Economy of motion is key

Posted on Dec 2, 2009 in Martial Arts | 4 comments

In college, I took karate at a community center in Seattle’s Central District. It was a fun class that included a lot of sparring. It used to just wear me out: two or three minutes of that and I was exhausted. Part of it was adrenaline, but mostly it was too much moving around. That point was extremely obvious when our instructor’s instructor came to class once. Sensei Tyrone was his name, and he “sparred” with our instructor, Andre. Until then, Andre had been the pinnacle of martial arts to me—he was fast, knew a lot of cool techniques (such as “ox-jaw” or “eagle beak” strikes), and could hit pretty hard. But watching him square off with his instructor showed me where the two differed: Andre moved constantly: feet, body, hands; Sensei Tyrone barely moved. He essentially just stood there. His blocks were miniscule, his steps short, his strikes direct. At the time, I wondered if he was just old (funny, he was probably only a few years older than I am now). After a few years training with true martial artists at NW Martial Arts, I now realize that Sensei Tyrone was simply practicing advanced karate: karate characterized by economy of motion.

As with anything I write about martial arts, I must confess I’ve only been training for just over two years (excluding those couple years in college). This is just my perspective as one who is near the beginning of the path.

From my training NW Martial Arts, I’ve learned why economy of motion is important (beyond just “not getting tired.”) Two concrete examples can illustrate: arm position when performing a knife-hand strike/block (shuto uchi/uke); and the rear foot position when throwing a front kick (mae geri).

1. Knife-hand strike/block - When first taught the hand positions for a knife-hand strike/block, I was shown that the non-striking/blocking hand was kept retracted to chamber just below the rib, parallel to the floor with the palm up (as though a teacup rested on it). This placement has the disadvantage of slowness, as any follow-up using that hand would first need to come up to chest level before striking/blocking. That extra motion (from under the rib to chest), though small, is also a visible clue to your opponent that an attack is coming.
   Instead of below the rib, placing that hand across your chest at a 45-degree angle is better because it can move directly toward your opponent. There’s no need to first move the hand into position. That’s quicker and telegraphs your intention less. Chambering on your chest might look a little sloppier because the arm’s angle isn’t as straight but it’s more effective—and that’s what’s important.
   

   Both of these women look fierce, but the chambered position of the hand of the person on the one the right is closer to what I describe here. In the left image, the chambered hand still must rise before striking. (These aren't perfect, but finding illustrative photos of this wasn't easy.)

2. Front kick – Kicking is usually slower than punching (legs are much larger than arms), a fact that is worsened by most students’ tendency to let their rear foot—the one they’re about to kick with—point outward or even perpendicular from their front foot. To kick, they must first shift their weight from the back foot so they can rotate that foot forward before kicking. That rotation of the foot toward the opponent takes time and can betray your intention to kick.
   It takes a conscious effort (at least, it does for me!) to keep the rear foot pointing forward on the line of attack toward your opponent. Keeping your hips squarely on that line helps that foot remain forward, and the hip position helps hide your kick by speeding it up and eliminating the hip rotation otherwise necessary to kick forward.

It’s ironic how this truth about good martial arts directly opposes making good martial-arts films. In a movie, the more exaggerated jumping, flipping, punching, kicking, and blocking there is, the better it appears on screen. A strong but small low-block executed with a direct but decisive reverse punch is no where near as awesome to watch as two guys trading blows and counters for two minutes. (Not to mention the dubbed-in sound effects!). And though I’d rather watch a Shaw Brothers film, it’s the stable, direct, powerful—but economical—karate I’d rather learn.

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