SPORTS / MARTIAL ARTS B6007 WINNING FIGHTS WINNING Techniques change; principles are timeless “A clear and strongly worded Winning Fights focuses on 2,500 years of proven fighting principles fighting manual in the long tradition of Sun Tzu.” originating from Eastern concepts and proceeding to the modern —Kirkus Reviews era. This book is for pugilists seeking an edge in competition as “Winning Fights will stand as a well as soldiers and law enforcement officers facing conflict. Like modern classic on management of human conflict in multiple The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings, however, many of its dimensions.” lessons also apply to the world of business and negotiation. —Massad Ayoob, director, Massad Ayoob Group, LLC; author Dr. Stephens looked beyond the technical to the conceptual WINNING “Dr. Phillip Stephens has penned an amazing book and found that winning fights requires twelve core principles: covering the strategic implications of martial arts.” preparation, awareness, commitment, lethality, efficiency, discipline, —Stephen K. Hayes, power, focus, fierceness, surprise, timing, and fortitude. Black Belt Hall of Fame; author “Erudite, insightful, resonant . goes to the heart of what it This book features FIGHTS takes to win any fight.” • Twelve principles for winning fights —Alberto Mella, MBA; speaking and personal communication • A survey of Eastern and Western traditions coach; martial artist • An intelligent yet accessible discussion of these concepts “Winning Fights is Sun Tzu’s The Art of War meets Miyamoto 12 Proven Principles for Winning Musashi’s The Book of Five With this book you will Rings.” • Learn to see beyond fighting tactics, which change, —Craig D. Reid, PhD; martial artist; on the Street, in the Ring, at Life author, journalist, and martial arts to fighting principles, which endure PHILLIP STEPHENS DR. cinema expert • See your training in powerful new ways “Extremely well-researched book on the strategies and tactics of prevailing in a violent “Winning Fights is based on principles, not techniques,” situation.” —David Kahn, US chief instructor, Dr. Stephens writes. “Technique is important, but techniques Israeli Krav Maga Association; change, adapt, and evolve. Principles are timeless.” author Dr. Phillip M. Stephens is a black belt in Ketsugo Do jujutsu and has won championship titles in self-defense tournament competition. He is a commissioner appointed to the North Carolina Boxing Commission, which regulates combat sports, including mixed martial arts and boxing. He practices emergency medicine as a physician assistant and holds a doctorate in health science. Dr. Phillip Stephens lives in Fairmont, North Carolina. Author photo: Gina Stephens Cover design: Axie Breen YMAA Publication Center 1-800-669-8892 [email protected] / www.ymaa.com YMAA DR. PHILLIP STEPHENS PUBLICATION CENTER B6007-WinningFights.indd 1 1/29/18 2:50 PM Table of Contents Foreword vii Acknowl edgments ix Introduction xi section 1: twelve principles xix princi ple one Preparation 1 princi ple two Awareness 21 princi ple three Commitment 41 princi ple four Lethality 53 princi ple five Efficiency 67 v table of contents princi ple six Discipline 77 princi ple seven Power 87 princi ple eight Focus 103 princi ple nine Fierceness 115 princi ple ten Surprise 133 princi ple eleven Timing 143 princi ple twelve Fortitude 153 Striking Thoughts 163 section 2: parting princi ples 171 Fighting with Tactics 173 Fighting with Honor 191 Fighting with Weapons 205 Fighting with Words 219 index 237 vi Foreword by Massad Ayoob W HEN I MET Dr. Phillip Stephens, it wasn’ t in the dojo or on the range or in the classroom. It was in the emergency department of a hospital where I was the horizontal patient, with a leg swollen to twice its normal size and a potentially life- threatening blood clot therein. One of the nurses told me reassuringly, “ Don’t worry, you’re getting Dr. Stephens. He’s the best there is. He’s famous.” The nurse nailed it. When I walked out of the hospital that night on my own two feet, I knew that I had indeed been treated by a master medical professional. Only later would I know how much else Dr. Stephens had mastered in his highly accomplished life. By turns a champion fighter in competition and a vastly experienced instructor of others in dojo, ring, and cage, and one of the top medical pro- fessionals in his specialty and a role model for others in the same discipline, you are about to find out that Stephens is also a master communicator. In Winning Fights, Dr. Stephens draws from philos o phers and kings, from generals and heroic “grunts,” from fistfighters and swordfighters and gunfighters, from statecraft and religion and more to clearly delineate uni- versal