How to Size Up an Opponent by Al Case
[I: advertising. thomassuyatno. com share AlCase17. jpg]A trained martial artist will be aware of how the attacker is holding his body even if a fight is frantic affair form outset what his positioning means. This article details my thought evolution when I formulated a plan for handling attackers. What is nice is that it workable in freestyle so you don't have to go out 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 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 supposedly was originated by Bruce Lee.
I came up with my own plan of action as time passed. My observations were not based the fact that if you have feinted towards an opponent to make a response you have wasted a motion if he is not wasting motion you're already in a fight. I realized that in a real fight I wouldn't have time to feint because the fight was already started
First I began to dissect such factors as speed mass. If he was strong chunky he would be more likely to close grapple if he was quick lean he would be looking for speed striking. & of course there wasn't much value in this general an analysis.
So I asked myself which hand was forward began to isolate whether he was right handed or left handed. This was much better told me where the power was coming from even what angle. Still maybe a ten per cent gain in my overall knowledge not enough to give me an edge.
Still I became aware of whether he was setting up for a kick by knowing which hand he was attacking with. I began to gauge distances how far an opponent was how I should angle my attack. The real key however was if he shifted to free up a leg or not.
Having the hands the feet analyzed I began to separate the body in half. I would view it as two pieces estimate form angle he was facing me what angle he would take on the attack what angle I should take on the defense. This proved to be invaluable the effectiveness of my defense in a situation went up 70% just from this simple observation.
Fighting always holds a bit of mystery. Still if you analyze the body in halves up down 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.
Al Case has analyzed the martial arts for over forty years. His instructional videos monstermartialarts. com Blinding_Steel. html are available at Monster Martial Arts monstermartialarts. com . This other unique content 'martial arts instruction' articles are available with free reprint rights. How to Size Up an Opponent
