How to Go Into a Jeet Kune Do Stance

Readying Your Body and Mind

Dress for ease of movement. In any martial art, proper attire will be the difference between being able to carry out a move or getting tangled in your own clothing. Whatever you choose to wear, you'll want it to provide free range of motion without being loose enough to entangle yourself or allow your opponent to easily grab a hold of you. Simple gym gear might be suitable for your martial arts training. A pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt won't get in your way and will provide minimal chances for an opponent to grab on to. Traditional martial arts training gear, often called a gi in English (pronounced gee; ぎ / 着), can be bought online or at specialty martial arts stores. These are specifically designed for durability and use in training. EXPERT TIP Adrian Tandez Adrian Tandez Jeet Kune Do Instructor Adrian Tandez is the founder and head instructor of the Tandez Academy, a world-renowned self-defense training center in Mountain View, California. Trained under the renowned martial artist Dan Inosanto, Adrian is a certified instructor in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Martial Arts, and Silat, among other things. Adrian has over 27 years of self defense training experience. Adrian Tandez Adrian Tandez Jeet Kune Do Instructor What is Jeet Kune Do? Self-defense expert Adrian Tandez says: "Jeet Kune Do is designed for self-defense in the real world. It's not traditional martial arts. There are no rules, and there's no sport to it—whatever you learn has to work in a real fight in the street. There may be more than one opponent, and you'll want to fight as quickly as possible."

Warm up your muscles and stretch. If your muscles are stiff, it could negatively impact your ability to adopt the proper stance and pull off even simple moves. Consider taking a warm up jog so you're body is fully ready to practice your art and be sure you stretch all your muscles thoroughly. Some studies have shown that you cannot get the best stretch without warming up first. Other warm up activities include push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, bicycling, and more. Warming up and stretching could also prevent you from straining yourself while practicing your Jeet Kune Do. Straining your muscles before you are ready could result in a pulled muscle.

Understand the mechanics behind a lead step stance. The lead step stance is an active body position that limits potential strikes to your body while enabling you to defend or attack easily. The key feature of the lead step is its thrust. All motion and force should begin with your back leg, extending through your body and into whatever move you try. Body alignment is an important part of any martial art stance. This will reinforce whatever stance you take. A bent back will negatively impact your balance and limbs unaligned at joints will be more prone to sprains, strains, and breaks. Always try to limit the potential for counters and strikes in your stance. Provide your opponent as few of targets as possible by angling your body to him so one of your sides, and not your front or back, faces him as often as possible. Especially when training with a partner, but also in real life scenarios, it's important to coordinate your motion with your opponent. Train your reflexes so that you begin your attacks/blocks to coincide with your opponent. This will limit his ability to respond or change his approach.

Know the path of force. The thrust of all your martial movements will begin in your back leg, extending through your body and target. A common mistake of novices is to aim at the target and not through it. This, however, will limit the force with which you hit since you'll be stopping your strike at the surface of the target. To ensure you hit with the full brunt of your blow, always punch through your target to the space beyond it. Since the goal of most martial arts is to train you for self-defense in potentially dangerous situations, you should train your reflexes to have the greatest effect. This means you'll have to break bad habits, like stopping your strike preemptively at the surface of your target. While training, you'll should always begin with slow, precise, concentrated movements. This will prevent you from hurting your training partner or yourself if you are practicing on a heavy back or some other kind of equipment. As your precision and muscle memory improves, you can begin to speed up your motions.

Adopting the Lead Step Stance

Lead with your dominant foot. If you don't know which foot is dominant, you can find this out by performing a simple test. Stand with your feet should width apart and begin to lean forward until you fall. The foot you catch yourself with is generally your dominant foot. You'll also want to... Have the left or right side of your body facing your target/opponent, never the front or back. Facing a real life opponent with the front or back of your body will open up many vulnerable points, like your stomach and groin. Coordinate your dominant foot with the side of your body. If your dominant foot in your right foot, face your opponent with the right side of your body. If your dominant foot is your left, face him with the left side of your body. Experienced martial artists are able to change fluidly between leftward/rightward orientation. However, this can be awkward for beginners. It may take time and practice before you are comfortable leading with your non-dominant side.

Close off your body. Angle your lead foot slightly toward the front of your body. You want your lead foot to mostly face your target/opponent, but by turning your foot slightly inward toward your body, your body will naturally be oriented in a way that limits you from presenting vulnerable points on your body.

