If you are reacting, you’re losing. Reaction time explained

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

"Action will always be faster than reaction" is a concept that was very difficult for me to grasp before i learned historical fencing HEMA. When you can't no longer tank shots with high guard like a punching bag in MMA anymore; and winning and losing was decided by who's getting skrewed and cut down by a 1m bar of steel first, i have finally clicked and became more aggressive in sparring in general. Same goes for standing still in a stance/guard and waiting for the other guy to attack "Who lies there is dead and who moves is still alive" - Johannes Liechtenauer

[@dusk6159]

Pure working reality and nothing else indeed. Translating well.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

Good ol' Tempo

[@AveSicarius]

I mean even in Boxing covering up is only viable as a last resort, anyone somewhat skilled can open that guard up fairly easily and take advantage of you being passive. In MMA this gets even easier because of the smaller gloves, and in bare-knuckle fighting guarding your head with a classic guard becomes drastically more difficult because shots can easily go between or around it, and getting hit with something like a high kick or powerful hook is going to smash through it anyway. The best way to defend yourself is to not get hit, the best way to not get hit is to overwhelm your opponent quickly, because as the fight goes on, you will eventually get hit by something.

[@fullmetalpleb]

Not in gun fights though, it's shown in Mythbusters that the guy who draws second has a faster draw speed

[@AveSicarius]

@@fullmetalpleb Gunfights tended to be nothing like the movies though, the guy who won was always the one who actually aimed properly. Wild Bill Hickock had a notorious gunfight against someone who drew faster, he simply took his pistol out, braced it on his forearm and calmly fired despite his opponent having drawn far faster and already shooting several times. Speed makes all the difference when you are at an effective distance and can actually hit the target. The issue with speed drawing is that you can easily end up in an improper position or end up firing off shots that don't hit the target.

[@evankalis]

This advice really puts me at ease. I sincerely thought I was just uncoordinated but really I just lacked experience and strategy! No need to have inhuman reaction time when you already know what they are gonna do and react normally. Thanks!

[@keithjackson4985]

Lol 😆 well said.

[@paulpelle3046]

Yeah...but you might ALSO be completely uncoordinated. Guess you’ll find out next sparring sesh. Lmfao! 🤣

[@binaryglitch64]

@@paulpelle3046 it might take a few sessions for him to get a feel for timing, and to build the minds equivalent to muscle memory (not normal memory) like where it's automatic and thoughtless (like muscle memory) to start strategizing and thinking about things like using faints to leverage programming, or for footwork positioning, or to change up the rhythm of the fight, etc. etc. faints are just plain useful ... if you know how to use them... a lot of untrained people just seem to sprinkle them in randomly without knowing why their doing it, anyways I digress. My point was; it takes practice to get good at it, even more to master it, one sesh won't be enough for someone so green it's just dawning on them that they can use faints to leverage the programming effect rather than just let his opponent figure out counters to all his goto moves... if someone's that new, than they're not going to watch thos and then just successfully implement it the first sesh, I mean they very well could but plenty of coordinated people who would eventually get it with practice may still not really pull it off all that well the first few sessions trying it out. But your right there comes a point when you have to face it if you are just a naturally uncoordinated person. How much time spent sparing should constitute enough time to call it and say hey you know what, I'm just never gonna catch on though? I'd say it depends on how old the person is, how much training and experience came before this revelation, how fit are they, are they struggling with outside life drama that's making it harder to focus while learning on the mat, did they get good sleep and diet, etc. etc. So it's impossible for us to tell him how long it should take him to catch on from concept to action to automatic action ... if he's 58 and his wife just left him, this is his first day than maybe several months to a year wouldn't be uncalled for, but (and the math is totally gonna check out on this one (^_- ). ) if say he's 8 with 10 years of experience, his mom home cooks, and is strict with bedtime, than maybe figuring he's uncoordinated if he doesn't get it in the first 3 or 4 sessions wouldn't be too harsh... too much? Yeah I thought so too, but I did all this on a phone, I'll be damned if I'm deleting all this efforts worth of typing.

[@paulpelle3046]

@@binaryglitch64 hahaha! Dunno why my message caused such a long reply from you there. 🤷‍♂️ Yeah, it’s like learning to drive in some ways. As you get used to it, much of it becomes unconscious and the subconscious mind has it locked into muscle memory. But when u first start driving you’re finding it difficult to ‘multitask’ all the different elements. Feints are awesome, but feinting with no purpose is pretty pointless. Gotta feint to create an opening 💪🙏

[@gqloc6768]

The problem is weenies think they're warriors nowadays and now you have weenies competing and joining the military units that are combat oriented.

