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How did Bruce Lee get so fast?
It is said that the film reel had to be slowed down so that viewers could see his punches and kicks. How much of this was genetic/hereditary/innate and how much did he work his *ss off for? What exercises did he employ and which likely were the most effective and contributed the most to his rapid speed? I've heard that standard weight-training could actually make one slower. I assume punching/kicking as fast as you can in mid-air or at a bag would be highly effective. Maybe I just answered my own question. In any event/case I only want answers from people at least fairly qualified to answer my question. One last thing, maybe there's no good way to judge/measure this, but what rate of results could one expect? Thanks.
Speed in striking all comes from 2 things in your arm or leg
Joint
Twitch Muscle Fibers
During punching, the shoulder joint and elbow joint are working. During kicking, the knee joint and hip joint is working. It is very important (and im sure you already know this since almost every martial art school teaches this) that you snap out your arm or leg during an attack. For example, during a punch, you snap your shoulder joint forwards, then you snap your elbow joint towards your target, then back to your guard. Iike the motion of a whip, or if you imagine the snapping of a towel. During kicks, you snap out your knee joint while aiming your lower leg at your target. That is one way to make your punches and kicks faster without any training. But there is a way to make your snaps even faster, but this requires training, and this is what Bruce Lee did.
i own a book called Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body. The book was wrote by John Little, once of Bruce Lees closest friends. The book is basically about Bruce Lee's training and workout routines, what he did, how much he did, how many days per week he did them, and how to actually do them. Everything from flexibility to push up's to weight lifting to hitting the heavy bag. It shows you Lee's workouts from when he was not famous during the 1960's, too when he was more busy with films during the early 1970's, and finally too his death in 1973
Bruce Lee did three things to increase his speed
1. Train the twitch fibers in his muscles (this makes your arm move overall faster without the help of joint snapping)
2. Train his joint snaps
3. Various knowledge of things and methods which automatically make you faster without training (such as snapping the joint into the punch or kick and been relaxed)
the way he trained his twitch fibers was through wegiht training and plyometric exercises. Plyometric exercises are exercises which are done at an explosive phase. For example, Jumping Squats for the legs, Clap Push Up's for the arms, fast and short motion dips for the arm. Bruce Lee also had a pole stuck into the ground which could move around when you pushed it in a certain direction, when you pushed it, it would snap straight back. He would push that alot, including with his legs. Also bruce lee's weight training was essential in creating his speed.
He trained his joints to snap faster by simply punching and kicking the air while snapping out from the joint, fist he would do it while holding a light dumbbell for a number of reps on a certain punch, then he would do it without nothing straight after. This trains you are to snap against tougher forces (the dumbbell) making the joints naturally faster. One of his favorite drills was called the "candle drill" where he would extinguish a candle by constantly kicking or punching near it while snapping out
He also incorporated various methods in his technique during punching and kicking which made him naturally faster without training. This includes snapping out from the joint which i have already discussed, and been relaxed and flexible instead of tense. If you notice, bruce lee never actually clenches his fist in a fight, his hand is always half open and dangling. This makes his arm relax, making his punches faster, he closes his fist and clenches tightly at the moment of impact to create power. It takes training to get used to this though. He always kept his arm loose too, making him more relaxed. The more relaxed you are, the faster you will be.
his wife frequently said that he was not born genetically superior. Infact when bruce was a kid, according to his biography, he got picked on alot, was frail, and weak. He was just extremely determined when he started to train in martial arts
Also Bruce Lee was a small guy too, he was 5 ft 7 and a half inches tall. The lightest he weighed was 130 lbs (enter the dragon/during his death), the most he weighed was 160 lbs (when he was not famous). He was 140 lbs during way of the dragon/return of the dragon
As for weight training. It does NOT slow you down. Just because you have muscles does not mean it slows you. Look at bruce lee himself or one of the MMA/UFC fighters for poof. Like i said, it builds quick twitch fiber muscles.
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