Bruce Lee’s fighting style relies heavily on kicks, because they are long ranged, they are powerful and they can used to hinder opponent’s rhythm. The images I share here are very valuable, showing the postures of Bruce Lee himself and his drawings.
JKD Kicking Power
The reasons to use kicks includes:
1. Legs are more powerful than hands
2. Legs are longer, therefore it is the first choice weapon
3. It is very difficult to block kicks, especially kicks to the lower body parts like ankle, shin, knee and groin.
Bruce Lee is good at his unique way of kicking. It is different from a traditional side kick. The traditional side kick has power but no speed. Traditional side hook kick has speed but not enough power. JDK side kick has both advantages. Snap kick or front kick do not have enough strength to cause damage or hurt, either.
Characteristics of JKD Side Kick
Bruce Lee’s JDK sidekick has 3 characteristics:
1. When Bruce Lee executes a full power sidekick, the first action is to left up his right leg a little bit (about 12 inches) above the ground. And then he steps it on the ground powerfully and uses the reaction force to rebound his right foot. All these actions are done in the balance of the whole body with on guard position.
2. Just before the impact, he twists his waist (coxa) with his upper body bending away from the target. This produces extra momentum (counter angular momentum) for the kick. This maximizes the impact force like snapping a strap. Great impact force damages the target.
3. At the moment of impact, both legs extends to the maximum. This increases the time of contact which maximizes the accelerating force acted on the target. The accelerating force
would push the target and send it fly off a long distance. That’s why we see people who are kicked by Bruce Lee fly several meters away.
These points can also be applied to other kicks. The most critical point of a successful kick is timing and speed. Rear kicks are not as useful as the front kicks because of the long distance and time needed to arrive on the target.
Watch this Guy use it in MMA:
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