Reading Tactics

 In one's quest for learning more about the endless aspects of combative behavior, it is probably safe to say that in the absence of personal contact and instruction, video format is the next best thing...if done properly, of course. However, over the past 30+ years my preference for the books has remained unwavering. Why?, you may ask. Well, while video certainly does better in depicting the technicalities of HOW and WHAT IF in various fighting scenarios, the good old books (and the new electronic ones, actually) are simply superior i discussing the deeper, and more universal, levels of human violence and all its domains. This is why my reviews of the martial art related literature has been focusing on such works, and this time we have another one that easily qualifies for my Top 10 list.

If you have had any interest for knife-related material within the scope of personal protection, the name of Tom Sotis should probably at least ring a bell. Namely, he is one of the pioneers in the field of developing and teaching "knifing" as the platform for the more general fighting skill. As the founder of AMOK! he has thought hundreds of seminars around the world and tested his material where very few others dared trying. Fortunately, besides seminars and training camps, his hands-on training methods are accessible for the general public through the AMOK! website, while its underlying philosophical foundations and experiences that had lead to its establishing are brilliantly presented in the book The Way of Tactics: a Manifesto of Invincibility.

The book is divided into three parts, each covering one of the intertwined building blocks of Sotis' methodology.

The first part is comprised of a couple dozen biographical episodes, which serve, as it seems to me, a two-fold purpose: providing the reader with contextual background from which the author's teachings have grown; and highlighting specific life lessons gained from those events, since they make the fabric of his higher, meta level material. Now, the fragments of author's life may not be as extreme as with some others, but he certainly did thread a path that not may people do, and it is obvious that his authority as a teacher/instructor/coach is as authentic as it gets, and you can take his word or trust his judgment on the subjects in the book. 

The second part is what I found to be the most valuable portion, and which I keep re-reading often. Here, Sotis gives an extremely thorough and methodical presentation of the material indicated by the title on the cover. Many authors have offered their take on the importance of strategy and tactics in combat training (frequently using the two terms interchangeably), but none comes even close to this book. Unlike them, Sotis has a highly analytical approach to step-by-step exposition of the ideas he wants to convey, and manages to do it in a superbly clear and logical way. From the trainee's inner values as the ground for strategies, through tactics used for the accomplishment of what he calls (and describes in a precise fashion) the best possible outcome, the author takes the readers on the tour of dealing with possible conflicts in their pre-engagement, engagement and post-engagement phases. Along the way he provides excellent insights into the tools for assessment, protocols, preparation, managing fear, and a whole host of other precious lessons regarding mental and physical pillars in one's training. 

Although the third part of the book is titled Application, it has nothing to do with photos showing physical movements, techniques etc. Instead, this is where we see how the material from the first two parts is processed and used in planning, organizing and running a training process in the functional manner. This also where Sotis gives his views on the common pitfalls of most martial training organizations and how he manages to avoid them within his own. It is important not only from the standpoint of practicality, but also from the perspective of supporting the arguments for the structures explained earlier and purported as the backbone of effective training. 

I have to say, having followed Sotis' work to the best of my ability since his earliest appearance on the Internet in the late 1990s, my expectations of the book were VERY high, and yet, he has overcome them by a large margin. The bottom line is, if you are involved in fight training for any reason other than the ethnological study reasons or the quick money making, you cannot afford to skip this book. Yes, it is so important that if you only buy one instructional item over the next five years - make it this one!