Both stressed moving in a fluid way, to allow each action to come naturally. Bruce Lee says the body is meant to keep a “formless form”, and each action is recognized by both martial artists as having the potential of breaking that seamless idea.
Rhythm
Cadence between two fighters is obtained whenever two people square off. Bruce Lee quotes a passage by Marcelli which states that while it is impossible to know this cadence ahead of time, a fighter must adapt to the rhythm between him and his opponents in order to strike in a way that is favorable to the situation.
Musashi addresses this concern in what he calls Constricting the Shadow. This is a situation where a fighter changes the flow of the battle by forcing the opponent to adopt his own cadence, forcing him to give up his own action.
For instance, two fighters are both moving slowly in combat, sizing up the situation. If one fighter begins to move more quickly, either the second fighter must adapt to the new speed of the combat or force the faster fighter to slow back down. The rhythm of a fight can be felt; it is a momentous force that is understood between the two fighters.
Jarred Movement
Many jarred movements, like “stamping the foot”, are bad because they involve wait times. While Bruce Lee advocates changing rhythm to upset the opponent, Musashi outlines all sorts of ways changing a match’s cadence can go wrong. He argues that while it is possible to switch rhythm on the opponent, that might involve actions that can limit yourself as well.
A wait time is something that happens, say, after a hop or a stamp. After a jump, even if only a split second occurs, a person must readjust their footing when they land. Plus, locations of fights differ. Fighters who get used to hopping and find themselves in a fistfight at the beach are at a disadvantage simply because of the type of advances they are used to making.
Even when it comes to point sparring in a standard TKD tournament, I’ve been to places where the mats are much softer and deeper than I’m used to, and foot placement becomes problematic.
Speed
An issue of some fighters is that they rush to catch the enemy off guard. A thing to think about is how much control a fighter still has once they’ve increased their momentum. Momentum is speed and weight, and if increasing your own momentum doesn’t distract the opponent, they’re still in control. Now you have a body that, if it needs to stop for any reason, requires more to stop.
I outline this because both Lee and Musashi argue that there is a large difference when it comes to moving at a great speed and seizing an opportunity. Seizing an opportunity on an opponent, when they’ve left an opening, must be done quickly in order to achieve the result. However, assume that unless you are sure that the person across from you when fighting will conform to your cadence, a sudden increase in personal movement may be wasteful.
Worst still, it may open up opportunities for the opponent.
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