Analyzing an Attacker!
A trained martial artist will be aware of how the attacker is holding his body, even if a fight is a frantic affair from the outset, and what his positioning means. This article details my thought evolution when I formulated a plan for handling attackers. What is nice is that it is workable in freestyle, so you don't have to go out and find a mugger to see if it works.
One of the earliest things I learned, concerning how to size up an opponent, was how he moved when you made a quick move towards him. If he moved back he was a runner, if he blocked he was a blocker, and if he moved towards you he was a fighter, or a jammer. This theory came to me through kenpo, was put forth by Joe Lewis, and supposedly was originated by Bruce Lee.
I came up with my own observations in this matter, as time passed. My observations were not based the fact that you have wasted a motion if you have feinted towards an opponent to make a response, and if he is not wasting motion you're already in a fight. I realized that I better just get on with analyzing the attacker because the fight was already started
First, I began to dissect such factors as speed and mass. If he was strong and chunky, he would be more likely to close and grapple, and if he was quick and lean he would be looking for speed and striking. And, of course, there wasn't much value in this general an analysis.
So I began to isolate whether he was right handed or left handed by asking myself which hand was forward. This told me where the power was coming from, and even what angle, and so was much better. Still, there was only about a ten per cent gain in my overall knowledge, and this certainly wasn't enough to give me the kind of edge I wanted in a fight.
Still, knowing which hand he was attacking with let me know whether he was setting up for a kick. I began to judge potential distances, and what effect this had on an opponent, and how I should angle my attack. The real key to all this was whether he shifted to free up a leg for kicking.
The importance of the positioning of the feet and the hands became crucial to my analysis, and this led me to view the body in halves. I would view it as two pieces, the right and the left, and estimate from the angle of his body, what what angle he would take on the attack, and what angle I should take on the response. This analysis was gold, and it drove my effectiveness up by as much as 70%.
Fighting always holds a bit of mystery. Still, if you analyze the body in halves, up and down and side to side, you're going to have a distinct plan that will reduce much of the mystery. When you play with this, feel free to send me your observations, I'll be very interested in how it effects your effectiveness.
About the Author:
Al Case has researched the martial arts for forty + years. His instructional videos are available at Monster Martial Arts.
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