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THE ATTACK AND EFFICIENCY OF PERFORMANCE
Author: Professor Néstor Figueroa |
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There are judokas that have a good preparation process, for months they train in certain attack techniques; but extraneously, in the moment of the combat, the efficiency of its attacks is notoriously low, and the results are different to the elaborated plans.
What does usually happen to these athletes? I would say that many times it is lack of coordinated work, of sequence, of alternative attack, of sequential attack, of serenity to sum up the actions; the lack of working of conditioned reflexes, that is to say of automatization of the reactions before any circumstance of the combat.
In short, of identifying fully the component variables of the attack system. The biomechanic of the attack process in Judo should be the result of a laborious, repetitive work, experiences of stimulus-effect-action-amendment). In this sequence there is a need for harmony of times, of angles, of space domain, of direction and sense, of conditioned reflexes, of initiatives, of security, of dosification of forces.
These aforementioned elements should be applied harmoniously, in associated and interrelated way, as a gear, this is to say, the athlete's movement should be an automated answer to that external stimulus, which is the opponent and his actions. Always thinking on the efficiency of the movement, it is, getting the maximum results with the minimum application of stress, which is the fundamental law in Judo.
If I attack with a Tai otoshi, I should be prepared to be blocked, canceled, and counterattacked by my opponent. And in such a case, I should have the resources and the adequate preparation as to try to change instantaneously and automatically my attack to an Uchimata, or an Ouchi gari, or Seoi otoshi, or Soto makikomi. Or perhaps, to make a pause, and re-enroute toward a Sasae tsuri komi ashi; and in the hypothetical case that I get neutralized with a Tani otoshi or a Ko soto gari,
I should be prepared to react in a fall that would not count against me. Besides the physical and emotional preparation, the resources with which an athlete counts to enrich his attack strategically are very interesting and important. An attack should have that particularity to be rich in resources or alternative techniques that would have the same effectiveness of action and result, the same strategical forcefulness.
In the combat-Shiai, without a doubt, the idea of a good performance level is the victory, but it is necessary to win making things well done; not making an attack for the same attack, in a sample of brutal force, or of an intense explosion of force, or an anger that is a non intelligent aggressiveness loosening. In the attack it is very feasible that the fear, the nerves, or the exasperation make the athlete react without control.
In and of itself, one of the purposes is to execute in the combat a group of actions and of application of technical resources that allow us to complete the scheduled goals; and also to execute an appropriate performance, in the precise moment, in a serene and cold way, controlling the emotions of the combat; the athlete should be prepared for not despairing too, not to feel impotent, to have the balance and the appropriate temperament.
The aggressiveness is a point too that should be correctly conceptualized; the aggressiveness should not be understood as a crazy and lawless, persistent, intense attack and without pauses. The aggressiveness is important in the attack; it is the initiative and the perseverance to attack in the opportune moment; and it should be dosed so that it is in a continuity and rational, appropriately administered forcefulness.
To attack is not just to assault, to charge physically to the opponent with the well-known techniques and trained by the athlete; to attack means to create in the opponent certain conditions of uncertainty, like insecurity, ineptitude, defeat spirit, physical reduction, disadvantage technique, moral depression; as consequence of the effectiveness and forcefulness of an attack process that would involve elements as: (surprise, unbalance, neutralization, control).
Making him to think and to feel the superiority of his opponent in the physical, tactic, strategic, mental, and emotional aspects; that is to say, to win the morals to the opponent in a matter of seconds.
The Principles of the attack are:
a) Adaptability
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g) Initiative
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As in the defense, the structure of the attack is similar, and its components are the following ones:
a) The stage
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a) Adaptability: capacity to adapting to the circumstances without losing the mind-body harmony and the biomecanic of movements.
b) Aggressiveness: initiative and perseverance of intelligent attack.
c) Counter-attack: maximum dexterity to use the weight, strength, and speed applied by the opponent in a particular technique, and to return it against him, causing him to lose his balance.
d) Control: psychic and mental, and of the actions of the combat.
e) Unbalance: technique of making the rival lose his balance.
f) Distances: separation between the bodies in the displacements during the combat; it may be short, medium or large.
