OODA, GREAT EXPLAINATION

THANK YOU, TIGER MCKEE

Skill Set: Loops and Loops

When I was young one of my favorite toys was the Spirograph set, which had small wheels and rings - plastic gears – that fit inside and outside of each other to draw unique shapes, known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. (I had to look this up and probably misspelled them too.) I was thinking how these designs related to fighting, and more specifically Boyd's OODA Loop. When most people think about OODA, they usually consider it as one loop. Thinking about it as a series of loops within loops gives us a better idea of how the OODA Loop applies in a confrontation.

OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. These are the four steps you go through when presented a threat. You "observe" a source of trouble. This could be someone running up behind you. You "orient" to the threat, in this example turning and indexing to see the action. As quickly as possible you "decide" what the appropriate response should be, then you "act," initiating your response. But we know that most confrontations are fluid, and as you act the threat will react and the loop starts again. Maybe something completely unexpected occurs, and another loop begins.

Within the "big" loop there are smaller loops occurring. Your weapon has a malfunction. Again, this initiates another loop as you notice the problem and apply the corrective actions to get the weapon functioning again. You "observe" cover nearby, so again you're cycling through the OODA Loop and making the decision to move to cover and the protection it provides.

The time frame or length of one part of the loop may be longer than other portions. For example when you hear an unusual sound it may take you a little longer to identify what the noise is and where it's coming from. Maybe it's just the cat bouncing through the grass, and once you finally see what's happening you're not even aware of making the decision that no action or response is required. Some loops are elliptical in shape. Some of the loops will intersect with other loops, meaning that there are multiple loops running at the same time.

It helps me to think of all these loops as being the fundamental skills that we need to respond to a threat, for example moving, communicating, using cover, shooting if necessary and the other skills and techniques we practice. When acting against a threat we're putting all these skills together into one package. Also, think about how the big loop is created and supported by all the smaller loops. If one or more of the smaller loops is weak it can't support or hold your larger loop together. (I'm sure there are more scientific ways of saying this, but I'm working on what I remember from high school geometry.)

There are a lot of different ways we can think about or relate to the OODA Loop. Think about what you do every day in your work. Chances are you'll make connections between what you do and the way you build a response to a threat. The same principles that apply to playing music, tempo, rhythm and such apply to fighting. When performing surgery you ensure everything is prepped and you have actions ready for the unexpected. To construct a house properly you have a set of guidelines to follow and the proper tools for each task. They tell me golfing skills and its mental aspects are closely related to shooting. I know nothing about golf, except that "Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect," by Rotella, is a great book about the mental aspects of performance and should be read by everyone.

Take what you know and think about how it relates to confronting a violent attacker, applying your skills in response to an attack. Making these connections will simplify and increase your learning curve. There are no mysteries or secrets to fighting; it's all about being able to apply several fundamentals all at once. As always, the key is practice.

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, l