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Tanto I hope you don’t mind taking some liberties with the OODA here for a minute?
To further explain what I am talking about, basically a fight in a no rules anything goes setting really comes down to this basic premise…The guy who is willing to escalate the violence further and faster than his opponent is going to come out the winner. Think about that for a minute.
If that is truly the case (and it is) the difference between winning and loosing, living and dieing can be measured in seconds, even fractions of a second.
The OODA loop basically describes what successful fighters already do. In this particular case Col. Boyd was describing successful fighter pilots in combat but it works the same regardless if you are a grunt on the battlefield an elite operator or on the playing fields of sport competition.
Rather it is a platoon of Rangers engaging an opponent on the battlefield or an individual citizen encounter they are dynamic and at times also sensitive. Inertia comes by way of delayed decision making that often makes any decision made by the combatant ineffective because of rapidly changing conditions.
As Tanto said, Any engagement is really a competition for time! There is a starting line and a finish line (of course once there it begins again). You could possibly think of it more like a relay race from one part of the cycle to the next handing off at each section of the course. Anyway, it is really a drag race where getting off the line first will increase the odds exponentially. Any time lost (or wasted) can be exploited by the enemy, one opponent can present a series of unexpected actions that the other opponent cannot keep up with and the opponent who can't keep up will likely be defeated.
Col. Boyd an American Air Force fighter pilot during the Korean War observed and commented that "Conflict can be seen as a series of time-competitive, observation-orientation-decision-action cycles." Boyd came up with a process to win the competition over time. Let me explain the sensory loop as I understand it.
Observation- This is the entry point into the cycle. We enter into the loop by observing our physical surroundings, the environment, conditions, potential hazards and threats in a 360' sphere. Observation is noting facts and occurrences that can be visual, audible, etc, etc.
Orientation- Here is where you assess and filter the incoming data coming in from your eyes, ears, nose, touch, etc. Here you are filtering out the irrelevant data and focusing on the relevant. Does this particular environment or subject pose a threat? Is that threat directed at me? And so on.
Decision- After assessing all the information and filtering out the irrelevant and coming to your conclusion it is time to decide on a course of action.
Action- Implementing the decision.
The cycle begins again and is continuously looping throughout the engagement.
If the combatant acts faster and moves through the cycle quicker than his opponent his actions will seem chaotic and unpredictable. The faster you can move through these cycles the more advantage you will have. Simply put action is faster than reaction. That is why there is a certain order to the OODA.
How does this apply to you the civilian? Well the easy answer is to get there first putting him in a position of reaction and overwhelming his psychology.
Most training models (the shooting school or the martial art's gym) tend to place emphasis on the latter end of the OODA often ignoring the "OOD" altogether opting instead only for the "A" or action part of the cycle which is the physical technique portion. Usually the attack is known and only the action part is needed.
I think you have to train the whole cycle which is done through appropriately designed scenarios. These scenarios have to present to the participant the full range of the OODA and place the appropriate amount of stress against resisting opponents in unscripted situations. And square range shooting or the one step drills or simple dojo sparing does not do that.
To further explain what I am talking about, basically a fight in a no rules anything goes setting really comes down to this basic premise…The guy who is willing to escalate the violence further and faster than his opponent is going to come out the winner. Think about that for a minute.
If that is truly the case (and it is) the difference between winning and loosing, living and dieing can be measured in seconds, even fractions of a second.
The OODA loop basically describes what successful fighters already do. In this particular case Col. Boyd was describing successful fighter pilots in combat but it works the same regardless if you are a grunt on the battlefield an elite operator or on the playing fields of sport competition.
Rather it is a platoon of Rangers engaging an opponent on the battlefield or an individual citizen encounter they are dynamic and at times also sensitive. Inertia comes by way of delayed decision making that often makes any decision made by the combatant ineffective because of rapidly changing conditions.
As Tanto said, Any engagement is really a competition for time! There is a starting line and a finish line (of course once there it begins again). You could possibly think of it more like a relay race from one part of the cycle to the next handing off at each section of the course. Anyway, it is really a drag race where getting off the line first will increase the odds exponentially. Any time lost (or wasted) can be exploited by the enemy, one opponent can present a series of unexpected actions that the other opponent cannot keep up with and the opponent who can't keep up will likely be defeated.
Col. Boyd an American Air Force fighter pilot during the Korean War observed and commented that "Conflict can be seen as a series of time-competitive, observation-orientation-decision-action cycles." Boyd came up with a process to win the competition over time. Let me explain the sensory loop as I understand it.
Observation- This is the entry point into the cycle. We enter into the loop by observing our physical surroundings, the environment, conditions, potential hazards and threats in a 360' sphere. Observation is noting facts and occurrences that can be visual, audible, etc, etc.
Orientation- Here is where you assess and filter the incoming data coming in from your eyes, ears, nose, touch, etc. Here you are filtering out the irrelevant data and focusing on the relevant. Does this particular environment or subject pose a threat? Is that threat directed at me? And so on.
Decision- After assessing all the information and filtering out the irrelevant and coming to your conclusion it is time to decide on a course of action.
Action- Implementing the decision.
The cycle begins again and is continuously looping throughout the engagement.
If the combatant acts faster and moves through the cycle quicker than his opponent his actions will seem chaotic and unpredictable. The faster you can move through these cycles the more advantage you will have. Simply put action is faster than reaction. That is why there is a certain order to the OODA.
How does this apply to you the civilian? Well the easy answer is to get there first putting him in a position of reaction and overwhelming his psychology.
Most training models (the shooting school or the martial art's gym) tend to place emphasis on the latter end of the OODA often ignoring the "OOD" altogether opting instead only for the "A" or action part of the cycle which is the physical technique portion. Usually the attack is known and only the action part is needed.
I think you have to train the whole cycle which is done through appropriately designed scenarios. These scenarios have to present to the participant the full range of the OODA and place the appropriate amount of stress against resisting opponents in unscripted situations. And square range shooting or the one step drills or simple dojo sparing does not do that.
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