Before his untimely death in 1973, Bruce Lee managed to shake up the martial arts world with his theories of combat and training. Why? Because he felt – much to the chagrin of his peers – that the traditional martial arts were too rigid and formalistic to be practical when applied in an actual fight.

Lee referred to this rigidity in the martial arts as a “classical mess” that wasted time and energy. His real concern was that concentrating on a specific style as the only way of fighting prevented someone from becoming a truly capable fighter. This is because focusing solely on any one style of fighting restricts your options. (more…)