[@wintyrqueen]

This is why distancing is so important. If you set your distance so that the opponent has to use an extra motion to get in range, that gives you a whole bunch of extra time to counter/defend/attack etc. & yep, the “hikite” literally means “pulling hand”, yet a lot of people don’t put two & two together, because “there isn’t any grappling in karate”

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Lol

[@SV-cg3sk]

IF YOU CAN DODGE A WRENCH, YOU CAN DODGE A BALL!

[@jarivanlennep3979]

what do you mean with this??

[@SV-cg3sk]

@@jarivanlennep3979 Its a movie quote that came to mind with the noodle/bat reaction. Except in the movie the soft thing was swapped for a hard thing

[@pyronicdesign]

The old man I'm teaching kung fu to asked me, "I don't understand, what is a setup" So unscripted I said. "Want to see a set up, here is a set up." we started sparring and I did exactly this, because I had just watched your video on set ups. It worked immediately. And then I sat him down and had a conversation with him about pattern recognition and programed movements, and the rest of the night we worked on movement drills.

[@peterwang5660]

what style do you teach?

[@dgillian183]

Kung fu should really be about “feeling space, moving forward” and not on patterns. At least that’s what wing chun teaches

[@dgillian183]

@Erin Kelly what part of US do you live/teach kung fu. Im in NJ and my sifu moved across the country last year

[@pyronicdesign]

@@dgillian183 Sorry man, I'm in LA, but i'm also not a Sifu. I just happen to be sharing what i know with a man who wanted to learn.

[@pyronicdesign]

@@peterwang5660 Oh man, i could go on and on about my hate for the misconception with the difference between a style and a system. I teach Kung Fu. not a style. The "style" I know the forms of and understand the most of is a southern form of long fist that i do not know the exact history of. but that is a style, not a system. I also know a small amount of Changquan, (a different form of longfist from what I originally learned) Wing Chun, Tai Qi, and White tige, but am in no way proficient with the forms. What I teach is the system of kung fu, not the style of long fist. Qin Na, Qigong, and Iron body. the pillars of all of kung fu.

[@flamezombie1]

This is something I always have to tell people new to HEMA - if you just sit there and wait for your opponent to do something, as many do, you are automatically living in the past. And the moment you give someone a big 4 ft. long lever to swing on top of reaction times, you've got even less time before that blade hits you. Don't let your opponent time travel! Joachim Meyer conceptualizes this with "provoker, taker, hitter" - provoke your opponent to do something, don't just stand there. If he takes the bait, then you can hit the opening, because he won't be able to react to new stimulus in time, only predict it.

[@RamseyDewey]

There’s so much crossover between sword fighting (and sword and shield fighting) and hand to hand combat. Just the other day, I modified the footwork of a sword and shield technique for MMA. Maybe I’ll make a video about it.

[@flamezombie1]

@@RamseyDewey Long guard is VERY similar to I.33's sword and buckler techniques - using the lead hand to block and present a target while the off-hand delivers blows. I don't know what the stance is called, but there's a kung fu form I've seen a lot where the lead hand is fully extended in front and the rear hand is held above the head, and that's exactly like hanging point in single-sword from all of the German treatises. Man, you're making me so excited for my club to start meeting again this Sunday!

[@Goryus]

Average human reaction time is ~200ms. Conversely, time to impact for a professional's jab is somewhere in the 100ms - 150ms range. That's for a fast jab, but there are actually lots of other punches (and kicks) that are slow enough that you can react before impact. But, even in the best of those cases you will always be 200ms behind the other guy when your movement starts, so any defensive motion you attempt has to be at least 200ms faster than whatever strike they are doing. This is only really possible with very small motions (e.g., leaning the head back when they throw a head kick). All the fancy sweeping blocks you see in martial arts films are right out.

[@gushlergushler]

Do you know how they measured that time? There must be a great difference between "click this button when the light turns on" and seeing an opponent move, then having to place the type of movement/ attack and then coordinate an effective defense. So even if your reaction time was faster then that, the time until you actually defend yourself is probably longer.

[@combatsportlover6919]

@VINCENTNATTI Its 200ms.

[@petertapola8097]

@@gushlergushler One test that stuck to my mind was a braking test in a car. I don't remember the details, but there they measured the time between the trigger and the beginning of a reaction and the time between the reaction and the stopping of the car. The conclusion was that there was always 0,2s before the reaction started, which added to the total reaction time.

