subject: Secrets of Bruce Lee's Fighting Style - Street Self Defence [print this page] Secrets of Bruce Lee's Fighting Style - Street Self Defence
Bruce Lee is surely one of the greatest martial artists who ever lived. Every martial art from aikido to Choi Kwang Do has it's own master and students of that art will see their master as the greatest but Lee stands out above all.
Made famous by Hollywood movies and by his tragic death at a young age, his legacy lives on today. Many people talk about his martial art style and how he developed it but I believe Bruce Lee was the ultimate street fighter.
One of the little know facts about Lee is that he only lost one fight only once in his life and this was when he was just 13 years old. This loss prompted Bruce to learn martial arts from a Wing Chun master named Yip Man. After other students learned that Bruce wasn't pure Chinese - he was part German! - they refused to let him train in their class. Yip Man had to train him privately
When Bruce Lee began to develop his own fighting style it was not liked by many of his fellow martial artists. The fact is it was a street fighting, practical style of King Fu. Lee's personal fighting style , popularly known as Jeet Kune Do, is called "scientific or sophisticated street-fighting". Modern martial arts involve the study of bio-dynamics and the mechanics of the human body and Jeet June Do was one of the first arts to use these.
If we watch films like Game of Death we see many flourishes and moves which were of course created to add to the mystery of Kung Fu and create mystery and awe. The fact is Jeet Kune Do is a highly effective combat system and a skilled user would do very well in competitions like MMA and cage fights.
Many people as the question what is Bruce Lee's fighting secret? The answer is a complex one and one most people don't want to hear! He was of course amazingly fit and incredibly disciplined. His daily training regime would put most people off how ever a skilled fighter it would lead them to become. Lee also used a very practical, direct method of facing an attacker much like a modern street fighter.
Lee had a very harsh life in his early years and he literally grew up in the streets. He came from a gang background where street gangs carried chains, knives and razor blades - much like some do today, sadly. Although he had an interest in traditional forms of King Fu this environment meant he needed a practical fighting style to survive real attacks and violent encounters. Being able to use self defence techniques in small spaces and even using dirty fighting moves were part of Lee's style.
One of the fundamental approaches in street self defence is that of attacking your opponent at his weakest points and this is something Lee understood well. He also understood the value of the basic aikido principles of throwing an opponent off balance and applying leverage principles so that his body, and the limbs of his body, are used toward his own defeat.
Street self defence is for me the next evolution of Bruce Lee's fighting style and if he were alive today I believe there would be great similarities.
