Circular & Linear arts...?

Question

Ok I got an e-mail, not a bad one, but stating that I had said that Kung Fu uses more energy than Shotokan because the shortest point between two distances is a straight line. Well that is not exactly what I said nor mean and told him this and all seems cool.

Thus it did make me think, do most of you mix your movements up from circular to linear and back as I do having trained in both arts or do you stick to just the one way you know?

Do you think circular uses more energy than Linear? I do not except in the hands of beginners, they often waste more energy. What are your thoughts on these things?

This is not which is the best, this is what do you use and why do you use it and opinion, no wrong answers here!

Answer 1

I agree with Sensei on this one.

Answer 2

Hi there

I personally feel that they both use approximately the same amount of energy. If you take a look at two of the arts that are at the opposite end of scales such as Aikido and Shotokan and watch footage of the founders  you will see that both use minimal effort to execute circular and linear movements. Which one is quicker? This depends on what your attacker is giving you to play with. A straight line may be quicker but you may be dealing with someone who has more mass hence defeating what your trying to achieve. Neither is better than the other. A person who has refined their movement to be  natural and relaxed is better equipped than the tense cardboard man. Overall body flexibility, strength, speed and power are all initiated from the spine. If you have a good understanding of this then linear or circular it doesn't matter. Like they always say all the arts are good. You just have to be able to understand your own body and how the art will get you where you want to go.

Natural movement and economy of motion are what make a martial artist great. Speed and power are additional toys to play with ;-)

Best wishes

idai

Answer 3

Personally I think you are right beginners do use more energy than "veterans" I feel that if you know what you are doing you use the same amount of energy either way. I have a black belt in ITF TaeKwon-Do from the ITF itself which uses both linear as well as circular movements as well as in NINPO which is some what more of a linear form of Martial Arts even if it is more to the linear side of things. The bottom line is that it does not matter the energy used will be about the same. By the looks linear seems to use more energy but this is only by appearance and if you have just begun your journey in the MAs this is the only time when you will use more energy once you get to know what you are doing the less energy. I hope you agree Have a good one.

Answer 4

I think circular movements help you generate kinetic energy before executing  blocking or striking technique. linear executes the technique  with more speed and body mass minus the kinetic energy. i prefer circular for long range and linear for short range fighting. one man's medicine may not work for another. to each his own i say, if it works; work it.

Answer 5

I cross train in Wing Chun Kung Fu. I teach Taekwndo. I find it interesting that in Taekwando at high levels of 2nd Dan And above some of  the moves shorten and some circular moves come into play. and are similar to the moves in Wing Chun Kung Fu. In both the moves that work the best at an attack or defense are short and do not make large circles. In Wing Chun I use tonsau a lot for redirecting and striking at the same time with the same move. To an observer this appears circular; however to me it seems direct as you are sliding up and turning the body while directing the opponents arm down with your forearm and striking the face with your palm. It is the shortest and most economical move as it is the limb closest to the attackers head and is already accelerating.

So I guess I use both circular and linear moves. Taekwando is often called a linear art. I was taught that many of the moves in Taekwando have "hidden" techniques in them some of these are somewhat circular. The outer forearm block becomes like the Wing Chun Jut Sau aka forearm block and jerk. This is one example of several I was taught.

Answer 6

I think it depends on what kind of energy.

circular arts greatly use the benefit of centrifugal force.  This creates a lot of momentum to aide in the movements.  though straight arts lack this in the end they are trying to do the same by using their centre.

I think  both level out in the end.

Answer 7

Like sensei I think it would be impossible to find a martial art that doesn't use both.In some circular is exagerated but doesn't translate well to actual combat .The body and weapon must travel by the shortest route to accomplish it's purpose without delay and exagerated movement takes precious seconds.

Answer 8

Circular movements tend to more natural and easier to use. A linear movement tends to be more difficult to do. The snap of a linear movement is so important that without it the movement is slow and weak. If you snap your limb allot you'll be wasting more energy then you have to.

Answer 9

The truth is, there are no linear martial arts.

Every movement you do, even in Shotokan, TKD, involves rotation, gyration, twisting, spiralling... all circular movement.

You could not take a step forward or back.

The circular movement generates power.

If you think your art is linear, you are not looking at it closely enough.

Answer 10

I think circular takes longer to become adept at, but tends to less energy.  There are times and places for the use of both types of movements.  I tend to mix movements to fit the situation.