By Gavin King, 2nd Dan Go So Kempo

Following on from the discussion on the principle of human percussion this article will take a more in depth look at how we can use our knowledge of body mechanics to predict an opponent’s reaction to our strikes.

The human body has six basic directions from which we can disrupt the posture; upward, downward, forward, backward, left and right. Combining two or more of these six basic directions produces countless ways in which we can twist and turn our opponent. No matter how we twist an opponent, whether it is down to the left or up to the right, we are still using a combination of the six basic directions.

So here we now have our first basic principle:

Once we have an understanding of the directions in which we can move an opponent, we can then begin looking at how we can predict the reaction of the body when it moves in one of these directions.

Newton’s 3 rd law of Motion states, “ For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Going back to our first basic principle we see that each of six basic directions will cause an equal and opposite reaction on the other side of the body. Pushing downwards on the right shoulder causes the left shoulder to rise up. Tipping the head backwards and downwards causes the legs to rise upward and forwards.

So this gives us our second basic principle, which we will borrow from Newton:

Now that we have a basic understanding of the way the body moves and the way in which it reacts, we will now look at how we actually exert influence over this process. The primary influence we have is pain. As mentioned in the previous article, pain is the body’s way of telling the brain that something is wrong. The brain will attempt to move the part of the body where the pain is being registered away from the source of the pain as quickly as possible. We can inflict pain by either directly attacking specific targets of the body, or by moving the joints of the body outside of their natural scope of movement to create pain. The fundamental point is that no matter how we create pain, the body will attempt to move away from its source.

So this gives us our third basic principle:

In order for an attacker to strike us, they must first move. By attacking an attacker automatically leaves them open for a counter attack. A good analogy is that of a fortified castle. While a castle has it drawbridge closed it is in perfect position to defend itself, it can’t however mount an attack. In order for a castle to mount an attack, it must first lower the drawbridge in order to deploy its troops; once the drawbridge is lowered it is now at risk from attack. When an opponent is on guard they are in a perfect position to defend themselves, the instant they move to attack they are now at risk from a counter attack. Hence the saying “In Karate there is no first attack!”

This gives us a forth basic principle:

"As soon as an opponent attacks they leave themselves open for a counter attack."

From principle one, we know that there are six basic directions in which the body can move. Principle two showed us that for every movement of the body there is an equal and opposite reaction. We learnt that when we inflict pain the recipient would automatically try and move away from the source of the pain. And finally we learnt that in order for an attacker to strike us, they must first move and expose themselves to a counter attack. We can use these basic principles to take the advantage in a combat situation.

When an attacker strikes, they have to move. As soon as they move they create a point from which we can attack. When we attack, we create pain. When we create pain, the reaction will create movement. When the attacker moves they create another point of attack. We can use this point of attack to repeat the cycle, which will in turn produce another point of attack from which we can target.

So this gives us our fifth and last principle:

These principles allow us to purposefully and systematically destroy our opponent. Each strike exploits the body’s natural mechanisms and weakness to feed the next with devastating efficiency; this is what is truly meant by playing the body like a percussion instrument!