Jeet Kune Do
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Jeet Kune Do (}; }; Jyutping: zit3 kyun4 dou6; lit. "Way of the Intercepting Fist"), also Jeet Kun Do or JKD, is a martial arts combat system developed by martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
Recently, in 2004, the Bruce Lee Foundation decided on using an all encompassing name of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do. This name refers to the art itself as taught by Bruce Lee and as intended by Bruce Lee in his lifetime. "Jun Fan" being Lee's Chinese given name, therefore the literal translation is "Bruce Lee's Way of the Intercepting Fist."
The System
Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is the name Bruce Lee gave to his combat philosophy in 1967. Originally when Lee first began research into fighting styles, he gave his martial art his own name of Jun Fan Gung Fu. JKD as it survives today – if one wants to view it "refined" as a product, not a process – is what was left at the time of Bruce Lee's death. It is the result of the life-long martial arts development process Lee went through. Bruce Lee stated that his concept is not an "adding to" of more and more things on top of each other to form a system, but rather, a winnowing out. The metaphor Lee borrowed from Chan Buddhism was of constantly filling a cup with water, and then emptying it, used for describing Lee's philosophy of "casting off what is useless". He also used the sculptor's mentality of beginning with a lump of clay and hacking away at the "Unessentials". The end result being what he considered to be the bare combat essentials or JKD.Bruce Lee, and thus JKD, was heavily influenced by Western Boxing and Western Fencing. Although the backbone concepts (such as centerline, vertical punching, and forward pressure) come from Wing Chun, Lee stopped using the Wing Chun stances in favor of what he claimed were more fluid/flexible fencing and boxing stances. The claim is that they allowed him to "flow", not to be stuck in stances. For instance, instead of using footwork to position the body for maximum fighting position vis-a-vis the opponent, JKD uses flowing "entries" that do not require "bridges" from Wing Chun. Bruce Lee wanted to create the "ultimate fighting form", but later in the development of Jeet Kune Do, he wanted to use the art for personal development as well, not just to become a better fighter.
While practicing Western Wrestling, Lee was once pinned by a more skillful opponent, who asked what Lee would do if he found himself in the situation in a real fight. Lee replied, "Well, I'd bite you, of course". One of the theories of JKD is that a fighter should do whatever is necessary to defend oneself, irrespective of where the techniques used come from. Lee's goal in Jeet Kune Do was to break down what he claimed were limiting factors in the training of the traditional styles, and seek a fighting thesis which he believed could only be found within the event of a fight. Jeet Kune Do is currently seen as the genesis of the modern spate of hybrid martial arts.
Jeet Kune Do not only advocates the combination of aspects of different styles, it also has to change many of those aspects that it adopts to suit the abilities of the practitioner. Additionally, JKD advocates that any practitioner be allowed to interpret techniques for themselves, and change them for their own purposes. For example, Lee almost always chose to put his power hand in the "lead," with his weaker hand back, therefore he almost always used the right hand stance of Fencing. Just like Fencing he labeled this position the "On Guard" position. Lee incorporated this position into his JKD as he felt it provided the best overall mobility. Lee felt that the dominant or strongest hand should be in the lead because it would perform a greater percentage of the work. Lee minimized the use of other stances except when circumstances warranted such actions. Although the On-Guard position is a good overall stance it is by no means the only one. Lee acknowledged that there were times when other positions should be utilized.
Lee felt the dynamic property of JKD was what enabled its practitioners to adapt to the constant changes and fluctuations of live combat. Lee believed that these decisions should be done within the context of "real combat" and/or "all out sparring". He believed that it was only in this environment that a person could actually deem a technique worthy of adoption.
Bruce Lee did not stress the memorization of solo training forms or "Kata", as most traditional styles do in their beginning-level training. Lee often compared doing forms without an opponent, to attempting to learn to swim on dry land. Lee believed that "real" combat was "alive" and "dynamic". Circumstances in a fight change from millisecond to millisecond and thus pre-arranged patterns and techniques are not adequate in dealing with such a changing situation. As an anecdote to this thinking Lee once wrote an epitaph which read: 'In memory of a once fluid man, crammed and distorted by the classical mess.' The "classical mess" in this instance was what Lee thought of classical martial arts.
Bruce Lee's comments and methods were seen as controversial by many in his time, and still are today. Many teachers from traditional schools disagreed with his opinions on these issues.
The notion of cross-training in Jeet Kune Do is similar to the practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in modern times -- Bruce Lee has been considered by UFC president Dana White as the "father of mixed martial arts"[link]. Many consider Jeet Kune Do to be the precursor of MMA. This is particularly the case with respect to the JKD "Combat Ranges". A JKD student is expected to learn various combat systems within each combat range to thus be effective in all of them; just as in MMA.
Jeet Kune Do Principles
The following are principles that Lee incorporated into Jeet Kune Do. He felt these were universal combat truths that were self evident and would lead to combat success if followed. The "4 Combat Ranges" in particular are what he felt were instrumental in becoming a "total" martial artist. This is also the principle most related to mixed martial arts. The "5 Ways of Attack" are attacking categories that help Jeet Kune Do practitioners organize their fighting repertoire. The concepts of Stop hits & stop kicks and simultaneous parrying & punching were borrowed from Western Fencing. These concepts were than modified for unarmed combat and implemented into the JKD framework by Lee.I. Be like water
JKD students reject traditional systems of training, fighting styles and the Confucian pedagogy used in traditional kung fu schools. JKD is claimed to be a dynamic concept that is forever changing. "Absorb what is useful; Disregard that which is useless" is an often quoted Bruce Lee .
