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Tailored Tactics: Combat Mathematics by Mark Hatmaker


“The art of war is no more than the art of augmenting the chances which are in our favor.”-Napoleon


All thinking combat tacticians, whether sportsman or reality-arena focused, know and respect the realities of estimable mathematics. That is, the easy disparities or lack of when it comes to adversarial comparisons.


For example, “He is much bigger than I, and likely stronger or at least possessing of more mass so I will adjust thusly.”


Or, “My reach in comparison with the long-armed fellow before me is a bit on the lean side so I would be wise to shift tactics.”


In the street we estimate numbers in the following broad categories…


One-Number of Potential Foes


Two-Size of Potential Foes Relative to our own Size.


Three-If a weapon is involved, we make on-the-spot calculations of range efficiencies. Blades are a threat at this distance, cudgels at this, firearms here and so on.


In the realm of sports combat weight classes have already provided a level of wise separation to provide more entertaining and less one-sided outcomes so we are left with the single Tale of the Tape measurement which still carries a bit of heft and that is reach.


We’ll come back to this often poorly used number.


Notice thus far that our go-to mathematical estimations are often outward directed, that is, we are making calculations of the ring or cage foes numerical attributes or making on-the-spot adversary calculations regarding a likely street threat.


We are often focused on the numerical attributes of the other, not our own.


Today we want to turn that tape-measure around and take numerical stock of the self. 

We want to not know one mere number such as weight or reach and file it away as trivia. 


Rather we want to take the numerical facts of our own anatomy, apply them to a scale of merits and demerits and then, if we are wise, tailor our tactical training choices to, as Napoleon would say, “Augment the chances in our favor.”


First, weight.


I assume everyone is painfully aware of what weight-class they are in. 


Often those who are larger would like to be a bit smaller, and those who are in the small side of a scuffle often would like to be a bit larger.


For our purposes, this is actually the least useful number. A lifetime of experience with your own body will allow you to know almost immediately “Hmm, I’m a bit wee and lifting that gent overhead and parading the ring with him seems a bit on the less useful side to me” or, “Being 6’4” and 235 pounds does this dive under knee-bar really pay dividends for me unless I plan on encountering nothing but fellow giants?”


Let us move on to calculations where the utility is high, perhaps higher than you ever imagined.


Combat Tailoring
Calculation #1
·        Your height in inches while barefoot.


Calculation #2
·        Your reach in inches.


·        Measure across your back from fingertip to fingertip.


Calculation #3
·        Your leg length in inches measured from the center pivot of your right hip joint to the malleolus [bony protrusion on the outside of your ankle.]


OK, we have the numbers Mark, now what?
Do You Have Long Arms or Short Arms?
Calculation Strategy #1: Reach
·        If your reach is equal to or less than your height in inches you fall into the short-arms category.


·        If your reach exceeds your height in inches you are a long-armed fighter.


If short-armed, don’t despair, stay with me.
Do You Have Long Legs or Short Legs?
Calculation Strategy #2: Leg Reach
·        Leg Length Divided by Your Height x’s 100 = Leg Reach


·        Example: If my Leg Length is 32” and my Height is 69” I will calculate thusly…

·        32 Divided by 69 x 100= 46.37


·        If your leg reach is between 40-46% you are in the short-legged category.


·        If your percentage is above 46% you are in the long-legged category.


[Long arms do not imply long legs and vice versa. You will need both measurements to truly put this advice to use.]
What Does All This Math Mean?
·        We can better choose offensive and defensive striking based on the reach/range opportunities of our limbs. [Particularly in counter-fighting.]


·        Example: A long-armed fighter can wisely place emphasis on long-range evasions, snap-backs, micro-jukes, instep stops etc. And perhaps spend less training time on in-fighting where your crowded-limbs and leverage are a wee bit at a disadvantage.


·        Conversely the short-armed fighter may see the wisdom in giving up snap-backs as that will never close the distance and learn the numerical wisdom of moving inside with slips and weaves, mastering cut-kicks and other like tactics and put the mechanical advantage of hooks and uppercuts to work.


·        The long-legged fighter may decide to use the jab-kick, the stop-kick, the checking oblique with defensive and frustrating abandon.


·        The short-legged fighter may adopt an aggressive knee-destruction game and pepper with cut-kicks till the cows come home.


The advice is not only for strikers. 
·        Grapplers will often be road-blocked by working with tactics not conducive to their limb-lengths. There are many canny entries for triangles and cobra chokes and other like tactics but if you are not one of the long-armed or long-limbed contingent, you may be wasting precious training time pursuing these options. There are beautifully complex varieties of triangles, sankakus, and meat hooks that you could slice of the menu and place your training time on better serving options.


·        Conversely the long-limbed fighter often finds their cross-body game a bit loose as space appears so easily, or many a constriction or jugulation tactic feels loose in comparison with your shorter-limbed compadres.


·        Yes there are disadvantages for being of either class, long-limbed or short limbed but…there are so many advantages that if we understand our own mathematics and make training choices that exploit the natural leverage of our four limbs we make the disadvantages disappear like smoke.


The Rule of Hierarchies: Three Jab Answers to Drive the Point Home
We will use a simple call-and-response that any combat tactician worth their salt should know inside and out.
If we were standing in the gym together and putting together a training template versus a single incoming jab based on your personal numbers, it may look something like this.
1.     Snap-Back & Fire Back: Long-Limbed Answer.

2.     Slip & Parry to Fire Back: Middle-Ground Answer

3.     The Advancing Slip to Fire Back: Short-Limbed Answer





Long-Limbed should play at Option One for approximately 50% of training time, Option 2 for 30-35% and Option 3 moves down the hierarchy.

Short-Limbed fighters would invert this order.
Tailored Tactics save you valuable training time in culling moves not conducive to y-o-u, and then razor honing those that are literally tailor-made for y-o-u.
One-size fits all is a pernicious myth, and often a sloppy look. Be tailored, clad yourself in bespoke garb that fits you perfectly.


What fits you perfectly becomes your style and no other.


[RAW 211 and onward classifies tactics as to tailored utility so you know which ones to cling to your hearts and which to ignore.]


[For techniques, tactics, and strategies of Rough and Tumble Combat, Old-School Boxing, Mean-Ass Wrestling, Street-Ready Frontier Scrapping & Indigenous Ability culled from the historical record see the RAW Subscription Service. http://www.extremeselfprotection.com
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