Tactics and Strategies

Techniques, Tactics and Strategies

If you want to be effective in combat, you must ensure that you do not give away unnecessary advantages to your opponent. If your vital spots are unguarded when you attack, or if your balance is poor when you defend, you have put yourself at a disadvantage without any effort on your opponent's part. Such mistakes are common among students.
At a higher level, when you have become proficient in guarding your own weakness, you should look for and exploit your opponent's mistakes. In other words, when you need not worry about whether you have left any spot exposed or whether your defence movements are clumsy because correctness of form and fluidity of movement have become second nature to you even in combat, you should seek out these very weak ness in your opponent and exploit them. This, indeed, is one of the main differences between a master and a novice, and a master will often defeat an opponent on this count. For example, when an opponent is awkward in a particular situation, the master can exploit this weakness at the right time and defeat the opponent with a simple technique which in an ordinary situation could be defended against.
But what would you do to ensure victory if you inet a competent opponent who did not give you any technical advantage? You would have to create the advantages yourself. You can do so by using appropriate tac- tics and strategies. Even when your opponent is superior to you, a skilful use of tactics and strategies can reverse the balance of advantage.
Knowing and practising the following three steps in combat will help you to become a good fighter:
1 Ensure that your form and movement are flawless so that you do not give away unnecessary technical advantages to your opponent.
2 Seek weakness in your opponent's form and movement and exploit them to your advantages.
3 Create advantages for yourself by the skilful use of tactics and strategies.

For our purposes, tactics refer to a planned application of techniques in certain general ways to secure advantages, or in some situations to minimize disadvantages. A strategy is a design to manipulate an opponent into responding in certain ways so as to implement the tactics or achieve the objectives you want.
For example, if you meet an opponent like an expert boxer, who is very fast with his punches, you would be at a disadvantage I fyou fought him in ways he is used to, like blocking his punches and attacking with your own. On the other hand, you could gain the advantage if you focused on attacking his legs and abdomen, for those would be his weak spots. So a good tactic would be to avoid his punches, for example by squatting down, and attack his lower body by sweeping his leg or kicking up at his abdomen while you are on the ground.
But how would you put this tactic into practice? If you start by drop- ping to the ground straight away and sweeping or kicking him, a good tactic would be wasted by poor implementation. Your opponent would just jump away, as a boxer can very easily do. In other words, although your tactic would be good, you would not have strategy. A good strategy might be to pretend to use your hands the way he does, but without blocking his punches or attacking him, and do not use patterns like Beauty Looks at Mirror and Black Tiger Steals Heart.
You could pretend to block and punch, while spacing yourself in such a way that even without blocking, his punches could not reach you. Your own punches would also not really be meant to hit him; the main purpose would be to templt him to continue attacking you, while you mostly retreat. Suddenly, when hee least expected it and while he was concentrating on his attack, you would move down and strike him from below.
This strike would have to be decisive, putting him out of action with just one below. With an expert boxer you could not afford to take chances. Of course you should not hurt him unnecessarily, a forceful sweep at his knee or a hard kick at his abdominal dan tian would be enough to stop him from further aggression. Ignorant onlookers might say how lucky you were, but those who knew would realize that you had employed tactics and strategy expertly.

The Legacy of Past Masters
Do masters formulate their tactics and strategies while actually engaged in combat? They normally do not; doing so would distract them from concentrating on the contest. Through their long years of fighting experience, Shaolin masters throughout the centuries have worked out many effective principles which can serve as tactics and strategies. Thus, the tactics and strategies used by a Shaolin disciple during combat are not impromptu inventions of the moment, but an intelligent application of principles generalized by some of the best warriors in the past from their real fighting experience, and passed on to us as a part of the rich Shaolin tradition. All of these principles, it is interesting to note, are applicable not only in individual fighting but also in mass warfare; after all, many Shaolin masters were famous army generals.
Some of these principles are listed below, starting with simple ones which even beginners can apply. The distinction between tactics and strategies are for the convenience of study; the same principle may be classified as a tactic, a strategy or both, depending on how we intend to use it.

1 Attack continously.
2 Signal to the east, strike to the west.
3 Avoid an opponent's strong points, strike the weak ones.
4 Trick an opponent into advancing without success; strike decisively with just one blow.
5 If an opponent is strong, enter from the side; if he or she is weak, enter from the front.
6 Use four tahils against a thousand katis, ie use minimum force to neutralize maximum strength.

