3 ideas
A passed pawn is a 'criminal' that must be kept under lock and key, not merely watched, because its lust to expand grows as it advances and it lends its supporting pieces dynamic energy. The ideal blockader is a piece planted on the square directly in front of the pawn, which paralyzes it and also gains an outpost there that the pawn itself shields from frontal attack. Blockading is therefore both a defensive and an offensive act.
Prophylaxis means anticipating and stopping the opponent's intended plan or pawn advance before it becomes a threat, rather than reacting once it arrives. The positional player's first task is to restrain the enemy's possibilities, such as preventing a freeing pawn break, because an opponent deprived of good options will end up weakening himself. Restricting the enemy's mobility is treated as a positive achievement in its own right.
Key strong points, such as a central pawn or an outpost, should be defended by more pieces than the current attack requires, even when no attack exists yet. The surplus defenders are not wasted; guarding a vital point gives them good positions and a flexibility they draw from that point, so they can later swing into action from it. Securing the strategic core first creates freedom of maneuver elsewhere.