OH SNAP! i can't wait until i get to learn that! I read in an ancient chinese book that it makes your opponent be temporarily paralyzed, which the video obviously demonstrates!
hi Emil have you ever broken your ankle? I notice on your kicks you foot looks relaxed while most people kick and point there toes etc.. The reason I ask is I broke my ankle and have a problem kicking with that foot. Ste
What is the purpose of the videos? To me, it's just Emil showing off. There is no instruction, just you performing it. In a few of the videos, you'll have your 'students' kick, and then you'll come along and do it, showing off that you're so much better than them, although that may not be the case.
To impress the pe4ople that are new to martial arts and will believe anything that looks good i think.
My question to Emil is why do you leave your kicking leg hanging after the kick? You leave yourself open to so many things. Also, I'd like to point out that you drop your hands when you kick. That's a form of telegraphing and also a good way to put yourself into a position you don't want to be in. It's a bad habit that I have noticed throughout your videos.
Ok, if we're going to get technical....I also have a couple of questions for Emil. I think it's cool that you're doing your own thing and you obviously have alot of passion for what you do....but seriously, it's not (and I'm loathe to use this term) "real JKD" is it? 3 or more move compound trapping? Leaning backwards, no forward pressure, chin up begging to get hit, no power generation from the hips or torso when striking, trapping the same arm 2 or 3 times before hitting....we could go on. These videos are probably great for impressing the untrained kids that frequently seem to appear in them....but to anyone else you just come off as a show-off and (sadly) not a great one at that. Sorry. Instead of the (seemingly hundreds) of 30 second snippets, with no explanation,why not do a 2 minute vid breaking down your techniques, explaining them? That way maybe we could an insight into your method, you are an instructor after all and maybe you could change minds with that? Better that than randomly posting vids with no real explanation, seemingly expecting people to just sit back and go "wow".
Well, there are certainly many, many videos of JKD people doing that kind of trapping - and out of those, Emil is certainly one of the best I've ever seen. I think for that kind of trapping he's high level. My concern is in how useful it is. Against some people, sure, it would be very over whelming. But I think Emil is so fast it's actually too fast even to register enough to even BE overwhelming. My buddy had a fight with a neighbour in which he booted him full on between the legs, and his neighbour just shrugged and said 'is that your best shot?' (I presume he missed the balls and just kicked the point where his legs meet). The problem is, someone could be slapped, trapped and backfisted at the speed of light, and still be standing there afterwards saying 'is that your best shot?' WHat it is, from the perspective of the camera, it's incredibly fast and fluid - but the perspective of the person receiving won't even register it - it will just be a flurry - so they won't be impressed; they won't even know what's happening - if they have anything about them I guess they'll just cover up, take it, then smack you in the mouth with one simple punch. Simple point being, is there enough power in the techniques that are delivered via that 'delivery system' of ultra fast trapping to make it even worth using that delivery system? Wouldn't a simpler approach be wiser? But - yeah, he's king of the fast trappers. Maybe mixing it with the tae kwon do lets it down - doesn't look right - maybe mixing it with some big boxing shots would look better.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there FQ. But....if a technique is useless, what's the real point in being good at it? While you do see loads of examples of that type of trapping, and yes Emil can roll his hands around very quickly....it's still a crap technique. You could teach someone to do that in a day and it would look the same, but still be a crap technique. How do we define a good example of trapping as opposed to a rubbish one, when seemingly it's just a bunch of hands flailing around at light speed? Well what Emil is doing is strictly to look "good" for the camera....can anyone seriously say that that would work in a fight against resisting opponent trying to take your head off? The only way to make trapping work (according to JKD) is to eliminate all passive moves, hit as soon as the shot arises and a)to apply the correct pressure to break your opponents structure, and/or b)remove the barrier in order to strike the opponent. It should be (as Ted Wong puts it) a "one shot deal", not a prolonged happy slapping session. None of this is displayed in the trapping we see here....Emil reacts to "jab" with an apparent Biu Sau with absolutely zero forward pressure, he then proceeds to Pak Sao the same arm with his opposite hand. Why pak the arm when you could just hit the face? After pakking the arm he then proceeds with a backfist to the temple. What he should have done in 1 or 2 moves (actually hit the guy in the face) takes him 3. That is what makes this type of trapping rubbish and utterly useless. This is echoed throughout the rest of the clip, with a couple of misplaced TKD kicks for good measure. All against an "opponent" with absolutely no intent. Now there's nothing really wrong with that, as long as you're honest with yourself about what your doing....if Emil was to come out and say "look, this stuff looks good for the camera, but in real life could get your face smashed in, or worse", then fair play. The problem is he bills this stuff as "Urban Combat - a form of street self-defense that deals with life and death situations" - please. And this is what these kids are eating up. I think it's pretty telling that he doesn't call what he does "JKD" any more.
I have to agree with february entirely here, i mean not to repackage any your points but this stuff looks very bruce lee movie fu and is impressive to watch for the most part but yeah maybe some serious vids breaking down some of the techniques and explaining them would be nice...or even better a clip of this stuff in action, and by action i mean a bit of full contact sparring with a trained and resisting opponent ?
Thank you all for your comments, I can only say that what I do works for me and its effectiveness is much more demonstrable in person. Keep up the good work, peace, EM beginner students [ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aiTOGOT7334[/ame] flow drills [ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kzNZplGaKr8[/ame] street self defence tactics [ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7GwIJgjCzd4&feature=related[/ame]
i want to make some constructive comments. video 1. I get nervous when i see drill that go from trapping range to kicking range instantly back to trapping range and so on. I would include a boxing range, or practice some bridging to get in there. There's a whole beat while your guys are drilling that is available for them to get knocked out. It isn't necessary to trap an arm when you're in kicking range, at least not when you know your ranges. video2. do you practice flow drills that require any kind of footwork? i would suggest putting the left arm back on the muk jong and work from many reference points. gnoy and loy. video3. I have the same problem with this as i do with some of the intricate disarms i practice in Kali. to much work from to many sectors. I know this stuff is practiced, but it isn't practical. If it's not practical it sure isn't smart for "street self defense."
I have a problem with things being 'easier to demonstrate the effectiveness of in person' - why would they be? What it really means is if you question me, or what I claim, then there's a veiled threat of violence to try and stop you questioning me. Well, big whoop. Maybe I'm too ill to even go to your gym, never mind test you. Now how are you going to 'demonstrate effectiveness'? On the one hand, Emil is clearly one of the best around for that fast had trapping stuff, and his wooden dummy work is very good for that kind of thing. But if it's practical, don't pull my chain and tell me that its effectiveness is invisible to the camera, and the only possible 'proof' is that anyone who doubts its effectiveness needs to go to your gym and have a fight with you. You might as welljust say 'believe me or I'll hit you.' Or, slap you fifty times. If it was tennis, and you demonstrated 'practical tennis tips' but never in a match, and no showing of it ever beng used in a match, would it be acceptableto say 'hey if youdon't believe this can be used in pro tennis come and have a match with me'? No, because I'm not a pro tennis player, so beating doesn't actually prove anything. Funny, people think MAP is so much better than Bullshido, but MAP is terrible for this attitude of 'if you don't believe what I publicly claim then the onus is on you to come to me and have a fight about it to prove that it isn't true' - or, as Family Guy would say 'bigg whoop, wanna fight about it?' What ever happened to you proving that what you say is true, or that what you do is true, or effective? 'Get some serious opponents in, seriously hitting you, then we'll be able to assess if it's worth practicing to get to that level of trapping fluidity. Also, I think you one inch punch video is ridiculous.
