(upbeat music)
- Bruce Lee's JKD, Jeet Kune Do, stance.
Now today, my instructors
we are going to teach you,
how the JKD stance is a little bit different
from other martial arts stance.
And why we stand a certain way
and how it gives mobility and explosive power.
So see if you can explain to us about the JKD stance.
- So when you first start,
it's basically keeping both knees slightly bent, okay?
And you imagine there is a line in the middle.
If you can't imagine, just draw it out.
- Right here.
- Yah, and what you want
that to kind of parallel to is the other foot,
because if you have this foot here and this one here
it's not how you're going to sprint forward.
You want to almost act like you're a sprinter.
You are ready to engage.
- I'm ready.
- Yah you're ready to do that.
Cuz' then it engages that spring.
Now, this foot ends up shifting
based upon what kind of tools you're using
and how much power you're using out of the hips.
But for now, just so we can the basis here,
is that it's centered gravity is here
and the best mobile position for you
to utilize your kicks and your punches,
be able to slip and hit at the same time
or use other tools as necessary.
But this is the basic.
- How wide should it be?
- So, depending on your shoulder width,
so if your width is this, this far out,
if your shoulders are that far,
then you're probably going to have to stand
about here to go forward.
- So it's shoulder width?
- Yah, yah about shoulder width,
but the whole idea is to keep this knee in,
so it protects your groin, right.
And then you keep your hands in this position.
Now you don't want this hand to collapse
against you body,
because you lose what's called the spring for your arm.
If you keep it here, you better believe
that you're open here, the whole time.
You want this to be here,
this is your defense in front of you.
- Put your elbow out like this?
- Yeah maybe about this much away from your rib cage.
So you are about here.
Okay, so that way you can engage as necessary,
but at the same time if something collapses against you,
it's pressing on a spring,
you can use that against somebody, okay.
If you are here, you don't have anything.
So that is why both of these hands are up in this position.
Now you don't want this out too far, either.
Yeah, see this is just too wide.
About here is fine,
because you're just not going to be static as you're moving.
You've got to be moving your hands around.
Okay, you can't just sit here and be robotic,
and expect it to work, there's no way.
Now, again, this is the best position,
so again, if you're here it's too wide.
You lose the mobility.
If you are here, you're in a cat stance,
that's a little difference,
but the mobility is here with distance.
Once you engage your opponent.
Let's take for instance,
I'm going to use you for an example.
Face me for a second, Drake.
And Drake is fantastic,
he is one of our finest students, under Dan.
- Not finest student please.
Drake will give a good example of someone who's a beginner.
You see some of the mistakes that common people make,
and we can correct him so you can learn from that as well.
- So as I train Drake here,
he's making sure that his knees are slightly bent,
his hands are up and you want to stay relaxed.
Yeah, relaxed.
And then, so, you want your heel to be raised a little bit
from behind there you go.
- So why is it important to raise your heel?
- Well it helps launch your attacks easier,
so whether it's your kicks or your hands,
you're able to move much faster to your opponent.
Here you lose the spring
so you're having to bounce to get to somebody.
Here you can just simply use that
to forward, yeah, your attack.
So, whether it's your punch or your kick,
so if I was here
and I engaged my opponent,
with that same footwork,
I'm usually gonna restructure the hip,
so I can utilize this or this. Okay?
If I came in colliding here,
and still my structure or my center space that way,
it's terrible for me. Okay?
Because if this guy has good center of gravity,
he's going to go against me.
So I know for a fact that if I hit and I come in.
Now I've got all my tools ready to go.
Especially controlling the knees and the legs.
- So from a distance, we can be a little more side,
as we engage with the lead hand and the lead leg.
But when we get a bit closer,
our weapon should be a little bit more squared.
- Well if your rear hand is about to come in,
yes, I would suggest that, because if not,
if you're here that's incorrect.
- So that almost becomes a little bit more Wing Chun
in other words.
- It just modifies, yeah I would say a modification of it.
Because you're still, you're springing forwards,
See, and your back heel is moving towards him.
Now, in case he gives me a little pressure.
Yeah, I'm going to flatten my foot.
Because then is can stabilize,
but at the same time I'm going to come back and collide.
- It's like a sprint.
- Right, very pliable.
