Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee Martial Concept

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Jeet Kune Do,
- Bruce Lee's Martial Concepts -

By: Hanjabam Barun Sharma *

Jeet kune do (JKD), the way of the intercepting fist, is a series of concepts based on the elements of combative principles, developed by the martial art legend, Bruce Lee. JKD was the first free style martial art to ever be brought to martial arts.

It's a simplistic system that allows the fighter to be creative in his own expression of JKD. It is neither a style nor like any other typical martial art. Its the notion of setting aside a respective style & evaluating the attributes important to victory.

JKD has its roots in a style of kung-fu called "wing chun" (a southern Chinese martial arts system); but has in it many techniques from other styles of martial art (Savate, Filipino martial arts, Kenpo etc) studied by Bruce.

He used a whole variety of different elements in his JKD, including psychology, science, mathematics etc. It has antecedents not only in his physical training & voluminous martial arts library (>2000 books), but in his formal education as well (a philosophy major at the university of Washington, Seattle.)

Lee began his martial arts studies with wing chun, under the tutelage of the late Yip Man, to alleviate the personal insecurity instilled by Hong-Kong city life. Perhaps because his training enveloped him to the point of fanaticism, he was eventually able to refine, distill & mature into a philosopher, technician & innovator of the martial art.

He founded JKD as he felt the martial arts were too confined. You can't fight in the pattern he used to say as an attack can be baffling & not refined. He created JKD to show that an old art must transform, the way of fighting must also reform. JKD can't be put into a category like karate for instance, where you could say that although they develop power, fighters are too robotic.

But JKD fighter is the unknown. He is fluid, alive & ready for anything & everything, not limiting himself to just one or two movements, but mixing & matching from different arts of fighting. JKD concept includes training not only ones physical moves but also the mind- which is really the most important aspect of JKD.

The total picture Bruce wanted to present to his pupil was that above everything else he must find his own way. He hoped to free his students from the bondage of styles, patterns & systems. He always said, "Your truth is not my truth, & mine not yours."

He believed that "a teacher must never impose the student to fit his favorite pattern; he should always function as a pointer, exposing him to explorer both internally & finally integrating himself with his being. Martial art should not be passed out indiscriminately."

Jeet Kune Do can't be taught, only JKD concepts can be taught. Its not taught, but is acquired. There is also no definite technique in JKD. Bruce would flow with the moment. If someone happened to be a boxer, he might grapple with him to prove that grappling was superior.

If one were a grappler, he might box with him. In JKD all techniques is to be forgotten & the unconscious is to be left alone to handle the situation. The technique will assert its wonders automatically & spontaneously. Technical skill & learning is important but in responding to a combative situation, we must let the tools see for themselves & our action flow out of the unconscious.

Being trained in JKD class itself doesn't assure you of being knowledgeable in JKD matters. In fact, those trained by Bruce Lee himself can't really say they know all about JKD.

Only a handful of people understand true meaning of JKD concepts, which leaves multitude of opportunities for people to either misconstrue concepts that were originally simple, or take advantage of the fact that these principles aren't fully understood by the public, & pretentiously misrepresent an understanding of them; leading to widespread abuse of the name & fraud.

While Bruce Lee was alive, there were only 3 individuals who were ever certified ("Tao of Chinese Gung-fu" or "the JKD certificate" holders) and authorized by him to teach JKD. The highest ranked instructor was "Taky Kimura", 5th rank. The other two were the late, "James Lee", & "Dan Inosanto", both 3rd rank.

Now, "Dan Inosanto" is one of the world's top authorities on the JKD, who can issue a "Jun Fan Gung-fu" certificate and pass on the concepts & principles that Bruce gave him. But as there is no strict rules, each instructor may teach differently.

JKD is not a product, but a process of learning which must be experienced & experimented with until you understand yourself. JKD for Bruce was neither an end unto itself nor was it merely a byproduct; it was a means of self-discovery, just like a mirror to see oneself.

It is a way of thinking, training, researching, & experimenting; a constant exploration of oneself, internally & externally. But one should remember that JKD is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded & not to be carried on one's back.

Hence, JKD, ultimately, is not a matter of petty technique, but a highly developed personal spirituality & physique. It is not a matter of technology, but of spiritual insight and training.

" The way of combat is not based on personal choice and fancies. Truth in the way of combat is perceived from moment to moment and only when there is awareness without condemnation, justification or any form of identification."
- Bruce Lee

* Hanjabam Barun Sharma, an M.B.B.S. Final Year Student, Raipur, contributes to e-pao.net regularly. The writer can be contacted at wang_fei03(at)yahoo(dot)com . This article was webcasted on June 08th 2007.

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