The Essence of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune

I wrote

a couple of newsletters ago

about the essence of Bruce Lee’s Art,

Jeet Kune Do.

Let me expand just a bit on that.

Bruce was concerned with the initial point of contact,

the entry into the fight.

So he figured out that there were five places

where you could ‘attack an attack.’

And that one concept

really sums up

The Way of the Intercepting Fist,

right?

You can interrupt an attack before it starts,

you can stop an attack on the way in.

You can attack and attack at the point of contact.

You can attack when the attacker is on the way out.

You can beat an attacker after the attack.

Obviously, each one of these points

has certain considerations.

Number five, for instance,

attack after it is over.

That’s like saying start anew,

but i fully understand Bruce putting it

with the five points of attack.

Now,

his attack could be summed up 

with three steps,

kicking, punching and kneeing/elbowing.

So his basic drill was

kicking,

punching the pads on the way in

and closing for the knee elbow.

Now this is simplicity,

and it is genius for its simplicity.

So where do I differ from him?

I analyzed lots of arts like he did,

but I decided the essence of the martial arts

was not to obsess on attacking.

Yes,

you have to throw the punch

or do the throw,

but you should see it coming

before it happens.

This idea,

seeing something before it happens,

was a product of the karate style I studied.

It’s very zen.

I often wonder 

if Bruce had studied Karate,

I mean in a ritualistic setting,

he would have come up with similar idea.

Maybe.

But the point is this,

I decided that the time to handle the attack 

is when it reaches a certain physical point,

and that point would be when it enters ‘slapping’ range.

I structured Monkey Boxing around this idea.

Don’t charge in a fight,

rely on the sla[ping distance.

Part of it was that I’m 6 foot and 200 pounds,

so I encountered smaller guys

who were faster.

When I stopped trying to get them,

and relaxed and waited for them,

then I started winning.

I was no longer the big ‘sitting duck,’

but a guy who’s punches they ran into.

Now,

obviously,

there are many different ways

of looking at this matter of fighting.

Bruce isn’t right or wrong,

neither am I.

We’re just people with strategies,

tactics,

and preferred methods.

And the real point is that you

have to look into each art

and play with the techniques

until you understand the concepts,

then put what works for you together.

The martial arts are not a set in stone methodology.

They are a changing, adapting tactic.

Now,

obligatory ad…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/3a-blinding-steel-matrixing-weapons/

My method.

amongst all my other studies and methods.

It sets you up for weapons, hands and feet and takedowns.

Check it out.

Okay,

one last thing…

I get wins from people all the time,

and ometimes I like to share them,

hope somebody else’s wins 

can inspire oyu.

So here is Justin Harris…

I just had a hell of a workout with my Matrix Karate forms plus House 1, House 2, and Moon form. The interesting thing about a matrixed form is how well it stays in memory. I hadn’t practiced these in a while but I busted em out today and let me tell you they are so natural and intuitive, they just flowed right out of me. I can’t remember many classical forms I learned years ago. But the interesting thing is that the logic of a matrixed and organized form sticks in the mind and body better than random stuff. Not saying classical forms are bad, I do quite a few of them sometimes but logic and a clear sense of how to make the art True makes things so much easier. 

Many thanks!

Sifu Justin Harris

Dragon Palm Tai Chi and Kung Fu

Thanks, Justin,

I appreciate the kind words,

and I love it when Matrixing works for people.

Now…everybody…

have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’m always pushing my novels,

did you know I write other stuff?

If you want to know the truth about government,

you will find some startling matrixing going on in

THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT!

Bruce Lee Workout Increases Strength and Power

Bruce Lee Work Out for More Power!

The Bruce Lee Workout I am describing comes from studies of about Bruce Lee, but is combined with research from other sources. There is data from bodybuilding exercises, weightlifting workouts, and so on.

Mind you, I call it the Bruce Lee Workout, but it comes from a variety of sources. many of which cropped up after his death, or were studies of his workout routines.

Bruce Lee used weight training, diet, and other factors to get this physique

There are three component parts to a Bruce Lee Workout.

The first deals with Bruce Lee Strength training. This is that weightlifting is the third best way of increasing strength. This is because when you weight lift you isolate the muscles. Yes, the muscles get bigger, but since the whole body is not being used, one will not get the tremendous speed of Bruce Lee.

The second principle associated with a Bruce Lee Workout deals with dynamic strength training, sometimes referred to as dynamic tension. This is when muscle works against muscle. This is a type of workout Bruce Lee liked, but didn’t always talk about. There are, however, Wing Chun exercises in which dynamic tension is present, or can easily be put in. The glory in these exercise routines is that the muscles, though they work against each other, do not isolate. They stay in a ‘group mode,’ and so one is able to use these exercises to achieve Bruce’s speed.

Bruce Lee believed in simple Body Weight exercises!

The third Bruce Lee workout principle holds that body calisthenics are the best method for increasing personal strength and power. While the Little Dragon did weights and dynamic tension, he also did Yoga and other body calisthenic exercises.

Tying all of the above together, of course, are things like the Bruce Lee diet, and other fitness concepts.
Thus, to make your own Bruce Lee Workout, one should do a lot of stretching, especially Yoga style. Then do light weight training. Light as one doesn’t want mass so much as definition and efficiency. Finally, the heavy stuff, body weight calisthenics.

Bruce did do weights, but his lack of mass puts them lower on his priorities

And, though many people may object, especially in light of certain Bruce Lee quotes regarding classical martial arts, this author prefers classical martial arts for his body weight calisthenics. It is just more fun to do than simply lifting heavy metal plates, or other similar types of weight training. And, finally, more yoga to cool down and make sure the muscles relax after the work out.

So consider these points when you analyze your own body, what you want to get out of your training, what you think is fun, and then create your own Bruce Lee Workout.

The Bruce Lee Workout was originally posted at MonsterMArtialArts.com.