"Jun Fan" is Chinese for "Bruce Lee." "Jun Fan Gung Fu" was the first name Lee gave to the developing martial art that eventually became known as "Jeet Kun Do." An enthusiastic student of martial arts, philosophy, exercise science and human anatomy, Lee taught students a variety of exercises to develop the physical and mental attributes that make a skilled martial artist.
Sparring
Sparring was an integral part of Lee's training methods, which he taught in a unique manner unknown in other martial arts. Sparring in Jun Fan kung fu is rarely a competitive contest. Rather, both participants resist one another just enough to make a partner work to perform a technique. This adds a dynamic quality to each practice repetition that more closely resembles using martial arts in an actual self-defense situation.
Straight Blast
The straight blast comes from wing chun, Bruce Lee's first martial art. The exercise consists of a series of rolling punches to the chest, face and sternum as the practitioner moves forward in a straight line. As a self-defense exercise, it rocks an attacker onto his heels and drives him backward. For developing physical attributes, the exercise improves a practitioner's aggression, footwork, speed, rhythm and timing.
Mook Jong Drills
The mook jong is a training dummy that consists of a wooden cylinder with various protruding wooden limbs. Training exercises on a mook jong involve pressing against the limbs to position your body and then punching at the central cylinder as you attain an appropriate angle. Mook jong exercises develop sensitivity and timing while simultaneously conditioning your hands and forearms with repeated light-to-moderate impacts against the wood.
Lop Sao & Pak Sao
Lop sao and pak sao are hand positioning exercises. In a lop sau drill, you capture an opponent's wrist with one hand and then pull it down to make an opening for you to punch with the other. Pak sao is a follow-up strike where the partner blocks your lop sao punch. You respond by grabbing the wrist of the blocking hand and pulling it forward and down. This opens your opponent for a second punch. Lop sao and pak sao can be practiced alone or in context of sparring exercises.
One-Inch Punch
Bruce Lee used to perform televised demonstrations of this exercise. The idea is to position your closed fist one inch from a target and then deliver a punch with that fist that carries force as if you had "wound up" the punch from a foot or more away. The exercise isn't difficult once you've become proficient in the basic body mechanics of a punch by using the swing of your hips and torso to generate most of the force.
References
- "The Tao of Jeet Kun Do"; Bruce Lee; 1975
- "The Art of Expressing the Human Body"; Bruce Lee; 1998
- "Descendants of the Masters"; Paul Vunak; 2010
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