Chapter 6 - Bruce Lee’s Straight Blast
The Straight Blast was Bruce Lee’s absolute favorite move. “I would watch him revert to it, time and time again when ever he was serious in a fight”, Dan Inosanto. There are very few things more direct, and emotionally devastating than the straight blast. One of the things that differentiate a blast from, all other techniques, is the fact that, whoever is the recipient of this particular technique, has been reduced from a fighter to a pedestrian. Why is that ? Because unlike, punches, kicks, elbows, knees, etc…The straight blast causes, everyone to instantly back pedal, literally running backwards. And when any human being is flailing backwards, they have instantly lost, the two absolute and immutable perquisites, for any fighter. Base, and Balance. Without which, simple put, one is reduced to a pedestrian. Additionally, when someone is climbing down your throat, literally doing the 50 yard dash down your centerline, while simultaneously using your head as a speed bag, there is a visceral emotional response that every recipient has. The best word I can come up with, within the confines of our human lexicon is “frozen”.
Imagine leaning back in a chair day dreaming, and your prankster friend sneaks up behind you, and quickly tips the chair back, and there is that brief nanosecond where you are shitting in your pants, you are that perverbial deer looking into head lights. This is what I mean when I say “frozen”. So if you can imagine, being instantly hit with a technique, that freezes you emotionally, shuts you down physically, and turns someone from a fighter to a pedestrian. All at once its no wonder, why this is the absolute favorite move of Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto, along with myself.
First and foremost, the first punch of the Blast has to connect. Pain must precede the Blast. This means, that the assailant, is coming towards you and you first kick him in the groin and then follow-up with the blast, and then things should go your way. Another example, perhaps he steps in, and you wrap him on the thai with a thai boxers thai kick, and then straight blast him. And again, things should go your way. Re-iterating that in both aforementioned examples, pain preceded the blast. If you are going to initiate with a straight blast, it is absolutely positively paramount that the first punch of that blast makes contact (thus abiding by our law, of Pain preceding blast). Now that we have established that the first punch has to hit first, it is only logical, to ascertain what is that punch. Well, it is the jab. All straight blasts, must start with a jab(unless you have created pain elsewhere). So from now on, when you are sparring with whom ever, every time you hit them with a jab, think of that being your portal to your straight blast. Now ones mission is to simply hit them with a jab, follow up with a cross, and then hit them with just one more jab. And presto, you have got yourself a straight blast.
Please check the Table of Contents for links to other chapters of this Online Book.
If you are interested in the Straight Blast, you may be interested in this older instructional full videos of Vunak sifu's:
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