CompleteMartialArts.com - Bruce Lee's Fighting Method, Vol. 2: Basic Training (Bruce Lee's Fighting Method)
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 796.8153 EAN: 9780897500517 ISBN: 0897500512 Label: Black Belt Communications Manufacturer: Black Belt Communications Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 128 Publication Date: 1977-05-01 Publisher: Black Belt Communications Studio: Black Belt Communications
"If you are going to train without the concept that this is the real thing, you are short changing yourself." --Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method: Basic Training reveals how the iconic warrior attained his legendary speed, power and footwork. Included are practical, effective stretches for increasing flexibility, abdominal exercises that can be performed anywhere, and hard-hitting advice on running, biking, skipping rope and shadowboxing.
But Basic Training is more than just a fitness guide. This must-have manual also delves into the fundamental aspects of Bruce Lee's revolutionary combat philosophy, jeet kune do, including how to strengthen your firsts with iron-palm training, get the most out of your punches and kicks, camouflage your attacks, develop the footwork to evade almost any blow, cover distance rapidly, escape from a tight corner, conserve energy for countering, build muscles without sacrificing speed, fix flaws in your stance and improve your peripheral vision, leverage and timing.
As the second volume in Bruce Lee's Fighting Method, Basic Training contains detailed illustrations and vintage photos capturing Lee in his prime. This essential series, compiled and organized by his close friend, Mito Uyehara, is the perfect companion to Bruce Lee's classic text, Tao of Jeet Kune Do. The Bruce Lee's Fighting Method series is an integral part of the Bruce Lee canon and a necessary addition for collectors and martial arts enthusiasts alike.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Very Interesting Read - Helpful Workout Tips & Hints Comment: I'm not a martial artist. I don't know anything about Jeet Kune Do like most of these reviewers. I grew up only knowing the western style of fighting, boxing at it's simplest level. Put up your hands, jab with your left and punch with your right.
Bruce's style is totally different. Everything is predicated on speed. Strikes are used with the knuckles of the last 3 fingers (middle, ring, and pinky) instead of middle finger and forefinger. Instead of turning the wrist over to at the end of the punch the wrist is kept straight. He used southpaw stance because 80% of the work is done with the lead hand and foot (he was right handed). All these techniques run counter intuitive with western style of boxing.
I appreciate reading about Bruce's workout techniques. It's really the reason I bought this book. I wish there were more. He talked about riding his exercycle, jogging, skipping rope, and a few abdominal exercises. There are numerous other workout techniques that involve a wooden dummy, punching bags, speed bags, etc, however those do not concern me too much. I have already incorporated jump rope into my daily routine which includes situps. I plan to practice hitting an 8 X 11 piece of paper with my elbows to learn body control.
Thanks to Bruce, I now feel like I will have an opportunity to really improve my fitness and coordination but only time will tell as to the results I will achieve.
I give this book 4 stars because it contains information that I can actually use in real life. I docked it one star because it contained too much information on stances (the on-guard stance in particular) which was incredibly boring and not at all what I needed. Customer Rating: Summary: A good martial arts book that everyone should own! Comment: Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Bruce Lee's and M. Uyehara's, "Bruce Lee's Fighting Method; Volume 2: Basic Training."
As is stated in the introduction to this and the other three volumes in the series, Bruce Lee never intended for these books to be published. However, since his untimely passing, his wife Linda decided that she would allow them to be published. Something we should all be thankful for.
What I will attempt to do in this review is to give you a well-rounded grasp of what Bruce has written and demonstrated for you in this series of books. Although nothing can replace the value of a qualified and competent instructor, a well written book can still provide you with a wealth of knowledge if you know how to realize it and obtain it.
1. The Fighting Man Exercises:
a. The importance of aerobic conditioning and exercises to increase your aerobic capacity such as; running, bike riding, jumping rope, etc.
b. Most martial artists neglect their actual physical workouts, thinking that practicing their particular martial art of and by itself is all you need to get into and stay in shape. This is not true! One must supplement their martial arts training with various muscle building and flexibility exercises.
c. You must constantly push yourself to become better than what you already are. If it comes easy, it generally isn't worth it.
d. How to warm-up properly in order to prepare your body for harder workouts without risking the chance of unnecessary injury due to the use of a well designed and executed warm-up routine.
e. Various flexibility exercises are shown using the trampoline and various body stretches.
f. Several different abdominal exercises are demonstrated as Bruce always felt that the abdomens were the major source of power in the martial arts.
2. The On-Guard Position:
a. Bruce goes really in-depth on a good fighting stance.
b. Looks at the disadvantages of more traditional or formal stances.
c. Bruce also talks a good deal about balance and how important it is to being effective with your techniques.
3. Footwork:
a. The basic principles behind your footwork are discussed.
b. Demonstrated and explained are the Forward and Backward Shuffle.
c. Demonstrated and explained are the Quick Advance and Retreat.
d. Demonstrated and explained is the Burst Forward.
e. Demonstrated and explained is Sidestepping.
4. Power Training; Punching Power:
a. How to correctly make a fist for punching.
b. Various training exercises utilizing the heavy bag, punching mitts, force shields, etc.
c. The use of canvas bags filled with everything from sand to steel filings in order to toughen the hands for impact.
d. The use of hand weights when practicing your punches.
e. The use of a staff across your shoulders to improve your body's ability to work in unison when punching.
f. Talks about using KI when punching and how to punch through your target, not at it.
g. Also discussed is "Pulling Power" and how to develop it with hand and forearm exercises.
Power in Kicking:
a. Flicky point style kicks are useless in self-defense.
b. How to develop striking power in your Side Kick.
c. The use of the heavy bag to develop power in your kicks.
d. The use of the kicking shield to develop power in your kicks.
e. How to add more power to your Front Kick by utilizing your hips correctly.