g) Routing or re-routing of an applied technique, as a result of the rival's blocking, it can be made directly or in combination.
h) Explosive force: that is given in the phase of the Kake of a technique in Judo; it is the moment of maximum intensity of the applied force.
i) Moment: opportunity or time in order to execute an attack or counter-attack.
j) Movement: displacement quality, or modification of the body and its members for certain action.
k) Pause: interruption, a requirement for productive rest in the sequence of an attack or technique.
l) Speed of Reaction: promptness of mental and corporal response upon certain event.
m) Resistance: it is the opposite force applied upon the pulling or traction of the arms or body of the opponent.
a) By its Distance:
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d) By its Modality:
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It is difficult to establish a general line of strategy of attack to follow in a combat; in defining a plan of attack it is important to consider the spirit disposition, the surrounding atmosphere, the expectations, the rival's characteristics, and the state of the athlete's training.
The effectiveness of an attack system can be measured dividing the number of successful intents by the total number of intents, and dividing it by 100, obtaining this way a percentage coefficient of the attack yield, in a period of established time. The difference is the percentage of failed intents.
In a general way there are certain variables to be taken into account in a combat, like:
a) The opponent's characteristics
b) The athlete's integral preparation
c) Availability of resources and abilities
d) Surroundings (arbitrament, public, impact)
In order to design and to put in action an attack system, other than knowing the principles of the attack, it is required to know what is a system, so that the attack has a systematical behavior in its conception as much as in its application and reprogramming.
A system of attack combat is the model of actions or techniques that allow resolving with efficiency the effects of the opponent's attack and defense. This system should have a retro-feeder mechanism, which will act as adjuster of responses, according to the circumstances and the characteristics of the attack or defense to make vulnerable.
An attack system must have a model for working with the following tactics: offensive displacements, assault feints, manipulations, speed of reaction, and techniques of counter-attack and re-routing.
At the same time, a system of attack should have strategic resources like: to perceive the attack of the opponent, to analyze his movements, to measure his skills, to assimilate the influence of the atmosphere of the stage, and to maintain emotional equanimity.
In a combat system, each way of grappling of the opponent Kumikata must have a response; each entrance and movement must have a response, and each opponent's attack should have an answer, either a routing or a counter-attack technique. In other words, the model in question must have a serial of alternatives and combat resources in order to know which one to execute in each case.
The system like such must have four essential and inter-related elements for its functioning:
a) Mechanism of Entries (techniques, experience, skills).
b) Mechanism of Process (the fight or combat in its diverse forms).
c) Mechanism of Exit (the results in terms of the applied techniques and the received scores).
d) Retro-feeder mechanism (when it is the case to make tactic-strategic readjustments during or after the combat).
The efficiency of performance of the attack in the combat is the relation between the number of successful attacks and the total of attacks made; that is to say, it is the coefficient obtained dividing the achieved output by the total input.
In Judo, what we try to have is a technique with less movement and with a maximum yield out of it.One of the fundamental principles of the Judo is obtaining the maximum efficiency with the minimum stress. This means that in the application of a technique the strength used must be smartly controlled, at least in a way as to accompany the other two most important factors of a Judo technique: the method, and the skill.
If for example, you apply a frontal Tai Otoshi, what you should do is to use the minimum number of movements, the minimum intensity of strength as input, the best quality of method and of talent for its execution, the biggest speed of reaction and movement, the opportune moment, the appropriate direction, the precise angle, and a Kake loaded with maximum controlled energy.
All these elements evidently, are part of the effective performance in an attack system; and when there is absence of these elements, or the percentages of efficiency of them are not in the appropriate level, the system fails.
In a combat process, the components that intervene in the attack ought to reach their maximum yield in terms of penetrability and domain; we are referring of feints, balance, unbalance, combinations, resistance, counter-attack, distances, speed, adaptability, moment, initiative, perseverance, re-routing, smart strength; besides the attacks, either continuous, near, lateral, frontal, etc.
The combat system reaches this way a high-level performance, that is to say, in the biggest number of times that a defense can be conquered or fractured, and in the biggest number of times that an attack is completed successfully.
Autor: Néstor Figueroa
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