Bruce Lee's Fighting Method
BASIC TRAINING
CHAPTER 4 : Power Training
Power
Power in hitting
depends not on your strength.
But it is the way,
you throw your blows.
It is not whether
you are close or at length.
If you're too near,
use your striking elbows.
But it is the hands that
you'll employ the most
In a sparring session
or a martial arts meet.
And when it is all over,
hope you can silently boast
That you have learned
to hit with speed and power.
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POWER TRAINING
Power in hitting is not based strictly on strength. How many times have you seen a boxer who is not muscular but packs a wallop in his punch? And then you see another, heavily muscular boxer who can't knock anyone down. The reason behind this is that power isn't generated by your contractile muscles but from the impetus and speed of your arm or foot. Bruce Lee, a 130-pounder, was able to hit harder than a man twice his size, because Lee's blow with a heavy force behind it, was much faster.
In jeet kune do you do not hit by just swinging your arm. Your whole body should participate in the impetus - your hips, shoulders, feet and arms. The inertia of your punch should be a straight line in front of your nose - using it as the guiding point. The punch originates not from the shoulder but from the center of your body.
Straight punching or kicking is the basis for scientific and artistic fighting. It is a modern concept in fisticuffs derived from the knowledge of body leverage and makeup. A punch from your arm alone doesn't supply enough power. Your arms should be used strictly as bearers of your force; and the correct application of your body should furnish the power. In any power punching, the body must be balanced and aligned with your lead foot, forming a straight line. This section of your body is the mainstay, functioning as an axis to generate power.
Before you can punch with power, you must first learn to clench your fists properly, otherwise you are liable to injure them.
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