Lessons in the Art of War. Martina Sprague
were separated in time by roughly 2,500 years and lived in different geographical regions, we can observe several similarities. For example, both Sun Tzu and Clausewitz discussed the importance of strategy, of laying the plans and mounting an attack when the enemy is weak. “It is the rule of war,” Sun Tzu stated, “if our forces are ten times the enemy’s to surround him; if five to one, to attack him.”37 In a similar vein, Clausewitz stressed that “[t]he first rule [of war], therefore, should be: put the largest possible army into the field.”38 Both Sun Tzu and Clausewitz gave weight to the natural flow of combat, its unpredictability and human weakness; Sun Tzu by relating war to water, yielding to the opponent’s power yet penetrating his defenses; and Clausewitz by recognizing the different tempos in fighting, the spurts and lulls in action, and the adjustments that must be made in accordance with the enemy’s capability to resist.
Although common stereotypes and popular notions of Asian and Western martial arts are often propagated, they are based on a superficial understanding of the history of war and strategic thought. Martial arts as different as taekwondo and wrestling were developed to answer the problems of their respective regions and circumstances, yet have roots in the common laws of combat. Human nature remains constant; thus, Clausewitz’s observation that war contains certain “permanent elements,” which, “on the basis of a realistic interpretation of the present and the past,” can be formed into a “comprehensive theory.”39 Or as described several centuries earlier by Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527 CE): “Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who have ever been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.”40
At the core, combat is about forcing an enemy to succumb to one’s will. We might use different sets of weapons (in the martial arts, for example, empty hands, stick, or knife), and these weapons may eventually become outdated. But the experience of warfare, or the characteristics by which one recognizes combat, remains unaltered. The nature of war and the conduct of war are interdependent. The practical techniques used for defeating an enemy in combat (the conduct of war) cannot be developed unless one also understands the physical and mental elements of being human and which shape the nature of war. It is this recognition that has given Sun Tzu’s and Clausewitz’s writings such longevity. Their theories are based on a philosophical understanding of war and represent a nuanced approach to conflict that can be adapted to many forms of fighting. Hand-to-hand combat instructor W. Hock Hochheim grasped this idea well when he said:
The martial arts come in flavored packages. Strip them to the core and you’ll find many of the same techniques and strategies. Watch a fight that involves an Indonesian silat expert, a Japanese jujutsu master and a French savate fighter, and even though they will be dressed differently and might enter into close quarters differently, when it comes time to throw down, their physical steps will be similar. Those similarities are the universal tactics that constitute the essence of combat.41
As has been demonstrated in this chapter, Asian and Western martial arts originated as a result of threats to one’s life, but have been altered to suit participating civilians in modern society and often include elements of confidence building, spirituality, and sportsmanship. Martial arts in China date as far back as the time of the Yellow Emperor, from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-seventh century BCE. For example, the martial art of shuai chiao (also called “the mother of kung-fu”) includes striking, grabbing, and throwing techniques and was deemed brutally efficient. Although its roots extend to the military training exercises conducted during the reign of the Yellow Emperor, by the third century BCE, the art had become popularized and was practiced as entertainment also among civilians. A subset of the same art involves grabbing and throwing the attacker to the ground in the quickest way possible.42 Likewise, the original goal of the Korean martial art of taekwondo, which origins can be traced to the Koguryo Dynasty founded in 37 BCE, was not sports or exercise, but to destroy the enemy and end the threat, preferably quickly through a single kick or technique.43
In the West, wrestling, which is several thousand years old and may be considered the most archaic form of fighting, no longer permits the practitioners to use techniques that were once designed to permanently injure or kill the adversary, such as joint twists against the knees or ankles, or techniques designed to break the opponent’s back or neck. Even no-holds-barred contests have been adjusted to minimize the risk of permanent injury or death by prohibiting biting, eye-gouging, and other severe techniques. These changes, which have made the fighting arts accessible to civilians, do not diminish the fact that the martial arts were developed for combat, often to the death. According to Tamas Weber, a decorated veteran of the French Foreign Legion, who has studied the martial arts since 1951, “The bottom line is that karate-do is a violent art. Because of the times of peace we are living in, however, a part of that art can be used as an enjoyable sport activity. The important point here, though, is not to lose the direction and real meaning of the training.”44 As echoed long ago by Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian of the fifth century BCE, “Peace is best secured by those who use their strength justly, but whose attitude shows that they have no intention of submitting to wrong.”45
CHAPTER 2
WHAT IS COMBAT?
“A state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life.”
— Sun Tzu
“War is no pastime; no mere passion for venturing and winning; no work of a free enthusiasm.”
— Carl von Clausewitz
War is a serious activity not to be taken lightly, and neither Sun Tzu nor Carl von Clausewitz suggested that one should rush into action before exhausting the alternatives. But when combat is inevitable, a comprehensive and scientific analysis of the situation should be conducted to create a set of workable guidelines for battle. As Sun Tzu said, “The victorious army first realizes the conditions for victory and then seeks to engage in battle.”1 Now that we have gained an overview of the nature and conduct of combat, we will define combat and proceed to examine the various elements of military action: tactics and strategy, offense and defense, and ultimately how to secure victory.
Although both Sun Tzu and Clausewitz attempted to bring structure to the nature and conduct of war, a common and recurring question is what constitutes combat or martial arts. Is it, as Clause-witz suggested, about forcing one’s will on the adversary? Is it about winning the battle even if the war is ultimately lost? Or is it about diplomacy or humbling the adversary by giving him certain desirable insights into the seriousness of conflict without engaging him in physical battle? Can an Asian and Western martial artist understand each other’s strategy and tactics? Or does understanding require specific expression, reflecting the cultural mindset of the warrior as learned through history and tradition?
Definitions are important because they produce expectations of what the participants should accomplish, and by what means. While some people argue that martial arts, in order to be classified as such, must be Asian in character and contain certain philosophical elements, others hold the view that Western style boxing and wrestling are also martial arts. However, since the word “martial” is of Latin origin, it is unreasonable to suggest that people of Asian origin would use a word with the exact same connotations when describing their fighting arts. Whether we call it martial art, fighting art, combat science, or self-defense also has to do with the art’s primary usage. Some martial arts, like bujutsu, the fighting art of the samurai class in Japan, were developed for use by armies of professional warriors on the field of battle. Others, like karate in Okinawa and some styles of kung-fu in China, were developed for use by the general populace.2
Other difficulties with definition arise from the argument over how much of the art is “art” and how much is science. Although samurai retainer Yamamoto Tsunetomo emphasized that “the person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai,”3 did he really mean to say that combat is scientific rather than artistic or creative? A problem