OODA Loop

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[Lloyd Heggestad]

Has anyone attempted to apply the principles of the OODA Loop to Aikido?

OODA is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. The OODA Loop is a concept originally developed by Col. John Boyd of the US Air Force for US jet fighter pilots to obtain victory in air-to-air combat. He later expanded his theory into a grand strategy that defeats an enemy psychologically.

The OODA Loop is so successful that it has been applied to many other endeavors, especially in business where it is used to out-maneuver the competition and respond to fast-changing conditions.

So has anyone out there applied it to Aikido? I'd like to work it into my practice as well. Please let me know your thoughts.

[Aikibu]

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13535&highlight=OODA+Loop

WIlliam Hazen

[Walker]

Ken Good, a man years ahead of the curve: "Got a Second?" must be a classic by now.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_152_25/ai_72293270/pg_1

Or get it off his page: http://www.strategosintl.com/reading.html

[gdandscompserv]

You should have no sense of hurrying or waiting. You should be in harmony with what is actually happening.
Ken Good

[Chris Parkerson]

Quoted from the artcile:

The bet was $40/40 seconds. The student would be allowed to start in a position of advantage and if Col. Boyd could not maneuver his aircraft, always of the same type, into a position of advantage within 40 seconds, the student could collect $40. I don't think any ever collected.

My Judo teacher HAL von Luebbert, when he was full time at the National Judo Institute, once told the crew of Olympic Hopefuls that he could beat everyone of them on the ground (one at a time) within 1 minute using his "Starfish maneuver". He did it. He used the same concept OODA.

We used to discuss what "No-Mind" means. He said it was about training the body to know what to do then allowing the subconscious to act rather than getting stuck in the conscious mind.

I would define his thesis this way. We are emotional creatures and there is a distinct connection between the hands, eyes and conscious mind. When we are shocked, we get emotional and this connection takes over. But it is way too slow. The eyes have to register, the mind has to interpret and then the hands can respond. Too slow. You are too late, the situation in the fight or Randori has changed.

In Randori, you should forget about all the hogwash like "will I look good", "I want to use this specific technique", "will the throw work", "I have to make that one mistake my teacher just corrected me on better this time". Too Many Minds!!!

Randori should have enough pressure on you so that you cannot function at the conscious level. Now all you think about os OODA. You must allow enough stress to force the "eye,conscious mind, hand" to give up and let the subconscious just find its own way. Whatever comes out is exactly where you really are..... Now you are keeping it real and can evaluate what you need to correct when you practice kata and technique. There will always be some degredation in efficiency under pressure. Who cares. If you had flow and people were unbalances or being bounced off of you, you were doing something right even if the ukes were not taking any falls. Train the fine tuning in kata and technique practice. Train the warrior's hara in randori.