[@kyronpitts6220]

Are professional fighters reaction time to punches average tho? I highly doubt it. This argument has no merit wen it comes to atheletes

[@Sk0lzky]

There are various categories in measurements of reaction time, various tasks will also produce different results depending on the data processing needed. A more realistic figure with performance of a gross motor movement after a sound cue is *around* 300ms among elite male athletes (about 20ms longer for elite female athletes). Now, back to the combined audio, visual cue- click test, a more precise number I can pull out of memory is that it takes about 70ms for the signal from the brain to reach one's forearm muscles, so that's another thing one has to take into account

[@judosailor610]

While I'm not a "Bruce Lee was just an actor" guy, Bruce used a lot of tricks and showmanship to make himself look better than he was. The one inch punch, where he would deliberately have the guy stand in an unstable stance and then place a chair behind them to help them to fall, is another such example. Had Bruce ever actually competed or really sparred hard or fought for real on camera, he would've been exposed. This is why, outside of that footage of him sparring very light with his own student, there's no other footage of him doing it, especially with someone that would have presented a challenge. He filmed himself doing plenty of other stuff, but not sparring or fighting for real. He couldn't control that, but if he was just drilling or working the bag he could set everything up to make himself look the best.

[@aluisiofsjr]

There is nothing wrong to say that "Bruce Lee is just an actor". This is way more credible than saying that he was the "godfather of MMA/elite fighter".

[@judosailor610]

@@aluisiofsjr There is something wrong with it which is that it’s not true. While he was not a great or proven fighter, he was legitimate martial artist. He worked with some great competitors like Norris and Lewis. And his skill was attested to by most of his peers. He also was undeniably influential. Yet there are people that truly think we was just an actor, mostly faking his martial arts, and that he had no real skill. The truth is he wasn’t The Godfather of mma (I’d really like to slap Dana White for ever saying that) or an elite fighter. But he wasn’t just an actor either.

[@ajatathemu]

@@judosailor610 you're still doing it? Because he never competed and did tricks to promote his art doesn't mean he'd be exposed. I'm not a guy that thinks he's invincible but I also don't know how good he actually was. All we have are respected martial artist that trained with him testimonies. And I'm not prepared to call them all liers.

[@judosailor610]

@@ajatathemu When I say exposed, I mean exposed as just being a normal traditional martial artist. One that was beginning to think outside the box, maybe, but that hadn’t actually spent much time fighting. I’m sure he could’ve become good at it, with his tremendous work ethic. But he wasn’t there yet. For example, you see that DK Yoo boxing match? That’s pretty much what I think Lee would’ve looked like had he stepped in the ring. At least it would look like that if he didn’t spend a significant amount of time training differently. And yeah, about what his peers said about him, that’s why I don’t say he was just an actor. But some of them also said he never sparred or fought them. And they thought he was good, but wouldn’t be beating real fighters.

[@fistoftulkas7335]

Yes he was a martial-arts enthusiast, but Bruce was mainly an actor. That was his profession, and since he was a child. What would you call JCVD, Steven Seagal, Jet Li and such? They're actors, first and foremost.

[@vaibhavgurung5585]

This just changed the whole way I look at sparring and also fighting. Paradigm shift! Thank you coach for this priceless lesson!

[@attiylanen]

If you react, you have already lost. It's not reacting, it's acting. "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy" - Cobra Ki "If they strike first, we'll pre-strike" - Eagle Fang

[@stephanwatson7902]

This is absolutely the point, I wish more people studied what Lee wrote then they'd understand his demos. Like the 1inch punch, people think it's some secret punch or technique; all it is, is demonstrating that you can generate enough force, without any windup. It's basically a non-telegraphed Jab

[@hellclown4]

Hey Ramsey, I just had my first point Mauy Thai fight, I was very active, held the center of the mat, kept my defense up and had "a" good moments in the clinch, I got really tired in the final minute and got swept twice from having my kicks caught. Didn't get the win but was very happy with my performance, just curious if you had any suggestions for if your kick is caught? Like the lead teep or the switch kick? Thanks! Have a good day!

[@RamseyDewey]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZqaZYCQfturb7M

[@itzbebop]

Good job getting in the ring bro! Keep up the good work.

[@jaeyoungkang5951]

Interesting observations...I wonder if your points are different for physical activities other than fist-fighting? Niels Bohr (famous chemist / physicist) loved Westerns, and he really liked the gunslinging parts. He often did mock pistol-duels with his colleagues using water guns, and he found he pretty much always won if he quick-drew his gun instead of drawing his gun first. He theorized it was because drawing the gun first with intention is slower to process than the more instinctive quick-draw response. Neuroscientists have studied this phenomenon in-depth and found there is a reactive advantage; the Bohr effect really is a thing. I had a theory that maybe that's why so many traditional martial arts want you to use your art primarily in self-defense - because they observed the same points Bohr did. Apparently, I can't attach links to academic papers and articles about this topic because KZbin will take down the comment, but I'm happy to provide sources and discuss more.

[@dusk6159]

The concept does at least make sense. I wonder though if these two type of contexts have this comparison working the same way. White weapons/unharmed combat and a duel/fight with guns, especially the context around them like the distance between the two guys facing each other with a sword and the two doing It instead with guns.

