Jeet Kune Do Concepts:

This is the art and mindset of Bruce Lee as taught to his best friend Guro Dan Inosanto. Bruce Lee developed Jeet Kune Do to overcome the limitations of training in a traditional style. He wanted to find an art that was more economical and direct. More effective in all the ranges of combat. Lee identified the following ranges as a must to train in; Kicking range (long range) Boxing range where closer techniques from punching can be utilized, closer still is the Trapping/Standing Grappling range (incorporates clinches) and the Ground incorporating arts such as Judo, wrestling and Jiujitsu.

Bruce Lee’s system of Jeet Kune Do went far beyond simply adding a kicking art to wrestling and boxing. At the heart of JKD was Wing Chun and the hand trapping range. This was to be the connective tissue that would allow the student to link the arts together in a smooth and limitless way. JKD allows the student to connect many systems together to be able to flow in and out of every range of hand to hand combat as well as weapons based combat. It also allows the student to add to what they are learning, skills and attributes that are uniquely their own. Sigung Lee knew that no two people have the same abilities or skills and that martial arts must be adaptable. Thus there can be no “cookie cutter” mentality to training. Hidden in the art of JKD is Savate,  Wing Chun Gung Fu, Southern and Northern Praying Mantis, Western Boxing, Judo and Tai Chi among other arts as well. Sigung Lee was always developing and evolving as a fighter. Bruce Lee is often referred to as the “father of mixed martial arts.”

At IFA we choose to train in the concept of Jeet Kune Do. Although there are many techniques taken directly from JKD, it is the “mind set” of “how” we train in multiple arts that’s the most impacted by JKD. There are those who teach and train in what is referred to as “original Jeet Kune Do”. They train the methods and techniques Bruce Lee taught at a certain point in his development. Guru Inosanto was Bruce Lee’s best friend and most utilized student. Together they researched much od what went into JKD. It was Guru Dan Inosanto who taught Bruce Lee to use escrima sticks, nunchakus and other weapons. It is important to note that it was Guru Dan Inosanto alone who was certified to teach in every system Bruce Lee taught Jun Fan Gung Fu, Tao of Chinese Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee only certified three people to teach Jeet Kune Do, Guru Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, and James Lee. Of the three only Guru Inosanto is alive today.

The 27 arts of Jeet Kune Do:

Wing Chun, Northern Praying Mantis, Southern Praying Mantis, Choy Li Fut, Tai-Chi Chuan (Wu Family style), Paqua, Hsing-I, Bak-Hoo Pai (White Crane) Bak-Fu Pai (White Tiger), Eagle Claw, Ng Ga Kuen (Five Family System), Ny Ying Ga (Five Animal System), Bak Mei Pai (White Eyebrow), Northern Shaolin, Southern Shaolin, Bok Pai, Law Horn Kuen, Chin Na, Monkey Style, Drunken Style, Western Fencing (Foil), Western Boxing, Western Wrestling, Jujutsu, Escrima, Filipino Sikaran, Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) French Savate.

 

Of these systems he did not take equally from them but rather took from the best parts to given attacks and responses. Bruce Lee viewed martial arts training as a “hacking away at the non-essentials”. Many have confused this to mean not to train traditionally or add or change JKD. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lee states in his “Tao of Jeet Kune Do” that “in martial arts training all skill is an acquired skill”. In other words, you must learn a foundation. You must learn a technique before you can have a reason to discard it. However, some have also mis understood Guru Inosanto’s personal pursuits of other arts when it was in fact Bruce Lee who encouraged Guru Dan to explore the indigenous arts of his culture, The Philippines. Nowhere does Guru Inosanto claim to have added these arts to Jeet Kune Do but to his own personal development and that of his students. These arts stand on their own merit.

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5 Ways of Attack:

Central to Jeet kune Do are the 5 ways of attack Bruce Lee identified and the methods surrounding them.

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Single Direct Attack

Attack by Combination

Progressive Indirect Attack

Hand/Foot Immobilization Attack

Attack By Drawing