There are infinite ways to be attacked. You can’t handle all the possible situations with a single set of techniques for each instance. This is the source of the “What if” questions plaguing instructors nationwide. How do you apply your techniques from the required moves you must learn? That’s easy; you apply the principles of the technique and simplify the attacks.
1: Ghestalting
As mentioned before, you can use ghestalting to learn techniques and kata. You can also use it to analyze attacks—chunk into zones of similar attack qualities. Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) uses this concept and calls it angles of attack. We can use it as a zone. Zone one is slashing attacks. Zone six is straight in attacks. How you group them isn’t important. Just be consistent.
Deal with similar attacks in a similar fashion. Defense 5 is really good against attacks from Zone One, which can be circular or hooking attacks. This is a simple application of the concept.
2: Angles
As mentioned in Kali’s Angles post, one of the hallmarks of FMA is angles of attack or zones of defense. Attack travels along 12 paths, regardless of the weapon or lack thereof. You defend along those same paths. This reduces your necessary defense responses to a few – at least 12. You only have to worry about each zone. Reducing the selection of a defense to defend the zone reduces the mental work necessary to react. Use the zone of defense in practice and drills. It will increase your reaction time because you must remember less and make fewer choices.
3: Reduction of Options
If you are in our school, we have a set list of zones. If you train somewhere else, you can develop your own zones and pick the techniques that handle most attacks. This follows the business 80/20 Rule, which states that 80% of the attacks can be dealt with by 20% of your moves.
What if questions seem pertinent to the student but slow down the class instruction? These imagined, and unlikely situations can be resolved by using zones and defenses that apply to many attacks or angles. You can speed up your reaction times by using ghestalting, angles, and reduction of options.
Want to learn more about these theories? Join our Kickboxing, Shaolin Kempo, or Philippine Combatives programs to learn more.