[@jaeyoungkang5951]

@VINCENTNATTI Good idea. Just a few of the academic papers on the topic: "Pinto, Y., Otten, M., Cohen, M. A., Wolfe, J. M., & Horowitz, T. S. (2011). The boundary conditions for Bohr’s law: When is reacting faster than acting?" Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics "Welchman, A. E., Stanley, J., Schomers, M. R., Miall, R. C., & Bülthoff, H. H. (2010). The quick and the dead: when reaction beats intention. Proceedings of the Royal Society" "Weller L, Kunde W, Pfister R. Disarming the gunslinger effect: Reaction beats intention for cooperative actions. Psychon Bull Rev. 2018" A good introduction to the topic can be found from the National Geographic article, "Why Does the Gunslinger Who Draws First Always Get Shot?"

[@jaeyoungkang5951]

@@dusk6159 I actually do have an idea of why gunslinging is not the same paradigm as fist-fighting. In gunslinging, each person only does one motion, drawing out the gun, and it's just a question of who does it first. After both people take their "turns" shooting off one bullet each, it's over - one of the two is going to be dead or too injured to fight. In fist-fighting, however, it's not a situation where each person, for example, only throws one punch each with a difference of timing. In fist-fights, people throw many punches in sequence, with an unlimited number of combinations as to how many punches are thrown, when they're thrown, and where they're thrown at. The element of combinatorial randomness is astronomically higher in fist-fighting.

[@jaeyoungkang5951]

@VINCENTNATTI Np

[@UchihaHyugaKazuya]

I remember hearing about the same study! I had also heard that he had failed to take in account that he might have just been a skilled gun duelist.

[@dragonpride95]

This was enlightening! It seems that most of combat really stems from really great setups. It's simple mind games, but devastating results if done right. Please keep those videos coming! 😆👍

[@stephanwatson7902]

That's the thing, this wasn't Bruce saying he's so fast no one can block him, he was saying 'the hand moves faster than the eye, so how can you SEE the punch and THEN react' really anybody can do the "unblockable punch"

[@RamseyDewey]

Exactly

[@stewartmartin8382]

I always thought that the ghidon brai was just for chi movement, I smiled like crazy when you said its a grab and pull movement, thank you for helping me learn something new today

[@PHATT_TV]

So deep but yet so simple, thanks Ramsey 🙏. I trained at 3 different fighter gyms & no one ever explained this to me

[@tatotato85]

Not really planning on putting this to use, but learning fighting fundamentals like this seems like a good way to spend my time. Ty coach

[@jeffreywright2294]

You're awesome coach Ramsey your techniques are smooth to-the-point simplicity !

[@ErickAJobim]

Wow, this video changed my mind about what inteligent fighting really is. Today is my birthday, that video was a great present. Thanks from Brasil(Brazil)🇧🇷

[@RamseyDewey]

Happy birthday!

[@liambiggar5658]

Excellent video. It also reinforces the difference between the one stop shop self defence videos/courses and serious repetitive training. Building muscle memory, pressure testing, etc. That baseline of training frees you up to strategise in the moment and adjust tactics because you are doing the basics on autopilot. To your point about programming, and that need to retaliate like for like. One of my favourite strategies was to launch a flurry of attacks and then retreat significantly when there was resistance. To draw them into a spinning back kick when they started to chase me down. I didn't think of it in any measured way at the time, or in any analytical fashion. Instinctively I think I knew that if the opponent is moving forward quickly in the hope of staying on the front foot, they don't tend to think of evading laterally or can't arrest their momentum.

[@brucetsai7732]

Thank you for your explanation of the 1967 video, very helpful!

[@chopsueykungfu]

My perspective is coming from Wing Chun, it is a infighting range system - same as grappling range. When you are in contact with opponent, you feel what they do and respond accordingly. This is why we can close our eyes and spar and other infighting styles like wrestling or jujitsu can as well - you feel what the opponent does and respond. To depend on your eyes is not effective at all. And this can explain why WC is ineffective when you are 'not bridged' with your opponent. Staying just at boxing range, the WC guy is always going to be inferior - you gotta get in closer.

[@isaweesaw]

I love that tie-in towards the end with traditional forms. The "pulling in" makes a lot more sense in context!

[@jezrahazelwood5073]

True story: I was having a lot of trouble avoiding getting hit while sparring. I watched a video from a boxing instructor who said basically the same thing you are. I tried it out in sparring and it helped. Then one of my instructors came up to me and told me to stop doing that and take the sparring seriously. WTF?? Anyway, thanks again for another great video.

[@RamseyDewey]

That’s a very strange reaction from a coach!