truths of human conflict. vii foreword Deeply researched and up-to- date physiology and psychol ogy figure in Stephens’s insightful advice. Certain truths of human conflict are universal, and are equally applicable on the street, on the battlefield, and in wars of words, whether they take place in the courtroom or Debate Society, in a dark alley with no witnesses or on a podium before a vast audience. Dr. Stephens has fought in the ring against power ful men capable of killing him with a single blow. He has fought disease and trauma count- less times, with the trusting patient’s life and limb on the line. He has spent his life studying the history and the mind- set of others like himself who fought against sometimes overwhelming odds, in righteous cause. He has prevailed in those endeavors so many times that his thoughts on such things absolutely compel attention. Human conflict is a vast and multidimensional topic, each subdivision of which can be a life study in and of itself. Phillip Stephens has the edu- cation, the experience, and a lifetime of broad-based research to tie those ele ments together into basic truths that serve across the wide spectrum of arenas in which they take place, often so suddenly that only someone who is prepared for them beforehand will be able to cope, and win. He understands that a healer of men facing a fast- breaking medical crisis, a General Patton facing Field Marshal Rommel’s dreaded Afrika Korps, a pe tite woman in a dark alley facing a hulking rapist, or a debater in righ teous cause squaring off against a silver- tongued devil will all need the same resolve, preparedness, determination, and wherewithal to bring the conflict to a just conclusion. And, most impor tant, he shares the tools, the formulae, that have been proven to prevail in such circumstances. Perhaps the greatest value in Winning Fights is that it applies to a wide range of stages upon which conflict takes place. In four- and- a- half de cades of working within the justice system and teaching people how to win fights, I’ve learned that you can be wearing a hat that says “Defensive Tactics Coach,” “Shooting Coach,” or even the currently popular “Life Coach” and find yourself recommending the exact same strategies and tactics. It’s about princi ple, not technique. It has been an honor to write this foreword for Dr. Stephens’s book, and I hope you benefit from his wisdom as much as I have. viii Introduction Winning fights is based on princi ples— not techniques. T ECHNIQUE IS IMPOR TANT. But techniques change, adapt, and evolve. Princi ples are timeless. Bruce Lee recognized this truth, and advised to “absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.”1 To Lee, there was no single superior style of fighting. He even referred to his methods as the “style of no style.” All fighters face the same challenges. Whether just two people fighting in a ring for sport or two armies engaged in geopo liti cal conflict, a fight is a fight. Eastern and Western military strategists throughout millennia have agreed on the principles that overcome the challenges faced during a fight, whether between individuals or nations. The basic princi ples for winning fights simply do not change and are like laws of nature ignored at one’s peril. But the knowledge is often lost in the noise of lit er a ture or the static of techniques, tactics, and form. The average fighter then loses sight of these foundational principles, which are required to win and must be applied before any other strategy. Winning fights, surviving conflict, and successfully engaging in combat rely on these princi ples. Specialized skill and technique are important, but it is foundational princi ples that win any fight regardless of scale or xi introduction context. Basic principles are essentially laws that govern the success of survival from personal to global conflicts. These same princi ples have many parallels and applications in life and business affairs. If these princi ples are understood and a warrior code is adhered to on a daily basis, the success of winning fightswill spill over into successful peaceful routine activities as well. Socie ties would be more polite and fewer fights would be fought. Why is it impor tant for a peace- ful person to understand these princi ples? A classic Eastern saying is that, “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.”2 Peace and vio lence are not mutually exclusive concepts. All warriors want peace. In fact, warriors who have seen violence especially want peace. But history has demonstrated that peace can be elusive. Preparing for con- flict is the best way to ensure peace. Knowing how to win a fight isn’t in opposition to peace or love. It is a part of peace and love.