Did Bruce Lee really use boxing equipment/protection pads?

Discussion in 'Jeet Kune Do' started by Edgeorge, Jun 30, 2010.

  1. Edgeorge

    Edgeorge Valued Member

    Did he? I'm sure I read he did, but doesn't that ruin the essence of Jeet Kune Do? How can you strike someone's eyes if he's wearing a helmet or kick one's groin if he's wearing a cup? Or if you really won't to destroy your opponent, how can you do it when he's wearing pads?

    Don't all these things restrict JKD's freedom and versatility?



    ----Thanks
     
  2. february

    february Valued Member

    You need to try and preserve your training partners.
     
  3. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    You're training for something that you can't precisely replicate in practice. That necessarily means that no single training method is going to be exact. You employ various training methods to "triangulate" what you want to achieve. So training in boxing gear gives you an understanding of combinations, dealing with getting hit, dealing with hitting someone else, and various other very important things. Other training methods and other equipment will hone the eye jab.

    Oh, and a quote that I think is about the most brilliant thing I've ever seen on MAP (courtesy of Yoda, and probably being paraphrased a bit, because I can't remember it verbatim): If you can't hit my face with a boxing glove, what on Earth makes you think you can it my eye with your fingers?"
     
  4. Hatamoto

    Hatamoto Beardy Man Kenobi Supporter

    I'd say it's more to do with accuracy and hitting *something.* When the gloves come off and all, you're more likely to kick someone in the groin or catch them in the eyes if you're used to aiming for that area against a moving target, if they're protected in training, fine, it's still impact, which is then what you'll (hopefully) get when the brown hits the spin.
     
  5. Stanislovas

    Stanislovas Valued Member

    That quote stuck out at me as well. It's a good thing to consider.
     
  6. Octavian_Caesar

    Octavian_Caesar Valued Member

    I second that. Unless you've got an unlimited source of training partners (very unlikely in this day and age), you need to wear some safety gear or they won't come back...

    LOL
     
  7. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Bruce used kick shields, baseball mitts, baseball helmets, shin protectors etc etc.
    He used whatever he needed to use to hone a particular skill.
    Keep what is useful, reject what is useless and all that. I think someone said that once.
     
  8. Doublejab

    Doublejab formally Snoop

    I actually heard a rumour that he invented the use of a kick shield for martial arts. Dunno if this is true or not but I'm not personally aware of any evidence of their use prior to him. The ones he used were either bespoke or designed for American Football.
     
  9. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Look at this bad-boy he's using. Like a door.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf12iowNH38"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf12iowNH38[/ame]

    (and damn he needs to work on maintaining his guard when on the bag. Keep 'em up Bruce. :) )
     
  10. iammartialarts

    iammartialarts Banned Banned

    yes it would be better to pop every training partners eyes :p
     
  11. Octavian_Caesar

    Octavian_Caesar Valued Member

    It's old style Kung Fu, man. People used to be able to fight like that because their opponents were the same, using longer ranged strikes and keeping back and such. It's only outdated now, where Western Boxing has made things more in your face.
     
  12. Bronze Statue

    Bronze Statue Valued Member

    It's not surprising that he used football equipment. Dan Inosanto played football.
     
  13. PHILBERT

    PHILBERT Valued Member

    Short answer to the SUBJECT question: Yes. There are video clips of him online with others, and in the clips he is hitting kicking bags, etc. that he created.

    Long answer to the SUBJECT question: Yes. Sparring gear was almost unheard of at the time he was alive. So what he did was he acquired gear that was around, Kendo helmets and chest pads, the gloves from Kempo, baseball guard shin guards that catchers wear, etc. and used that as training equipment.

    He built a kicking pad out of a football dummy pad for example. The guy basically would go to sports stores, find stuff there, rip the stuff apart and put it together and say "Wear this" and try it out.

    Getting punched in the head hurts. Your sparring sessions last shorter when you get hit in the head without protective equipment. What he stressed was sparring and using force when you spar.

    Take *some* Tae Kwon Do schools. They spar, but the sparring they use is very, very light, if any contact. You can throw a punch, miss by 3 inches, but if you shout out "Kyah!" you get a point in a sparring competition match because a judge didn't notice you missed your opponent by 3 inches. Yes, I've seen this done before.

    However, in the 1960s, so many schools simply had people punch the air in front of mirrors, break boards, and maybe hit a punching bag. They never sparred, claiming the stuff was "too deadly." Hence why Lee held Judo to such a higher regard, and didn't lump it together with his discussions on the problems with Karate and Tae Kwon Do. While he did comment on Judo's lack of strikes, much like he commented on boxing's lack of kicks, he still at least saw that they participated against a fully resisting opponent.

    So, no, you aren't going against Lee's "views" on JKD when you spar. If anything, you are actually embracing it, fighting a resisting opponent with more force than if you had nothing on.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=rt...MAGAZINES&cd=14#v=onepage&q=Bruce Lee&f=false

    Click that, and click the link that pops up for Page 25. You should have the option Page 45, Page 25, Page 1 in that order. Click the Page 25. That was an article written back in September 1971 called "Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate" and, at the time, it was a very, very controversial article. Here was a guy who basically said "Punching the air sucks, doing forms sucks, and it isn't martial arts training" at a time when people thought that it was. This would be the equivalent of having a Gracie write an article saying "Why Grappling Isn't Street Effective" today (Not saying that it isn't effective, just trying to give you a comparison).

    The following issues had some hate filled letters to the editors from readers.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2010

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