Bruce and Boxing. Yes Vince L. Bruce liked and respected boxing. He was impressed with the boxers ability to counter punch and this is why he studied the old films of great boxers. He looked for any weakness. He would study their footwork, how they set-up, how they slipped punches and how they used combinations. He noticed they never blocked a punch and they were always within striking range. They were willing to take a punch to give a punch. He felt there was enough consistency in boxing patterns that he could identify when to attack without being hit. He felt the boxer gave you his hands for a easy trap. He knew that if he got within striking range, without trapping, he was going to get hit. This is why he emphasized closing the gap, from outside striking range. He would have us move around as a boxer and react when he attacked. The results were always the same, he trapped our hands, grounded our position and shifted us to a weak angle, which he maintained during his attack. As a boxer it was instinctive to protect the head by bringing the hands up or to move around with our hands floating out. Bruce felt this was a primary weakness in boxing. He knew that once the boxer went defensive he tended to stay defensive as long as a strong attack was consistent. Regardless of how fast or slippery we were, he always trapped us. He would attack on a blindline and fook sao or lop sao our extended arm. You never saw his movement. One second he was slightly out of striking range and the next second he was all over you and pressing your energy so you became off balance. No matter how hard you tried to recover your balance, he would keep up the pressure, shifting your energy to weak spring loaded angles. This is why I gave up all my boxing principles, once I understood what Bruce would do in a real fight. However, Bruce felt a good boxer could take out most martial artists, since they never really trained to fight with the aggression of a boxer. Also, most styles look at other styles of fighting, but never really study them. It was interesting to watch Bruce watch boxing films. He was totally intent on every movement. If he liked something he would stop the film and we would review every element of that action. It was a great lesson on how to learn.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 02:49:45 +0000
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