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
- Parallel feet to outward
resistance of the wrists
- Elbows Underside to the legs’ ability to resist
- Hips aligned to Shoulders
ability to resist takedown and punch
- Head to Center
ability to resist a stomach strike
- Elbow to elbow
ability to resist with opposite palm
- 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
