Principles of War: Self Analysis Results

I’m analyzing my martial arts skills, capabilities, and style through the lens of the Principles of War as defined in U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-0. My commentaries on each principle are available through the links below.

Mass
Objective
Offensive
Surprise
Economy of Force
Maneuver
Unity of Command
Security
Simplicity

In my previous posts I analyzed my personal martial arts style using each of the Principles of War; one at a time. I graded myself as shown:

Mass - a "C"
Objective - a "B"
Offensive - a "B"
Surprise - an "A"
Economy of Force - an "A"
Maneuver - a "C"
Unity of Command - an "A"
Security - a "C"
Simplicity - a "B"

Three “A’s”, three “B’s” and three “C’s” average out to a solid “B”. Not bad – but what do I need to change to deserve a solid “A”?

The “gap” between an “A” and my “B” was caused by:

Mass - a "C"
Maneuver - a "C"
Security - a "C"

In my analysis of Mass I scored poorly in “attacking the decisive place”. I noted a need to develop a strategy & tactics for creating an opening to attack the “decisive place”.

In Maneuver I observed that my tendency to counter-punch “… gives away the initiative to the enemy and limits my flexibility in purposefully putting him in a disadvantageous position.” I noted that, “I need to work on maneuvering my opponent into a disadvantageous position.”

In the post covering Security I described the four types of security that apply to the self-defense situation. Of these, I rated two as weaknesses in my personal style. The two can be consolidated using the term “situational awareness”; referring to awareness of the commonplace before a confrontation begins.

In my post on the Offensive, I gave myself an overall “B”. However, on one of the elements, “Seize the Initiative”, I scored a “D”. I noted that my tendency to counter-punch gives away the initiative.

My notes on these four Principles of War form two self-improvement themes.

First, Mass , Maneuver, and Offensive combine to urge me to go on offense, immediately and aggressively. This fits with the teachings of most self-defense specialists. It also aligns with my military training.

Second, my notes on Security urge me to greater situational awareness – all the time. This will require emphasis on observing my environment in detail and mentally processing the observations – without continuous conscious thought.

These two themes are the new improvement objectives for my personal martial arts style. I don’t yet know how I’ll tackle them, but I will.

If you’ve stayed with me thru this journey of analysis – though I really doubt anyone did – I think you can see how the Principles of War can be used to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a martial artist or a martial arts style.

If nothing else was achieve in these posts, I’ve at least convinced myself to add the two improvement objectives I described above to my personal goals. And, I’m confident that I’ll be a better martial artist as a result.

Link to the Martial Arts Training Report: The Principles of War