – AND are subject to the Law of Exceptions (because of VHD).

The Law of Exceptions - exceptions are respected and embraced for their ability to nullify a CRT or force its modification but they don’t invalidate them.

The Principle of Varying Degrees of Effectiveness - any given action will have varying degrees of effect relative to who is doing it to whom and how well. (same action = different results).

The Principle of Counter-ability - counters don’t invalidate the actions that spawn them; their value is gauged by the likelihood of its outcome which is based on the relative ease or difficulty between the action and the counter (EH+, EE=, HH≠, HE-). This is both action-based (group results) and subject to the principle of varying effectiveness.

The Principle of Usefulness - the usefulness of any action is an inverse relationship between effectiveness and degree of counter-ability (every tool has value relative to the moment).

The Law of Varying Outcomes - an exchange will have varying outcomes whereby either, neither, or both combatants incur damage or are killed; and in turn changes their potential. E/N/B X I/K = VO

The Law of Changing Potentials - the combined and related mental, physical and tactical potential of the fighters’, changes as the fight evolves.

The Law of Physical Deterioration - each fighter’s physical potential progressively deteriorates; mainly through injury and/or loss of stamina (physical and/or mental).

The Law of Human Mechanical Resistance to Pressure - muscles provide resistance efficiently up to 15* of misalignment, (the 15* threshold of resistance) and then progressively deteriorates experiencing complete failure at 45*.

Mechanical Resistance Tests

1. Parallel feet to outward resistance of the wrists
2. Elbows Underside to the legs’ ability to resist
3. Hips aligned to Shoulders ability to resist takedown and punch
4. Head to Center ability to resist a stomach strike
5. Elbow to elbow ability to resist with opposite palm
6. Arm extended walk it diagonally down ability to resist force in only one direction at a time.

The Law of Pressure - pressure creates the need for and governs, the tactics, tools, and mechanics of combat.

THE SIX PressureS

Macro-pressure is defined as, and gauged by, the degree by which the enemy’s torso bears upon you (by leveraging the natural forces of momentum, gravity and torque) and prisms combat into six strata: maximum, significant, reduced, mutual, negative, and vertical.

Maximum pressure is when the enemy attempts to fully occupy (or move through) the space that you occupy. The attacker’s momentum dominates, supplemented by gravity and torque.

Significant pressure is when you are toe-to-toe and the enemy took at least one full step to get there (usually the distance of the initial strike). The attacker’s momentum, gravity and torque are gathered in relatively balanced amounts.

Reduced pressure exists when you are toe-to-toe and the enemy took at least a half-step or less to get there (usually subsequent strikes). The attacker’s momentum and gravity are reduced while torque remains constant.

Mutual (or zero) pressure exists when you are toe-to-toe exerting equal force against one-another. Momentum, gravity, and torque have minimum roles where mainly power, leverage, and technique dominate the micro-dynamics.

Negative pressure is when the enemy’s torso is moving away from you (because he is disengaging and/or because you are striking him). The attacker’s momentum is reversed, gravity is relatively constant, and torque is diminished.

Vertical pressure exists when one or both of the combatants are on the ground. Momentum is minimal, gravity is the dominant force, and torque varies.

Each varying pressure spawns and governs a corresponding tactical realm and dictates the actions (and mechanics) within it. Hence, pressure governs tactics and prisms combat into nine tactical realms.

THE NINE TACTICAL REALMS

Accessing is the realm spawned by maximum pressure because AMOK! training proceeds on the assumption that we’ll be ambushed by a committed capable foe. Amoks learn to more effectively redefine their instinctive protective mechanisms, manufacture opportunities to draw through distance/position/control tactics, and finally, honing elements of drawing, closed use of a folder, and deployment under duress.

   Amoks work at improvising these skills against ambushes, from positions of disadvantage, against committed attacks, non-committed attacks, and attacks that change and transition between them. Practices include working against attacks most preferred by thugs, bikers, prisoners, convicts, soldiers, and knifers.
  Maximum pressure attacks demand that you either vacate the space (footwork) or if you must remain fixed, employ momentum-slowing tools (headbutts, shoulders, and elbows) for your counters to be effective.

