Energy Conservation

Fighting uses a lot of energy. It takes energy to get your body, or a body part, into motion, and it takes more energy to stop that motion. In a short fight, you may go full-bore to get the win. However, if you win and must fight other opponents, you may find you have exhausted your energy reserves and may not be able to fight effectively any more. To maintain your energy level over several fights or rounds, you must practice energy conservation.

Energy is conserved by doing as little work as possible. In physics, work is defined as the force times the distance: Work = force X distance. This means that if you use a lot of movement in an attack, then for a given force, you will increase your work, and therefore expend a lot of energy. Work may also be thought of as power times time: Work = power X time. For a given amount of work, the shorter the time, the greater the power. So, if you can perform a lot of work in a short time, you generate a lot of power.

Inertia is important to conservation of energy. Every time you move or stop movement, you have to overcome inertia so you must expend energy. Every time you move or stop the movement or an opponent, you have to overcome the opponent's inertia so you must expend energy.