Fighting Speed! - Jeet Kune Do Speed Training

Was Bruce Lee fast?
That’s like asking if the Avengers franchise made any money.
Or if the sun is hot.
Anyway, with all the bickering and disagreement in the JKD/Wing Chun world, one thing everyone can agree on was that Lee was exceptionally quick. He was so fast, in fact, that it seems hard to imagine him being so popular without all that speed. But, more to our point, the very system of JKD is built on – and absolutely requires – a fair degree of speed. I’ve said before that the system is built around the stop-hit, which is to say, counter-attacking, and you can’t do that if you’re too slow. That would be like an ugly model, or a clumsy dancer…or an honest politician. Slow JKD is a contradiction in terms.
Now, you might think that speed is an essential quality in any fighting art but that’s actually not true. Speed will help, of course, but it’s far from the dominant attribute of, say, BJJ. JKD, on the other hand, rests upon the foundation of quickness and without it the whole structure comes tumbling down.
But what kind of speed are we talking about here? And how do we train for it?
First, we must have the right technical/tactical structure of the ready position, footwork, and straight, non-telegraphic strikes - preferably from the forward side. Each of these three technical points integrate without contradiction into the tactical framework of what JKD aspires to do – stop-hit the bad guy! Lee was obviously gifted with good genes for movement speed, but he understood how important it was to not waste movement and/or have a bad plan of attack.
If there was a secret to the whole thing it was Lee’s understanding of the importance of foot-speed. Most people treat footwork like an afterthought. In JKD, it’s the central thing. Always. Fighting is about moving and distance control. The man that controls the distance controls the fight. This being the case, he worked assiduously on foot-speed both in technique training (footwork) and physical conditioning. He favored footwork that was cat-like and efficient. And by all accounts, Lee didn’t jog – he ran! Fast. Like he was getting shot at. Up hills. And he rode a stationary bike full speed too – with the resistance as high as it would go. Oh, and you may have seen photos of him on a trampoline. He used that for more power and explosiveness. All of this translated into an amazing level of movement speed. Thus, the first big secret to his speed was in his legs.
You see, Lee knew something about fighting that most people simply ignore: good footwork can and will beat every attack. It’s a basic but painfully true fact that if you can cover ground faster than your opponent, you have a significant advantage. And this was Lee’s goal with all of that conditioning. In JKD, we preach the “four hits” – hit first, hit straight, hit hard, hit often. Without foot-speed, you aren’t going to hit first because you’re at the mercy of the other guy’s movement. Being first is the heart and soul of JKD philosophy and training because action is always faster than reaction.

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