Suppose you attack your opponent using a right Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom. He or she responds with Beauty Looks at Mirror. Then you attack again using the same snake pattern, but with your left hand. Again he or she responds successfully with a Mirror Hand. It is easy for your opponent to defend against your right and left snake attacks.
Now use the same two attacking patterns, but apply the simple tactic of continuous attack. Strike out your right snake hand. As soon as your opponent's Mirror Hand pushes away your first attack, strike out your left snake hand. If you try this with i0 partners who are at your level, the chances are that you will hit them at least seven times out of 10. 'Hit' here, of course, means that you stop your striking hand a few inches from the target..
The two attacks should flow continuously, as if they were one. But you must not start your second attack too early; start only when the Mirror Hand pushes away your first attack. You should practise with your imaginary opponent before attempting the tactic with your partners.
You need not repeat the same attack patterns for this tactic. You may, for example, strike your opponent with Black Tiger Steals Heart, and as soon as he or she lifts an arm to block your strike, execute a whirlwind kick to the ribs (taking care, once again, to stop a few inches from target). You can work out other combinations yourself.

Using Continuous Attack Effectively

You should be aware of the following points if you want to use the continuous attack tactic efficiently. First, you must be familiar with the form and movement of the patterns you want to use in your continuous attack combination. If your whirlwind kick is not skilful, for instance, using it in your tactic will mean giving an unnecessary advantage to your opponent.
Secondly, your first attack can be real or feigned. If you use a Black Tiger punch and your opponent does not or cannot defend against it, then this first attack becomes real, giving you a successful strike. If the opponent successfully defends against it, it becomes a feigned move, paving the way for your second attack.
Whether you should continue with your second attack ifyou have hit your opponent with your first will depend on the situation. If your hit causes the opponent to lose balance, you could continue your whirlwind kick, knocking him or her to the ground. However, if the ribs are not exposed because your opponent has not lifted a hand to block your Black Tiger punch, and ifhe or she is still stable despite your strike, it may not be advantageous to carry on with your whirlwind kick; if you do, you may hit the upper arm but your opponent may be able to put out a hand to attack your exposed genitals. It is therefore necessary to practise these possibilities, called variations in combat sequence training, with your imaginary opponent before you try out the tactic with a partner.
Thirdly, while blocking is the most common response to your punch, you must be ready for other methods of defence. You can often still implement the continuous attack even if your opponent uses a different defence pattern, but you may have to make appropriate variations, which you should have prepared beforehand. For example, your opponent may retreat instead of blocking. You should then move forward to narrow the gap in preparation for your kick later, and execute an extra punch. If your opponent blocks, you kick; if he or she does not block, you may still kick, after you have pushed up his arm. This further illustrates the need for some prior training with your imaginary opponent.
The fourth point is very important. In your attack, you must remember to include provision for your own defence. Shaolin teaching insists that one must not be so wrapped up with attack that one neglects one's defence. Your opponent may, for example, neither block nor dodge, but just shift the body slightly to one side and counter-attack your underside with a Leopard or a Phoenix-Eye Punch, employing the no def'ence, direct counter. If, you have prepared yourself` well, you can now turn the tables by dropping the elbow of your attacking hand to guard your under- side and inflicting your planned whirlwind kick.
It is necessary to practise all these variations to support the apparently simple tactic of continuous attack. All four of' these points apply to the other tactics and strategies listed above. Moreover, while some of the easier principles may be attempted by students at a basic level, their successful implementation requires a high standard in the areas of' specific techniques, combat sequences, combination sets, and force training.