[@joaopaula8983]

Thanks Ramsey for other pearl🙏

[@clickbaitable9578]

This is something I see with my Sifu when sparring with him, where he's always moving his head, never in the same spot (he has had experience in the cage before) and something I started to adopt too. Training in JKD, we were taught the same "action is faster than reaction, so we intercept, we Think Hit". But I guess I never seen this in effect in other practice like the head movement or baiting the kick. Hopefully you can make more videos related and talking about strategy like baiting them into catching their kick

[@REDMASKANIMATION]

Awesome advice! This is why I love your channel! Practical advice. Simple stuff. No need for fancy disarms and flashy kicks. It all looks good, but will it always work? No. Gotta go practical. It’s real and it works! Thanks for the awesome video!

[@stephanwatson7902]

Bruce was trying to get people to realise, they think if someone sucker punches them or just attacks them, that they'd have time to block and react. "The best defense, is a defensive offense"

[@maxiboii5518]

I think this is very relevant to gun/tactical skills. People are so focused on how fast they are on the range, dedicating so much time to losing only tenths of seconds, instead of how to react to situations, force on force (sparring), and decision making.

[@bernarddato3221]

Another relevant video, Ramsey. Bruce Lee was smart: he knew karateka had lost its way (and he knew that at the time, in the world of martial arts, everyone would be fooled). But you are right: the lesson to be learned is the principle you state, "If you are reacting you are loosing". Same principle in chess (among other disciplines). Could you make a video on the counter? I’m not saying Bruce Lee was an elite fighter, I don’t know, but in one of his two sparring videos, there are some really nice counters, including a highkick counter against a left hook (if I remembrement right), and in a punch distance. Your analysis of the counter (intercept the blow that the opponent initiates) would be very interesting I think. In advance thank you (if you please). 👊🙏👊

[@cuzz63]

Those were not actual sparring videos. Those were demo's of him play sparring with his students, might as well be choreographed.

[@bernarddato3221]

@@cuzz63 : maybe, it was just un example ; what would be interesting is Ramsey Dewey’s analysis of the conter principle.

[@darkghoul4049]

@@cuzz63 they were most likely not choreographed, but definitely not hard sparring

[@bernarddato3221]

@@darkghoul4049 : I think so, too.

[@fistoftulkas7335]

@@darkghoul4049 Ed Parker and his son confirmed it was coreographed. BL was a an illusionist, and an actor.

[@JazMan2001]

Amazing video here, I’m going to show this to my students! Keep up the great work

[@makenjikarate]

Absolutely right, action always beats reaction

[@uncontrollablemartialartsa1804]

Great advice Master dewey!! Now get out there and train"!!!

[@IncredibleMD]

The song in the ad absolutely slaps. Makes me think of old eighties anime or something like that. Maybe early Dragonball?

[@danmclean7375]

This is why coaches always yell: "Be FIRST" Great breakdown👍

[@VGEmblem]

One of your best videos, chief

[@muizismail4844]

I really want so see ramsey collab with stephen strangle. That guy is awesome with what he talk especially about bjj and mma.

[@RamseyDewey]

That would be cool!

[@jtkachlmeier]

Excellent advice man! Really love it! The more intimate side of fighting. Where matches are made and won.

[@thelastchimp]

thank you ramsey, this was really eye opening and made me realise I've been reacting wayyy too much

[@kez_the_reaper2657]

Always loved this concept they taught us this on the first day i ever took a boxing class it was throw a one two step back then back in with another one two and it took years for the penny to drop and understand why I was just taking about it one day to my girlfriend and thankfully shes lovely to put up with me she put some boxing gloves on and just threw a few punches at me and like you just said it becomes like magic when you can just move your head and slip Now ive been back training learning kickboxing and no gii the most beautiful thing is happening every new technique learnt comes with several light bulb moments of how i can set things up all from that very basic boxing training

[@RamseyDewey]

That’s awesome!

[@sameerasmr6217]

This why Ramsey is more clear and explainable teacher of reality...! All are try to hide these little things from poor students Long well...!!!

[@citrusmcorange4611]

Wouldn't moving in a default way make you predictable aswell?

[@joshbernal4864]

OODA loop is a real thing. Action is %100 always faster than reaction. Great job Mr. Dewey

[@tomasotreasaigh111]

You are looking well mo chara, I hope 2022 is good to you and yours. I am glad you covered this, it's a very important lesson indeed. I saw a video of Michael Jai White showing Kimbo Slice a lesson in response timing with regards to a telegraphed punch and a straight line punch with minimal movement. Very good lesson as always, thank you and peace and good will from Ireland to you all.

