FROM THE STUDY OF STRATEGY COME TACTICS

[Gabriel Suarez]

Its no secret that we are working on a Pistol Kata. The reasons are varied and quite important...but we will get into that sort of thing later. To get my mind right about the work I have been hard at work on my old katas. Usually done on my aerobic days. So it was today. I bundled up like an ISIS suicide bomber and went out for a 3 mile run in the cold. As I looped back to the castle, I dropped the jacket and the fanny pack with the Glock and began the work. I ran through Saifa and Seinechin - then the Kyokushin Basai and Kanku...then a few others. All have an aggressive strategy but also an evasive one. There is not a great deal of crashing, and quite a bit of shifting and evasive foot work...strategies very similar to what we are conveying in gunfighting.

Avoid the attack and counter. Sometimes you counter first. More on that later but that is the strategy...the underlying concept. Tactics are those things which express the strategy. The strategy for example is to avoid the attack. The tactic is angular footwork to accomplish it. Study a strategy enough and it becomes a part of you...sometimes of your personality. Very deep things here.

Anyway...I realized I was shivering and went inside and looked forward to the hot shower.

As I walked toward the main bedroom I sensed something moving fast...a something flew toward my face as I walked. As my right foot touched, I pivoted my face and body to the three o'clock, shifting weight offline as the dog's blue chew toy flew past my face, accented by the Shield Maiden's "Oh shit...sorry".

There was no preplan, no direct thought, only mindlessness...stimulus and tactical response based on a pre studied strategy. The strategy remained, the tactics that expressed it fit the moment.

This is how gunfights...how all fights are won. And they work pretty good for avoiding the Shiba Inu's ball flying toward your face - thrown by your wife as well.

[WOLF220]

I’m excited to see this. My last sensei would teach us, survive the attack. Sometimes a block or parry would work, but moving the body out of the line of attack always worked. My first exposure to getting off the x. When training to block everything, if someone swings a bat you will instinctively try to block the bat and wind up with a broken arm. I always hated the footwork part of the class when I was a young whippersnapper, but later on in life when gaining more wisdom realized the footwork was the basis for the whole fighting style. Learning to move not only the feet but also the body in unison with the feet not only allows you to NOT get hit, but creates or takes advantage of opportunities to strike your opponent. In this case, I would guess shooting your opponent. I can’t wait to see this martial gunfighting style unfold!

[Greg Nichols]

You can practice this every day. I tend to walk fast and have a tendency to cut off corners, so I almost run into people on a nearly daily basis. Every time I do I do a take off and raise my off hand to sweep them out of my way, I don't touch but the motions are ingrained and habitual. Additionally I take corners 2 ways, I either cut them off like an entry or round them out like I'm pieing the corner on the roll, this keeps my foot work instinctual as well as my body position. It keeps me form getting into the habitual grouch crouch that most tacticool flight suit guys use, this keeps me in motion and fluid, nobody even notices what I'm doing and I don't look weird while doing it.

[Ted Demosthenes]

As a seventh decade (and third generation) warrior who is learning Kata later in life, I strongly recommend this system of training, exercise, movement, balance, and mental development.

I’ve been training at Brent Yamamoto’s NW Martial Arts dojo since 2011. Katas are now part of my daily routine. Along with the kata, one must also demonstrate the bunkai; the application of techniques/arts contained in each kata; the why of them. The why is extremely important because it allows you to see beyond the basic movement to its varied use in the dynamics of the fight.

While youth, strength, and fitness support the more challenging parts of some kata, most can be done at any age and probably modified for physical limitations. The bottom line is the same as strength and fitness or dry practice: keep doing it regularly.

Are Tai Chi and yoga valuable? Yes, but a proven fighting art is that much more valuable to the entire life of the warrior.

Looking forward to the development of the pistol, rifle, and shotgun kata of SI. Those will be a legacy in capitals.