Universal Tactics and Self Defence 
Why Retreat?: Tactics
There are many reasons why partial and complete, apparent and actual retreats can be of vital strategic importance.Here are some elemental tactical reasons for Retreating:
- To pretend weakness
- To make time to observe enemy
- To make time to recover
- To make time to plan
- To lead enemy to more favourable area
- To evade attack
- To lessen force of enemy blow
- To delay battle to a more favourable time
- To defuse conflict
- To wear out opponent
Study the above list and then take a look at Why Advance?: Tactics. Advance and retreat are conceptual opposites. Try and develop both lists and see how the lists mirror each other. This will help you to build complete non-arbitary lists so that no tactical concept is missed.
*Retreat* is a universal tactic that often receives negative inner bias. Many people come to believe that retreat may be dishonourable and imply cowardice etc so they end up with a distorted view of the universal tactical matrix. Advance and retreat are conceptual equals and by loving and accepting both possibilities within ourselves equally we become free to act in the correct way. This is explained in more detail in the Martial Meditations article.
Technically when we punch: the outward motion of our hand is an *advance* and the returning motion of our hand is a *retreat*. So retreat does not necessarily mean that we are defeated etc. The retreat concept applies to a wide range of actions and situations and we should strive to fully understand it.
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Universal Tactics and Self Defence