[@AveSicarius]

This really works into the whole Karate "blocking" argument too. There is no way that the uke techniques are intended to block strikes as they are coming, not unless the founder's of Karate and the style it came from had no idea about fighting at all (which is the issue with many modern Karateka), maybe a slight movement intended to deflect strikes coming close to your guard position, but not as a reaction to intercept a strike that has already been thrown. It's why I think these techniques, and basically the entire method of traditional Karate, was based around grappling, largely in the clinch. Having a hold of an opponents body allows you to somewhat control their movement as well as being close enough that you can use "blocks" to stifle strikes before they gather enough momentum to be dangerous (much like moving your forearm into the crook of the elbow to stifle a circular strike like a hook or haymaker). These can also double as joint locking or close range striking techniques (a jodan uke can easily be used to push up under the opponents chin and into their throat to make space or set-up a takedown, for example), but I think the whole interpretation of "block" came from a mistranslation of a concept that could mean "redirect" or "control". I think the vast majority of "blocks" in traditional martial arts follow this same logic given that any effective striking art is going to heavily revolve around dealing with takedown attempts and grappling (as this has always been the most common method of assault). Your opponent gets ahold of you, and can't take you down, so what do they do next? Try to strike you, and so keeping hold of them, controlling their strikes, then striking back or performing a takedown would seem the logical answer to this problem. It's also likely why striking arts tended to have somewhat deep, solid stances, which are bad for fighting a pure striker, but definitely beneficial when defending against potential takedowns (and MMA stances tend to be more solid than striking combat sports in line with this). Many techniques also seem suited to finishing an opponent on the floor after taking them down (stamps, downward punches, and so on). It seems insane to me that people could still think that blocking strikes after they are thrown is a viable defensive tactic. It might work if you are fighting a complete bum who throws massively telegraphed haymakers, but even then, only one shot has to land for you to be in trouble, so get close, stifle the strikes before they can land, strike back hard, then hold and strike them in the clinch if they try to grab you or take you down.

[@DoctorZisIN]

1:55 "It had nothing to do with how fast Bruce Lee was". Notice that Bruce's hands were also down, not only that but he was a step away from the defender, unlike your setup with hands up and at close range. An expert Karate fighter should be able to react, if not block, at least a little, but Bruce was so fast that the guy looked like he was frozen. I agree that acting is faster than reacting but also Bruce's speed was a big factor in this demonstration.

[@nonserviam8604]

That‘s true. The distance between Bruce Lee and the Karate guy was the longdistance. The acting/reacting time is secondary in this example. The speed is primary.

[@oscarfernandezmartin359]

I don`t think, the video of Bruce Lee is about speed at all. It`s more about timing/ coordination whitout telegraphing his movement. He moves his feet/body forward meanwhile he lifts his hand to the face of his partner. This allows him to bridge the gap, whitout loosing time on his way forward.

[@nonserviam8604]

@@oscarfernandezmartin359 ….with Speed.

[@oscarfernandezmartin359]

@@nonserviam8604 of course with speed. would be silly in slow motion 😏

[@nonserviam8604]

@@oscarfernandezmartin359 yes speed is the foundation. You should mention that.

[@lightxxatu]

unrelated to the video, but i'm 99% sure i occasionally started doing the kungfu salute in my every day life because i've seen so many of your videos lol

[@Druid_Ignacy]

Fun fact: this experiment of Bruce Lee is actually very basic fencing exercise, that teaches leading attack with weapon (and adding footwork at the end) to not telegraph. Attacker stands in lunge attack distance, and defender in low guard. Kind and direction of attack are known to both, and attacker can't feint in any way. And if the defender is able to parry, that means the attacker telegraphs, and uses bad technique. It is commonly told that Bruce Lee had some interest in fencing, maybe he even picked this one up from it :)

[@John-xk2sd]

Bruce's brother Peter was an accomplished fencer.

[@dgillian183]

Great video, Ramsey!!

[@ahmedhany8339]

I am planning on starting wrestling for self defense. My question is, should I do greco or free style wrestling Which would help me better in a self defense or street fight scenario. Great video as always

[@411Adil]

looking sharp Ramsey!

[@keithjackson4985]

Great advice! Thank you.

[@PooleAcademyofWingChun]

I do agree with what you say , instead try to catch the punch across the direction of the punch if you forward the gap towards the opponent you will catch it

[@rolandotillit2867]

The best way to make the opponent react is to hide your movements. The rear elbow and leg is used for stepping forward, and the front elbow and leg is used for moving back. Just like cloud hands teaches you.

[@Jenjak]

Same in anything that requires tactic: Chess: if you force your opponent to react to your game, you are winning.

[@someoriginalname6004]

well Im not sure if its the best analogy, in chess both oppontnts always react to every move by chosing the best response, there is only one moment when someone is atacking first and its when white make first move in game which is the rule (and from what I remember white wins 55% of games at average trough history); and if you talk about aggresive vs defensive styles then I can bring Karpov as an example, one of the best players in history who was playing less aggresive, waiting for specific moment in game when he could go into more offensive mode, he was like a fighter who defend waiting patiently for a moment when opponent make some mistake or when fight get into area he feels comfortable and then strikes, it wouldn;t be good tactic in mma but it can work in chess though

[@thedraftingax5963]

Good advice! This is exactly what they told me in karate class when I mastered it!

