Jeet Kun Do?

Since jkd is alot about taking what is usefel from alot of styles and putting it into your own arsenal and taking away what is not useful, this means that we dont have to be in a jkd class to say that we practice jkd, or the concept or wtv.





Someone can simply do what Bruce Lee did, take a few lessons from diffrent types of martial arts, and taking whats useful ( ofcourse you have to start with a main martial art, like he did with his wing chun )





So if you do this, can you say that you practice the art or concept of jkd? without having gone to a JKD class?

Jeet Kun Do?
you are half right there. but there are two sides of the coin, perhaps let me tell you more about jkd. because at the end of it, only you can truly answer youself. by knowing what jkd is.





one one flipside, i borrowed the quote from the 1st website i listed below:


"JKD has long since been known as the style of no style, but this term has been overused and to a great extent exaggerated to "allow" others to teach JKD without using actual Jeet Kune Do techniques under the guise of defining the art as anything you want to make it." - this often is , i will use the word dilute the core of jkd. this is a view from one camp. what is this core teachings of jkd? i will elaborate later





the other flipside is, i got from wikipedia:


"Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back." - quoted from bruce lee. couldnt be said much better. some people are too hung up about the name and too set upon it, that they limit themselves. this is another argument, from another camp of jkd.





admittedly bruce lee is perhaps the pioneer of MMA today. those who decide that mixing styles, taking whats useful to you and discarding the rest. but i would like to perhaps explain if you dont already know the state of jkd today





after the untimely death of bruce lee, and like many other founders of other martial arts (eg aikido) - the debate as to what really is jkd began and continues to this day. because there cant exactly be a correct answer that is determined. hence there are two branches of jkd.


1. Jun Fan JKD


2. JKD Concepts





Jun Fan JKD teaches the things that bruce lee had taught, the way he found to be true. this is what i call, the websites and certain books call the core of jeet kune do. strongest lead forward, bai jong stance etc etc. everything the teach you was how bruce lee taught the original instructors.








JKD Concepts as wikipedia stated correctly basically continously modify their teachings, perhaps even vary from instructor to instructor. some might argue that it is no different from any tom dick and harry MMA class. but than again in their defence jkd is 'just a boat to get one across,' it is always changing and never static, as the arrows in their logo (the yin and yang with arrows and its philospy, it is shown in both websites, but better explained in the first website)emphasizes. thus their belief. but what i believe is that in this way, it is harder to say what you learnt is jkd but at the same time easier to say so.





as david cheng joked in his book: jeet kune do basics 'how many jeet kune do instructors does it take to change a lightbulb? 10. 1 to do the work, 9 to tell him he is doing it wrong" to cut my habitually lengthy explanations.





if you have (read and) understood all bruce lee has said (bruce lee's commentaries on the martial way - a book he wrote is not bad to start with), adapted your 'expression' (your style, the original one he taught or simply what the concepts believe), dispense with the name jkd. than you have learnt jkd. jun fan or concepts, they are not at war with each other. they just have differing views, but i believe they mutually agree that neither is better.
Reply:Almost every concept in JKD is actually Wing Chun. Bruce got very far in WC so i'd advise starting with that. He basicly uses wing chuns methods for teaching and uses it as a base, and throws in logical defenses, ground techniques and goes into depth more with kicking.
Reply:While application is wing chun...the philosophy of JKD is what you make of it. everyone is different.


My master said it the best....Martial Arts is like a guitar player, while there's tons of players that can play the blues, Clapton is Clapton and SRV is SRV...some play only notes they know and do it very well, others play everything they know and sound like crap because they have no sense of self.
Reply:here is the flip side. if you take jkd you'll learn it all alot faster since there is already 2 generations of info in it. so taking the way you just stated may be a waist of time and money, however it still may be alot of fun and well worth it depending on you
Reply:i would say yes. if you ever read bruce lee's works putting any definitive moves in words goes against what he wrote because what may be jkd for him may not be jkd for you. for example, take someone who really sucks at kicking, well he would have to focus more on his other tools trapping, punching, and grappling. you also have to take into account that alot of the "jkd" out there is really inosanto's jkd. he's teaching kali and all this other stuff. maybe he's furthering his country's martial arts or that it works for him, just don't believe one art will have all the answers. boxing is good, tae kwon do is good, wing chun is good, jiu jitsu is good but a combination of all those things are even better (well rounded) its a CONCEPT, a thought not an art.
Reply:I've read the book, and from what it says, it seems that Jeet Kun Do is not so much a fighting style as it is a mindset or way of being while alive within a fight. I do think, however, that saying "Someone can simply do what Bruce Lee did, take a few lessons from diffrent types of martial arts, and taking whats useful" - is not accurate. It's nothing so simple as just swiping from established styles. Bruce Lee put his soul into his art, and was able to discover things about himself and being alive within a fight that he may not have been able to othewise. My advice to you is to look inside yourself and decide what you want to get out of this, because any true martial artist will tell you that there is nothing simple about it... And no, I wasn' tbeing smug - i'm just a blun tperson.. sorry if it came across as arrogant..