"The essence of fighting is the art of moving."- Bruce Lee
Fluidly mobile probably the most important component in JFJKD is footwork, it quite simply, the science of motion.I learn about JFJKD, the more I see the scope of just how important footwork truly is.
Power from proper use of penetration, hips, body weight, timing, distance, footwork, kinetic chain .
Mobility, more than anything else is highly stressed in Jeet Kune Do, as combat is a matter of movements ... Footwork is light, quick and economical. Good footwork is essential to close (bridge) the gap to your opponent and attack powerfully, or evade and counter an opponent's attack.
The Jeet Kune Do fighter will use linear, lateral, angular and circular footwork patterns, so as to put himself in the best possible range to hit but not get hit (using range, angles, traps) and able to disengage at will.
Bruce Lee’s quote that "The essence of fighting is the art of moving," and moving is footwork. The principles of movement form the very heart of combat.
Bruce Lee once said that the four components of footwork consisted of:
1. The sensitivity of your opponent’s aura,
2. Aliveness and naturalness,
3. Instinctive pacing (distance),
4. A balanced position at the start and finish.
It should be obvious that you cannot use your hands or legs effectively until your feet have put you into position in which you can do so, if you are slow on your feet, you will be slow with your punches and kicks. Good footwork allows you to hit from any angle and also to follow up your initial attack with more powerful finishing blows.
Footwork, in short, "gets you there and gets you out." Another important tool in JFJKD is learning how to correctly judge distance, which Bruce Lee referred to as "the fighting measure," which is simply another way of saying, "distance." It’s very important to know to judge distance because distance is the relationship between you and your opponent. It all depends on the length on the distance you need to bridge or close between you and your opponent and also your opponent’s reaction speed.
Bruce’s main emphasis was always footwork. "Good footwork can beat any attack." Constantly drill on footwork, in an effort to improve balance. able to glide in and out, throwing techniques from all angles after coming into various ranges through footwork. And, of course, emphasized the avoiding of attacks through footwork too. Without footwork, you cannot complete the task of fighting with any degree of efficiency.
Many people think of footwork as some sort of bouncing movement, but the one thing Bruce Lee stressed to all of his students was never to move for the sake of moving, and not to bounce simply for the sake of bouncing.
Bruce Lee did not bounce around much when he was sparring; he was very controlled and motionless, until he saw an opening. And by then you were flat on your back. Every move you make should be purposeful; it should be done to either deliver a hit, to move into position
to deliver a hit, or to move out of the range of being on the receiving end of your opponent’s hit.
The key to success in footwork is to keep it simple. If you aim toward simplification, rather than complex or intricate foot patterns, which more resemble dance patterns than efficiency, your footwork will be smooth, direct and efficient. If you use economy of motion, you will always be relaxed, which is crucial to your reaction time and to the speed of your attacks, defenses and counter-attacks.
Another great benefit to proper JFJKD footwork is the fact that it provides you with a means by which you can employ the force of inertia, which, properly applied, can tremendously boost your punching / kicking power. These are some of the reasons that footwork seems to me so important. Footwork also serves to enhance your body alignment, which makes your leverage more favorable and your strikes more devastating.
Another aspect of combat that is enhanced by proper footwork is speed. I mean footwork is what gets you there to deliver your technique, and out of there, before your opponent can deliver his. Footwork is not only used to deliver techniques or avoid techniques, but also to set up techniques. It’s part of strategy, a form of P.I.A. (Progressive Indirect Attack). It can lure your opponent in to a trap, allow you to gain the proper fighting measure and also bridge the gap to your opponent. Good footwork accomplishes all of these things.
Good footwork is like operating a four-wheel drive SUV. Most people only utilize a two-wheel drive; that is, they’re limited as to what techniques they can throw because they’re really only comfortable in their two-wheel drive mode. However, once you learn on the options that available themselves to you with increased mobility, you realize that footwork is an option provider.
While some people mistakenly consider to be merely bouncing around like Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard, others equally as mistaken, think of footwork as simply something that moves you in to hit your opponent, without realizing that it’s just as important in preventing your opponent from hitting you.
In Thai Boxing, for example, you see a lot of "give and take", wherein one fighter will whack his opponent and then stay there and get hit back by his opponent. Such back-and-forth exchanges are common place, and quite often the winner is the one with the highest pain threshold. In JFJKD, however, the bottom line is to hit your opponent, and not get hit back. JFJKD teaches one how to be a thinking fighter. A smart fighter. Nobody should opt to get hit particularly when you can substantially reduce the chances of that happening by employing proper footwork.
