What is Jeet Kun Do?
 

Hey all! Just wanted everyone's opinion on what Jeet Kun Do acually is. Is it a martial art? What makes it different from any other art? Do you have to be doing something specific to be doing Jeet Kun Do? What makes anyone qualified to teach it? Does one have to follow Bruce Lee's writing and teaching to be doing JKD? Whatcha people think?

Nobody loves you. :bandit:

I think that no one would even come to being able to teach it except for Dan Inosanto, its not a style to be taught, its merely a way of unlocking your individual goals in "Honestly Expressing Yourself".

Yes it may be possible to teach it, but you would honestly have to follow his teachings and beliefs 100% I do alot, and I hope to help continue on his legacy when I get older, yet, there will never be anyone who can actually teach Jeet Kune Do as well as Bruce Lee himself.

Jeet kune do is a mindset free from established patterns. You can't teach that, only show examples and hope people learn. Even conceptualizing it as an art limits it. Bruce Lee couldn't teach JKD. He taught technique, and advised people to think in a certain frame of reference.

I think Taoseeker's question was more of a survey on the way people in the MA community percieve JKD.

Just my 2 cents.

A name

Lineage

Or more importantly MARKETING ;)

I was once told that Jeet Kune Do is what you make it

Everything is what you make it.

So much for talking in riddles.
Orginally JKD is a concept, basically be free from a system, study and take what works for you from every system that way you are the best fighter you can be, well at least in terms of technique, ther is more to fighting than that.
Which is partially where the problem lies.

There are JKD schools. So how does that work. Basicallly people agreee on a bunch of techniques that work in general and you have JKD. a system. Yes now it is a system with belts and all. Which defeats the whole concept.

Yes its a weird one. To do JKD properly dont go to a scholl to learn JKD, it doesnt make sence, its a concept, one that is totally individual to the individual. I spent some time doing JKD,not long. I found that some of the techniques didnt really work for me. So now im doing Mauy Thai which suits me better, soon i will do JKD properly, and study more systems and develop my own way, one which i shalnt open a school for and try and teahc as the latest freat mix of styles. :bandit:

Isn't it also called the style of no style?

the general creed of jkd from what i've gathered is: absorb what is useful,reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own.i would say a person could be doing jkd and not knowing it.because to me it is essentially learning what works for you best to honestly express yourself and defend yourself.i would say a person teaching jkd would be teaching an art they've developed using the principles of jkd.i watched a video on jkd with bruce lee speaking on it as well as brandon and he (brandon) said while he would say he practices jkd, he practices his own interpretation of it as does his father.so to study jkd according to bruce lee is really to study the techniques he found useful to himself using that jkd mentality.

Is JKD a martial art? Yes.

What makes it different? What "it" does and does not "do."

Something specific to be JKD? Yes (see above)

What makes someone qualified to teach it? Tough one! There are far less qualified than most people think/realize.

Have to follow Bruce Lee's writings and teachings to be JKD? Yes...to a point.

You should try to speak with Jesse Glover and/or Patrick Strong AND make the effort to work with one of them for just a little while...very kewl! I also recommend you check out another guy named Lamar Davis. He's done his research, trained with, and been certified by someone from each of Bruce's three schools (JKD developmental phases). Lamar also has black belts in traditional/standard martial arts so there are valid references when comparisons get made and/or talked about. I like Dan "The Man" Inosanto (fricking awesome martial artist), but not for me and JKD training.

There are differences between JF/JKD and JKD/Concepts. There are more divisions than these two, but to me, these are the only two that matter.

Just my opinion and nothing more.

Peace

How in the heck did I manage to NOT mention Hawkins Cheung ?!?!

Check out this article...Classical Mess

His opinion/understanding is worth the read.

Peace

All this blubbering over what is and what is NOT JKD has helped me steer clear of this "style"! ;) My god, JKD must be nothing at all??? :eek: You guys have me confused to the gills here. Are you guys/gals paying for someone to tell you "To use only what works!"???? DUH! That is a no brainer if self defence and street fights are your main concern for training!

I like Bruce Lee movies, but there are way to many experts on the internet (not meaning here, but all the websites claiming the TRUE Bruce Lee way) about his style and what it is or is not! :D

This thread is a GREAT positive argument for the traditional martial arts! ;) ..........and for the record, MMA Competition is a sport. A streetfight is NOT. Take away the rules and you get some more technique that comes into play such as eye gouging, small joint manipulation, biting...ect that could and would severely change the outcome of the MMA matches. To my understanding, the TMA's were designed for survival or conquering adversaries of that given time period....and there for the effectiveness is gonna differ on todays streets.

MMA is hybrid wrestiling or Pankration.....JKD??? Well, I still do not know what it is! :laugh:

I mean no disrespect, but why cannot anyone explain the simple question on "What is JKD?", which is also the title of this thread? Then, once it is answered, how do we know that this is the true answer?? This JKD stuff looks to be just one big circle of answers in the form of questions and distrust.

Greetings

Dan Inosanto and Rick Tucci said JKD was Bruce's own style no one elses.

Inosanto I believes only issues rank in Jun Fan Gung Fu the core or basics of JKD but not JKD itself.

Each person has to find his own JKD from my understanding.

Jeet Kune Do is less an actual style of martial arts than it is a philosophy. Conceived by the late film star Bruce Lee, the main idea of Jeet Kune Do is that each practitioner of martial arts has different physical and mental abilities, and therefore no style, in fact not even a single technique, can be effectively used by everyone. Thus, the Jeet Kune Do artist learns to, "absorb what is useful, reject what is useless," using exclusively their own judgement to determine usefulness. Schools of Jeet Kune Do do not have regimented lessons that are taught, rather the instructor's objective is to show the student the paths they can take to developing their own style. Jeet Kune Do has been listed as highly variable on the grappling - striking scale because in theory it can be as centred around either approach as the individual using it decides it should be. However, the reality is that Bruce Lee's own formal training was in the Wing Chun style of Wushu and therefore the techniques taught will tend to lean toward striking. Advanced practitioners are taught to study many styles and take from them whatever they think they could use :D

GREAT answer! :wink2:

Funny thing is that I will be joining a local JKD Gym. I went and watched a class and am so pumped about training there. Deffinately different than my Karate and TKD classes. The Gym is an affiliate of Straightblast Gym.

Good luck Gary!!! :D

In Jeet Kune Do Various Arts flow into one combination of fighting.Its no good doing a straight blast then thinking what to do next,whether a lock or a jkd side kick etc.The combination flows as if its 1 art.This is what Paul Vunak,a JKD instructor who was taught by Dan Inosanto Said.

This post was made by Tim Tackett on another forum and is worth a mention here:

Peace