Position your feet and legs. Standing flat footed will create an imbalanced stance, and standing too far forward on your feet will do the same. Your weight should be concentrated at a point slightly behind the balls of your feet, and your knees should have a small bend. Your rear leg should be a little more bent than your front, and your legs should be roughly shoulder width apart. Your back leg being the place where the force of your strike originates in lead step stance, should be more active than your front. This means that your weight will be distributed on your rear foot a little farther forward than that of your front, resulting in a slightly raised heel. Bending your legs too much, often referred to as a "deep stance," will make it difficult for you to spring into action. A neutral, at-the-ready stance will prepare you best to be like water and meet whatever situation may come.

Ready your hands. Bend your arms so that each is close to your body. Leading too far with your front hand will give opponents the ability to slap your hand out of the way, compromising your stance. Your front hand should be at about chin level a small distance in front of you. Your back hand should be at about the same position, placed so that it is at or slightly below chin level. You may want to curl your hands into fists so that you are ready to punch, or you may want a more defensive open-hand position. Either of these work well with lead step stance.

Align your body. To execute most moves, you'll have to bend your elbows and knees, transferring your weight and motion into the force of a strike or block. However, a well-aligned limb will withstand force better, protecting you from sprains, strains, and breaks. In particular, you should... Keep your back straight, your shoulders down (don't hunch), and relax your body. Generally, your posture should be tall without being strained, straight without being overextended, and at ease without being lazy. Your head should be down, but your eyes should be up. Keep your hands aligned with your forearms. Striking an opponent/target with a bent wrist is likely to do as much damage to you as your target.

Delivering a Straight Blow with the Lead Step Stance

Drive with your back leg. The motion should be like pushing off, though in a straight blow you should not actually bring your back foot off the surface of the floor. Losing contact with the ground will compromise your stability and create openings for your opponent. You can think of a straight blow in lead step stance as a way of pushing your front foot forward with your rear foot. This will naturally transfer the force of the motion from your back leg through your body and into your strike.

Step forward with your lead foot. Continue with the thrust of the motion starting in your rear foot and step forward with your front. The slight bend in your back leg will straighten to accommodate the step forward, but should not move from its starting position or come off the floor. Your front knee will have to increase its bend as you step forward. This deepening of your stance will elongate your forward/backward position so that it extends from the starting position all the way to your target. Do not step forward too far, as this will compromise your stance. Poor starting position can lead you to overextending yourself, creating an unstable, extra deep stance. If your target is too far away, reposition yourself closer to it. When repositioning, you should make use of a shuffle step. Advance first with your lead foot and follow with your rear. At no point should you ever cross your feet; this will create a severely weakened stance.

Punch through your target. Imagine the path of the force of your strike traveling through the point of contact and extending in a straight line beyond it. This will ensure you do not prematurely stop your strike at the surface of your target and lessen the force of your strike.

Return to your beginning stance. While getting used to striking from the lead step stance, you might lose balance and fall one way or another. As you learn the mechanics of the move, your balance should improve and your stance should become very solid. After extending to strike, return to the starting position by drawing your front foot backward until you are again in ready stance. Maintaining contact with the floor has many purposes. For one thing, when your foot is raise, you have nothing to push against or balance upon, making this position naturally weak. Also, in a real-life scenarios, there can be dangerous debris on the ground, like glass or nails, that can puncture footwear and put you at a disadvantage. To practice keeping your feet in contact with the floor, you might want to train returning to ready stance by sliding your front foot back until you are in position. In real life, this sliding motion would likely push dangerous debris out of the way.

Attacking to the Left with the Lead Step Stance

Know your goal. Stepping to the left from lead step stance will put you to the inside (the direction your front is facing) of potential strikes from your adversary, making it easy to slip around the approaching blow of your opponent. As you do so, you will perform a strike simultaneous with the motion of your opponent's strike. Many untrained opponents will not be able to effectively coordinate offense and defense at the same time. Attacking in the same moment your opponent does means he will likely be unready to defend himself from your blow.

Coordinate your movement with your opponent. There are many signs and signals that will alert you when an opponent is about to strike. Watch for body tension, arm movement like a wind-up or pulling back motion, and more. The more you train, the finer your sense for these signals will become. Your goal should be to begin your strike at the same time your opponent does, although accomplishing this perfectly will likely be impossible in the real world. Launching your own strike in sync with your opponent's own will give him little time to respond.

