Strategy and Tactics – In Karate

The word Strategy comes from the Greek word Strategia or to lead by a military leader. This Noun means “the science or art of combining and employing the means of war in planning and directing large military movements and operations” or “ Skill full use of Stratagem” and “ A plan, method or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result”.

                Tactic, another Greek word from the word “Tacticus” for arraigning or ordering”. The word today refers to a the actual maneuvers or movements that are done to gain advantage over someone or a situation. “the mode or procedure for gaining advantage or success”.

                In Karate, and in fact in most vernaculars the two are normally used interchangeably, but they really are not the same at all!  They are not the same in any way however. Its not because people are lazy or not intelligent that they get these two mixed up, its that they are two parts to a puzzle that most people don’t have to deal with on a daily basis and  as a matter of fact most Karate people don’t think of each as being different at all as well.

                A strategy is a broad stroke idea or goal. It sets the pace and then works with tinier components or actions (the Tactics) to reach that goal.  So, the purpose of a Strategy is to identify and present the goals that advance the overall individuals position to reach the end goal. A strategy for winning a Kumite match may be to take advantage of a person’s weakness and off balance them so you can surprise them with a counter attack. The tactics would be the techniques that you use to accomplish this, so in this case they would be a firm and surprise Ashi Barai and then end with the Gyaku Zuki.

 

Strategy and its development and use in Karate.

                Strategy has a broad scope and its not “Right now” or minute by minute kind of thinking. Its more along the lines of setting specific goals, without setting up how to get there. By specific goals it means a good strategy would NOT be setting a goal like “I want to win” it’s a lot more defined than this, its more “I will off win if I use explosive moves as the defender does not respond well to shifting in speeds and timing”.

                Thinking of it in military terms often helps with a basic understanding. A strategy to win WWII was to take the beaches in France. The Generals all got together and made strategies on a BIG map of Europe and they said “we need to land in France, move to the boarders and then push back the Germans while Russia kept them busy fighting in Russia. Then some lower level guys were given their order “Take the beaches then push towards Germany”. Then the lower level guys had to find tactical ways to take the beaches. As we know from history we lost a tone of hero’s on those beaches implementing the tactics to work the strategy of the Generals.

                In order to have a successful run as a Kumite Competitor or to have good skill as a fighter you need to have a few things. First you need to be strategically thinking all the time. Find the best routes to win a match or take advantage in Dojo Kumite. Is your opponent faster than you,  Maybe more powerful but slower, Doe they seem to bounce a lot on their feet or are they set firm on the floor. Do they have more experience than you or are they Raw and new to Jiyu Kumite?  All these are fantastic first steps for your strategy development. You need to asses your opponent right away. I have sparred with COUNTLES guys that all have different skill sets that I have to be aware of when doing Kumite.

                So, now you kind of know what you are facing, the guy is say slower but much more powerful and has great punching, but his kicks are slow and low. He has a tone more experience than you and better timing. So, strategy development now means that you need to find the weakness that you want to exploit and work around other barriers that will throw you off. So, in this case you want to be faster, throw off his rhythm by shifting yours around to confuse him. You don’t need to  worry to much about high kicks but you do need to keep in mind that his timing means he may have great foot sweeps. You want to keep outside his punching distance till you are ready to jut in and then out again. So the strategy is “Broken timing-Speed and distance variation-explosive moves and use of longer range fast attacks”. 

                Or, you are facing a faster fighter, he bounces a lot on his feet and his center of gravity is higher than yours and he uses a lot of high kicks. He is not as experienced as you and throws techniques without a proper target selection. Okay, so tactics will be to possibly stay inside his kicking range so he has to use his hands to fight, slow down the fighting with use of pressure on the fighter and wait till he lifts his hips/center of gravity and ashi barai the guy till he falls like a tree! Then pounce and finish him off.

                Both of these are strategies that may or may not work depending on who the other guy works his strategy but you would never do the complete opposite of these and say stay in kicking range and try to out kick a quicker longer and more explosive kicker or try and stay in the pocket with a power puncher who has better timing….unless being unconscious is your actual goal!

                Sadly we don’t do a lot of strategy work in Karate, We tend to train mostly in tactics, which I will get to shortly. We miss opportunity to “Game plan” or do some basic “how to” work, unless we are training in Goshindo style work and then its “what would you do if a big guy grabbed you from behind” or “If a guy swings a club at you this way what would you do”….even then we end up going right to tactics and miss out on strategy.

                A good strategy has a mental aspect of a big version of what and a very distinct understanding of WHY. We did not just decide that storming the beaches was a good idea because we fancied the beach  as a nice spot to land, their was a good why involved, just like we say “we will sweep at the legs and get the guy when he is off balance” because the guy will fall and be on the ground, shocked for a second so our second attack will finish him off.

                Also, because of a lack of strategy most people panic when they fight against someone they feel is bigger and stronger or faster and more athletic. I remember a story that Sensei Dingman told me about his fight with Mr. Muller. Sensei is not a big man, about five two or three and he was always about 120.So he was tiny compared to Mr. Mullers near seven feet tall and probably 250! The guy was a beast and Sensei had to face him down. The only words that Yaguchi Sensei had told Sensei Dingman was “beat him” and that was the strategy his instructor…the best Kumite coach in the world gave him for that fight!

                However, Sensei Yaguchi…being the best Kumite coach that the JKA had produced had taught sensei about Strategy. Sensei told me he knew that Muller was slower, longer, had exceptional timing and used his length to keep the attackers on the tip of his kicking and punching zone. Sensei knew to beat Muller he had to break this all down, use his speed and explosiveness to beat the distance, create a situation where Muller was uncomfortable and throw him off so his timing was off.  That was the strategy!

