w.I.d.t.h.6. Chapter 2: I...

Initiative

Initiative is the easiest self-defense principle to understand and the hardest to achieve. In combat initiative is basically control. It is control of the pace of combat and the ability to impose your will upon the enemy. As law abiding citizens we never start a defensive engagement with the initiative. Therefore, we have to wrestle the initiative away from the bad guy. The winner of a fight is the person who has the initiative at the end. This is true in tank battles, in fist fights, in naval battles, and in self-defensive shootings.

So, how do we get the initiative away from the bad guy as law abiding citizens? The easiest way to do it is to start moving forward towards them. In Professor Visitacion, founder of Vee Arnis Jitsu, came up with several "commandments of self-defense" one of which is this: "I can move faster forward than you can move backwards." That's the easiest way to seize the initiative. If you become the attacker, then you cease being the victim. The most aggressive person usually wins in a fight. I had a motto for my unit during the Battle of Sadr City: "Shoot first. Move forward." Now as civilians and law abiding citizens in a civilized country we cannot always be the ones to shoot first, however if we start moving forward and attacking the bad guy, then we successfully take away the initiative from them and we start driving them backwards. When they start retreating, they give up the initiative and they start losing. In a battle, the person that's moving forward, gaining ground, is winning by securing territory. The person or the army that is always retreating, giving up ground, is called the loser. People that train to shoot or fight by going backwards, are training themselves to lose. They are surrendering initiative to the bad guy. Law enforcement does this a lot. Law enforcement has a philosophy

of "buying space for time" and that time gives them the chance to de-escalate, or to effect an arrest, or do other law enforcement things. This is incredibly dangerous because it is giving the initiative to the bad guy repeatedly with every step backwards. As self-defenders we are not required to do that. As self-defenders, if somebody attacks us and they intend to do us grave bodily harm, we have the right to defend ourselves effectively, and the quickest way we do that is to take the initiative away from them by moving forward...

....and causing Damage, which I will cover in the next chapter in detail. Basically, Damage has to do with with accuracy and targeting and being efficient and effective in what you do while moving forward, but the most important thing is to become the most aggressive. Simply put, causing damage is more than just running at him swinging your arms like a windmill ineffectively, or spraying bullets inaccurately, so some training on targeting is necessary to effectively secure the initiative. How we target to cause Damage varies by weapon system and we'll get into that in the next chapter. The important thing is to attack and do so effectively, and that secures the Initiative. Defense doesn't win fights. Ending with the initiative wins fights, battles, wars and self-defense situations.

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