subject: The Three Types Of Kung Fu Fighters. [print this page] The method I am about to tell you is supposed to have been created by the Little Dragon, Bruce Lee, though I don't know whether it was ever included in his Jeet Kune Do teachings. It was supposedly taught by Bruce to Karate fighter Joe Lewis, who became one of the fiercest Karate fighters to ever enter the ring. Joe Lewis is supposed to have relayed the method to various Kenpo schools, where it was used by Ed Parker, and eventually disappeared from view.
This method will work, it will tell you what kind of a fighter you are facing, and help you create a strategy to fight that fighter. However, there is a glaring weakness in the implementation of the method, and, there is a glaring weakness in the fact of the method. Still, it is important to know and be able to use if you are going to develop as a real fighter.
When you face off towards a fighter, fake a punch and watch what happens. Before we analyze what happens, consider the weakness of this movement. A fake is a wasted motion, and while you're faking he might go real on you.
If the fighter starts to back away, he is a runner. This means that you are going to have to chase him and catch him. You are going to have to develop a strategy which cuts him off, backs him where you want him, and sets him up for the kill.
If the fighter charges you, then he is an aggressive attacker. This means you are going to have to slip to the side or just downright stop him. You are going to have to take advantage of his tendency to over reach and develop a strategy which negates him, which slips his aggressiveness.
If the fighter makes as if he is going to block, then he is a blocker. This means he is going to stand his ground, and you are going to have to penetrate him. You are going to have to develop a strategy which interchanges darting with overwhelming, or whatever else it takes to penetrate his shields.
These three things are excellent for establishing a structure within the chaos of combat, and highly usable. However, the glaring weakness of the method became apparent to me the first time somebody tried to use it on me. The fellow faked, and I moved in response, but did not flee or charge, merely duplicated his motion such as it was.
I knew his motion wasn't real, and I was interested in matching what he was doing, mirroring his actions, and finding a real time solution. Checking the way a fellow reacts to something is not in real time, it is in fake time. Thus, this method falls apart when somebody is not reacting, but moving in real time, is letting The True Art move him and detail his responses.