                Dingman Sensei then went and created some tactics to implement, pretty much on the fly. Dingman Sensei has always been better at using and developing strategy to counter others strengths and use his own to his advantage and then implementing tactics he had been training in or making up on the fly. He is a master’s master at this as an athlete and tried to teach this to everyone he coached.

 

Implementation of Strategy…or the Tactics that fulfil a strategy

                So a strategy is an overall “Game Plan” for a situation, be it how to take back Europe from the Nazi’s or how to face a big Monster in a Kumite Match! So, what then is a tactic and how does it apply? Tactics are those drills, the combinations or the techniques that drive the strategy to success. 

                We train Tactics all the time in Class, in fact I would venture that not a single Karate class is run without the use of training in tactics. Step in punch, step in kick, throw a round house kick/ back fist combo and you are performing tactics. The use of physical movement to advance or counter is use of a tactic.  But it’s also not that easy. A technique is only a tactic if its used in conjunction with an overall strategy, and most of the time we are doing this subconsciously or without actually viewing it this way.

                Most students do “Flail to not fail” Karate. They don’t look for a target, they don’t think of follow up moves, they simply throw an arm or leg at an opponent and pray it lands. In sport Karate this is fine, they tend not to think beyond “Throw it and pray” kind of tactics anyways, but in Goshindo or Budo based Karate one has to think like Chess when fighting, what is the move that will flow this attack or defense….how can I draw them into doing what I want….how can I react to a particular strategy to turn it in my favor.?  All these are true Budo reactions and use of strategy. Now the implementation of  the answers is tactical applications of Karate.

                So, the tactical side of Karate is the actual use of techniques used properly against proper targets to meet the needs of the situation and enforce the strategy you have come up with. Now, practicing  good Mawashi Geri on a punching bag IS part of this. You need sharp weapons and you need to be able to “hard wire” yourself to use them at a minutes notice so you can apply them and work your strategy. Practice makes perfect after all, but you also need to have a pliable mind and be able to change tactics to adjust to situational shifting. This is often called “regrouping” Mentally.

                My favorite tactic is to counter punch with a strong Reverse punch when I am faced with a faster person and when faced with a slower or less experienced partner I tend to do my “California blitz” and go for it…if you don’t know what that is…I’m not telling because I may have to use it on you! I practice both moves a lot so I can pull them out at a seconds notice. I tend not to block to much, more just a push to the attack and blast the opponent.  I also don’t do sport Karate so Im not going for a fancy point…its ugly and not a great strategy if I want to be a model. I tend to catch a fist in the face or chest, but I know my punch has better accuracy and power and my redirection drains the power from the original punch…so in a case of power vs power…I win.

 

                Now, back to Dingman Sensei and his fight with Mr. Muller, The strategy was in place…break rhythm, use speed to win and get inside his power zone.  What tactic did Dingman Sensei use to address the Strategy?  He broke the rhythm using his “Dingman Duck” its not a real duck…its when you lead with a leg far out and sneak inside, you use hip motion with most of your weight on your back leg while your front leg sneaks forwards. Its damn Dangerous if you are facing a guy that sweeps a lot but Mr Muller did not do much of that because his size let him avoid that need. Using the up and down bouncing and the “Dingman Duck” he both got inside and broke up the rhythm of Mr. Muller. The shifting around slowed Mr. Muller down as well because he knew Sensei was faster so he kind of planted his weight and thought he would out wait the smaller foe and then just counter…now Sensei had a immobile target.

                Sensei found himself inside Mr. Mullers power zone really fast and he had established a bad rhythm for Mr. Muller and now all he had to do was use a different tactic to score the point.  Keep in mind Sensei was still about three to four feet away and Mr. Muller could rush forwards at any time….But he was sitting stable for the time being. Sensei needed a Ippon or the dance would start all over again and he would need a new strategy or set of tactics so Mr. Muller would not catch on. So, what to do?

                Sensei knew a Ippon would only come if Muller was struck (Sondom people…not a real strike but close) in a spot that he was not defending that would show his complete loss. THE FACE!  Sensei finally set his weight on the back foot, pushed off and rushed inside the three foot area and leapt up. He put his back leg on Mullers extended front leg and pushed so he was now running up Mullers leg to get the right distance and BLAM he shot out a solid straight punch that would have taken Mullers nose off  his face if he had landed it for real and he Kiai’d to show the emphasis on his success in landing the perfect punch, totally surprising the opponent and I can only imagine the ring refs surprise as well!

                The implementation of his strategy and the tactics he used won Sensei a battle in a tournament that NO ONE thought he could win against an opponent that was nearly two feet taller than him and way bigger than he was. The referee called for an Ippon as Muller had his hands low and had not moved at all as the smaller man rushed up him.

 

                Studying Karate with strategy and tactics in mind will not only make things a bit more clear but it will also make your karate more applicable in situations when you really need them. My true thoughts on this is that you must train tactics so they are second nature….use of specific moves and drills will help you in any situation if you can use them with very little thought. Then putting the use of strategy into the training will help you get ready and even asses specific situations so you can then be more effective in them.

                When teaching I am now working on implementing both these ideas and tools into training brown and black belts and putting names to them as Dingman Sensei tended to be more traditional and not name them, but he did teach us this way for years. A student should learn the whys and not just the how’s and they should not just dance in the Dojo with different techniques. They should know why they are doing something, how to do it and the bigger pictures of Strategy and Tactics.