Do you science the sh!t out of your karate?

I was never a big science or math guy in school.

Bear with me here.

When I was in high school, I had other "interests." I did not apply myself. I regret it now. I got the concepts. I understood how things worked, but I did not work at applying those ideas or concepts. In one ear and out the other, as it were.

Flash forward to my university days while I was still competing as a Tae Kwon Do guy. I happened upon a rudimentary device hooked up to a hanging bag at the Tae Eun Lee dojang in Ottawa. The device measured the force of a technique delivered to the bag. This was in '92. Yup, one of the students of the dojang was a physics guy and designed this device. Pretty cool, actually.

But that stuck with me.

It was my first BFO moment that I should look at what I did as more than just brute force striking. This particular thought process would come in handy when I started bouncing - things such as leverage, centre of gravity, use of momentum, etc. Saved my arse from some of the ... larger clientële... that inhabited the establishments in which I worked.

So, yes, I actually discovered a use for science in university!

Now, I try to make sure that my students see what I did not way back when - including things like math, physics, etc - by showing them how it relates to their karate. And it is there on some of the most fundamental levels.

Consider the following:

- We spend a lot of time in shiko dachi, which, invariably, places us at a 45° angle. Meaning your head may be facing front, but your bellybutton is facing a corner of the room.

- when learning to punch, most people want to use upper body as the driver rather than understanding how to use the whole body to create greater impact.

But those are easy ones.  I've seen a pile of karateka over the years who don't realize what they are missing. Here's an example:

- Energy can only travel in one direction at a time: the most basic of premises. For example, when stepping back into shiko dachi from a high stance and executing a down block, I have seen people try to do both at the same time. Stepping back. and. blocking. at the same time. The same time! I mean, who does that? So let's look at what we're trying to do here. We're moving back. And we're moving down. And we're blocking. So, if you're trying to block something out of the way (i.e. angularly), that won't work well. Why? Well, in case you missed it, your body is larger than your arm. Your physical mass is dropping. So, guess which way your energy is going?

I'll give you a hint, it is not sideways with your arm.
So, try this. Before you step back, sink down. Think about grabbing your opponent before you do this. Then, step back. Finally, as you are getting into place, execute your block.

- Angular momentum: watch people turn, such as in this example. I see a lot of people do the wide turn, almost fully standing. I see them, as this gentleman does, use his legs more than his hips to execute the turn. I tell my students to watch figure skaters (I doubt they ever do) and see how the skater picks up speed when she draws her arms and legs in. Yet when her legs and arms are farther away, she moves slower.
So, imagine how much more speed you could pick up if you drew your arms and legs in as you used your hips to turn through. Then as you want to slow down/ stop, extend your arms and legs (assume the stance and block). Want extra oomph? Stay low until you complete the turn and then extend upwards on the block.

- First class lever: Two basic techniques that one can use as a lever are a gedan barai and a basic punch motion, both used as a takedown. If you place your leg behind the opponent's leg, well, there you have your fulcrum. Now, you have to get them over the leg to put them down. But didja ever notice that if you try pushing back with your hand lower on their body, the harder it is to put them down? Try putting weight on a see-saw and then pushing down on the other side close to the fulcrum. How does that work for ya? Not so good? Ok, so move away from the fulcrum, in this case, moving the arm up towards the shoulders.  How about now? Better, you say? Yup, not surprised.

- Newton Sensei's three laws of motion:

First law: A body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion at the same speed and in the same direction unless it is acted upon by another force (AKA inertia). So, imagine a punch coming at you in a straight line. Instead of blocking the punch, you punch the punch instead. Fists meet fists. The size and speed of the fists will determine the outcome. Hitting a bigger and faster fist will not end well for the slower and smaller fist. And, let's face it, it would fricking hurt either way. But both fists would also find their inertia (their forward momentum) is affected. So, let us instead consider what happens to a punch when we apply angular force to it. That straight punch will now move in a slightly different direction (different vector). The amount of force will change how far that punch is affected, but now we are also getting into the third law.

Yeh, this is why we don't punch each others' hands.
(123rf.com)

Second law: The force acting on an object is equal to the mass of that object times its acceleration. So, this is easy. push someone. just using your arm. How far did they go? Now, put your hand against them at the point of contact, loosen your arm a bit, let your body turn towards them using your hip and tense your arm at the same time. What happens? Different reaction? Now, create some distance between you and the person, relax your arm and body again, then rotate from the hip, extend your arm and tense as you touch them? How'd we do so far? This one tells us that distance is not the key to a powerful strike. It's speed/ economy motion.

Third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Easy example? Hit a hanging bag or a target. There will be movement in the stationary target that was not there before. But your power will also be affected.  Kick something not moving and it will move, it's speed will determine on how hard you hit it. Your kick will be slowed down as you hit the target, the result of hitting that target will offer a reactive force to your strike.

Want more? I am sure you do. I could go on for longer, but I am tired and I think you get the point.
There's some great vids on physics and martial arts online. And some not so great ones. Watch both and determine who gets a better grasp of the science of martial arts.

Want more interesting examples? I cannot recommend this book enough. It'll give you some great food for thought.

This was just meant as a taste. I will try to post some videos in the future of some of these examples.

Now, go start sciencing the sh!t out of your karate!