“The straight punch is the core of Jeet Kune Do” - Bruce Lee

I recently purchased Teri Tom’ s book “The Straight Lead” (I know, I’ve been a little slow on reading the latest JKD literature), and I’ve been reminded of how vital straight attacks are in the fighting arts, yet how underrepresented they are.

Thinking back to last year’s UFC 79, and more specifically Chuck “The Ice Man” Liddell versus Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (you gotta love the nicknames), we have a perfect example of the pinnacle of modern punching. These two former champions are perhaps the most vicious and feared strikers in the industry yet their fight reminded me of Karate Kid II (Yeah, you know you love it!) in the final scene when Daniel uses the “drum technique” to defeat Chozen.

It seems that straight punching has become a bit of a lost art as strikes continue to de-evolve into cave man swings.

Sure, there is no doubt that these guys throw devastating haymakers but their technique leaves something to be desired.

Modern scientific physical conditioning methods are helping to produce more powerful and agile bodies but I fear that if fighters and trainers alike are emulating the movements of today’s champions we are headed towards an uphill battle in putting the “science” back into scientific fighting.

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com