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 backs up, he is a runner. This means that you are going to have to track him down. You are going to have to develop a strategy which cuts him off, backs him into a corner, 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 potentials, running, charging, or holding ones ground, are excellent for establishing a structure within the chaos of combat. However, I saw the glaring weakness of the method the first time somebody tried to use it on me. The fellow faked, and I matched his motion, but did not flee or charge, merely duplicated him.
I knew it wasn't real, and I was interested in matching my opponent, mirroring his actions, and finding a real time solution. Checking a response is not in real time, it is in fake time. Thus, this method falls apart when somebody is not reacting, but letting The True Art move him and detail his responses.
Al Case has learned the martial arts 40 plus years. You can see him make The True Art work, and see first hand what he is talking about in this article, at Blinding Steel . A Free ebook is available at Monster Martial Arts .
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