Efficiency, Not Effort

To put effort into something is to exert a conscious amount of energy, be it physical, psychological, or both. We put effort into training, and this is where the problems can start.

It is often said that results come in direct proportion to effort applied. But this idea too easily becomes: if brute force isn't working, you just aren't using enough of it.

At face value, we should apply maximum effort to everything. But there are times when too much effort is the problem.

Intermuscular coordination is the ability to move through a technique, but if any link in the chain holds too much tension, leaks tension at the wrong moment, or fires out of sequence, the effort becomes inefficient. The energy doesn't arrive where you need it.

The key athletic skill is the pulse: a dynamic contraction, followed by relaxation, allowing energy to travel efficiently through the body to its intended target, before a final pulse delivers it.

Take the Ouchi gari as an example. Ideally, from the setup and the bottom of the hip hinge, the initial pulse of tension through a braced midsection coordinates with a powerful hip extension. That's followed by a moment of relaxation, before a second pulse stabilizes your position as you connect.

When the Ouchi gets overpowered, the upper body enters early. A shoulder shrug. A lean back. Often both at once. At that point, you can't have a solid midsection because you're extended at the spine, the timing of the pulse is gone, and the throw is already lost.

This breakdown almost always traces back to fear. Fear about the outcome reduces commitment. Reduced commitment rushes the execution. Rushing throws off the timing. Disrupted timing unravels the intermuscular coordination.

Lower Effort. Better Results.

The fix is counterintuitive: dial it down.

Think of your effort level as a dial. After your last set of Ouchis, mark where you were on that scale. Then cut that number in half.

At first, this feels like you're risking the finish. You're not. 99 times out of 100, dialing down doesn't cost you the throw; it cleans it up.

Power punishes and speed kills.

Your power can punish your technique. Your speed can kill your sequencing. Every time you push the effort up past a certain threshold, you risk scrambling the coordination that makes the technique work in the first place.

The highest effort rarely equals the best. 

The best version is the one where the pulse fires clean, the relaxation actually happens, and the energy gets where it needs to go, with nothing wasted fighting your own body along the way.