Randy Proto: Every Tactic has a Weakness
- June 21st, 2010
- Posted in HaganaH
- By Randy Proto
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Randy Proto: Every tactic has a weakness
Occasionally people point out a weakness in a specific tactic in “the other guys system,” as though they have the holy grail. It’s interesting. In Haganah we recognize that every tactic – yes every one – has a weakness. Including ours.
The idea is to blend together tactics and establish strategy in such a way that the exposure created by those weaknesses is minimized and the strengths of the tactics line up with the need in various situations and can be exploited. By differing audiences.
I was recently reviewing two gun disarms – from a purely technical perspective – and saw a clear weakness in each. One was ours, one from one of the various Krav Maga organizations. On the other hand, each was designed for a last resort scenario. One where the victim concluded that the assailant was going to shoot him/her. And he/she couldn’t maneuver for better position. Help arriving wasn’t an option. Time for compliance was over. In the victim’s mind, the situation was a fixed one.
I decided that a tactic with a weakness was better than the alternative. And, I also decided that everyone who has the skill should be working toward finding improved tactics in these types of situations. We certainly are.
Being aware that all tactics have a weakness leads to better training. Those who believe their tactics are invincible fall harder when their weakness is exposed. Being humble with training and recognizing weakness leads to better imp-lemntation and practition. 2 cents from Hunter in Hagerstown.
Chase
great post…
in my years of teaching I have encounter a lot of “but, what if he does that?” questions from people attending my seminars.
A couple months ago you and I spent a morning with a Navy SEAL ,and remember, we all agreed that a lot of the Tactic’s success relies on the element of suprise by the defender’s tactic and technique. In other words if the “training partner” knows what’s coming he/she is ready for it….in the real world the attacker will not know what you about to do therefor that in itself will be part of the success of the tactic even if it has a weakness!
That is also why I like to teach according to principles and not only according to technical aspects…principals will equalize the weaknesses and will account for more success under pressure. I also beleive that in some cases scenarioes the logistics are so bad that you can not find a full bullet proof techniques that will make the technique without any weakness…those are what I call “worst case scenarios”, in those cases a technique with a weakness is indeed better than no technique.
Again , Great post!!!
Right on Sirs, every system is imperfect. But, principles always prevail in an engagement whether it’s sports or combat related. Principles are the flexible enough to transcend specific scenarios and subsequent interpretation/application of tactic(s) for the operator/practitioner. Haganah is based on solid combat principles combined with systematic muscle memory training, the technical scenarios in the F.I.G.H.T. curiculum provide a foundation… but aa a foundation it’s up to the student/practitioner/operator to apply principles to further their training objectives. At the end of the day it’s not the system that wins the fight, it’s the fighter;)!