Читать книгу Straight Lead - Teri Tom - Страница 9

F O R E W O R D

by Ted Wong

Didn’t see it coming! That wasn’t an unusual thought for me when sparring with Bruce Lee. This punch was elemental, powerful, and fast—very fast. It was the straight lead, a punch absolutely basic to Lee’s contemporary martial art, Jeet Kune Do—or as he referred to it, scientific street fighting.

JKD’s discipline is one of specifics, the foundation of which Bruce Lee developed not only by deconstructing Eastern martial arts, but also by exploring the history of Western boxing and fencing. He scoured hundreds of books on the science of combat, the laws of physics, and the styles of Western fighting. The depth and intensity of his study can be witnessed in the copious notes, the underlined passages, and the wear and tear of the books that were his special sources of inspiration. In discovering the straight lead, Lee found a punch to serve as a keystone to his fighting form. And he found the straight lead’s impressive effectiveness described, most notably, in the writings of boxers Jack Dempsey and Jim Driscoll, and fencer Aldo Nadi.

The art of fencing held a particular resonance for Lee. The straight lead’s extension of the arm in a swift, direct movement operated as a line of attack comparable to fencing’s straight thrust— Western sword fencing, without the sword, was how Lee described it. Both moves convey the essential principle of his fighting form—the principle of interception. Jeet Kune Do, meaning “The Way of the Intercepting Fist,” is a perfected synthesis of Western fighting elements—and a discipline that has impacted all of martial arts.

Lee once asked me what was the most important thing in a fight. When, after a dozen tries, I still hadn’t found the answer, he told me it was adaptability—the ability to adjust, to find your feet when confronted with changing situations. He explained that the traditional martial arts, at which he was adept, had become lost in their traditions—traditions that proved too elaborate, too awkward, too slow when executed in real fighting situations. Lee adapted. He spent years experimenting. When he found an approach he liked, he submitted it to an empirical test—he’d find out if a punch or kick worked by doing it. If it didn’t operate properly, he would try again until all of it was right—the intent, the mechanics, and the speed at which it all comes together. The defining and refining of JKD evolved over time through Lee’s rigorous examination and physical effort. It represents Bruce Lee’s lasting legacy. To honor this legacy, JKD must be taught and learnt the right way —not any old way.

Figure 1: Ted Wong on the receiving end of a straight lead thrown by the master himself. (© Linda Lee Cadwell)

An inspiring teacher, Lee never forced students to learn more than they could handle. He taught in stages, encouraging each student to understand and absorb at his or her own pace. By accepting only a small number of students, Lee sought to gradually impart his art, an art that was new and revolutionary for its time—one that could easily be misinterpreted or sloppily executed if not cultivated in the proper way. As a student and friend of Bruce Lee, and as a teacher of JKD for some thirty-five years, I continue to admire the realism, effectiveness, and physical and intellectual beauty of his fighting system.

Lee was an extremely precise person. In everything he did he paid attention, almost obsessively, to detail. There’s no question that he saw the big picture in relation to JKD— what it represented, and what it delineated. This is evident in his writing, in his speaking, and in the way he presented himself to the world. But as with anything new and original, imitators and pretenders to the throne are rife. Without Bruce Lee here to combat them, the integrity of JKD has been undermined over time.

I choose not to forget what is genuine and true to Bruce Lee’s legacy—what I was taught. What has been needed, for years, is a clear-cut approach that can rectify and correct the muddled interpretation and unnecessary additions to JKD. A step in that direction is offered here by Teri Tom who, with exacting care, lays out the straight lead—where the punch came from, how it operates, and how it’s connected to the heart and soul of JKD. She backs up her instruction with extensive research that parallels Lee’s own.

Teri Tom approached me almost seven years ago for lessons in JKD. A slight young woman with no prior knowledge of martial arts, Teri posed a challenge. But I believed that with proper instruction, the principles of Lee’s system could work for her. At each step of the learning process, Teri surprised me again and again, with her committed resolve and perceptive application of the discipline. She has been a dedicated student, logging in over one thousand hours of instruction, as well as many more hours of sparring. And in those hours of sparring, she has developed a picture-perfect straight lead. Truthfully, I have not seen anyone else—with the exception of Bruce Lee, that is—throw a lead punch that is as fundamentally sound and technically refined. She’s a natural straight shooter with both the front and rear hand. She also happens to pack a mean right hook. What she may lack in physical strength and size, she makes up in technical know-how.

Teri’s physical prowess is matched by an intellectual strength. Showing a sincere curiosity about the origins of JKD, she read and absorbed the published works of Bruce Lee and the authors who inspired him. When she proposed a book on the straight lead punch, I encouraged her to take up the task. I gave her access to my own archive of Bruce Lee materials, which includes photocopies of many rare books and notes from Lee’s own library—all highlighted and annotated by Lee himself. Using this material has allowed Teri to see how he came to the conclusions he did regarding Western boxing and fencing, and what aspects he chose to integrate into his unique fighting system.

In retracing Lee’s footsteps, Teri is thoughtful and clear in her words. Altogether, she presents a truly accurate perspective on the development of the straight lead, and a truly meaningful contribution to the study and appreciation of Jeet Kune Do and the man who created it, Bruce Lee.

—Ted Wong, October 2004