Chapter 7 - Bruce Lee’s Pendulum
Attacking the eyes and attacking the groin, are probably two of the most common targets in most Kung-Fu and Karate systems. As each system has their own specific ways of moving, each system also has their own similar way of attacking the eyes and the groin. If you are a Karate style perhaps hard-style, thrusting to the eyes is very rigid as is the kick to the groin. If you are a circular style, perhaps kung-fu, your attacks to the eyes would be in an elliptical fashion, many times imitating an animal, perhaps a Crane’s Beak. Therefore the biomechanics of the eye jab and groin kick are predicated upon the idiosyncrasy of the system. Since we all have similar morphologies, there should only be one perfect way of attacking said eyes and groin. These moves should be immutable, for example there are thousands of different golfers, with thousands of different styles, ethnicities and idiosyncrasies’, but only one way to do a perfect golf swing. The biomechanics of a perfect golf swing trump everything else. Same thing with throwing a football, hitting a baseball, and of course jabbing the eyes and kicking the groin. What is biomechanically the most efficient eye jab/groin kick. Bruce Lee found this to be what is called the Pendulum.
The Pendulum requires that we break the number one rule of Boxing. And shift most of our weight on our front foot, causing us to stretch out leaning into the eye jab. When a person stretches out too far, and leans too much weight, on their front hand, they have automatically nullified the power of the rear hand. However, Bruce was not interested in following up with crosses, hooks, uppercuts, and overhands after his eye jab. The nano-second after Bruce Jabs you in the eyes, his only interest is to kick you in the groin. When one leans into the eye jab with their head, and then shifts the head back and then kicks the groin, this action is smooth, precise, and biomechanically perfect.
Phase 2 of the Pendulum. The PIP. The Progressive Indirect Pendulum.
This requires that our first leaning eye jab is a very fast fake, causing the opponent to literally flinch backwards. When this flinching occurs the pelvis exposes the groin for the second part of the Pendulum. The groin kick. Often Bruce would initiate the attack with the groin kick. Then initiate, a fake with the groin kick, and instantly attacking the eyes. Thus reversing the progressive indirect attack from Low to High. This perpetual, faking of the eyes, kicking of the balls, and then faking the balls and hitting of the eyes, when done properly through a progressive indirect cadence, is simply the best way on this earth, one human being can attack those specific targets. Once again our criteria for “best”, is biomechanical. It is wise to know, that after the initial score to either the eyes or the groin, once again from a biomechanical, efficient point of view, is to follow up with a straight-blast. And most likely ending up on the neck. Thus ending in the R.A.T.
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