Secetsoftiming

Have you ever fought a person of comparable skill and speed, and found it very difficult to score? You strike and he blocks. He strikes and you block, And so it continues. This stalemate stems from a lack of understanding of attributes such as coordination, strength, balance, speed, athletic qualities that make all your techniques work. This article will attempt to raise your understanding of the jeet kune do

One of the best ways to develop timing and rhythm is by first breaking them down and learning some terminology, then applying it to techniques you already know. Here are some definitions to remember: A beat is any time you make contact; timing is the interval between contacts; rhythm is repeated contact; and broken rhythm is the repeated starting and stopping of contact at irregular intervals.

Let's incorporate each example into a familiar fighting scenario. The roles of beat and timing will be demonstrated here as two separate functions. Later, we will address them as a single unit to be developed into a natural reflex. The problem is that in actual combat, you never know whom you may fight you could face a 250-pound football player who can take a hit to the head or ribs, or a crazed street fighter who just won't quit until he is disabled, knocked out or even killed, Therefore, you should select portions of the anatomy that are vulnerable to pain. regardless of the opponent's size. They include the eyes, groin and various nerves.

Beat

Beat is a major principle in the foundation of fighting. When you face your opponent, the object is to hit. When this happens, it's called a beat. When you are out in long range taking potshots, the beat must be explosive, ballistic, direct and simple. A clean eye jab groin shot or solid kick to the thigh is preferred. However, you may use a head butt as a beat in trapping range, or a foot sweep in grappling range. Any time contact is made with any tool in any range, we refer to this as a beat. Why should you choose these particular targets, and not a ridge-hand to the head or spinning back kick to the ribs? The reason

Timing

As defined above, timing means the temporal space between contacts. Using the same long-range scenario, you may notice certain habits in your opponent when you try to potshot. If he tends to drop his front hand when stepping forward, you can set him up using a jeet kune do concept called attacks by-draw. Retreat slightly to draw your opponent into taking a step. As soon as his hand drops, use an eye jab. You actually timed the dropping of the hand with the contact to the eye. You may notice that when you jab at your opponent's face, he may block with his front hand. Once again, you want to set him up. As soon as he raises his front hand to block your attempted strike, nail him with a Thai kick to the thigh. In this way, you have timed the raising of the block to the thigh shot.

You can attack an opponent in one of three ways: He prepares to attack, but you beat him to the punch; you and your opponent attack simultaneously; and your opponent completes his attack, then you follow directly with your own. Of these, attacking before is best because you intercept by using timing. You actually hit your opponent before he has an opportunity to hit you. Bruce Lee was a master of intercepting with timing. And for those interested in safely entering the lethal trapping range, perfect timing is critical.

Rhythm

Rhythm is a pattern of beats. As an example, consider the straight blast, the series of rolling punches from wing chun kung to. When you repeatedly hit an opponent in the face with the straight blast, it is referred to as rhythm. Rhythm can be broken down to suit our needs, but to understand it, we must first create a few more scenarios

Suppose someone attacks you in a nightclub. To close the gap quickly, you straight-blast him, driving him back into the bar. You then grab his head and smash it onto the counter. Your straight blast has a three-beat rhythm to allow you to cover the distance to the bar. If the bar is farther away, you must drive the opponent farther back, so your blast takes a five-beat rhythm. A blast or rhythm can fluctuate depending on the circumstances.

Broken rhythm means that contact starts and stops irregularly. It is also a combination of the previous three examples. Broken rhythm plays a key role in disturbing your opponent's balance. In a street fight, something will always interrupt the flow of rhythm slipping in the mud, tripping over a chair, etc. If you can feel or sense when this rhythm breaks, you can better adjust the flow. Again, take the straight blast as an example. Sooner or later the blast has to stop. You hit your opponent's face, but he suddenly turns and raises his arms to protect his face, then regains his balance. In that split second when you lose contact, a break in the rhythm occurs. If you train to take advantage of this, your chances of completing the task of maintaining trapping range-and using head butts, elbows and knees will be better.

Remember that you must practice these attributes until they become like natural reflexes. You can't just wait for the action to stop before you start. You must commit yourself to any attack. If you experience this often enough with the proper mental attitude and training methods, you will be able to move through ranges more easily, and your selection of body tools will become more efficient. If you have a problem with timing and rhythm, many instructors will show you a few drills and tell you to work on them. If you aren't familiar with the elements and terminology, you won't know what to work on. You don't know if you are improving, staying the same or deteriorating. If you are not naturally gifted with timing or rhythm, how will you develop these attributes? Remember Jeet kune do instructor Joe Maffei demonstrates close range techniques on an opponent wearing the ultimate protective gear for the head-a motorcycle helmet. After trapping the opponent's arm, Maffei delivers an elbow Strike to the chin, An utm-nat. attack involves trapping the opponent a arm, pushing his head back and delivering a knee strike to the groin . Bruce Lee's concept of borrowing elements that share a common denominator with your foundation. Take a little from Savate, wing chun, tai chi, clinch, or knife and blend it all together. In this case, we borrow just the right elements that will improve the timing and rhythm of our fighting skills. The intelligent martial artist has no limitations. The mind is clear and open to all possibilities,

Intensive Training

Timing and rhythm are in-depth subjects, This article is an introduction intended only to raise your awareness of these elements. Later, you may wish to explore half-beats and syncopated beats for more challenging opponents. You may also wish to explore polyrhythms for low line kicking in conjunction with trapping hands. But theory alone is not enough; training methods must become functional. Various popular methods exist for helping yen develop your timing and rhythm, including the speed bag, the top and bottom bag, and skipping rope, Several others are not so common:

Experiment with weapons-such a escrima sticks on targets such as trees, rocks, fences, poles and cans. This will help you create an endless number of timing drills. Also, when practicing two-person drills with the sticks, purposely miss a few beats to get familiar with breaks in rhythm. Then try playing the drams or go watch a good tap dancer, and watch for patterns and breaks in those rhythms. If you use training methods such as chi sao (sticking hands), push hands, wrestling or judo, your sense of rhythm can be quite difficult to define. The beats are not so pronounced, but they still exist. They are cry subtle, and it takes a great amount of sensitivity to feet them. While training with these concepts, use all your body tools-knees, head, elbows, etc. -to develop independent coordination. Be articulate and take your time. Too many practitioners rush through their techniques too quickly. Speed is nothing more than perfect timing and rhythm-the most economical motion and the right technique delivered at the right range.

Is that in actual combat, you never know whom you may fightyou could face a 250-pound football player who can take a hit to the head or ribs, or a crazed street fighter who just won't quit until he is disabled, knocked out or even killed. Therefor, you should select portions of the anatomy that are vulnerable to pain, regardless of the opponent's size. They include the eyes, groin and various nerves.