Accessing while under attack is a prioritized skill set because it does little good to train weapon-to-weapon scenarios if you don’t have the skill to produce that weapon under duress.

Dueling is the realm spawned by significant pressure because in weapon-to-weapon scenarios that begin out of reach, your foe will close the distance (make the initial strike) and unless he is suicidal, must be concerned with your weapon. Therefore he will close toe-to-toe, and unlikely to attempt to fully occupy your space until an advantage has been gained.

  AMOK!’s initial knifing practices are designed to meet committed and non-injured foes. In this tactical realm, one’s degree of success is directly proportional to their footwork and striking skill, demanding only gross mechanical use of the checkhand.

  Amoks work at honing the counters to single or combination attacks, fakes, grabbing attacks, and traps. Analogous to the children’s game of “rock-paper-scissors”, Amoks develop a tactical hierarchy where each successive level of tactics is designed to defeat the tools from the previous level offering a progressive means of managing the chaos.

Kill-Zone is the realm spawned by reduced pressure. Where initial strikes carry more momentum over a longer distance, subsequent actions utilize less body momentum (usually a half-step or short shuffle) resulting reduced forward pressure.   

  Generally knifers seek to either: close with the enemy, do damage, and exit or close with the enemy, do damage, and take them down. You cannot afford to stand toe-to-toe and exchange strikes, the reduced pressure zone is a high-risk cusp that must be crossed (the equivalent of having to ford a river that runs across the middle of a battlefield.

  In this mutual-kill-zone, one’s degree of success is directly proportional to their checkhand development (and compounded by the type/level of foe’s diminishment) because success is not judged by how much you damage the enemy but by how much they damage you in the process and checkhand development largely determines that.

   Amoks shun pattern drills preferring the spontaneity of free exchange practices. Amoks develop reflexes that promote freedom in targeting the enemy’s arm, leg, head, or torso using a neuro-semantic technique to create imbedded command actions (the act of striking by reflex).

Mutual pressures spawn a four-part realm containing stalemates, hold-ups, disarming, and trapping because at the very start these scenarios neither party is exerting more forward pressure than the other. Of course as soon as an advantage is gained, this will change.

  Stalemates occur when both combatants grab each others’ wrist that holds their blade (the knifer’s equivalent of an empty handed clinch). This is mainly an energy-based skill set where counters emerge from the changing macro-pressures of the torso and/or micro-pressures of the arms. 

  Hold-ups are scenarios where you are being held at knifepoint as in the case of some robberies or hostage situations. Even though jostling occurs, by their very design hold-ups are mainly static positions.

  Disarming opportunities arise most often when there occurs a mutual pulling between your grabbing hand and his blade-hand, thus sufficiently stabilizing his blade-hand enough to effect the disarm minimizing the risk of injury from a moving blade (always expecting him to counter).

  Trapping occurs most often during arm collisions where the two torsos are barely moving towards one another. If either combatant is in retreat the trap dissipates with lack of pressure or if they are colliding hard because micro-pressure traps can collapse under too much macro-pressure.

Empty Hands - Negative pressure spawns the realm that merges with empty hands elements. When an enemy’s blade has been sufficiently neutralized it opens opportunities to safely inject empty hands strikes and follow up with head controls, sweeps, inversions, leg lifts, locks, throws and other means of putting the enemy down.
  Negative pressure also occurs when you are striking with your blade and he is in retreat (and in this case you have turned the tide and are now attacking); but given a choice between the two, striking him down with a short knife can take too long to reap its effects (he takes too long to bleed out) and so it is often safer and more expedient to put him down body to body.

Groundwork - Vertical pressures spawn the realm whereby one or both combatants are on the ground. In some situations one combatant is standing and the other is on their butt or back, and in other situations, both may be on the ground. In either case, the combatant on the bottom must manage attacks bearing vertically down on him