Bruce’s father was also practicing in the park and studying Taiji under Liang and was on friendly terms with Liang. He knew Liang was good at fighting and one day said to Liang, “My son has just come back from overseas and loves kung fu, please instruct him.” Later he took Bruce to the park to see Liang,
and Liang saw that this young man was eager to learn, so asked him to stand in Zhan Zhuang while Liang was discussing boxing and fajin with the other students and throwing them into the air. Thus Bruce was able to appreciate the power of Yiquan.
Bruce’s father knew that Liang had a powerful internal martial art, so he urged his son to learn from him. Bruce was also interested and eager to learn from this powerful man.
One day, Lee brought Bruce to visit at Liang’s house. At that time, Liang was lecturing on the secrets of internal and external martial arts. In this lecture, Bruce heard many things which he had never heard before. Liang talked about the many different techniques and stories of martial arts that he had seen and
knew in Shanghai. Bruce became more and more interested in his speech. However, Liang insisted that Bruce must first throw away all that he had learnt before, and change his strength from external to internal.
Of course, Bruce was not willing to do so.
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THE YIQUAN ABSORBED BY BRUCE LEE
Although the time Bruce spent learning Yiquan was short, the philosophy of Yiquan deeply influenced the
framework and principles of his Jeet Kune Do.
1. There is no taolu; any sequence or movement can be used
The core of Yiquan is not to use any set methods, and to overcome the opponent in an instant. Thus the body has to be trained and prepared to a high level of fighting technique, with the ability to utilize explosive power at any time. One can react and counter-attack at any time, and one does not waste time on
extraneous, flowery movements.
2. Search out one’s own strengths, train appropriately, and set up one’s own system According to Liuhebafa, one has to be like a bee collecting pollen from a hundred flowers, taking the best of other schools and digesting them to become one’s own.
3. Wu De (morality)
Do not waste your time being a rascal on the streets; one must have culture and refinement, one must study the ancients, and one must become a person with manners and dignity, be humble, self-controlled, and forgiving, and a master who enthusiastically helps others.
4. Search out one’s identity
One must constantly reflect, stand, and experience the flow of Qi in the body, and understand the smallest changes in the muscles of the body, the impact of the external weather and environment on one’s thoughts and emotions, seek movement in stillness, and calmly react to change.
5. Softness can overcome hardness
Only when the muscles are relaxed can one’s movements be fast and react with explosive energy.
6. Throw the opponent several feet away
When Bruce studied martial arts in the past, it was to beat people. Yiquan uses the whole frame of the body to throw the opponent flying. This led Bruce to later try to make the opponent fly in both his movies and his teaching.
7. Utilize the whole body strength
In the past, Bruce would use his attack to cause the opponent pain, but began to understand the importance of full-body power through Yiquan. With the whole body framework, even if the opponent resists, the fullbody
power will rise up to break the opponent, leaving him with no way to block or deflect.
8. Jeet Kune
The principle of Yiquan is that if the opponent moves slightly, you will reach first and catch the opponent’s movement, rendering him unable to use his strength, covering his entire body. Bruce later developed Jeet Kune Do which incorporated this principle.
9. Extend your hand
Extend your hands and do not retract; extend the hands fully to your opponent, and use your frame to block him. If you retract, you will lose your ability to defend.
10. Issue sound
Master Liang liked to issue sound when practicing fajin. Whether he was practicing Tuo Yao or Walking Step he would also issue sounds, and he would use different kinds of sequenced sounds to throw the opponent away. He would use his sound to augment his presence and intimidate. His disciple Sun Dit was
very good at this. Bruce Lee also used his teaching in his movies.
11. Solid and real and not empty
Every time you attack, it needs to be accurate, brutal, and effective; it has to be a real attack and not a fake, flowery movement. Every movement has its use, and has to maintain balance and frame, using full power; it is practical and useful.
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BRUCE’S SOURCE OF MARTIAL ARTS
Yip Man is commonly recognized as the teacher of Bruce Lee, but actually Bruce learnt from several teachers in Hong Kong. Written down in his biography, there were ten teachers from whom he learnt. In Hong Kong, the known teachers were his father, Shao Han Sheng (邵漢生) of Shaolin, Chen Nian Bo (陳年柏) of Choy Li Fut, and Liang Zi Peng (梁子鵬) of Yiquan.