Attributes and Tactics from latest Lee book

[joesteph]

"Attributes and Tactics" is Chapter 17 of Bruce Lee's Fighting Method: The Complete Edition. On p. 360, under Tactics, Lee says:

A fighter can be classified as a mechanical or an intelligent fighter. The mechanical fighter fights in a similar pattern in each encounter. His strikes are repetitious and automatic.

 

An intelligent fighter will alter his opponent's technique in order to use the right strikes, depending on his opponent's technique and the way he fights. He approaches each encounter with a strategy based on preliminary analysis, preparation and execution.

This sounds like a good analysis to me, but then Lee warns about the novice fighter, because he's so irregular. In JKD, Lee pushed for a "broken-rhythm," so that your opponent can't figure you out. Since the novice is unskilled, he hasn't got a rhythm that he's fallen into from experience, and "may even fool more skilled fighters" (p. 361).

I guess that's why they call it "beginner's luck."

[Mistassailant5]

I guess he means that you should be spontaneous, but have control at the same time.

[DWx]

Thing with novice fighters is that they tend to be unorthodox in how they fight as well. If you're used to trained kicks and punches you'll have trained how to read and react to them too. Even across different styles movements follow similar patterns but a total novice hasn't learnt how to move like that. Look a how many styles use a roundhouse or straight jab. You can train yourself to pick up on these movements so when a novice fighter comes along and does something unexpected its harder to deal with than even maybe another stylist.

Think I posted a thread ages ago about have a similar problem with training partners being unable to throw non-TKD like punches in self-defense work. Its not so good for practising real responses.