5. Speed Training:
a. Basic principles involved in training for speed in your techniques.
b. Developing punching speed.
c. Developing whipping speed for your Back Fist.
d. Developing speed in your Finger Jab by using a piece of paper.
e. Developing speed in your Lead Straight Punch.
f. Using equipment such as the double-end bag, punching mitts, and heavy bag to develop speed.
g. Developing a non-telegraphic punch.
h. Using concepts from fencing to enhance your speed and punching skills.
i. A very interesting use of a children's game to develop speed.
Speed in Kicking:
a. Principles and techniques of the Side Kick and Roundhouse Kick, which I find very interesting that Bruce calls the Roundhouse Kick a Hook Kick.
b. Various methods of developing speed in your kicks.
c. Awareness of your body and what it is doing when you are kicking.
Like any well written book, as much as you can learn from this book by reading it, you can learn just as much if not more by reading between the lines. I particularly enjoyed the simplicity of what Bruce was trying to relay throughout this and pretty much all of his books. What may work well for one person, may not work at all for another. Therefore, you as an individual needs to research the techniques that are out there and find those that work best for you and use them. Remember, there are no superior martial arts, only superior martial artists. Customer Rating: Summary: For martial artists it's worth reading. Comment: Bruce Lee's Fighting Method: Basic Training Vol. 2
Chapter 1 is sort of an overview of a number of exercises and the benefits of each exercise in conditioning the body to be a fighter. There is not much in this chapter, which you cannot find in other exercise or workout books. Furthermore, the practice of receiving blows from a medicine ball or moderately controlled punches to the abdomen is no longer recommended because we now know that receiving even moderate, controlled blows over time can cause damage to internal tissues and organs. Never the less, I am not going to say that there is nothing worth reading in this book. It's just that this book was written before the fitness craze gained momentum to the extent of becoming a cultural practice in the United States. Many people back then were out of shape and did not know how to exercise for better health and physical performance. Some still don't. To beginners, this chapter can serve as an introduction of the types of exercise for a fighter.
Chapter 2 explains in detail and illustrates Bruce Lee's unique right lead Jeet Kune Do guard stance, posture and benefits. Then, there are a series of photos of Dan Inosanto, Bruce Lee's famous student, posing in various classical guard positions, some of which look more like illustrations of moves in kata or forms. The book persuasively criticizes the various weaknesses of the classical guard stances. In defense of some classical positions criticized, however, some martial artists argue persuasively that these classical positions found in katas and forms are symbolic representations of effective fighting techniques being executed and do not represent stationary guard positions.
(See books by Rick Clark, Guy Trimble III, Ashley Croft and George Dillman for more on better interpretations of kata's symbolic representation of effective fighting techniques."
The Chapter on footwork is very basic and simple. It is almost boring. However, the important point to take note of is that moving quickly and effectiveness in fighting begins with being quick on the feet. Bruce lee's books are unique in that they emphasize elements such as distance, timing, speed, creating openings in the opponent's guard and observing the opponent's reactions and habits rather than reliance on techniques for this or that situation. So, it begins with footwork to move into range quickly to strike, to move out of range or side-to-side to avoid being struck and being ready to counter when an opening does appear. The later volumes build on ideas that require good footwork. So, it does start with this book to create a foundation of good footwork. After all, good technique and power is wasted if you can't deliver your strikes or kicks due to lack of speed or improper timing or distance.
The beginning martial artist reading this book might get the quickest results from this book in studying the chapters on power training and speed training. Anyone who understands how to combine the elements such as closing to a proper distance to be able to punch through the target, using harmonious movement of the body while keeping the muscles relaxed until the instant your strike makes contact will discover an alternative, more effective way to deliver a powerful strike rather than using the strength of the arm and upper body alone.
The last chapter on speed training offers 7 different ways to train for developing speed. Most of these training methods require a partner. The reader has to look for these in the context of the writing. There is also an interesting technique suggested for psychologically developing a better sense of timing and quickness of reaction near the end of the last chapter.
Beginners and young martial artist might not fully understand the value of the information in the series of books on Bruce Lee's Fighting Method and in his Tao of Jeet Kune Do.
There is also a video adaptation of this book available on VHS or DVD which features Richard Bustillo and Ted Wong, one of Bruce Lee's students, who also is seen in the photographs of the books.
VHS:
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method
DVD:
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method - by Ted Wong and Richard Bustillo
Customer Rating: Summary: Fantastic often overlooked principles of training Comment: Bruce Lee covers the basics and foundations of training.
All too often martial artists focus their energies on techniques without developing or preparing the body for such techniques.
This volume covers:
1) Aerobic Conditioning - running vs jumping rope
2) Stretching
3) Core muscle strengthening almost always overlooked. Namely abdominal toning
4) Proper stance and movement
5) Footwork
6) Developing power in your strikes
7) Increasing your speed
Customer Rating: Summary: The Fighting Method Series Captures Bruce Lee Comment: Mito Uyehara was the founder and publisher of Black Belt magazine. Mito actually took privates from Bruce in his office according to staff legend. Mito also gave Bruce plenty of exposure in Black Belt, but the books in this series, Bruce Lee's Fighting Methods, are the true legacy of that relationship. Mito was very protective of Bruce's image and his admiration for him is as clear as the many photographs in these books.
Of course, Bruce Lee was always changing his methods and ideas about training. To what degree he would have stood behind this material some 40-years later has been the subject of much debate. The closest thing to a modern version of this series is How to Master Bruce Lee's Fighting Style by Lee student Joe Lewis, who credits much of his success to principles he learned while working with Bruce Lee.
But, "never take your eyes off the finger, or you will miss a great book for any Bruce Lee fan."
