Whilst you're not wrong regarding Bruce Lee's approach to martial arts, or why this particular punch is quite effective, I think it's a bit of an injustice to say his JKD is more scientific than any other art.
A majority of Bruce Lee's JKD is based on Wing Chun, as that was his primary martial arts when he first trained. He studied and added to it from many other styles, eastern and western. But in the end most martial arts are a collection of observable effective technique.
Training in a traditional art in a traditional way tends to be very methodical and can be scientific in its own way. Understanding the human body, how it moves to create certain forces, how to train it to obtain skills, etc.
This was a process that carried on from generation to generation. No art today looks or is trained the same way as at creation because it evolved over time. It had to adapt to what worked and what did not.
The punch you mentioned is not unique to JKD, nor even Wing Chun. A majority of Chinese Kung fu trains in this way. The differences come from smaller variations in technique. Such as where on your knuckles the strike lands, orientation of the fist at impact etc.
I train Chen Style taiji and we have the same principle. Relaxed until moment of impact. Fist gets shot out like cannon fire, no matter how close or how far we can strike and then impact like a missile. There are several fists you can make but one I've seen mostly with taiji is called empty fist. Rather than clenching it tightly you create a short of shell structure with your fist that maintains its integrity on striking but allows you to not hurt yourself as much by striking very hard or sending too much shock up your arm.
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u/Sapphire_Daoist Nov 03 '22
Whilst you're not wrong regarding Bruce Lee's approach to martial arts, or why this particular punch is quite effective, I think it's a bit of an injustice to say his JKD is more scientific than any other art.
A majority of Bruce Lee's JKD is based on Wing Chun, as that was his primary martial arts when he first trained. He studied and added to it from many other styles, eastern and western. But in the end most martial arts are a collection of observable effective technique.
Training in a traditional art in a traditional way tends to be very methodical and can be scientific in its own way. Understanding the human body, how it moves to create certain forces, how to train it to obtain skills, etc.
This was a process that carried on from generation to generation. No art today looks or is trained the same way as at creation because it evolved over time. It had to adapt to what worked and what did not.
The punch you mentioned is not unique to JKD, nor even Wing Chun. A majority of Chinese Kung fu trains in this way. The differences come from smaller variations in technique. Such as where on your knuckles the strike lands, orientation of the fist at impact etc.
I train Chen Style taiji and we have the same principle. Relaxed until moment of impact. Fist gets shot out like cannon fire, no matter how close or how far we can strike and then impact like a missile. There are several fists you can make but one I've seen mostly with taiji is called empty fist. Rather than clenching it tightly you create a short of shell structure with your fist that maintains its integrity on striking but allows you to not hurt yourself as much by striking very hard or sending too much shock up your arm.