Rock Lee's techniques are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu (see terms), but solely taijutsu, meaning hand-to-hand combat that does not involve any sort of magic. One advantage to taijutsu is that, while both ninjutsu and genjutsu constantly need chakra and hand seals to be performed, taijutsu can be performed right away.

Normally, a ninja's taijutsu skills are mediocre. If stripped of their other skills, they are usually in trouble. However, Lee is a taijutsu specialist. The key to taijutsu is speed. Hence, Lee's greatest strength lies in his agility. Even if advanced bloodlines such as sharingan and byakugan can predict his moves, the opponent's body doesn't have enough speed to react to it in time. You'll notice that most of Lee's techniques focus on catching the opponent off guard, rendering the opponent defenseless, or attack before the opponent can react. All of his techniques require a high speed to do any serious damage. Therefore, if you can't see him, you cannot attack him. Even if you can see the attacks, you don't have time to react to them. Needless to say, Lee's a tough opponent to beat.

On the opposite end, taijutsu can be a double edged sword. Most of Lee's high level techiques can be self-damaging. While ninjutsu and genjutsu uses up chakra at a constant rate, taijutsu puts strain on the body's physical state. Although taijutsu doesn't require constant chakra, how long a user can last depends on his stamina as well as his body's limit. Normally, there are gates that control chakra flow, limiting the body to prevent the user from overusing the body. Opening the gates increases the chakra flow to at least tenfold, releasing the body's limiters and enabling the user to gain immense power - though at the risk of sacrificing their health. With all eight gates open, one can temorarily gain power greater than a Hokage. However, that person would most likely die afterwards. Lee has the capability to open five of the eight gates. Consequently, the more gates opened, the more damage his body will receive. Lee's forbidden techniques require more time for the body to recover. Thus, Lee is most vulnerable when his forbidden techniques fail.

You can understand Lee's fighting style better by thinking of how a gun works. A bullet, by itself, is hardly damaging. Put this bullet inside a gun, mix gunpowder with a spark, and the bullet shoots out at high speed, easily capable of killing instantly. Similarily, Lee's attacks won't do any serious damage without much speed. With increased speed however, he can execute incredibly powerful moves that are capable of killing, if not seriously injuring and immobilizing an opponent. Now a bullet can't be self-damaging. But if you think of the gunpowder as Lee's chakra, and the bullet as Lee himself, you can see why it'll be self-damaging. Eventually, bullets will run out. Similarily, Lee's body can only take so many rounds before reaching its limit. Once a gun runs out of bullets, it's useless. Parallel to that, Lee is pretty much useless after he reaches his limit.

Almost every ninja in Naruto is fighting for something, whether it's to ultimately defeat someone, to gain strength, to change others ways of thinking, or to protect something precious to them. Lee's way of ninja is to show that a dropout can beat a genius with hard work. It's also to prove that taijutsu is not a style to be underestimated, and that you can be an excellent ninja without using ninjutsu or genjutsu. Therefore, Lee never stops working, even while resting in a hospital or after a long day in which everyone else has gone home. His style is definitely one to be admired and respected.

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