So, Jeet Kune Do, and I will use the acronym of JKD from now on, was famously created by Bruce Lee. You might have heard of him. Child actor, Hong Kong’s Cha-Cha Champion, martial artist and film star? Yes, that one.
Bruce was trained by Ip Man (you might have seen the various ‘Ip Man’ movies) in Wing Chun and, after an altercation, moved over to Seattle and set up his own school - the Jun Fan Gung Fu - and taught racially diverse group of students - ie, not Chinese.
In those days, late 50’s/early 60’s there was a huge sense of tradition and a threat of westerners learning the Chinese ‘secrets’, their martial arts. This led to almost gang-like warfare between fighting schools, resulting in deaths.
Pretty bizzare, right? Thankfully, things have progressed into everyone playing ‘nice’ these days, but back then it was commonplace.
Lee later moved to Oaklands, California,and at the point that he was threatened with a ‘cease and desist’ order from the Chinese Kung Fu community, who sent a ‘representative’ from an opposing school, Wong Jack-Man. If Wong won, then Bruce would have to stop teaching non-Chinese. Word on the street is, depending on who you believe, the bout lasted either 3 minutes or 20. If you believe Wong it was 20, if you believe Bruce’s people - including students and his wife - it was 3.
Bruce, already talking about modernizing Martial Arts, concluded that 3 minutes was way too long and blamed this on what he saw as the limited style of Wing Chun.
Thus JKD was born. Bruce actively with a thirst for knowledge on other fighting styles incorporated them all in a collective that, translated from Cantonese to English, means ‘Way Of The Intercepting Fist’.
JKD takes all the best bits...the useful parts...from Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Taekwondo, Boxing, Fencing and Jujutsu amongst others. JKD is thought of as the grandfather of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is thought of as a total fighting style.
Why?
Take boxing as an example. You punch a person and they go down. Then what? Grappling, or old-fashioned wrestling in other terms. Your down on the floor then the person gets up. Now what?
JKD exponents are trained in the 4, as we call it, ‘ranges’. These are kicking, punching, trapping and grappling.
...and, the important thing was that, whilst ‘intercepting’ and blocking their opponent's attack, the student should attack at the same time.
Economy of motion, as Bruce would call it.
At the time of his death, in 1973, Bruce had just 3 certified instructors - Taky Kimura, James Yimm Lee and Dan Inosanto.
Why me?
A little about me. Mum was a ‘lady of the night’ and really not equipped to look after me. I was sent, aged 10, to live with my big sister. Different area, different accent.
I was bullied, basically, because I had a Sheffield accent (my sister lived in Derbyshire), because I was naturally inquisitive, very bright (if I have to say so myself), my mum’s lifestyle and because I lived with my sister.
It was all upsetting and my big sis thought it would help, so we trawled the internet and found what we were looking for.
JKD. A style of no fixed style. A style that didn’t recognise belt systems, as such...
*Handbrake on*
Hang on...hang on. Didn’t you say just say ‘style of no style’?
No, I said a style of no ‘fixed’ style. To Bruce’s mind, moves were very clinical and set in stone. In a real fight situation, you can’t just ask your opponent to stand in a different space and way, so you can do your moves. No. You have to adapt.
“Be like water....” as he famously quipped from a Buddhist saying.
Ok. But...
Look. Look at fighting as a house, yes? The style you choose...the fighting styles....same as picking...do you want a separate dining room or a kitchen/dining room? Bathroom...upstairs? Downstairs? Both? Bedrooms... one in the loft? Do you even want a loft? Then...the decor.
That all make it yours. What works for you.
Same as JKD. But you still need the building. The Foundation,.
Ok...but...hold on. Haven’t I seen that you’ve said you have a 1st Dan and JKD has ‘no belt’ system?
Yes, I’m actually working towards my 2nd Dan. And...yes....ish. JKD, as arranged by Bruce Lee, was envisioned as a ‘no belt’ system, but since his passing in 1973, trainers....erhhhhh...do what they feel is good.
Some still stick to the ‘no belt’ system. Some, like my Sensei’s school, has a belt system - we use the Jujutsu ranking of - from beginner to 1st Dan - White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown and then Black.
Yes? All good? Shall we continue?
So, for me it was 2 x weekly for around 7 years, alongside my running and sprint training. Mostly on but I had some family issues. Then life happens, children, marriage, building businesses and all that.
Very long story short, in the last 2 years I’ve accelerated my training until, into this year, training 3 x weekly.
So, as a 10 year old that thought that Bruce Lee was cool, I liked his moves, loved his movies.....and I want a belt, damn it!
There’s the overview. I’m also teaching students, alongside my Sensei these days.
In the next instalment I’ll run through advice for self defence.
