Martial Arts

Mr. Speck

Geometry

May 7, 2011

Martial Arts and Mathematics

When thinking martial arts, one tends to think of the board breaking, kicks, jumps, yells, and punches. The one thing that certainly not comes in mind first is mathematics. In the essay we will break down the science and physics behind any and all martial arts. Such as what is behind a kick, or a jump kick and how to make sure you can make contact with another person or go through the board without any hesitation. To find the answers to these questions you must dive deep into all things math and pull out the important equations relating to the topics at hand.

The Laws of Inertia relate to martial arts in such a way that one can do a 20 page essay on it if they wanted to do. There are three laws that correspond to the aspects of martial arts. What is behind all of the three laws though? The answer is force. Every single law relates to force in a way. Force causes objects to change velocity. Anything that causes an object to slow down, change direction or speed up is force. An example of force is gravity. You can always feel the force of gravity on you because you are always pushed back onto the ground. Any strike you perform requires force in order for you to move the mass which is you hand. Acceleration comes hand in hand with force. Acceleration is the change in velocity over the change in time which equals final velocity minus initial velocity divided by final time minus the initial time. That means acceleration directly affects force. By increasing the acceleration the force is increased as a result. For example in order to get an effective punch you must punch faster to get a stronger punch which means we have to put force into it. From acceleration comes velocity. An object in acceleration is in the process of getting faster, or slower, and its velocity changes with time. Velocity equals initial velocity plus acceleration times time. Now that we know the background of...