30/10/2024
THE REAL FIGHTS OF BRUCE LEE ...
USE YOUR BRAIN PEOPLE!!!
I have read many things regarding the real fights of Bruce Lee. Some good, some bad, but the thing that irritates me the most regard the comments about what tools he used in those fights!
In Jeet Kune Do, two of the primary tools trained for live application in a real fight are the straight kick to the groin and the finger jab to the eyes. These are devastating movements that can cause permanent damage to an opponent. The comments I have read that really irritate me pertain to these two movements. The statements go something like this ... "If these movements are so deadly and so effective, why didn't Bruce Lee use them in the real fights that he had?"
OK, this is where the actual use of the brain comes into play, making me wonder if some people actually have a functioning brain for thought process. It is as if they just have to come up with something to complain about or create controversy, without even taking time to think about how stupid what they are saying might sound!
It is a very serious thing to kick someone in the groin, and even more serious to finger jab someone in the eyes! While the intent is not to permanently blind someone, that is always a possibility. A possibility that you have to think about when you weigh the seriousness of the altercation. I know that I have spent hours and hours perfecting both the spread finger Bil Jee and the spear tip Bil Jee, I would NEVER actually do that to someone unless I felt my life depended on it! I'm sure that Bruce Lee thought about that in the same way. Why take a chance on permanently blinding someone if you don't absolutely have to?
I have used the groin kick successfully many times in actual conflicts, but the finger jab only twice in my lifetime. Considering that I have been alive 67 years, and training in martial arts for 57 years, only two times is not very much. When I did use the finger jab, it was because my very life was being threatened and there was no time to play around. A weapon was being used against me, and one mistake could mean the end of my life! That is an incident that warrants the use of a finger jab to the eyes! Even then, my intent was to stop the assailant and disorient them, not to permanently blind them. The "injure to a degree" factor is something to think about here. I was successful in both accounts, and it probably saved my life!
The groin kick is different, as I have used it on many occasions! Once again, the "injure to a degree" factor comes into play here. Do you want to ruin their possibility of ever being able to have children, or do you just need to hurt them enough to stop them from further attack? I don't think I have ever kicked anyone hard enough to ruin them for life, but I know I have kicked several assailants hard enough for them to at least think that life as they knew it would never be the same again! The groin kick, if properly trained, is quick and easy, and a serious consideration in any martial art that is "reality based" and for "Real World" application.
So, the bottom line here is that Bruce Lee probably didn't feel that the fights he got into were "life or death" type situations, therefore he "injured to a degree" based on the particular situation that he was in! This is where USING YOUR BRAIN actually comes into play. It is very simple for me to understand, but then maybe others have not been put into the situations that I have been put into before. The bottom line is this ... DO YOU WANT TO RUIN SOMEONE'S LIFE PERMANENTLY?
I hope that your answer is a firm "NO!"