Step to forward and to left. Keep the angle of your foot pointing slightly inward toward your body. You should only step to the inside a little bit, and you should try to present as little of your body to your opponent as you do so. This will protect you from counters or desperate attacks/flailing. Even if you land a decisive blow, your opponent could reflexively lash out a foot to your groin, negating your advantage. You should move your head to duck around the strike of your opponent. It is common to lean your head forward slightly as your body extends forward into a strike. Remember that the thrust of this motion is based in your rear leg. You should push your front leg forward by driving down with your rear leg while keeping it in contact with the ground. Many martial experts advocate accomplishing as much as you can to your advantage with a single move. When your opponent is striking, he won't likely be thinking about his own foot work. You can effectively trap his foot and ruin his balance by covering the front of his foot with your own, trapping it there.

Consider covering the blow with your back hand. When striking with your leading hand, your rear hand takes on the role of defender. To prevent a lucky hit against you or a glancing blow, you can "cover" your opponent's oncoming strike with your rear hand. In many cases, a gentle slap can completely knock the oncoming strike off course. A more advanced technique you might want to consider when you have mastered the basics is a basic parry. A parry is where you stop/block a strike with a strike of your own. In this case, as you strike your opponent and he attempts to strike you, you can attack his striking limb with your rear hand, accomplishing the dual purpose of knocking his strike off course while doing damage.

Strike your opponent. In the same way you delivered a straight blow from lead step stance, extend your arm with the force of your motion and punch through your target. After you have landed your blow, return to ready stance.

Executing a Blow to the Right with Lead Step Stance

Step to the right from ready stance. Drive with your rear leg and step to the outside (the direction your back is facing). You will likely need to duck your head a little bit, but the motion of stepping to the outside will take you off the line of attack of your opponent's strike.

Strike with your rear hand. Your step to the outside will orient your body so that your lead arm is in an unsuitable position to strike. Instead, extend your rear arm to your target, punching through it in the same way you would with your lead arm when delivering a straight blow in lead step stance. Twist your torso as you strike with your rear hand. This will not only facilitate the transference of force, but will also limit potential targets for your opponent. This strike is very versatile. You can aim your blow up to the face or down to the groin. Practice striking various locations to prepare yourself for any scenario.

Follow up with additional blows. The position you will be in after striking with your rear hand will be ideal for a follow up strike with your right arm. In particular, this position is strongly suited to a right hook.

Striking with a Cross in Lead Step Stance

Synchronize your movements with your opponent. This is especially important when implementing a cross blow. The goal of a cross is to travel over the line of attack of your opponent, effectively crossing your arm over your opponent's.

Step forward and a little to the inside. This is a very similar motion as you would do when stepping to the left and striking from lead step stance. You should move your head so that you slip around the blow of your opponent as you step forward. Remember, the force of your lead step strikes originates in your rear foot. Always drive the motion of your strikes with your rear leg.

Strike with your rear hand. Your arm should slip over the arm of your opponent, "crossing" it. Your strike should trace the line of your opponent's strike closely without being influenced by it. Hitting your opponent's arm may knock your strike off course, resulting in a glancing or poorly placed blow. Being too distant from the line of your opponent's attack will force the motion of your arm to the outside, misdirecting some force from your blow.

Kicking from Lead Step Stance

Position yourself to kick your opponent. You'll want to step off the line of attack of your opponent to give yourself time and space to execute your kick. Slide your back foot to the outside and follow it with your front. This motion is the approximate reverse of your step to the right strike. Immediately adopt the ready stance for the lead step stance. You will want to synchronize your step to the outside with the forward strike of your opponent. His strike will likely continue where you were, putting him in a disadvantageous body position to respond to your blow.

Strike your opponent with your lead foot. Keep your hands in position in case your opponent attempts a follow up strike. Balance on your rear leg and kick out with your front. This kind of strike can be both an attack or a defensive response to the action of your opponent. You can aim you kick high or low depending on what the situation dictates. Kicking requires excellent balance and weight distribution to prevent imbalance. You'll likely have to practice this move frequently to perform it well.

Understand weaknesses and limitations. The higher the kick, the more you will need to balance on your rear leg. This can compromise the strength of your stance, as you will only have one limb to support yourself. High kicks will also open your body to counter-blows. A failed high kick could open your groin or torso to deadly counters. In life-or-death situations, you may want to stick to a more conservative fighting style.