not needed in the tight quarters of Hong Kong, but they were quite useful in the wider, open spaces of the United States.
So the bai-jong grew out of necessity, resulting from Lee’s response to changing needs and circumstances. Lee designed the stance to provide for stability and mobility. He wanted to be able to easily evade an opponent’s strikes, as well as to advance quickly when attacking. The arts of Western boxing and fencing influenced the baijong’s hand and foot positions. Lee placed the front and rear hands up as a boxer would, to protect the head and facilitate medium-range punching. He set the feet apart in a way that allows a person to move back and forth and laterally with quickness, like a fencer. Lee placed the stronger side forward, toward the opponent, to promote striking with the lead hand and kicking with the lead foot, much as a fencer places the foil in front. These positions also allow one to protect the centerline and minimize the amount of body exposed to an opponent’s attack.
The principle of placing one’s stronger side forward dictates that right-handed people will put their right side forward toward an opponent, while left-handed people will do the opposite. Here is an easy way to move into the bai-jong stance from a natural standing position: First, put both feet together, facing forward. Then, assuming that you are right-handed, turn your left foot outward about eighty degrees. Take a forward step with your right foot until your feet are about shoulders’ width apart. Those with shorter legs may want to place their feet slightly closer than this, while those with longer legs may want to position their feet a little farther apart than this. Your knees should be slightly bent so that you are in a slightly crouched position, known as the small phasic bent-knee position. This helps your stance to be more stable and grounded when you are momentarily poised between actions. The idea is to achieve a comfortable stance that gives you stability, but also allows you to move freely. The weight should be distributed almost evenly between your feet, so that you feel balanced. As you move, you should maintain a balanced feel so that you are not leaning heavily forward or back, or to the left or right. Although your weight shifts when you execute a particular technique, you will resume a state of equilibrium when you return to the bai-jong.
Your rear foot should not be directly in line behind your front foot. If you draw an imaginary line along the inner side of your front foot, the back of your rear foot should fall just outside that line. The front heel should be turned out slightly, which turns your front knee in so that it protects your groin. Because the front leg is nearer to your opponent, it will do the majority of the kicking and knee strikes. Having the front leg and rear leg positioned in this manner will also facilitate rapid footwork.
Your rear heel should be raised in a cocked position, about 1 to 11⁄2 inches off the ground. This serves several purposes. First, it provides some cushion, allowing you to sink down on your heel and sway your upper body back without moving your feet, if an opponent throws a punch or a high kick at you. Second, with the heel up, you can push off your rear foot for faster footwork and drive. Third, you can move your body weight more powerfully into your punches.
If you are right-handed, your right hand should be in the lead position, facing your opponent. This is because your front hand will do most of the striking and intercepting. Your front arm will be held with the elbow down vertically, about two inches from the ribs. This is known as the immovable elbow position, carried over from Lee’s Wing Chun training. When your elbow is down in this way, your forearm will be able to protect your solar plexus and your ribs. The front hand does not remain in a static position, but should move around in small, circular motions between your lead shoulder and your waist. Sometimes the front hand is up, and sometimes it is down. However, it should not be held so high that it obstructs your vision. Also, it should not be held too close to your body, or extended too far away. If it is too close, it will take longer to reach your opponent; if it is extended too far, it cannot generate sufficient power and the arm can tire easily.
Your rear hand is generally held up at chin level and is used mainly for defending against your opponent’s attacks. Your rear elbow should be down and pressed close to your body, to protect your left side and kidneys. You do not want to have your rear elbow held out because that would expose your body to your opponent’s attack. You use your rear hand to catch or parry strikes that are aimed at your head. If any strikes are thrown at mid-level, you can also drop your rear hand to parry those, or use your rear elbow to cover and protect your midsection. The rear hand can be lowered to protect against low kicks as well.
You can also use your rear hand to throw rear punches, such as a cross or a straight punch. Further, you can use it to trap, or immobilize, your opponent’s limbs, or to shoulder-stop your opponent when he or she tries to throw a circular punch. By having your weaker hand in the back, you generate more power when you throw a rear punch, because it has to travel a longer distance to the target. In this way you end up with two strong tools, your forward tool and your back tool, rather than just one strong tool.
With your right hand and right leg nearest to your opponent, the right side of your torso will also face your opponent. You should raise your lead shoulder about an inch or two and tuck in your chin about an inch or two, to help protect your neck from being targeted. Your rear shoulder should be back, but not completely back; if you have it too far back, you cannot use your rear hand for defensive purposes. Having the rear shoulder back presents a smaller target space and also allows longer reach for the front tools to strike their targets. Your upper body should lean forward slightly from the waist to enable you to more easily pull back from an attack. This also gives your opponent’s view a false perspective, making your body look closer than it actually is.
While in the bai-jong, you should remain relaxed and calm, avoiding any tension. This will allow you to move and to strike with more power and speed. You will be able to throw punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes quickly and efficiently and to return to the ready position rapidly.
The bai-jong can resemble an unorthodox, or left-handed, Western boxing stance, but there are important differences. First, boxers tend to square up more, because they use their rear hands more frequently. In contrast, the Jeet Kune Do stance turns the rear side slightly more toward the back, because the emphasis is on using the lead hands. Also, in squaring up, boxers can remain in punching range, and they do not have to worry about being kicked by their opponent. The Jeet Kune Do fighter, on the other hand, is concerned with staying out of range of an opponent’s kicks, and must be able to move forward and backwards like a fencer.
Another reason why boxers square up more is that they do no have to worry about being punched or kicked in the groin, because those shots are illegal in the sport. However, in the street the groin is a potential target. Thus, the Jeet Kune Do fighter puts one side forward more and turns the front leg in slightly in order to protect the groin. Boxers can also square up more because they are not allowed to kick. In contrast, the Jeet Kune Do fighters use front kicks as part of their weapons arsenal.
The other major difference is that Western boxers place their weaker side forward and their stronger side in back. Hence, a right-handed boxer will have the left side toward the opponent, while a left-handed boxer will have the right side facing forward. This is because the front hand in boxing is used mostly to probe or to set up for a strong rear-hand punch. In contrast, the Jeet Kune Do fighter places the stronger side forward so that the stronger weapons, which do most of the striking and most of the damage, can reach the opponent more frequently
