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- Bruce Lee Speed Training.
Today, we're gonna show you some exercise and drills.
Now, Bruce is known for his speed, obviously.
And today, we're gonna show you,
not just how to develop that physical speed,
but also the mental speed.
A lot of people think Bruce can move very, very fast,
but it's not just that, right, Sifu?
- Right, a lot of it has to do with the reaction time.
So, when you're recognizing a target,
how quickly can you get to it?
There's a lot of, you know, mind distractions
that can interfere with that process.
Obviously, if you're tired, if you're exhausted,
that slows down that reaction speed,
so you're not gonna be able to hit that target in time.
So, a lot of it has to do with breathing,
relaxing as you're hitting.
So, one thing is visual awareness,
initiation speed, alteration speed.
All these things happen out all at once,
so we can break it down.
What I would suggest is pairing off with a partner,
he has two focus mitts.
And Dan's gonna hold these for me.
And anytime I see that, that obviously,
is a jab target or I could do a cross.
So, if I see it, I can do a cross punch,
just as long as I hit it.
This is the point of the drill.
It doesn't matter what kind of structure you have,
as long as you're hitting it.
The idea is to, again, recognizing what you see.
So, he can either move the mitt,
and it allows me to say, "Oh, that's my cue to hit."
All right, good, so then, I pause, I relax.
Oh, I hit it again, all right, good.
Every time I see it, right?
So, my eyes are wide open, I'm focused on the target.
Each time I see it, I'm hitting.
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And then, you just take your time, right?
You don't have to, you know, go extreme here.
But just get to the point where you're,
every time you see it, try to hit it,
even before he finishes.
It might not be solid target
or surface while you're hitting it,
but the point is, when you see,
you know, you're trying to, again,
increase your reaction time, cut down the slowness,
and hit the target at random.
- That's the first type of speed, that's a reaction speed.
And I know that you, Sifu,
you got a story when you trained with Jerry.
Bruce, what's some of the things
that he used to ask him to do, come to the class?
- Yes. - Right.
- So, in a class, he would discuss how
Bruce Lee would have everybody line up.
And he says, "Okay, what you're going
"to do now is hit in midair."
'Cause they're not hitting targets or anything like that.
But they'll line up, so what Bruce Lee would do,
he would actually step forward,
and every time you saw that, you would just throw a punch.
So, it'll give you a recognition way of saying,
"Okay, hey, he's moving on, I had to hit."
And so, that way you're able, anytime I do this, you hit.
- We're training to intercept the opponent,
right? - Correct.
- So, Sifu, if you are facing this way,
if I walk towards you, right?
- Yeah, so if you moved on me,
I could already be in my stance, right?
And the idea is just hit every time you move.
Even before he finishes the step.
Okay, you could do a jab.
You know, you could do a cross punch.
It doesn't matter what it is.
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And then, say, "Okay, let's do kicks now."
So, anytime he stepped forward, you know, I'd kick.
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And you would break it up, so that way,
you're not setting the cadence too.
So, I could do this, I could just stand here.
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So, then, it's a little different, right?
So, that way, I'm already anticipating
that you're gonna go just by the time.
It's like, "I know where you're going.
"I know where you're going."
- I might do sudden movement.
- Yeah, if you do sudden movements,
'cause you wanna distract me.
So, try to distract me.
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- Yep, that's how you do it, so reaction speed.
One drill that I love to do is when I watch TV,
every time there's different change of scene,
and I would move. - Yeah.
- It trains my reaction speed, as well.
- I think that's a great way to develop,
and save time at the same time,
if you're changing channels.
- Sometimes you can just train your--
I'm hitting, but sometimes I might just be like that.
I'm watching TV, I'm like. - Yeah.
- Training my nervous system to react.
When I see something, I'll react.
See something, I'll react.
- Yes. - Right?
So, that's the first type of speed, reaction speed.
And the second one is awareness, right?
- Yeah, the visual awareness,
again, we're talking about that.
You were already recognizing targets
and you hit it at random.
So, if he gave me a straight kick,
he would just put the mitt down,
and then I would recognize that to hit, right?
Or he'd bring a hand up this way, I hit it.
And he can close up the mitt this way.
So, that way I don't know what he's gonna give me.
So, every time he puts something out.
You know, I'm just ready.
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And a lot of the training you've been doing
it just depends
how quickly you can respond to things.
Right, and again, he needs to break up the cadence,
so that way you get used to not following a rhythm.
But that way, it prepares your body to just instantly hit.
- And see, what we want to focus the visual awareness
is we see this point and we always
wanna see what's going on here, as well, right?
- It's good to train your peripherals
because if you can't see this,
then you gotta recognize what's happening.
A drill I like to share with my students is--
Okay, so let's say, for instance,
you're gonna either put it here or here.
Okay? - Okay.
And sometimes, dual partners won't work
because it confuses the heck out of you.
But if you throw one punch out that way, I hit there.
So, I'm always focusing here,
but each time I hit, I hit wherever you're at.
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- So, you can see, he was focusing on here.
