Everything works. Nothing works

It’s not the art, it’s who’s better that day

I was going to write a totally different post, but saw something on Facebook/YouTube that got me diverted. Imagine that?

 

 

Adam Chan, the creator of this video, states himself that it’s just one idea, one possibility, and that it’s not bullet proof. Enough said.


But then cue the comments. Someone recently told me, “never read the comments.” But I can’t help myself. The ones on YouTube were actually pretty good, along with Adam’s responses. The ones on Facebook…

Every art when explained becomes theoretical in that moment. In theory land, everything works, and the predominant assumption is that you’re better than your opponent. Sometimes they keep up with us through the first few moves, but we eventually score something, otherwise it wouldn’t be very fun, would it?

To take this example from the video, just off the top of my head:

  • He shows that a rotating punch can be clinched.
    • But a 1/4 turn will fix that
    • Someone comments punching hand first JKD-style is better
      • But now you can hook/over hand through the window between hand & face
  • He punches straight to make it hard to clinch
    • But a 1/4 turn will fix that
  • He angles and takes the outside line
    • But opening tan sao and shooting straight for the clinch will still get in
      • Oh, but wing chun counter #3 will deal with that…

And so on and so on. It just a game. It’s fun, and the thought process is engaging.

bruce lee everything works

Better than everyone. Everything works for Bruce Lee.


To paraphrase Erik Paulson, “For a good athlete everything works”

To expand that idea: a better fighter, a faster person, a positional advantage, psychological advantage, surprise, more firepower, lucky timing with a blink…that list is endless too.

It’s just ideas. Do the people who insist on their preferred technique insist on their pick up lines with the same confidence? Of course not, because they’ve actually had sufficient experience to not be so ignorant about it. And they probably suck at picking up girls. Because they’re idiots.





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