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Basic Theory of Attack Radii
 In basic human behaviour we acknowledge the existence of 4 basic radii
of interaction. The closer people get, the more uncomfortable we feel,
unless we know the person(s) in question really well. These basic radii
are numbered 1 through 4, with 1 being the closest and the other ones
being concentric to it with you being the centre.
1, Intimate zone: this regards anything within arm's reach. I think most
of us feel uncomfortable, to say the least, if a stranger enters this
range uninvited, but technically we don't trust too many people in this
zone at all, hence its name.
2, Personal zone: anything between arm's length and 1.5 metres falls
into this category and it is where we allow close friends and people we
know relatively well.
3, Social zone: is a safe distance for interacting with people we've
seen before and we feel comfortable around, for whatever reason. This
region spans from 1.5 to 3 metres away from you.
4, Public zone: this is basically where we want anyone that we don't
know or don't feel uncomfortable around, for whatever reason. Therefore
this is the largest zone, effectively being anywhere from 3 metres
outward.
These distances may seem very big, but if you think about it 1.5 metres
really isn't that far away, in fact virtually all people are bigger than
1.5 metres in adulthood and most even well before that!
Now on to a martial approach to these radii, the distances for the radii
are about the same, they differ very little, if at all. The only big
difference is that we add another one, one in which the two participants
actually touch, basically radius 0, because there is no concentric
circle for two points existing in the same space.
So therefore we get the following (with adaptations for the martial
pursuit).
0, Grappling range: this is basically where the clinch starts or where
the groundwork takes place, kicking and punching in traditional ways is
virtually useless, but dirty boxing and elbows and knees become all the
more useful.
1, Punching range: this one is pretty obvious within this range punching
becomes the primary weapon, though short snap-kicks may work as well and
even knees and elbows can be used quite effectively.
2, Kicking range: this is the range where your punches fall just a
little short, but your kicks do most of the damage. Elbows and knees are
virtually useless (with the exception of jumping knees as seen in Muay
Thai).
3, Weapon range: this is basically where most of our bodily weapons fall
short, but weapons brought can still do damage, think of swords, clubs,
quarterstaffs or equivalents.
4, Long range: this is usually where we start throwing or shooting stuff
at people and therefore basically irrelevant for the more traditional
martial artist, unless he is also in the army, law enforcement or has a
similar profession.
"All this is good to know, but what use is it to me" you might well ask.
Well first off, knowing when people 'invade' your private space, in this
case ranges 0 through 2 uninvited rings some alarm bells, this explains
(to an extent) why. It also allows you to take into consideration what
method of attack is best suited for response, be it defence or an
offence to nip the thing in the bud. It's also an attempt to make you
aware of things you normally do unconsciously. Thirdly it's a set-up for
things to come.
"Death by Geometry" - Nicoletto Giganti
The above quote comes from an Italian swordsman and suits the following
paragraph just fine, for we have seen where the different attack radii
lie and at what distance they are from the centre, which is you.
There are however some things we haven't taken in consideration, one of
which is the stretching of the body under force and tension. One might
expect that if he place his hand 0.5 centimetres from the target, then
pull back and punch, he will not hit the target. However! Your body's
ligaments and tissue effectively stretch as you punch and you will
scrape the surface of the target at the very least.
This effectively means that any target that is close to, but not
actually, within your punching range can actually be hit due to the
body's contorting under force. Though I wouldn't actually recommend
relying on this to win any match or fight you get into.
This would however important to know if we would be studying anatomy or
any other form of biomechanical study or would be attempting to use the
body's potential to the fullest, the last of which martial artist do,
don't they? But more on biomechanics later.
Previously I've discussed evading as being the most effective blocking
manoeuvre. Part of this is because it also allows a simultaneous
counter-attack. A principle which the medieval Italian fencing masters
knew all too well.
If we take a look at the recent evolution of sports-martial arts we see
a great increase in a martial arts discipline called MMA (or Mixed
Martial Arts) in which all disciplines of fighting are combined. This
includes takedowns, one way to defend against this is to sprawl, or
moving your legs out of the way of your opponent's groping hands.
This technique offers two distinct advantages over just getting slammed
into the ground. First it doesn't hurt as much, since it removes the
targets of the technique and thereby causes the technique to fail.
And second it allows for an assortment of counterblows, including but
not limited to guillotine chokes, knees to the head, elbows or punches
to the head and more if we are discussing self-defence situations.
So if we now apply some very basic physics we find see that if our waist
would be the axis moving our bottom half, i.e. the legs, backwards, the
upper body moves forwards. One can use this in two ways.
To defend against the abovementioned takedowns (which are techniques
aimed at uplifting the opponent which I’ll go into in more depth
later) or to evade blows to the legs. If we ignore the takedown for now,
as it involves an opponent that lunges at you and thereby forms a more
"complicated" target than a standing opponent, and look at the standing
attacker first we notice that to kick we must do two things:
1 Lift the leg
2 Move it in such a way as to hit a target; this can include 'swinging'
it or 'thrusting' it forward.
