The Bruce Lee TRAINING SECRET by Grandmaster William Cheung (Australasian Blitz Magazine) Every martial artist would

like to know how and what made Bruce ee such a devastating !ighter" Even though a lot o! #eo#le associated with Bruce ee or many claimed to have trained him or trained with him$ % can sa!ely say that not many o! them were #rivileged to his secret training method"

Bruce and % grew u# together" We were !riends since we were young boys" %t was % who introduced Bruce ee to Wing Chun &chool in the summer o! '()*" %n the old days$ the master would never teach the new students" %t was u# to the senior students to #ass on the Wing Chun lessons to Bruce" As % was his +ung ,u &enior o! many years$ % was instructed by Grandmaster -i# man to train him" By '(()$ one year into his Wing Chun training$ Bruce #rogressed very !ast$ and already became a threat to most o! the Wing Chun seniors as the ma.ority o! them were armchair martial artists" /hey discovered that Bruce was not a !ull blooded Chinese because his mother was hal! German and hal! Chinese" /he seniors got together and #ut #ressure on 0ro!essor -i# Man and tried to get Bruce kicked out o! the Wing Chun &chool" Because racism was widely #ractised in Martial Arts &chool in 1ong +ong$ the art was not allowed to be taught to !oreigners" 0ro!essor -i# Man had no other choice but to bow to their #ressure$ but he told Bruce that he could train with me and &ihing Wong &hun eung" But most o! the time we trained together" /he !irst thing % showed Bruce was the 0rinci#les o! being a good !ighter2 '" /he 1eart %n a con!rontation$ one must desire to win3 when under #ressure$ one must maintain calm" ,amous 4uotation !rom Bruce ee2 56o matter what you want to do$ don7t be nervous (you should not let your muscles nor your mind be e!!ected by nerves)" 8ust kee# calm" 6o illusion and no imagination$ but to a##rehend the actual situation you are in and !ind a way to deal with it" 6o e9cessive action is needed" 8ust kee# your body and mind rela9ed to deal with the outside emergency"5 :" /he Eyes /he eyes should be able to #ick u# as much in!ormation as #ossible #rior to and during engaging the #hysical struggle" Watching the elbows and the knees is essential to get the best result" Also at no time$ should the #ractitioner blink or turn his head because he would give away the most im#ortant instrument which su##lies him the visual in!ormation o! the current situation" E9tract !rom ta#ed Bruce ee conversation with ;anny ee (one o! his students) in '(<:2 ;anny2 1ave you thought o! /ai Chi as a !orm o! sel!=de!ence> Bruce2 Well$ i! you were there """"""""" you would be so embarrassed$ so it is not even a !ree brawl """""""where a man who is ca#able o! using his tools and who is very determined to be a savage legless attack whereas those &?Bs are cowards" /urning their heads and swinging #unches and a!ter the second round they are out o! breath" % mean they are really #athetic looking = very amateurish" % mean even a bo9er because a bo9er when they concentrate on two hands$ regardless o! how amateurish they are$ they do their thing$ whereas those guys haven7t decided what the hell they are going to use" % mean be!ore they contact each other they do all the !ancy stances and all the !ancy movements$ but the minute they contact they don7t know what the hell to do" % mean that7s it" /hey !all on their arses and they "" and hold and gra##le" % think the whole 1ong +ong = they call it Gong &ao=

