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The various combat distances and the related tactical aspects

Through our movement (and the opponents’ one), the combat distances vary elastically but the fighter that better manages them is the one that is always in condition to exploit all his / her capabilities, in fact:

Each distance that we are going to analyze provides for specific reaction times, techniques to be implemented, parts of the body to be involved (etc.) and excludes certain others
The more we are able to impose and maintain the most favorable amount of space, the more we will force our adversaries to fight in our excellence field (striking, ground fighting, etc.)
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Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

6 fundamental combat distances

A note by Master Kongling – The distances we are going to describe refer to the 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s combat system but their principles can be easily applied to all the other martial arts (human body and physics are always the same).

A few premises:

The distances are all counted between 2 fighters at the time
The distances are all counted from us to the trunk of the current adversary
The distances we are going to see were born for bare hand combat but we have extended them also for the weapons
For each elongation we always consider the maximum extension that can cause a damage in the present scenario (this means for example that if we wear protections that reduce the damage to zero, the absolute distance change)
If an opponent cannot use a certain combat tool (a limb, a weapon, etc.), it is automatically excluded from the count
In case of throw weapon we consider the range of efficacy

The 6 most common distances (in order from longest to shortest):

Out of range – More than the longest effective elongation of the longest combat tool involved in the fight; with bare hands, it is normally more than the longest leg (extended horizontally); in case of weapons that can hit farther, their maximum extension must be considered
Long distance – From the maximum effective elongation of the longest combat tool involved in the fight to its half; with bare hands, it is normally a leg bent at 120° (extended horizontally); in case of weapons that can hit farther, their maximum extension must be considered and in some cases also the specific peculiarities (for example for edged ones it is enough just to “touch” the body to cause damage)
Middle distance – From the maximum effective elongation of the second longest combat tool involved in the fight to its half; with bare hands, it is normally an arm bent at 120° (extended horizontally); in case of weapons their maximum effective extension must be considered
Short distance – From middle distance to almost in contact (eg. a forearm from the opponent)
Full contact – Completely in contact

A note by Master Kongling – As we have seen the distances are not absolute but relative to the fighters and to the eventual proper / improper weapons involved.

Advantages and disadvantages

What is an advantage for someone, for some other could be a disadvantage, everything depends on:

What we need / want to do
What we / our opponents are good at

Let’s see some examples:

If our opponent is good in striking and / or is faster than us, to try to shorten the distance (toward Full contact) is a great way to create the conditions to move the struggle on the ground (read Ground fighting); in fact, if he / she is not initiated to ground fiighting (and we are instead skilled in grappling, or even only physically stronger), we will have much more possibilities to prevail
In self-defense, in most cases, it is wrong to shorten the distance, so (if possible) it is better to never overcome the Middle distance; this way we always maintain the option to escape and we “discourage” easy evolution in ground fighting (read also How to avoid contacts that lead to ground fighting)
If we are good in trapping, the best distance is the Middle-Short distance; in this case we would be able to manage the adversary’s limbs as we want while he / she will instead be “unable” to charge his / her attacks
If our adversary embraces a stick we should alway jump from the Out of range directly to the short distance / Full contact; this way we avoid the eventual attacks and we can avoid him / her to exploit the entire strength of the weapon
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A note by Master Kongling – It must be stressed that these are basic and generic tactics useful to clarify the distances: to face real specific scenarios and / or an advanced level opponent, the matter becomes inevitably much more complex.

How to maintain the distance we want

To maintain a position of advantage:

If against a not-practitioner or a beginner could be only a question of tactical will
Even only against an intermediate level opponent it could be not easy at all

It is all a matter of:

Timing
Speed
Balance
Spatial intelligence
Concetration
Knowledge of the dynamics of combat
Stamina

In a few words: it is a matter of practical combat experience.

Tips, ideas and tricks to work with combat distances

While building our combat experience (through sparring, read The meaning of sparring fighting in martial arts), let’s see some useful tips.

Simple tactics:

It is our position to tell us what techniques we should use; without repeating ourselves, we can try to reach a position to execute a specific technique but we cannot force a poisition to suit a technique
When we are using punches at Short distance let’s exploit our legs to occupy the space of the opponent, to stop him / her and to hinder his / her balance
When we are at Long distance we could decide to implement our arms to boost our muscle chain (read Use the body power: the muscle chain) and balance our strongest kicks (read also How to kick (simple explanation))
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Easy training:

One of the best ways to train our body to distances management is to work on the asterisk exercise (fast explosive movements back and forth of 1-3 steps, randomly, in the 8 directions, as we do in the Core Course)
One of the best ways to train our mind to distance management is to escape from 1-4 training patners (read Sparring type 4: multiple opponents)
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Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

Distance management is not a beginner level skill, we should start to instinctively work on it since the first times but leaving its tactical application, at least, to an intermediate level (otherwise we will damage our preparation, focusing on something that we are not yet able to handle at the right speed)
The distances we have seen are not the only possible but certainly some of the most important to tatically be able to manage (through our quick reasoning, read also Concentration: reason and instinct)
For the Core Course’s practitioners, this explanation is fundamental to have a reference for the combat distances we talk about during the various lessons
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In the next article of this series, we will see deepen the topic related to how to impose to our adversary the distance we want.

In-depth video courses

Combat mobility: how to – A video course about how to manage our movements in combat
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – The exercises to build the basic combat instinct

In-depth articles

How to improve balance: tricks and exercises – The fundamental aspects related to balance
Mobility and balance through the upper limbs – How to exploit the upper limbs’ inertia to move

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

What is your favorite distance?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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