straight rear/cross?

[whiz kid]

Tackett et al,

When throwing the straight rear/cross, do you guys use a horizontal or diagonal fist position.

[Tim Tackett]

We mostly use a diagonal fist as this is how Bruce showed Bremer and it seems to work better. But at time we also use the others. It depends.

[brentlance]

Yeah, mostly diagonal. I used to use horizontal until I felt the differences in leverage on the straight lead/rear. But, there's more than one way and you can knock a guy out with any of them.

[Geoff]

would you rotate the shoulder when doing the rear cross?

[Tim Tackett]

I only rotate it when doing a boxing type straight rear. There is a difference between a straight rear and a cross. A cross is when you are in a matching stance and your opponent throws a straight rear and you "cross" over his punch with your rear punch.

[Geoff]

Hi tim,

In the early days training bruce started of square shouldered and sitting on the back leg for more stability and jamming,trapping, this way he could still extend both hands out at the same distance in front off him by not rotating the shoulder line,this was inportant as it effected the structure in continuity of movement,speed,strenght etc,


When he changed the body line,and moving the center of gravity forward increased mobility and for the hands a slight change in arm positions but still based on the center line principle.

The thing is can I keep to the center line principle and still extend both hands out in front of me and hit my opponent and not move my shoulder line, so as I believe bruce lees fistic law can still apply?

anyway im still in the process of understanding bruce fistic law principle at its fullest advantage by keeping the shoulders squared.


are the principles different if the body line is off set too the opponent?

[Tim Tackett]

Bruce changed a lot of his "fistic laws" as he moved south and added the boxing elements in Oakland and the fencing elements in L.A. By the time Bruce left for Hong Kong wing chun was about 30% of JKD. While all periods have something to offer, they are different in both structure and techniques.

[Geoff]

So would you say that in the different periods of bruce training, The different structures fitted different peoples body types,like for example Howard williams said in a documentary I was watching, that he found the coming forward so his body was more in the center of gravity fiited his own inner structure better through genetic etc?

[Tim Tackett]

Just between us and anyone else who reads this, Bruce was looking into how to deal with the karate players in the USA and the wing chun guys in Hong Kong. When he went back to Hong Kong and visited Yip Man's school he had a chance to spar with some of the seniors. He told Bremer that JKD really worked. He said that they couldn't deal with some of the fencing and boxing elements very well. Bruce could look and a style and see the weakness and then "take what was offered" Read page 78 of "Bruce Lee: The Incomparable Fighter" by M. Uyehara.

[Geoff]

so in the LA period Bruce was fighting on the horizon,outside what he called no mans land,that he put himself in a position where he can hit you but you cant hit him?
forexample instead of me taking a dart and steppin up to a dart board and placing the dart in the board at any position, I would instead throw the dart at the board at a distance,obviously this would take more tactile, focus,timing,acuarate timing etc,and more practice to get, but the effects would be far greater?

[Tim Tackett]

He had stuff for all 3 ranges, but tried to stay just outside.