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How to Defeat a Street Fighter, Bruce-Lee Style

Author: Keith Pascal
Date Posted: October 21, 2007

Did you know that Bruce Lee thought that street-fighters had limitations?

Yes, street-fighters!

I realize that most classically trained martial artists have a secret, internal fear of wild street fighters. At least the more grounded, realistic practitioners do.

The wild, unpredictable actions of a street fighter are ... just too wild to be countered with sequential blocks and two-beat counters.

Why Bruce Lee Thought Street Fighters Have a Disadvantage

Would you like to know what Bruce Lee said specifically?

Bruce Lee said that street-fighters had a "lack of finesse in structure." He felt that "an efficient sharpening of 'tools' [was] generally lacking."

And last, and certainly not least, Bruce Lee felt that street-fighters lacked the "correct mental attitude."

No kidding.

What Did Bruce Lee Mean?

We can't know exactly what Bruce Lee was thinking about when he wrote these notes to himself. We can make a lot of guesses, based on his system of Jeet Kune Do.

We can also examine other notes of his.

Still, I am willing to bet that we can make some good educated guessed of a few principles he might have been referring to. Let's look at theses three points a little more closely:

1) Street Fighters lack "finesse in structure" -- Bruce Lee invented Jeet Kune Do. The beauty of his system is that the techniques fit together into tactics. And the tactics generalize to strategies. All of it works to get you from one spot to another, efficiently, without a lot of extra, unnecessary motions.

A lot of martial-arts styles have been designed this way.

Street fighters can't seem to put it together efficiently.

2) Street Fighters need "sharper tools" -- A street fighter doesn't necessarily practice his or her punches thousands of times, over and over again -- sending the punch to the exact same spot.

Even if a martial artist has to punch different targets -- several parts of the attacker's body -- the punches still travel on a straight line, directly to the target. And these punches don't waiver. They hit where they are supposed to.

So, is this efficiency necessary. Well, let me ask you -- if two cars travel at exactly the same speed, which will get to its destination first, the one that zig-zags a little, and maybe follows a curve to the end point, or the car that travels a straight line?

3) Street Fighters don't have the correct mental attitude -- Was Bruce Lee referring to the rage of a berserker, versus the practiced calm of a martial artist?

I don't think so.

I am pretty sure he was referring to the fact that he taught his students to consider all aspects of the fight. He taught them how respond instinctively, and to combine these automatic responses with cunning tactics and strategies. He taught his students to be single-minded of purpose in the fight. And Bruce Lee taught them to get the job done efficiently and quickly.

About The Author

Read another article on Street Fighting here: Street Fighting -- Sizing Up the Enemy.

In your quest for realistic, Bruce-Lee style martial-arts techniques, you should also read my new, Free ebooklet, "Elbow Strike Counters": Free--Elbow Strike Counters

Also, you'll find 2 ebooklets on practical grappling -- with a mini wrist locks course, here -- Free, Wrist Locks.

Keith Pascal has been a full-time martial-arts author for eight years and a martial-arts teacher for 25 years.

Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Jeet Kune Do articles.

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