Pullquote:
“No matter which lead one prefers, one should learn to fight opponents in unmatched lead.”

          During the 1960’s, some of the more popular martial art systems in the United States, such as karate and Western boxing, stressed using rear tools to provide the "knockout" punch. Western boxers tended to work from left lead, employing the lead jab as a set-up for the more powerful rear cross. Similarly, karate practitioners favored the rear-hand reverse punch as the major striking tool. The result was that many martial artists keep their weaker side in the lead, or forward, position and their stronger side in the rear position.

In contrast, top JKD stylists believed in putting the side with the stronger hands and feet forward, which, for him and for many others, was the right lead. They felt that one’s stronger hands and feet ought to be placed forward for two reasons:

* That the lead hands and feet do most of the punching and kicking, as opposed to the rear hands and feet, so the stronger tools should be closer to the targets.

* Also, by placing the main punching and kicking tools forward, they have less distance to travel to the targets and can reach them more quickly. JKD experts also stressed developing the lead tools so they could be as, if not more, powerful than someone else’s rear tools. Although early practitioners were not opposed to training in left lead, his emphasis was undoubtedly on training in the right lead.

Hence, during the life of JKD’s founder and for many years after his death, JKD students trained largely in right lead, strong-side forward. More recently, however, a dramatic shift in thinking and training has occurred. These days, many JKD practitioners train primarily in left lead, or weak-side forward. Two developments prompted this change.

First, to grow in martial knowledge, JKD practitioners began bringing in teachers of other martial art disciplines, many of whom taught in left lead. Rather than try to make these instructors teach their art from a right lead, it was decided to simply have the students switch to left lead. Secondly, because it was believed that most fighters nowadays fight from left lead, it was felt that the JKD student should learn to kick, punch, trap, and grapple from left lead. The contrast is apparent when one compares JKD instructors who trained in the 1960s and 1970s to those who came up during the 1980s and 1990s.

Regardless of one’s preference, it makes sense to develop proficiency in both leads to deal with opponents who may not fight in the same lead that one prefers.

However, it would be misleading (pun intended) to think that one must match an opponent’s lead to deal effectively with that opponent. In other words, a person who prefers to fight in right lead does not necessarily have to switch to left lead when facing an opponent in left lead. In fact, a person who is battling multiple attackers may suddenly find himself facing someone in an unmatched lead and will not have time to switch to his favorite lead.

Rather than switch leads, early JKD exponents came up with various ways to defend against opponents in unmatched lead. The effectiveness of these methods will be apparent in the techniques accompanying this article.

These techniques represent some of the ways that JKD early founders developed to counter an opponent in unmatched lead. They also maintain the important JKD principles of directness, simplicity, and economy of motion.

Unmatched Lead Training
In JKD training, students typically face each other in the same lead. Even if they switch leads, usually both students change to the same lead. These are advantages, however, in training to gain proficiency against an opponent in unmatched lead. These are what I call the three “F’s.”

Familiarity: First, the opponents may be unfamiliar with fighting a person in unmatched lead. If the opponent, for example, has trained primarily from a left lead against partners who are also in left lead, he will not be accustomed to attacking or defending against someone in right lead. If, however, a person in right lead has trained extensively against a person in left lead, he will be familiar with the lines of attack and can deal comfortably with left-lead opponents.

Flexibility: Secondly, it gives one flexibility. Instead of having to fight from the same lead as the opponent, one can fight from the opposite lead. After all, why should the opponent’s choice of lead dictate my lead?

Forward: Thirdly, in keeping with one of the major principles of JKD, it allows a person to keep his stronger side forward, thereby maintaining his most powerful tools closer to the target. A person who fights right lead, strong-side forward, will not have to change to his weaker left side when facing someone in the left lead.

Assuming the majority of these fighters move from a left lead, the JKD student who develops an ability to fight such combatants from his right lead, strong side forward, will likely have an advantage. This is because the left-lead fighters, more often than not, only train against other left-lead fighters, rather than right-lead fighters.

When encountering the right-lead JKD fighters, this type of combatant will have a harder time knowing what to do. Also, he will have to deal with someone whose strongest tools are facing him, while his own strongest tools, most likely, are at his rear.

Conclusion
The decision to put the stronger side forward and to stress the leading tools was quite innovative at the same time. Despite the contemporary emphasis on fighting from a left lead, it still makes sense to develop proficiency from the right lead.

Most at the time did not believe that it was absolutely essential to switch to a left lead if they encountered a left-lead fighter. Rather, they developed methods of effectively handling left-lead combatants while keeping their stronger side forward. These methods fit in with other JKD principles of simplicity, directness, and economy of motion.

The bottom line, however, is that no matter which lead one prefers, one should learn to fight opponents in unmatched lead. This ability will provide more choices in how to deal with an opponent and help a student toward achieving “totality” in combat.

Bio

David Cheng is a certified JKD instructor under Chris Kent. His DVDs are available through Beckett Media at or www.beckettstore.com