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HEADQUARTERS DOCTRINE
The Combat Clock: The Directions of Attack
Last month I wrote here about the attack delivery system of every weapon on the planet - thrust, hook, lunge or pump. This month, we add to this by asking and answering the question, WHERE will these thrusts, hooks, lunges and pumps come from? By doing so we learn how we attack or counter-attack.
Decades of differing martial arts confused me. Single systems were simple incomplete. Looking into other martial systems just meant learning a bunch of other, incomplete systems. One such problem in this frustrating rat race of systemologies, is the various lines of attack protocols each used for hand, stick, knife and gun tactics. The worst in my opinion are the two extremes - the over-simplified and the over-complicated.
1) The over-simplified systems that have that old disproved Hicks Law Theory that we can barely function with two or three tactics in our caveman brains. 2 or 3 angles of attack? Come on!
2) The over-complicated systems such as some of the Filipino methods that make you memorize various, very forgettable, disjointed, angle-of-attack, numerical patterns from 12, to 72, some even to 144 angles. Let me put it to you this way - only really committed people memorize and retain these angle patterns and sub-patterns. People often with the system logo/brand tattoo on their arm, are the kinds of dedicated people and commitment that will remember all these required angles of attack. I am convinced that these complicated numerical systems and the required, deep level of commitment needed are why Filipino martial arts are slowly disappearing on the market place into very small, hobby, workout groups. The student loss ratio is high and the material retention level is low. 72 angles of attack? Come on!
I began to ask myself, how are the directions of combat the same? It became clear that attacks universally come in from the center, high or low or right or left angles, whether standing or on the ground. Like numbers on a clock. I was familiar with military terminology from my Army days. If you were on a foot patrol and the point man suddenly shouted, "enemy at 2 o'clock!" Everyone would instantly look in that direction. The same for pilots - who also have both a vertical clock and a horizontal clock. "12 o'clock high!"
No matter the weapon, the angles/directions are the same.
The simple clock. The unforgettable numbers of the clock. The clock face is an imprinted image in our minds since early childhood. (Sure, we see digital clocks here and there, but we will see the clock face for another century, maybe longer.) The simple angle of attack pattern is right on your wrist, work or play. I discovered - or better put - I re-discovered the simple, military clock method as a training foundation.
Hand, Stick, Knife, Gun Basic Combat Clock Training:
12 o'clock from axis to above
3 o'clock from axis the right,
6 o'clock from axis to below
9 o'clock from axis to the left
Axis point is the center
Hand, Stick, Knife, Gun Advanced Combat Clock Training:
From the axis out to all 12 numbers of the clock
Offense: you hook or thrust, lunge or pump at the numbers on the clock.
Defense: you block attacks coming in from these clock numbers.
Footwork and Groundfighting. Lay the clock down on the floor and you can dissect footwork patterns and ground strategies.
I have taught thousands and thousands of people from utter novices to experts, rookie cops to black belts, from all over the world, and I can get them to interact with each other in mere moments by using this basic clock point format.
Clockwise. Counter-clockwise. The clock imagery can also be used in numerous ways and explanations from timetables, to major troop movements to joint locks and blade twists.
And remember, when practicing these clock angles alone and "in the air" so to speak, you are only learning "weapon manipulation" skills. Whatever the weapon, be it a hook punch or a stick strike - "Solo Command and Mastery" skills - I call them, DO NOT assign strikes to body part targets in your official nomenclature. Do not always call a 12 o'clock strike a head strike, or a 3 o'clock hit a heart strike. In combat we do not know what position the enemy's body will be in. Plus, your first strike, stab or shot will probably change the template! You are only practicing a directional delivery skills when working alone. If you always imagine hitting specific body parts in your solo workouts, then change up the targets in your mind. Keep your mind open to options, to hunting moving targets that change.
I recall in the 1990s, a police academy instructor, kicked back in his office chair, feet on his desk, complaining to me,
"you can't teach these people anything. If you teach them three angles of attack? In six months, they will forget two of them."
Instead of complaining, he should have been judiciously working ways to develop and mold doctrine into unforgettable, high retention methods. Lazy, uninspired bastard. He was wearing a wristwatch, by the way.
The combat clock. Simple. Unforgettable. Versatile. No tattoos required.
