‘Absorb what is useful and discard the rest’, is a statement often attributed to Bruce Lee and it is how he trained. By taking the useful part of other Martial Arts disciplines he created his own fluid ‘style without a style’ or Jeet Kune Do, (way of the intercepting Fist). Combining strength with speed and flexibility in a way that was never seen before, Lee fought by intervening at precise moments of an oncoming attack. While a lot of other traditions focused mostly on strength and conditioning, Lee cherry-picked from a wide range of fighting traditions in combination with cardio and weightlifting.
Intensity
Even in the 1950s Lee was developing training methods that were comparable to modern methods. His programme would continuously evolve as he looked around for new techniques but throughout it all he stuck to his philosophy of training as hard as you fight. Lee would through punches at the bag as if it was his worst enemy, always with full intensity and stressing the importance of never letting your guard down, even in training. To remain light on his feet at all times he would continuously side-step and feint, never throwing a punch from a static position. Punching against the ‘wooden man’ was a way to build strength in the hands as well as overcome psychological hindrance to punch intensity.
Weights
Lee was a latecomer to the benefits of weight training but once he discovered it he became a true convert. The general take among martial arts trainers at the time was that too much weight training could make you too big and slow you down, but Lee worked weight training into a holistic programme. Initially he started with a repeated reverse curl to build up the strength in his forearm but moved on to an alternating set of weight exercises. A typical day’s lifting would include: Clean and press – 4 sets of 6 reps Squat – 4 sets of 6 repsGood morning – 4 sets of 6 reps Bench press – 4 sets of 5 reps Curls – 4 sets of 6 reps.
Cardio
For Lee, running was a form of meditation, time spent alone away from his hectic schedule. We wouldn’t over do it though and would run 6km three days a week first thing in the morning. He would vary the pace, running at a medium speed, then sprinting for 100 metres and back to medium speed. He would stop regularly and shuffle his feet quickly. When he wasn’t running Lee would skip for thirty minutes, he believed it would keep him light on his feet and build muscle tone and strength. He was also a fan of the cycling machine and after skipping would do 40 minutes cycling at medium speed.
Core
Just look at Bruce Lee’s physique and you can see that he spent a lot of time working on his core strength. An exhibition move was to lie on the ground and have someone drop an exercise ball from a height on his abdomen. Being able to take sustained blows to the midsection was important to Lee. A typical midsection work out might look like this: Side bends – 5 sets, Leg raises – 5 sets, Sit ups – 5 sets.
Nutrition
Lee was very clued into the eating properly many everyday foodstuffs were on his banned list including coffee, drinking tea instead. He was a devotee of Chinese food and was a big meat eater, favouring beef and liver. He resisted Western cooking as he claimed it contained too many ‘empty calories’. Refined flour was avoided and he ate plenty of carbs, but favoured those derived from rice. Lee avoided dairy foods and only consumed them as part of his protein drinks. Protein and whey powder drinks helped him gain 30 kg of muscle. Typical of the Chinese way of eating he would eat more meals with smaller portions. Vitamin supplements were a big part of his diet and he would juice fruit and vegetable both for carbs and vitamins.
Commitment
Lee was dedicated to his art and everything he did was to support it. When he was driving he used the wheel to strengthen his grip and knuckles. If he was out walking and came to a hill he would always sprint up it, even when he was on location when exercise seemed almost impossible he would find a way. Lee worked out for hours every day, it was fundamental to his livelihood, but his approach was more than physical, his philosophy and the way he lived supported and were supported by his physical training. For Lee, internal training was just as important as external.
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