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Now if we look at basic kicking mechanics most people will notice a
leaning backward on any kick as a countermeasure of being afraid to fall
over, this is especially notable in beginning fighters, but tends to be
less notable in fighters that have been trained to keep their balance
and adhere to a rigid form.
However, especially the later type of fighter opens new vistas of
retaliation against a kick, because as we sprawl backwards, our upper
body moves forward, thereby closing distance to the opponent and opening
up possibilities for punching manoeuvres.
This is especially noteworthy against opponents that are used to people
trying to block or passively evade their kicks, many of which will be
competing in martial arts matches. On the streets this information is a
lot less useful, but sport-martial artists are martial artists
nonetheless.
If we look at the opposite however, a punch attack blocked by a dodge
backwards, we eliminate the necessity for a separate action to
counterbalance a kick and we can kick him instantly.
It is simply a matter of applying simple physics to actions within the
limits of our body's capabilities. If we affix something upon an axle,
then push the bottom half of it, the top half moves the other way and
vice versa. Therefore if our legs move backwards our upper torso moves
forwards in an attempt to counterbalance.
Now using this information and using it to look at the lunge used in a
takedown we see that the legs sometimes sprawl as far back as to be less
than 45 degrees. If our legs would sprawl to about 45 degrees we would
have a more or less suitable angle to have the opponent eat our kneecap,
should it be less, the usefulness of that tactic is greatly diminished
and we're better off resorting to different tactics; such as punishing
the action with a blow to the back or the side of the head with a fist
or perhaps even an elbow to the back of the head or even the spine.
While most fighters need to take hold of their opponent on a failed
takedown, in such a case they'll be quite happy to let go, if not at the
first blow, then probably at later ones.
It should however be noted that most fighting championships do not allow
blows to the spine or the back of the head, due to safety issues and
therefore it's not recommend to do so in tournaments. Self-defence
however is a free-for-all without rules, so if it works, it works and I
can tell you that blows to the spine work.
So basically what "death by geometry" means is to acquire a position in
which your opponent's attack misses, while yours hits, sort of like the
mounted position in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Specifics: Unequal vs. Spear
In practice it may seem like a big difference whether one faces a
spear-wielder with a dagger or a bastard sword, but in theory it differs
very little. This is because the obstacle and the solution are both the
same and are applicable to most polearms.
For this specific situation, though, I'll look at the spear, because
it's the simplest example. The spear is the most simple of polearms, but
only because its options for attack are limited. The main attack option
it utilizes is the thrust, or stab, using the tip of the spear
obviously.
So theoretically if one would somehow immobilise or get past the tip one
would have effectively defeated the spear wielder.
There are a couple of ways to do this, the easiest of course is to just
knock the tip aside and move forward, past it, but... it's also the
simplest to counter as the spear wielder will see it coming pretty
easily and can thus just reign in the spear only to skewer you a few
seconds later.
Another way could be to immobilise the tip by grabbing it in your free
hand, just below the actual blade of the tip. This is a reasonably good
idea if you manage to get a firm hold and have a one-handed weapon, if
you're using a bastard sword it might still work (or a hand-and-a-half
sword as it's sometimes called), but with a two-handed sword or great
sword you're basically screwed, as you're sacrificing the means to end
it for a relative safety against the spear.
Then there's the possibility of the counter, this involves a good deal
of timing and coordination, basically you dodge a strike and
simultaneously close the distance between you and the spear wielder. The
problem with this tactic is that the spear travels in a straight line
and as thus it's kind of hard to predict where exactly the spear would
hit and along what line it would travel.
Though any of these techniques may work and you can afterwards finish
the job any way you choose, none of these techniques is really
fool-proof, hence the popularity of polearms on the medieval
battlefield. The thing is, you can also still be defeated if you've
closed distance.
One of the ways the spear wielder can counter your 'incursion' is by
whipping the butt end of his polearm around and in your face or
anywhere, he chooses. Or him reigning in the weapon so he can thrust at
you anyway. Or him having a backup weapon, but in that case you'll be
stuck on a more even ground, most likely, as most spear-wielders don't
walk around with a spare two-handed sword.
So, in short, there are several ways of closing distance: grabbing the
spear, dodging it and moving forward or knocking it aside, but the only
real fool proof way of defeating a spear-wielder without too much
trouble would be to slap on 3 inches of metal over every portion of your
body.
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Rathryn Ramos started martial arts,
because he was being picked on a lot and got into a few scraps, most of
which he lost. His mom paid his karate-lessons (Wado Ryu style) and
within a year, maybe 2, he managed to climb to 5th Kyu (orange belt).
But that's when he also found out there were other sports, including
horse riding (which he'd done for 10 years or so) and archery (which he
only did for a few weeks).
The martial arts bug never let go
though and he's been reading up on and watching a lot of martial arts
ever since that fateful day back in '96 when his mom took him to karate
in that weird white pajama.
Currently he trains in: escrima, t'ai
chi, jiu-jitsu, Western swordsmanship and basically any other style he
can manage to get his grubby hands on, firmly believing Bruce Lee's: 'no
style as a style'-principle.
Mr. Ramos is also a moderator and
frequent contributor on the Warrior Pages' Forum. |
