Last month, I introduced the concept of the observe-orient-decide-act loop, or OODA loop, developed by military strategist John Boyd. It is a concise model of conflict that has guided war planners and fighters of this country since his 1986 presentation.

Boyd's feeling was that the orientation phase was the most crucial to the outcome of any conflict, as it determines the posture one

This month we have a special article written by Brown Belt student, Pam Tao.

 

"Okay! One person in the center of the circle, standing with your eyes closed! Everyone else will put on all Level 1 and 2 attacks on this person! And I want overlapping attacks! No stopping! No breaks!"

So you stand there with your eyes closed, surrounded by a dozen of your

Military strategy is rich ground to till for concepts related to self-defense. Much time and energy is spent in military organizations defining the nature of conflicts and devising means to overcome them according to their objectives. Many different models have arisen from these efforts over the centuries. As individuals, we can adapt some of these models to help us deal with conflicts that arise

As some of you know, I recently had surgery to repair a knee injury. I was very pleased to find out it was not damaged nearly as much as I thought at first. There are a lot of things we take for granted in life, and one of them is simple physical mobility. To be without it or to be compromised in that way is a major disruption to anybody who likes to train.

The injury happened during sparring, I was pushed and as I was flying backwards trying to gain my balance, I jammed my left leg straight back to stop my momentum. The two major leg bones clashed together, popping bits of the meniscus up off the surface. These frayed edges of cartilage became an irritant and caused swelling and popping and grinding sensations with certain movements. The stage was set the night before however, as I had taught several classes and taken a hard bag class as well. My legs were overtrained and tired, and I believe I wouldn't have landed so awkwardly if I hadn't been. Obviously, it is crucial to cycle training in such a way that high intensity activities like sparring are done relatively fresh.

Once I had finally forced my insurance to do what we pay them to do, I was able to schedule a surgery for a Friday morning. I arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am, got advice on how to use crutches, and was prepped for surgery. My surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Halbrecht, came to my waiting area to escort me, announcing that he was "psyched" to do the procedure. I said "Let's DO this!" and walked with him into the operating room. The last time I had knee surgery I was unconscious before going into the OR. This time, they led me in and I got up on the operating table myself before they gave me anesthesia, which is a little disconcerting. I was out before they were done shaving my knee, and I woke up in what seemed like an instant later in a recovery room. As I blinked and looked around, a couple nurses were moving about, with one of them pronouncing my condition as "alert and handsome". Nice way to wake up huh? Made me feel better about closing in on 40 and having my 2nd knee surgery. I was out of there and having a latte in Laurel Heights with my girlfriend by noon. A week and a half later, I can walk without discomfort and I start PT this week.

The best lesson I can impart to you from this experience is this: we need to take care of what we have been given in the form of our physical body and respect limitations. I feel pretty lucky to be done with the hardest part, and looking forward to doing more of what I love to do.