A Tactic to Distract Your Opponent

Although continuous attack appears to be similar to signalling to the east, striking to thc west, they actually work on different principles. The first depends on continuity of attack, whereas the second depends on distraction.
You might, for example, attack your opponent's upper body with Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom. As he or she responds to this 'upper' attack, lower your stance and strike the lower body with Precious Duck Swims Through Lotus. Or you might attack with a left whirlwind kick, and when your opponent attempts to defend, change to a right whirlwind kick.
It is not essential to employ this tactic in pairs of' patterns. You may, for example, execute a series of punches, and when your opponent is concentrating on defending against these hand attacks, suddenly deliver an unexpected kick.
Moreover, distraction need not be confined only to attacks. When you meet someone who commonly uses side kicks, for instance, you may combine this tactic with the strategy of tricking the opponent into advancing without success, and striking decisively with one blow. You might pretend to be unskilled in your def'ence against kicks, and retreat clumsily whenever you are attacked. Having created a false impression of inadequacy, stop retreating and strike the extended, kicking leg with Lohan Strikes Drum, fracturing his leg or dislocating his knee joint. All the four crucial points mentioned earlier, apply to this and other tactics and strategies.
Avoiding an opponent's strong points, and striking the weak ones is both a tactical and strategic principle which is used generally in all com- bat. In the example of the fast, powerful boxer mentioned at the start of this chapter, this principle is used as a tactic, and the principle of tricking the opponent into attacking without success and then striking him deci- sively is employed as a strategy.
As I have said, however, the distinction between tactics and strategies is purely for convenience; there is a lot of overlap, and we should not be unduly concerned about the labels. What is more important is the appli- cation of these principles to help us to be proficient in combat. We make the distinction to remind ourselves that besides the practical selection of appropriate techniques to achieve our combat objectives, which we call tactics, we also need to consider all the relevant factors philosophically so that these techniques can be effectively applied, which we call strategy. In Chinese, principles are called xin te, which means literally 'obtained from the heart', suggesting that they are derived after deep thought; tactics are fang fa, literally 'general methods'; and strategies are zhan lue, meaning 'discussion for fighting'.

Selecting Strategies to Suit Particular Situations

Suppose you are small and you meet a large, powerful opponent who spe- cializes in throws. If you fight normally you will be at a disadvantage. So you decide to use as a general combat plan the principle of avoiding the opponent's strong points and attacking the weak ones. But how do you implement this strategy? If your attacker moves in to catch you so as to throw you, for example, what techniques should you use to avoid the attack? And how would you counter-attack?
A quick review of the principles listed above would suggest that using four tahils against a thousand katis, or using minimum force to neutralize maximum strength would be a good tactic. You know that engaging the opponent from the front is no good; so you also employ the tactic of moving in from the side. You then select techniques that will help you put these tactics into effect.
Thus, even before either of you has made a move, you have a good idea of how you are going to fight – your strategy – and what patterns you are going to use to get the best technical advantages – your tactics. Despite your apparent disadvantage in terms of strength and size, you are now in a better position than an opponent who has not made any pre-combat assessment, and therefore has no guidelines to fight to. He or she is like a general sending in an army without any plans.
Guided by your strategy and tactics, you will not engage in close-body fighting, for that will give the opponent the opportunity to catch and throw you. When he or she moves in to attack, you will not block, for that may allow him or her to catch hold of your hands, but instead will jump aside and counter-attack with fastjabs or kicks. As soon as you have made an attack you will move away quickly, giving the opponent little chance to close in on you.
If your arm is caught, you will aim your other hand at weak spots like the eyes or throat as a distraction, and simultaneously turn your arm in a circle against the finger joints to release the hold – a technique implementing the tactic of using four tahils to neutralize a thousand katis – giv- ing your opponent no time to throw you. Your response will be a reflex action because, knowing that the opponent's strong point is attack by throwing, you will have prepared for such an eventuality beforehand.
You will also have prepared for the possibility of your opponent catching your leg when you kick. If that happens you will step on the opponent's thigh for support, climb onto his or her back like a monkey and strike the eyes and throat. (As always, of course, you would not actually cause any damage, but stop just in front of the target.)
Now let us reverse the situation. Suppose you are big and strong, and your opponent is small. Now that you have the upper hand, does it follow that if you use the same strategy and tactics, it will be even easier for you to win? Not at ali. If you use the same strategy and tactics, you will be at a disadvantage because they are meant for use by smaller people against large ones.
When you are fighting from a position of strength, a suitable strategy might be to bulldoze straight into your opponent and attack the strongest point, which will still be weaker than yours.
If your opponent's strong point is hand attacks or kicks, for example, you need not worry about such intricacies as shifting your body sideways to avoid a direct impact or making a circular movement to minimize the force. If you want to block, block head on; or better still, strike the attacking arm or leg directly. If the opponent tries to hold you or to fell you, which are not wise moves for a smaller person against a bigger one, merely flick aw'ay the hold or sit firmly in your stance, then strike with a straight, powerful punch.
This does not mean that you can afford to be careless with a smaller or weaker opponent, however. Even ifyou bulldoze into the attack, you must not forget to consider your response to any counter-attacks.
Understanding strategies and tactics, therefore, makes a big difference in combat. But strategies and tactics are guidelines; basically you must still have the skill and force to implement them.