VOM TAG

The Relentless Pursuit of the Vorschlag

By John Collins | November 7, 2025 | Filed Under: Strategy

Seizing the Before: The Essence of Aggression

In the German School of swordsmanship, the concept of Vorschlag (the "Before," or Initiative) is the heart of the aggressive stance. It is not merely about striking first; it is about establishing a dominating presence that forces the opponent to react, rather than act. If you are defending, you have already lost the positional advantage. Our goal, therefore, is relentless, educated pursuit of the opening strike.

This aggressive mindset applies universally. In any endeavour - business, debate, or training - waiting for the other party to define the terms is a mistake. The Vom Tag philosophy dictates that you must constantly be moving, creating threats, and exploiting the moment of transition.

It is the focused pursuit of this mindset that inspired me to create this journal.

The Danger of Delay

The old maxim, "No one defends themselves without danger," serves as our perpetual warning. Every defensive move introduces risk. When you retreat, you concede space; when you parry, you commit your tempo. True safety is found not in avoiding conflict, but in controlling the terms of the engagement. If you surrender ground, you invite attack.

In our daily lives we need to adopt a martial mindset, I firmly believe this. Many will say that the World is becoming more dangerous, but history teaches us that it was always thus. There are those of us who study history, and those of us who are surprised by “new trends” that are in fact nothing new.

Life is Conflict

Your desire to fight is of no consequence to everyday happenings, conflict will find you regardless. In our careers, our families, our politics: anywhere where there are people, there is conflict. The only question is are you ready for it?

I tell my young leaders that I am mentoring to run towards the fight, not away from it. Only a coward is averse to conflict, and if you are unwillingly to defend your principles, your beliefs, or your family from physical harm, you are weak. Nature kills the weak. It kills us all in the end, but it kills the weak first.

You are in a fight whether you know it or not: that job you want, that house, that girl or boy you like, all are resources that others are willing to fight you for. If you walk from the fight, then you deserve to lose it all.

Predicting the Fight

You may feel uncomfortable starting the fight, but sometimes this is the optimum response to a situation where conflict is inevitable. When a fight is inevitable, “the best defence becomes an offense”, meaning the first strike is desirable and may in fact end a fight before it goes too far.

A would-be opponent will have tells, you just need to watch out for these. On the street, this is typically body language. In the dojo, its telegraphing moves before they are executed. In the boardroom, its snide or sarcastic remarks to indicate hostility.

If you hit them first and adopt an aggressive stance thereafter, they are likely to back down. Nature has trained us to not over-commit to a fight where real injury is a likely outcome. We are hard-wired for survival.

In business it will not come to physical blows, but that does not mean you will not be attacked: your reputation, your competency, your results…all will be attacked, and are fair game in a competitive environment.

Greet it or eat it

My karate teacher has a saying “Greet it or eat it”, meaning you should step into an attack to greet it with a powerful block and counter combination, rather than “eating it” by allowing your attacker to complete their move uninterrupted.

Boxers have a similar concept, “owning the ring” by controlling the centre of the ring and forcing their opponent to work around them. A more aggressive form is to “walk down” their opponent, by relentless following them around the ring while attacking them to never give them time to rest.

All these lessons from martial arts are great metaphors for life. Next time try to greet a problem before you eat it, own a topic, or walk down a problem until it surrenders.

Your wit is your sword, its canvas is your life.