[@joco762]

Outstanding video! ( yay! More Silver!). Good solid material that decodes the “ magic”.

[@damon123jones]

side to side up down but also maintain distance at the same time...all in ballance so you can hit openings as they appear

[@adcyuumi]

One bit that gets lost about why your guard is where it is -- reflex time, relative to strike time. If you don't have your guard up correctly, you will sometimes eat a straight left/right strike almost before you even see it coming. Your arms/hands have roughly 0.06s to deflect a straight punch. They have to already be where you need them to be.

[@dekeking9416]

This is why when I dodge more then I block or intercept cuz if I'm constantly on the move my movements being random and fluid and more difficult to read I put myself in the mindset of whatever I can't block I dodge and whatever I can't dodge I block and intercept when I can

[@cedricc.306]

But, in a self defense situation, you cannot take a fighting stence and start to move your head intelligently cause that will initiate the fight in a very inefficient way. You can place your open hands in front of you saying something like "I don't want any trouble", you can move a bit as if your are nervous but your are very limited in term of head movement...

[@kanucks9]

For someone to attack you, they must set their feet. That is, they have to assume some kind of fighting stance on the moment before they attack. That's your queue to do the same :)

[@someboi4903]

Can’t you just wait until the fight has already started to use head movement ?

[@cedricc.306]

@@someboi4903 I meant in a self defense situation which is not yet a fight, it might trun to fight or not, you don't want to escalate by taking a figthing stance, but you want to protect yourself against suprise punch

[@tokujinsicura2190]

And to top it off he got us with the fallout reference🥊👌

[@patriotoutloud1511]

Good stuff coach

[@billylo3560]

It's not the same. Bruce did a huge step forward and hit. Your distance is much closer. If you put Bruce Lee as an example than do it to the same conditions. But yes its slower to react.

[@tonygallagher6989]

If you have to deal with an ambush attack, rather than a match fight, it's unlikely that your hands will be raised to guard your head. When I did Wing Chun, the instructor said the bong sau deflection was used when our hands were lower than our elbows. It doesn't work if you're moving backwards, so it's better to move in, deflect and blast the attacker with a good follow up. All of this requires some degree of anticipation, and situational awareness is probably the greatest requirement where ambush attacks are concerned. It's better to not be there, if possible.

[@BRUCEJJ66]

Not saying you don't make very valid points here, but ... Bruce started with his hands down, too, not up in any kind of boxing position, & he was also starting from kicking range, if not further away than that. But then, his (open) hand never got closer than 10 inches or so away from Moore's face, it wasn't like he was throwing a punch that came very close to his volunteer's face, it was, after all, a demo, & Bruce was a showman ...

[@RamseyDewey]

And? Lee acted. Moore reacted.

[@nonserviam8604]

@VINCENTNATTI The demo was not stupid, it was genius. It shows how fast you can be if you train correctly.

[@nonserviam8604]

@VINCENTNATTI It shows how fast you can be if you are smooth and relaxed and you hit non-telegraphic. That was one of the Bruce primary Ideas.

[@infestchristopher1457]

You had made a valid in this video. Anything that you said in this video is 100% accurate.

[@cahallo5964]

7:27 I am permamently grabbing people's arm in sparring and I get those faces of "why are you doing that?" kinda like when you attack the fingers in bjj, is this normal or should I spar new people

[@marylandworld]

I believe Vic Moore.. he did block the first attempt and Bruce started aiming above his to head .. and the objective was chess .. Bruce just an invention to be the hero of the arts during that time .. their first star that's all. Who went global.

[@paulpelle3046]

Absolutely brilliant 🙏

[@edi9892]

Two small observations: 1) it might not be of much value in MMA, but it sure is in sword fighting, and a few unarmed martial arts: you can feel intent faster than you can see it. Just imagine that you and your opponent touch each others forearm. No matter what he tries you can feel it. 2) sometimes getting visibly exhausted and become sloppy in your guard can work in your advantage as it can be used as a bait. If you leave an opening, there's a good chance that your opponent will exactly go for the opening you present.

[@RamseyDewey]

There’s a ton of crossover between sword fighting and hand to hand fighting. Great observations!

[@emancoy]

You can also have the skill to predict where the head would go to hit it. In practice, easier said than done

[@iamahuman6402]

How big of an advantage would percieving time 10x slower be? And what about percieving time 20% faster then opponent and being able to move normally in your own perception.

