TECHNIQUE; SUB-PRINCIPLE: Timing

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Timing first and foremost is about timing your go and no-go effort. In self-defense one needs to know the time when they go to get-r-done, i.e., stop damage, etc., then they also have to know the appropriate time to no-go or to stop applying physical applications because to do so would take us outside the self-defense circle and open us to legal and social ramifications.

Timing is also about knowing when to “hold-em, when to fold-em and when to walk away,” and that means when to avoid situations that will result in conflict and violence. When you can’t then you have to consider the timing necessary to respond to any given situation in all forms of violence while remaining within the square of self-defense.

Then timing takes on a more physical intent, i.e., if we can recognize when one is testing you with the interview, if we can recognize when one is assuming an attack posture and when an adversary is about to attack then we can act according to the situation and actually accomplish avoidance, escape & evasion, deescalation or self-defense as appropriate. It is not just knowing when to move but how to move and what move or act will best serve. As Rory Miller states in his books, “You want to avoid before you deescalate, you want to deescalate before you defend, and you want to escape and evade before you and so on.”

Sometimes you want to commit to action when you can perceive the adversary’s intention and that is often accomplished at the moment you discern movement at any one of the human hubs, i.e., the shoulders, the hips (and the center of the adversary’s body), the elbows, and the knees. You really don’t what to have to wait till you see a hand or foot moving because in most cases if that is happening the adversary is already at the proper distance and unless you are in a defensive posture you reaction will not be fast enough to stop the attack. Waiting to see the proverbial tells of one dropping down, retracting a hand or foot and so on violated optimal timing and speed since waiting that long diminishes your application of timing and speed.

Never wait for anything, take a defensive posture when you detect their taking an attack position after checking for witnesses and moving into range where your posture allows you to assume a proper posture and you can see the hubs of the adversary to detect attack by using the proverbial “thousand yard stare” that causes your peripheral vision, better at movement detection than direct vision, to speed up your OODA loop. 

Seize the opportunity and use your timing and other sub-principles and exploit those of your adversary to achieve your self-defense martial arts/karate goals while remaining well within the self-defense square. 

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