But he was training on these.
- I'm not going look, hit, look, hit.
No, I'm just here, it's already there, boom.
So, my hand's already delivering
by the time he's there.
- That's awareness speed, it's mental, it's still mental.
And then, also, we have the initiation speed, right, Sifu?
- Initiation speed, just depending
on how well you're breathing.
So, if you're delivering it with such tenseness,
so for instance, I'm here,
it's telegraphing, I'm getting to the target,
you have to work on your initiation speed.
So, if your hands are here, this needs to relax.
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And just accelerate at the very end.
And that's what you need to do.
All that all combines into one.
Okay, and then, that way, you can utilize all senses,
so you can increase the speed.
There's some other great ways of developing speed.
And that's getting your muscles to recognize
how quickly you need to advance on those.
- Yeah, we'll show you one drill now
on how to develop that, also, physical speed, as well.
- Utilize some resistance into what you're doing.
And that way you get a good workout,
and you're able to just make sure that,
you know, you get enough resistance now.
- And you can get these resistant bands from like--
- You can get them anywhere, yeah.
This is just
really neat that you can utilize
these types of bands to your advantage.
- And the good thing is
when you're doing these type of exercise,
different than weight lifting,
you're working the right muscles, right?
These are all the punching muscles that we have, right?
That you utilize.
Right there.
- Yeah, because if you start working
on different types of exercises, like the curl.
- Which, do some, it's okay.
- Yeah, it is fine, but you wanna
be able to practice on something
that has to do with going forward, right?
So, those resistance bands work very well, okay?
So, then, after that exercise, you rest for a minute.
And you throw it in the air a couple times,
or with a partner, you know?
And that way, the speed is actually working
for you. - Initiation speed.
- So, that way it starts working to your advantage
by utilizing different pieces out there,
such as, weight, resistance bands,
pushups, whatever you can think of.
- And there you go, and there's one last speed.
And that's the alteration speed.
- Yes, how do you change from one to another?
If you're used to throwing one punch,
and ending there to try to throw another one.
It takes a long time to do that, right?
- Bam, bam, bam, bam. - You don't have time.
So, you have to be able to change it up immediately.
Putting the stop in one in and going to another.
So, it's a matter of, you know,
moving one way and throwing the punch the other way.
It's like it's going from right to left immediately.
And then, left to right, or down, or up.
- A slow to fast. - Exactly.
So, if you're doing this kind of a tactic,
you need to work on the alteration speed.
So, for instance, this drill.
If we do it on this angle, so you can see.
You do the back fist, it doesn't go.
No, you gotta be able to hit
from here to here.
So, you're changing it up from there to there.
So, that way you're able to change it to one to the other.
So, if we're to do this in application wise,
I hit the guy in the head, right?
So, if he does this, I go boom, boom, right there.
I don't need to go boom, boom.
Or I can literally do this and just follow up.
So, that's how you would apply it in reality.
But this helps you develop to
where you're going from here to here.
- Now you might think maybe that's not enough power.
It's not a power drill, it's not what this is about.
It's about making it very tight, right?
You're altering your speed.
And also, the broken rhythm.
Now, you have no watched my broken rhythm video,
make sure you click on the I button.
Watch that broken rhythm video.
We cover a lot about why broken rhythm is important
and how all that works.
But for now, when you're practicing,
you can insert some of that in here, right?
- The challenge is developing power within this much space.
You have to work on this much space.
And you'll see what I'm talking about
when you start training that in tight quarters,
then you have to understand how you
can utilize that body to your advantage, right?
- Yes, and if you're very tense,
it won't work. - Right.
- You will not be able to explode.
You will not initiate speed.
So, it's not just how fast you move.
A lot of people move fast,
but they're actually not that fast.
- No, and it depends on, again,
if they know how to time an opponent.
You could use that to your advantage.
But at the same time, no, it almost looks fast.
You're right, but it really isn't.
- Isn't that fast, or on the other hand,
you have people who don't move very fast.
But actually, they can read the opponent very fast.
That's to your advantage too.
So, those are some of different exercise
and drills for Bruce Lee, what Bruce Lee used to do,
and some of the speed training.
Try them out, see how you like it.
Maybe don't try them all at once.
Kind of isolate each speed.
Say, you know what, this month or this week,
I'm gonna work on my alteration speed.
Next month, I'm gonna work on my initiation speed.
Don't try to do it all at once.
One at a time, comment below.
Let us know what questions you have.
'Cause this is pretty advanced.
- I would say so, yes, it's gonna take some time.
So, just take pieces of what you can,
and start developing yourself.
And then, you can come back with some questions,
like Dan says, ask them.
I don't know what to really share with you
if you don't ask those questions.
So, that's the best thing you can do.
- Yep, and give us a thumbs up.
Check out all the other videos on the right side.
Right there, we have a long playlist.
You can check it out and learn the basics.
Don't feel like, "I wanna be fast, I wanna be fast."
It's not about being fast.
It's about being good, right, Sifu?
- (chuckles) Absolutely.
- Until next time, my friend.