TECHNIQUE; SUB-PRINCIPLE: Economical Motion

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Economical motion may be the most important aspects of tactical advantage or at least one of the most important especially when it is properly integrated with the fundamental principles of martial systems - with emphasis on physiokinetic’s.

Economical motion is about how we move our bodies when applying it against an adversary’s body in conflict with violence, physical violence. It must not compromise our speed, power, force, and efficacy. Physiokinetic’s primarily but with theory, technique and philosophy help us to learn, practice and apply them toward our goals in self-defense. All require economical movement and motions to get there.

As karate-ka and martial artists of self-defense we must analyze, examine and break down our movements to find and economize them to achieve economical motion with speed, power, force, and efficacy. 

The alignment of our principles, i.e., such as structure, posture, centerline, spinal alignment (remember the tie-in with the shoulder and hip girdles), heaviness and so on, provides us economical motion and therefore the appropriate power, force and efficacy to not only apply self-defense but to remain within the self-defense circle. 

When we train for economical motion, with partners, both need to understand that the drills are about learning through our sight and tactile sense so that we instinctively understand that it comes down to economical motion or lack thereof in both tori and uke. It is about applying economical motion while exploiting the others economical motion and/or lack thereof. Think yin-n-yang sub-principles to be discussed later in this book.

This leads us to three concepts to keep in mind while training, practicing and applying economical motion, i.e., (1) our efforts must achieve economical motion without neglecting speed, power, force, and efficacy then (2) our economical motion must align, inter-connect, and holistically be applied in order to be economical motion and finally, (3) to be completely effective in economical motion we must be concerned with our body and with how we can force our adversary to move without economical motion. 

When drilling for economical motion remember: drills are not a fight, not a simulation of a fight or combat and they are not about winning or losing, it is simply about learning to see and feel - to encode it instinctually into our lizard brains. 

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