?The Classical Mess Does Not Stifle Me?: Bruce Lee Stunned Fellow Martial Artists Once by Displaying Never-Seen-Before Stunt

The founder of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee was open to new and modern ways of performing martial arts. He was a firm believer that set martial art patterns were ineffective in real life. To prove his point, he once demonstrated a unique stunt and explained the scientific approach behind it.? The Sensei?s biography, Bruce Lee: A Life by Mathew Polly, revealed how Lee showcased a one-inch punch indicating that martial arts should be functional and practical.

In the 1960s, Lee dropped out of Washington University to pursue martial arts in California. He met James Lee, Robert Lee?s brother-in-law, and decided to start a new martial art school together at Broadway Avenue. For this, James organized a meeting with the students from his Oakland branch.?

Bruce Lee pitched a deal with his unique technique

Bruce and James focused on the modern approach to martial arts and hoped to get a positive response from his students. Bruce Lee knew that students were used to the definite martial art routines with zero experience of combating in real-life fights. Therefore, he did something unexpected to pitch the modern approach.?

At first, Lee created a space in the room by moving aside the coffee table. Then he instructed student Bob Baker to hold a phone book tight against his chest. Lee?s biography revealed that, ?Bruce extended his right hand until his middle finger touched the phone book, then curled his hand into a fist, an inch from the target.? The room filled in anticipation, as students saw Lee punching the phone book at an incredible speed that knocked Bob to the couch with his legs straight up and over.?

It was a never-seen-before stunt that drove everyone crazy in the room. Lee explained, ?real punching power was generated not from the shoulder and arms but from the entire body working in unison.? Hence, the muscles in the body need to relax for more power while fighting. He concluded his demonstration saying, ?The classical mess does not stifle me.?

Read More: Bruce Lee Was Once Put Down on a Police List After Joining Ip Man?s School

Bruce Lee understood the importance of practical martial art techniques. Hence, he founded Jeet Kune Do which was based on the philosophy that the best defense is a strong offense.?

Throwback to a video of Lee performing Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee?s version of martial arts, Jeet Kune Do, was intelligent martial arts that worked on intercepting the opponent?s move. A few months back, his memoir page on Instagram uploaded a video of him kicking his opponent at blinding speed.?

It was a video from his film, The Way of The Dragon (1972) fighting Robert Wall. In that scene, the JKD founder launched a sidekick on Wall?s character before he made another move at him. Lee’s kick destroyed his opponent proving that smart martial arts, is a great way to defend oneself.?

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What do you think about Lee?s modern martial art approach??