Finding Your Opponent's "Wave"
Would you like to be able to get in on your opponent more
often? Have you ever wondered how some of the other martial
artists are so adept at finding targets?
Some martial artists have a knack for finding openings. One
way you can find more of these openings is by learning to
see the "waves and eddies" that your opponent creates. That's
right; the person facing you may not even realize the openings,
he/she is creating while moving around.
This is especially true, if your opponent doesn't truly understand
the concept of "moving with a purpose." (See Bruce Lee's writings.)
Before we apply this principle to your fighting, let me give
you a broader example of how my wife and I use this concept
in a non-martial arts context. This example may make it easier
for you to apply the principle to your self defense training.
Even though my wife, Kate, and I consider ourselves to be home-
bodies (we are the typical "nesters"), we occasionally get
out and about. And sometimes, we have to negotiate our way
through crowds of people.
Have you ever been stuck in a concert crowd, for example? Or
ever had to find your way through a mob of sports fans? Even
the annual county and state fairs have aisles of commercial
booths that leave us in a gridlock. What do you do?
Most people are content to move a few inches at a time, with
their bodies almost pressed up against the members of the
"herd" in front of them. Occasionally, my wife and I exhibit
herd instincts too, but not usually....
We find the little pockets of space in the crowd. We look ahead;
we plan a little. We scope out those spaces in front of us. Then,
by adjusting our speed, and constantly tweaking our angle of
movement forward, we are able to ride these "waves."
Our little pocket of space eventually peters out, but not before
we find the next pocket to jump into.
This way, we move quickly and efficiently, and nobody touches
us, and we don't bump into anyone else. Boy do we "cook" -- we
really get moving.
And guess what? It doesn't tick anyone off, because we don't bump
into anybody. Very cool.
So, how does this apply to martial arts?
If, while looking out into a crowd of people, you learn to see
these "waves," then you should be able to perceive other
kinds of patterns.
You can learn to see patterns of motion in your
opponent. I don't know if an actual attacker would give you
enough repetition of movement(s) for you to use this tactic.
You might not have enough time in a self defense encounter,
but it's certainly a useful technique when practicing --
and you competition folk can make use of this tactic too.
To use this tactic, you are looking for repeated motions. If
your opponent repeats motions on his/her own, great. Use that
information to your advantage.
On the other hand, you may have to "train" your opponent to
repeat a motion. The easiest way to do this, is to make a
non-committed, repetitive attack of your own. A high-lead
jab would work.
*** Note: "Non-committing" attacks are pretty imperative for
*** this tactic to work. You don't want to throw your body
*** into your opponent's range, while trying to detect a
*** pattern. Then your opponent could use this tactic on you.
*** You would be the one providing the "wave" for your
*** opponent. Not good.
Whether you initiate a series of jabs, or you just detect a
rhythmic motion from your opponent, your job now is to detect
a "pocket." You've looked for openings before. This time, you
are looking for an opening that repeats itself.
Once you see a repeated pocket, you have to figure out how you
are going to get your weapon (punch or kick) through the pocket
and score on your opponent's body. You are probably going to
have to time your attack with precision. I am guessing that
you'll have to start your attack, before the pocket actually
opens. You want your strike to slide in just as the pocket
(opening) is at its biggest.
You pick your pocket ahead of time. You plan just a little, just
like moving efficiently through a crowd.
If you do a series of these, you will really have an effect
on your opponent. My students often wonder how I seem to find
one opening right after another. I am using their waves against
them.
Final Thought:
Sometimes my jabs start getting a little off target. As each one
comes in, it's just a little less precise than the previous one. Why?
I am trying to draw my opponent into following my jab. His/her
opening gets bigger and bigger, as my jab veers off target. Not
only am I finding my opponent's pockets, but I am also making
those pockets bigger. And the bigger the openings, the less
precise my timing has to be. It's something worth
thinking about.
Bonus Tip #1
As usual, I offer up another round of thanks to John Little
for doing such an excellent job of editing Bruce's writings.
He is the true scholar of all that is Bruce Lee.
These particular quotes come from Bruce Lee: Artist of Life
(Tuttle Publishing, 1999 -- copyright by Linda Lee Cadwell).
Each quote relates to the tactic that I am talking about in the
above article, and maybe even the tip that follows these quotes:
"Centering is the reconciliation of opposites so that they no
longer waste energy in useless struggle with each other but
can join in productive combination and interplay." (page 85)
" (A martial artist)...must be aware. His physical movement is
his soul made visible." (page 167)
"In most cases, a practitioner of the martial art is a second-
hand artist, a conformer.... he faithfully follows an imposed
pattern." (page 167)
Bonus Tip #2
Automatic Checks
No, I am NOT talking about electronic monetary transactions. I
am talking about being a "little bit ready" at all times.
Expanding your awareness is too big a topic for one tip. This
tip has to do with being ready for bumps by another body.
I am at the ready whether walking through crowds, or just
returning to my seat at a restaurant. If you are into Wing Chun,
the check that I use is a low Bong-Sao. I turn my arm, thumb
down, with my palm facing away from my body. The check starts
slightly in front of my body, and then guides the potential
bumper past the side of my body.
With this kind of a check, almost anyone who either tries to,
or inadvertently happens to, bump into me gets redirected
past my body. Even if this passerby tries to slam me, I just
change the force, so the only contact felt is on my check arm.
Most of the time, I have enough finesse, that my "pedestrian
lineman" doesn't even make contact with my checking arm. Using
this technique, I can move against the natural flow of traffic
without disturbing anyone, and without getting caught off guard.
Now, you have a double-edged tactic: if you want to move with
the crowd, use the Wave Tactic. If you want to move upstream
(against the flow), use a subtle, almost imperceptible, arm
check.
This article originally appeared in Martial Arts Mastery: A Tell-All of Tips, Tactics, and Techniques.
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