JKD students are encouraged to study every form of combat possible.
II. Economy of motion
JKD students are told to waste no time or movement. When it comes to combat JKD practitioners believe the simplest things work best.
A. Stop hits & stop kicks
This means intercepting an opponent's attack with an attack of your own instead of a simple block. JKD practitioners believe that this is the most difficult defensive skill to develop. This strategy can be a feature of some traditional Chinese martial arts.
B. Simultaneous parrying & punching
When confronting an incoming attack; the attack is parried or deflected and a counter attack is delivered at the same time. Not as advanced as a stop hit but more effective than blocking and counter attacking in sequence. This is also practiced by some Chinese martial arts.
C. No high kicks
JKD practitioners believe they should target their kicks to their opponent's shins, knees, thighs, and mid section. These targets are the closest to the foot, provide more stability and are more difficult to defend against. However, as with all other JKD principles nothing is "written in stone". If a target of opportunity presents itself; even a target above the waist one could take advantage of the situation without feeling hampered by this principle.
III. Learn the 4 ranges of combat
- Kicking
- Punching
- Trapping
- Grappling
IV. Five Ways Of Attack
A. Single Angular Attack and its converse Single Direct Attack.
B. Hand Immobilization Attack and its counterpart Foot Immobilization attack, which make use of “trapping” to limit the opponent to function with that appendage.
C. Progressive Indirect Attack. Attacking one part of the opponent's body followed by attacking another part as a means of creating an opening.
D. Attack By Combinations. This is using multiple rapid attacks as a means of using volume of attack to overcoming the opponent.
E. Attack By Drawing. This is creating an opening with positioning as a means of counter attacking.
V. Three Parts of JKD
Jeet Kune Do practitioners believe that techniques should contain the following properties:
- Efficiency - An attack that reaches its mark
- Directness - Doing what comes naturally in a learned way.
- Simplicity - Thinking in an uncomplicated manner; without ornamentation.
Jeet Kune Do Branches
Although Bruce Lee officially closed his martial arts schools two years before his death, he allowed private teaching by his then current instructors. Since Bruce Lee's death, Jeet Kune Do has fractured into different groups by way of legal and personality conflicts. The main division can be split into two major branches:
- The Original/Jun Fan JKD branch, whose main proponents are Taky Kimura, Ted Wong, Jerry Poteet, and others teach only what Bruce Lee taught, and leave individual development of the martial art beyond this framework to the individual student;
- The JKD Concepts branch, whose main proponents are Dan Inosanto, Richard Bustillo, Larry Hartsell, and others have continued to develop Jeet Kune Do, under the philosophy that it was never meant to be a static art but an ongoing evolution. This branch has incorporated elements from many other martial arts into the main fold of its teachings.
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee studied the martial art style of Wing Chun as a student of sifu Yip Man in Hong Kong and was a movie star early on. Later, he studied other Chinese martial arts, as well as the sports of Western Boxing, Western Fencing. The term Jeet Kune Do actually comes from an off-hand comment Bruce Lee once made about his art being an "intercepting" martial art.
A relevant video source of Bruce Lee discussing his Jeet Kune Do actually appeared in the first episode of the television series Longstreet. The first episode was aptly titled, "The Way of the Intercepting Fist". The episode was written specifically for Lee by his friend and long time supporter Stirling Silliphant.
Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do Quotes
- "The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness". - Be prepared to accept new knowledge and not be hindered or biased by old knowledge.
- "Using no way as way". - Don't have preconceived notions about anything.
- "Having no limitation as limitation". - Don't be confined by anything, achieve true freedom.
- "From form to formless and from finite to infinite". - Don't be confined by limitations and forms.
- The consciousness of "self" is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action - This is actually a Zen or Chan maxim which means to "be in the moment" and NOT be distracted by your own thought process. The Zen quote is: "If you seek it, you will NOT find it". The "Western" counterpart to this is the term "Being in the Zone".
- "If people say Jeet Kune Do is different from "this" or from "that," then let the name of Jeet Kune Do be wiped out, for that is what it is, just a name. Please don't fuss over it." - Don't get hung up on labels and parameters. JKD is alive and therefore always changing; don't try to box it in.
References
- The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Lee Linda, Ohara Publications Inc., U.S. Reprint edition (July, 1993), ISBN 0897500482
- Jeet Kune Do: The Art and Philosophy of Bruce Lee, Know Now Publishing Co., U.S. (1980), ISBN 0-938676-00-8
- Bruce Lee's Fighting Method, OHARA PUBLICATIONS, INC., U.S. Hardback (1978), ISBN 0-89750-062-8
- Jeet Kune Do Basics, David Cheng, Tuttle Publishing (July 2004), ISBN 080483542X
- [Bruce Lee appearing on Longstreet] Video clip of Lee discussing 'The Way of the Intercepting Fist'
- Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do:The Textbook, Chris Kent & Tim Tackett
See also
External links
- [Jeet Kune Do]
- [The Bruce Lee Foundation]
- [The Inosanto Academy]
- [The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Seattle]
- [Various Jeet Kune Do video clips from Google Video]
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