|
|
Did Bruce Lee take his training
seriously?
"While Bruce was in Hong Kong filming in late 1971 or early
1972, he had his weight equipment and training gear shipped
to him," says Ted Wong, who met Lee in 1967 and trained with
him for more than six years. "He wanted to stay in shape. So
we packed his bags, but we did not send any clothes because
he said he could buy them cheap in Hong Kong. We just packed
training equipment. When he saw all the bags filled with
training equipment, he laughed and said, ‘Now I’m going to
be able to do lots of training.’" And train he did.
"Bruce considered training number one," says Wong. "He was
constantly training. When he watched TV or went to the
movies, he conditioned his knuckles. When he was driving, he
worked the hand grips. If he walked to a bookstore and came
to a hill, he always ran. He never wasted time."
Why was this man so obsessed with training? Several reasons.
First, according to Lee, training was important because you
couldn’t perform up to your capabilities if you weren’t in
shape, Wong recalls. "Lee felt you had no business being in
the martial arts if you weren’t in shape," says
Wong. "If you weren’t in shape you couldn’t be 100 percent
efficient."
Second, he had lofty goals. "He wanted to be the best," says
Wong. "He wanted to be the best martial artist."
And no one could dispute that he was.
Lee’s Thoughts on Strength
To get in excellent shape, Lee felt you needed strength,
Wong notes.
"He considered strength training very important," Wong says.
"He was constantly looking for ways to improve, including
weight training and isometrics." Although Lee felt strength
was important, he did not believe bodybuilding was the
answer, Wong says. "He felt it was important to have
definition, but he did not feel you had to overboard,"
Wong says. "He did not feel it was necessary to develop
large muscles. On the other hand, strength and definition
enhanced certain functions, such as kicking and punching."
And Lee’s conditioning entailed more than hand grips, sit-
ups, weights, running and conditioning drills.
"A lot of the time he read books and analyzed different
arts," Wong says. "He had a keen eye and an analytical mind.
He did a lot of researching."
While you may never develop Lee’s skills, you can certainly
train the way the "Little Dragon" did. Following are a few
of the exercises Lee used to develop power.
Download the whole book> (right click - Save target as)
|
|
