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Skill Set: Action vs. Reaction
By Tiger McKee
Action beats reaction. In a fight, if all you're doing is reacting to what's being done to you then you are always behind. This is a bad place to be, and makes winning the fight extremely difficult. While we may initially be in a reactive state, responding to the actions of the threat, our task is to go from a reactive state into an aggressive mode, forcing the threat to react to us. We force the attacker into the defensive mode. Then they either decide to quit the fight, or we stop them through force.
To make the transition from reaction to action means being in complete control of yourself at all times. Rule One: Don't allow yourself to be surprised. Stay aware of your environment, the people around you, and what they are doing. Spotting potential trouble provides us time, and time allows more choices on what we will do. Depending on the situation we may be able to go into an aggressive mode by applying the defensive tactics of creating distance, avoidance or escape. We're forcing the threat to re-evaluate the fight.
The situation may call for us to apply our combative skills immediately. There are a lot of smart threats out there, and they won't telegraph their intentions until they have you where they want you. In this case it may be a matter of timing, waiting for the opening that provides an opportunity to apply aggressive tactics and skills, be they defensive in nature or offensive actions. Without remaining calm, mentally and physically, there is no hope of working this "switch," unless we just get lucky. I'll take luck, but I don't want to depend on it.
Flexibility is also a necessity. You begin the confrontation with one idea of how you'll achieve victory, but then the situation requires a completely different route to get to that point. Fights are very fluid and dynamic, or at least that's how you should fight. Don't paint yourself into a corner with preconceived notions of how the fight will go. As the old saying goes, "improvise, adapt, and overcome."
As Scott Reitz says, "Fighting is problem solving at high speeds." You're presented a problem and you have a very short amount of time to come up with a solution to that problem and implement that action. Again, this is why time is so important. The more time you have, the more options are available. The actual act of physical combat is to be avoided. Any time you fight, you run the risk of losing. The preferred method of winning the fight is by using our brain, without having to apply physical skills. Then there are situations where you simply don't have time to think, you have to know what to do, and do it right now.
When facing a violent threat, victory is achieved by forcing them to react to you. Apply your skills, both defensive and offensive, aggressively. Action beats reaction. Become action.
Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama, author of The Book of Two Guns, a staff member of several firearms/tactical publications, and an adjunct instructor for the F.B.I. (256) 582-4777 www.shootrite.org