Strategy, Tactics, and Tricks
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat" - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
The reasoning behind any movement in the world of Martial Arts falls in one of the following categories: strategy, tactic, or trick. The individual martial art styles that we craft are compilations of these three concepts. In this post I will briefly explain and site examples of these three concepts, and how they apply to the art of sword play.
A strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. A fighter's overall goal when going into combat is to achieve victory in the battle. Within that singular goal is the strategy he employs to meet that goal. Examples of strategy include being an offensive fighter or a defensive one. More strategies include hit-and-run exchanges, ending a battle with a singular master-cut or exhausting the opponent over the course of several short exchanges. It gives more depth to the fighter's style over just running up and slashing the opponent.
A tactic is an action carefully planned to achieve a specific end. The specific end in this case would be the strategy laid out before the fight begins. Seizing the Before (i.e attacking in a way in which your opponent must respond to your movement directly) is an excellent example of a tactic. For defensive fighters, positioning yourself in order to have the most amount of time to respond to an attack in the After would be the tactic they'd employ. Capturing and controlling the opponent's sword would also be a tactic alongside moving to a superior position. Most of a martial artist's training is dedicated to honing and perfecting tactics. Tactics on their own may be enough to emerge victorious from the fight like Sun Tzu once said, but when the tactics are formed to fit the fighter's strategy- that fighter becomes dangerous to their opponent.
A trick is a cunning or skillful act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone. These are the hard-to-learn, hard-to-master wild card movements that can completely throw their opponent off-guard. Tricks can be useful in the right hands and at the right moment but won't be enough to emerge victorious and can even put the fighter in a worse position if not employed properly. A trick can be almost any kind of movement from sword flourishes to spins to grappling. Some tricks work better on certain opponents whilst a tactic can be used universally against all opponents. Tricks show a fighter's mastery of the martial arts and adds a personal signature onto their style.
A masterful martial art includes strategies, tactics, and tricks across all levels of the fighter's style. My advice for any new martial artist is to build your own offensive and defensives strategy and within those strategies study carefully the tactics which manifest the goal of your training most consistently and master them. Tricks will be developed naturally as you gain more mastery in the art you are practicing. You must be careful not to use tricks as a crutch however as they could undermine your strategy when they are not employed at the proper moment.
