never will because you’re trying. Remember Lee’s quote:
“I didn’t do it; it did it.”
The internal martial arts principle of unconditional
yielding and structure is the yin-yang you’re after here.
You must be able to let go of the result so you can truly
be present and then execute in the moment. This is the
only way to connect with your opponent, adapt to the
situation and create opportunities.
The appropriate structure comes from mastering your
posture and your body. It’s the ability to throw your tech-
niques at will while acting and reacting naturally. For this
to happen, your movements must be instinctual. Your
only concerns are focusing on your breath, entering the
moment and letting go of the result.
The purpose of the engagement stage is to enter past
your opponent’s kicking and punching tools by causing
momentary pain, either by attacking first or by counter-
attacking. This moment marks your opportunity to steal
a beat in time and use forward pressure to pounce like
a tiger. That forward pressure might be in the form ofJKD values interception and deception. Your per-
ception precedes your ability to intercept or deceive.
How quickly you can read your opponent, intercept his
movements, adapt to his style, select your strategy and
apply your tools will determine whether you succeed.
Your ability to observe him and therefore shorten the
reaction gap is proportional to the speed with which
you can respond.
Your ability to deceive depends on your ability to fake,
feint, draw, and set and break rhythms. By constantly
setting traps and giving your opponent things to think
about, you increase the number of stimuli he must deal
with, which increases his processing time and slows his
reactions. By reading his reactions, you manipulate him
into doing what you want him to do. Like a chess master,
you stay three moves ahead of him, which enables you to
intercept his reactions.
Without cultivating stillness, you cannot expect to
intercept anyone. The opposite of stillness is feeling
stress, fear and anxiety. If you try to intercept a foe, you
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