Questions regarding watching the elbows and knees
Dear Sifu Victor,
Your article is very interesting and make me think. Thank you very much.
I would be very grateful if you or anyone can answer the following questions for me regarding to:
"I) WATCHING ELBOWS AND KNEES
It’s a scientifically proven fact that when a straight line punch or kick is thrown that the elbow (in the case of a punch) or the knee (in the case of a kick) is actually moving about 2x slower than the fist or the foot respectively - since the elbow or the knee are moving about half the distance of the fist or the foot IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME. So they have to be moving slower - and are therefore much easier to see and react to. Watching a fist when a fast punch is thrown can actually be little more than a blur - and the same is true of the foot when a fast kick is thrown. And when a round punch or kick is thrown - the elbow and the knee are actually moving about 4x slower than the fist or foot, for the same reasons just given. "
1) Watching the elbows and knees might work for long distance fighting against a stationary opponent. However, what happen if your opponent keep on bouncing around or jumping up and down as shown in some of the tae kwon do tournaments in UK?
Several months ago I saw the BBC News interviewing and showing some of the British tae kwon do Olympic team's fighting techniques. They were bouncing for several seconds before they even throw a kick. My question is how can you tell when your opponent is actually attacking you, when he/she keep on moving their knees and elbows up and down (bouncing)?
2) My sparring partner and I start sparring at a distance of less than 2 feet. Therefore, I have to watch the shoulder movement for any sign of attack. Even this is no guarantee that I will not get hit. We kicked our shins several times today.
In order to watch the elbows and knees I would have to bend my neck. Therefore, I may damage my neck in the process.
Which part of the human body do you watch during close up fighting when there is no hand contact at the beginning?
This is not a criticism. This is about me trying to understand TWC's approach towards fighting.
Thank you very much
Hitman