[@MasterBerion]

The problem in the Bruce Lee demonstration is not the difference at the way the hands take but the reaction time: attack: brain --> hand vs. counter: eye-> brain --> hand. Counter looses because the eye is very slow in reaction in comparison skin sensoring. This is why you better keep your hands (at least one) up as a sensor for incoming strikes. Because hand -> brain -> hand is way much faster for reaction.

[@hasanc1526]

You should watch Victor Moore's interview about the demo, he was laughing because of how ridiculous it was

[@hasanc1526]

@VINCENTNATTI yeah and they never show that in the videos

[@fistoftulkas7335]

@VINCENTNATTI Yeah there's more footage somewhere. Not sure Victor Moore ever catched him, but like you perfectly said it's a meaningless trick, doesn't prove anything.

[@terencejeffries5359]

how do? may have just figured out why i'm a winner by waiting for the first physicality to begin. the problem is do i share the wisdom or keep to self. i'll investigate thesis prior papering. taztez.

[@dariusmonte9330]

Came for dewey, found gold

[@sfeuzh5838]

Timing beats speed

[@Eternalknight27]

could you please do more about reflexes and reaction I'd like to learn more about them both

[@martialartness]

Bruce Lee deciples be flipping out right about now. Lol.

[@COMB0RICO]

This makes much more sense than your previous noodle demo.

[@ricksterdrummer2170]

I tried this with my friend when we were both in our late teens. Funny thing is, we could both do it to each other. We both realized at that point what Lee did was more like “circus tricks”, but we were both such fanboys that we refused to believe it. We just told ourselves we were “almost as fast as Bruce Lee!” haha

[@mattdowds8505]

I think a lot of people, Bruce Lee fanboys, haters & genuine critics alike, misunderstand his demonstrations. I think he was demonstrating the same point you are, like with the 1 inch punch, he was showing that you can produce speed & power without a big wind up. "The Way of the Intercepting Fist" is a catch all term for using the closest weapon, be it hand or foot to bridge the gap between the attack & the response with fast twitch muscle fibres rather than the more powerful slow twitch fibres. If you watch his fight scenes closely, especially the later ones, he set up traps & uses feints a lot, he was not all about speed, but he's fast enough for most people watching to miss them, especially those who don't know what to look for in the first place.

[@kk346592]

I'm assuming having fast reflexes is an advantage, similar to having strong muscles.

[@stevensonchambers5577]

When you minimize your opponent's opportunities to hit you, you minimize how much you will get hit.

[@thisismagacountry1318]

When you're bobbing your head while throwing punches don't do it in a steady rhythm or a good fighter will predict where your head's going to be. You can use the other guy's head movement against him if you see his pattern and punch or counter effectively.

[@shadowdancer5330]

Very informative video

[@jadensmith4607]

There is a video on KZbin that shoes that famous demo from a different angle. I think the karate guy managed to fully block one of Bruce's punches.

[@TylerDylanKelly]

What is that logo of the dragon with the black belt around it hanging on the wall in the beginning of the video ? I really enjoy the way it looks.

[@RamseyDewey]

It’s the logo of the Taekwondo school that usually uses this room in the gym.

[@raccoonboy5864]

hey ramsay I've heard you talk about the grappling elements of capoeira, could you please do a video on the grappling in capoeira movements? Thanks so much

[@brauliochavez2231]

i agree, programming your opponent to move a certain way is a big part of fighting, but i would not discard basic reading of movements either, iam not saying see the punch and block it or parry it... that pby wont work but any motion has a starting motion ( with more trained people the smaller the starting motion is) and you can read that and avoid the hit, or counter

[@anatolyalperovich9069]

I was taught to watch legs when wrestling and watch into the eyes , when boxing . Let the instinct flow

[@scottyjohnson9399]

nice channel. quick question. whats that blue red yin yang symbol in back ground.

[@RamseyDewey]

That’s the South Korean flag.

[@ashtar3876]

Does the same apply for checking kics? I imagine so.

[@periodic98]

So how do you move intelligently? If you notice your opponent loves leg kicks,should you start to add random checks to your movement?

[@RamseyDewey]

You get out there and train!

[@Emcron]

tbh, idk where the “eye for an eye” reaction comes from. maybe it’s because i’m an “open spot” hunter when I spar, but I realized I almost never counterattack with the same technique my opponent just hit me with.

[@RamseyDewey]

Good!

[@AmScEn]

thank you for the gem

[@DanielPopeScholarVictoria]

This echoes advice from the 15th century by people fighting with swords: "you shall not stand still and look after his strikes, waiting for what he fences against you. Know that all fencers that look and wait on another’s strikes and will do nothing other than parrying deserve such very little joy in their art, since they are destroyed and become struck thereby."

[@gprivat812_my_selection6]

🎯👍❗Great vid and very interesting comments, showing further aspects of this!