Challenge Match in 1ong +ong = can you imagine that$ % mean even those guys see it that way" What do you think o! the a##reciation o! #eo#le here> &o what %7m ho#ing to do in !ilm is raise the level"5 @" Balance /his means the #ractitioner should be balanced at all times so that his mobility and stability are ma9imised" /his also means that the #ractitioner must develo# conditioning so that his legs do not give u# under strenuous #ressure" /he !ollowing are two tables !rom 1ak +eung Gymnasium o! 1ong +ong (Courtesy o! 5 /he Bruce ee &tory 5 by inda ee and /om Bleecker)2 We can a##reciate his su#erb conditioning and the ra#id #rogress between :< May to 'A 8uly '(B)" ,urthermore Bruce was very innovative" Back in the )A7s$ the Chinese Martial Artists were very conservative" /hey believed that weight training would slow down the #ractitioner7s s#eed" But Bruce !ound a way to beat it" 1e would start his #rogram with heavy weights and low re#etitions !irst$ then he reduced the weights and increased the re#etitions" 1e continued to do that until his re#etitions reached ma9imum and the s#eed o! the e9ercise also increased" %n this way he built muscles and develo#ed #ower without losing s#eed" ?ne o! the most im#ortant discoveries !rom his Wing Chun training was that Wing Chun teaches the #ractitioner to train with the individual muscle or grou# o! muscles !irst$ then co=ordinates the movement together by combining the muscles to make a collective movement in order to get the most out o! the techni4ue" Bruce had mastered this training" /he !ollowing is a subtle #ose o! a seemingly sim#le movement but it really does condition a !ew essential muscles on the arm in 4uestion" /he other arm is #ulled back$ #laced high but not resting on the body which is very tiring$ enabling the brain to think about two arms at the same time" 1ence the #ractitioner will be able to use both arms inde#endently at the same time" Bruce was also very much against high im#act training such as the heavy bag kicking because he understood that the result !rom the high im#act would only develo# bulk muscles and they would slow down the #ractitioner7s s#eed" /he !ollowing is the ta#ed conversation """";anny ee '(<:2 5;anny2 ;anny ( %nosanto) was e9cited yesterday" Bruce2 -es$ he was in my house the night be!ore" ;anny2 1e didn7t want us to do any more heavy bag kicking" 1e wanted us to .ust kick at something light" Bruce2 When you use your leg it is much better = to kick at the #hone #ad or whatever = watch out with the side kick on air kicking = not air kicking too much" %! you sna# it too much without contact at the end you can get hurt"5 And later they discussed2 ;anny2 % think you have to #ick a !ew diehard !ollowers and say this is 8+;" Bruce2 /hat7s why % tell ;an (%nosanto) to be care!ul """ """"""""" ;anny2 &o that7s why = %7ve been working with ;an (%nosanto) a lot"

Bruce2 % told him last time he7s becoming very stylised" And it seems like his consciousness is really = something is bugging him" ;anny2 % think its heavy bag kicking" Bruce2 /oo much heavy bag kicking and too much body twisting has a!!ected him" ;anny2 -es" /he #ower and the momentum" 1e7s working out real hard"

% would like to conclude by saying that s#eed and #ower comes !rom rela9ation and co=ordination which has everything to do with mind and body balance" ,rom 5/he Bruce ee &tory5 by inda ee and /om Bleecker2 /he !ollowing is Bruce7s recollection o! one o! many training e9#eriences with 0ro!essor -i# Man2 5About !our years o! hard training in the art o! gung !u$ % began to understand and !elt the #rinci#le o! gentleness = the art o! neutralizing the e!!ect o! the o##onent7s e!!ort and minimizing e9#enditure o! one7s energy" All these must be done in calmness and without striving" %t sounded sim#le$ but in actual a##lication it was di!!icult" /he moment % engaged in combat with an o##onent$ my mind was com#letely #erturbed and unstable" Es#ecially a!ter a series o! e9changing blows and kicks$ all my theory o! gentleness was gone" My only one thought le!t was somehow or another % must beat him and win" My instructor 0ro!essor -i# Man$ head o! the Wing Chun &chool$ would come u# to me and say$ 5 oong (Bruce7s Chinese name)$ rela9 and calm your mind" ,orget about yoursel! and !ollow the o##onent7s movement" et your mind$ the basic reality$ do the counter=movement without any inter!ering deliberation" Above all$ learn the art o! detachment"5 /hat was itC % must rela9" 1owever$ right there % had already done something contradictory$ against my will" /hat was when % said % must rela9$ the demand !or e!!ort in 5must5 was already inconsistent with the e!!ortless in 5rela95" When my acute sel!=consciousness grew to what the #sychologists called 5double=blind5 ty#e$ my instructor would again a##roach me and say$ 5 oong$ #reserve yoursel! by !ollowing the natural bends o! things and don7t inter!ere" Demember never to assert yoursel! against nature2 never be in !rontal o##osition to any #roblem$ but control it by swinging with it" ;on7t #ractice this week" Go home and think about it"5