You can't look at it from one way.
you know, you're always meeting a curves line
or you're meeting straight line.
And you gotta learn how to be very flexible.
- What about in terms of center of gravity?
Is it 50/50, is it 40, is it 60?
- Just, to keep everything simple and in line,
because people go back to history books
thinking that history is the truth,
really it's your proper body mechanics.
I would say 50/50.
60 and 40, 30, or whatever you want,
consider what that may be, depends on the circumstance,
based off the pressure somebody else is giving you,
or an attack,
your weight distribution shifts all the time.
But I would start off at 50/50.
- 50/50, and then for them.
How is someone if they're practicing,
or say watching this at home, or in a dojo,
how could they tell if they are doing it correct?
- I would get in front of the mirror,
the mirror is the best for yourself.
Just to see, you know, if your mechanics are there,
your hands are up.
You know you don't want this hand too low.
You don't want this too high.
You just want it about right here.
And if you're throwing these punches at targets
then it should feel natural.
- So maybe Drake can give it a try.
And see if we can correct you.
See, just look at the camera.
Take a look.
Like I see, this is a bit too low, right?
- That would be a little bit too low.
And again, you want to just stay a little bit relaxed, okay.
And relax here, good, good.
Okay, now bring, there you go.
Now bring this foot over a little bit to your left.
There you go.
How does that feel to you?
Compared to how you were feeling?
- I feel pretty natural.
- Is this better for you? Okay.
You find a medium, where you need to be.
Cuz' if you're still in one line,
let's say you were here,
you're going to be off balance.
Okay, you want to be able to stabilize yourself.
- Drake, shift your weight just a little bit,
to find that, right.
- Now let's just take one example.
Just so you know what I'm talking about.
Flatten that foot, behind you,
and then put this foot in front of you, right here.
Now straighten the foot this way, okay.
Now how do you feel there?
- I feel it's less stable.
- Yeah, because if I push you, see what happens.
- Yes.
- So the whole idea is to find the foundation in your base.
Put your left foot out again,
where you were originally, good.
Then I'm going to push you a little bit,
it's a little bit better and stable,
but because we don't have four legs,
we're going to find a weak point no matter what.
That's why shifting and scissoring your legs,
at all times just to avoid that,
is the best thing to do.
But this is the best, optimal position for training.
- This is a good starting point,
we can practice in balance,
it can even go up and down with it,
just to feel the energy.
- Leveling, right.
But for a beginner just maintain,
again the hands structure, okay.
This is covering the center, right, keeping your elbows in.
Yeah, if this is too wide,
I don't know if the camera can see,
This is an open shot, right, but if the, there you go,
his elbows are slightly in,
he can either deflect it or hit back.
If I try to hit there,
he can hit right back and slide up against my own arm,
if I try to hit in there.
Because it's already covering that.
A lot of things involve in this stance alone,
we can sit here and speak for days,
about how to utilize this stance.
- Yeah, so when you're practicing just focus and make sure,
cover center line, mobility,
your balance, center of gravity and relaxation.
You've gotta be relaxed,
because when you're tense you can't feel anything.
- The last thing I wanted to mention is
that chin should be a little low.
So you want to be able to utilize this shoulder
and protect yourself in between that shoulder
that clavicle point, here, and keep it down.
Because if a good guy does a hook here,
He's going to end up knocking you out
if that chin is left out.
So never, never train this way.
It is always down.
- What about stability in terms of focus?
The stance if they're facing their opponent,
where should they look.
- For me, I actually like looking at the center of the body,
then, I can just see clarity.
Cuz' if I look at your eyes
then I lose vision here at the legs.
If I look here, then I can see the whole body move.
That's it.
Yeah, it has to do with peripherals.
You know? If your peripherals are not well,
then you may have to look somewhere else.
- There you go that's the JKD stance,
I remember when I first learned this from Ted Wong,
It took me like six months just to get used to it.
It's so unnatural, it's not something,
it looks easier now,
but in the beginning it's actually very unnatural.
And I think Bruce took some of the concepts from fencing.
- Yes.
- To be able to move.
So think about, you've got to play around with it,
and practice and move around,
until, it shouldn't feel stiff.
If you feel very stiff, you are doing something wrong.
So comment below, let us know,
when you practice this stance,
what questions do you have? Comment below.
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Till next time be well my friend.