If you've ever seen or been a part of a conventional martial arts program, one of the things you may have noticed is the level of activity of the students according to rank. It seems like the white belts do little to get results - they have the simple techniques - while the upper levels do more and more. And, while this is in some ways normal and natural, it's the way each level comes off the floor at the end of class that makes the difference.

In my experience with conventional martial arts training in several disciplines, the picture was always the same. At the end of a typical class, the white belts returned to the locker room practically rumple-free, while the black belts were sweat-soaked and sore. Now, this might be perfectly acceptable if all we were talking about was organized fitness classes, however; in the realm of self-protection and personal defense, there are several problems that should be considered.

To begin with, it's difficult to imagine that a martial arts master or self-defense expert would be expending more energy than someone who is relatively untrained. After all, in the real world, it's the "new guy" on the job who is working harder to get the job done. You would never see the professional, or the person with years of experience, working up a sweat. Even if a last-minute project came in with a short deadline, you can just picture the rookie running around trying to "do stuff," while the seasoned, experienced worker says, "Stop."

"Here's what we're going to do."

"You do "steps 1 thru 3" and I'll do "steps 4 thru 7,..."

"...and we'll still have time for two coffee breaks."

The secret here is that the professional has been at his field for much longer and therefor developed better and more efficient ways to handle things. It's only logical that he or she would be able to do more...

...much more...

...without the same wear-and-tear that someone new to the job would. The question is,

...if this is true in everyday life, why is it backwards in the areas of martial arts and self-defense?

The truth is that, in a life-threatening situation, the key to winning involves the concept of "energy conservation." That means that...

...the combatant with the greatest amount of energy or resources at the end, is the winner.

You just don't have the benefit of taking the long road and complicating things with longer strings of techniques and tricks when your well-being is on the line. The key is in finding more and more ways to cut corners and lessen the time and effort necessary for escaping or controlling your opponent. This means keeping the defensive situation under ten seconds - under two or thee if possible - not two minutes as most martial artists are used to in the context of sparring and sport competition.

In the realms of personal protection, efficiency is the key. When training for self-defense, learn to look for ways to reduce the number of moves as you get better.

"How can you do more with less?, is the important question.

In the long run, learning to "fight smarter, not harder" should be more than a training idea.

It should be the serious student's motto.