What is the OODA Loop? Is OODA even a word?
Well, the answer to that is yes and no.
It is a word if you run in military, law enforcement, or self-defense circles.
The word OODA is an acronym for the thought process of Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.
The OODA Loop is a four-step decision-making approach that focuses on effectively filtering incoming information and making decisions with the intention to disrupt the opposition. The OODA Loop is executed in every encounter, often subconsciously, but it is executed every time. In high stress, violent self-defense encounters a fluid mindset is critical, a mindset that will allow you to quickly adapt and make immediate changes in your approach.
The fact is there is no actions we take in our day-to-day activities that is not part of the ODDA Loop. The same truth applies to the bad guys. They work through the same decision-making process and are affected by the same stresses when the fight is on. Knowing this and actively using the OODA Loop will give you a tactical advantage in solving problems.
Looking at each element of the OODA Loop will provide a much better understanding of exactly what it means to you and how we can actively apply the process.
OBSERVE:
The first step is to identify that there is a problem or threat and develop an understanding of exactly what that threat might mean to you. You must make a quick observation of your surroundings, your available equipment, and your environment and identify possible dangers and/or advantages that might be available to you.
Keep in mind that all the information gathered during this initial observation is a snapshot at that moment in time. It can change in an instant without any indicators. You must train yourself to gather the available information as quickly as possible to make effective decisions based on what you have observed.
ORIENT:
The orientation phase allows us to reflect on what we have observed and consider an appropriate response or what needs to be done to address the observed threat. This requires a significant level of situational awareness and an understanding of our environment, individual capabilities, and time available to act. Much of what takes place in this phase is often done at a subconscious level. That being said, much of what we do when we orient on a specific threat falls back to training.
It is a fact that you will only rise to the level of your training. If you fail to prepare all you have done is prepared yourself to fail. A commitment to yourself to training physically for potential encounters is absolutely crucial to your success when working through a violent encounter. Mental preparation is just as important. Visualization, mental rehearsals, and physical drills will make a significant difference when you need orient yourself to address a true threat.
DECIDE:
When you decide, you have committed to a specific course of action. This process is the culmination of all the training you have done, all the rehearsals, and drills. This decision is made with the intent to ensure your personal safety and that of those in your charge. Keep in mind the mental snapshot you took may have changed as you have reached this point in the OODA Loop. The position of your attacker may have altered, the distance may be more or less than it was. The amount of time you have to react may have decreased.
ACT:
Action is exactly that. You move to carry out your decision. You do this knowing that you must maintain a fluid mindset as you act. The instantaneous need to alter your course of action may become a reality. Remember, the bad guy is going through their own OODA loop process at the same time. Our goal is to execute our process first, effectively disrupting their process, and in turn taking the initiative in the encounter.
All of this sounds like common sense, I’m sure. But in truth how much time do you honestly spend thinking about the process of observation and action?
Have you considered what needs to be done to disrupt the bad guys thought processes? How can we force them to reset their OODA Loop and in turn keep them in a state of constant recovery, as we work to eliminate the threat or remove ourselves altogether from the situation.
To effectively execute the OODA Loop on a conscious level you must have an understanding of timing as well as a concept of rhythm. We know that every action has an equal or greater reaction. We know that if a bad guy decides to strike us with a closed fist to the face we must react. How we react will be based on the amount of time we have and training we have done.
Do we cover and absorb the strike, do we try to parry and return with a strike of our own? Do we close the distance and engage in close quarters combat by grappling with the bad guy or do we simply fade back and create distance? These are all reactions and we come to our ultimate decision by executing the OODA Loop. Once we execute the first loop we start a second and a third and so on, on constant repeat.
Speed in executing your OODA Loop is directly affected by how much time you have training, your physical capabilities, your experience, and your cognitive state. When we are prepared and trained, we are effective.
Bruce Lee was a proponent of the OODA Loop and often spoke on this process when training and teaching. He introduced a concept of a half beat to the OODA Loop. The half beat is that brief moment between strikes when the attacker prepares for the following strike. In a one-two combo the half beat takes place immediately after the jab has been thrown but before the rear hand begins to move. This brief fragment of time is when the attacker is most vulnerable.
The concept of speed and timing when coupled with the half beat and an understanding of the OODA Loop gives one the ability to take advantage of those brief moments when a counterattack would have the most effective results.
Everyone’s reaction time is different, and the speed at which you run your loop is impacted by this factor. However, just knowing what the OODA Loop is and how it works increases your familiarity with the process, which decreases your response time.
To increase the effectiveness of the OODA Loop process we need to go back to the concept of situational awareness.
Previously we talked about the chart and the color graph. We talked about the levels being:
White – Unaware. Yellow – Situationally aware. Orange – Threat recognition. Red – ready to fight. Black – in the fight.
To be successful in the active implementation of the OODA Loop we need to learn to function in the yellow zone whenever possible. This gives us the best opportunity to identify and react to a potential threat as quickly as possible.
Repeated realistic training that is relevant to a particular subject or a given situation, subsequently conditions you to respond faster than your adversary. Using the OODA Loop as a model for skill development increases speed and efficiency in action, as well as critical thinking when danger is present.
In a critical self-defense situation, we want to run through our OODA Loop process quickly, execute our reactions, and move into our second loop while keeping the attacker in their loop. This gives us the greatest possible potential to successfully end the encounter and walk away uninjured.
We must train ourselves to be prepared. We must ensure that we are smarter and faster in our decision-making process. We must train our minds and bodies to react to those critical encounters with skill and effective action.
We must Observer, Orient, Decide, and Act.
Be safe, be trained, become the predator!
~Josh "Rhino" Haynes
IDO Tactics
www.idotactics.com
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