# Dan Inosanto on "What is JKD"?



## AC_Pilot (Feb 3, 2005)

The good friend of, and a co-star in Bruce's last film, Dan Inosanto, speaks out on JKD, what it is and is not:
http://www.geocities.com/jkdresources/inosanto.html

Thank you Dan, your wisdom has _enlightened_ me on what could have been a very dark path, and your way of teaching, passed to me thru my first JKD instructor, trained by you, kept me on the open, lighted path towards understanding what real world self defense/combat training is all about.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 4, 2005)

Yes, Dan Inosanto does preach a good Gospel. :uhyeah:  I lean way more toward what Dan beleives than those around me but we have to face it that is partially wrong too, *'cause he just tried to define that which he says can not be defined.*

If there is a JKD Grandmaster. Dan is he! But others learned from Bruce too, and they were taught differant. So considering that, we are all right and we are all wrong, depending on who we are talking to.

Dan also says that JKD is not a martial art but yet he possesses a certification in JKD. *IT DOES NOT STATE IN THE CONCEPT OF JEET KUNE DO.* 

And he says he is the only one certified in *ALL 3 ARTS* by Bruce Lee. It seems that Bruce was not the only one in this family to contradict himself.

All one has to do is look at the dates on Dans certifications. 

Don't get me wrong I hope to meet and train under Dan someday. *But I think that his JKD is more his than it was ever Bruces.*


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 4, 2005)

Yes, I think you are right about it being *Dan's JKD*, that he teaches. But isn't this the _very essence_ of JKD, that it eventually mutates as far as *techniques*? And Dan even says this in the article. He clearly says his JKD is not your JKD, or even Bruces.. If we train with Inosanto or his instructors (and I have) then we get the *principles and energy *that Bruce promoted, with *Dan's flavor* or the flavor of the *individual instructor*, added. In Dan's case this leans more heavily on the Philipino MAs, which indeed can be very effective within the JKD framework. Bruce even used techniques and weapons from these arts in the underground fight scene in *Enter the Dragon. *Bruce was very practical and used what worked.


My JKD is different from Inosanto or Bruces JKD, but is based on the principles and many of the original techniques. JKD is a mutating fighting theory, for each individual, that's what makes it wonderful, flexibility.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 4, 2005)

Mine starts out with what I've learned from my Sifu and then I add "my mix" all within my basic phase 1 program. I beleive in being able to beat any system that comes at me and I have a lot of experience in other systems to draw from. So in the basics I focus on a Gung Fu foundation with mixed martial arts.

As my students move into the intermiate and advanced phases they keep building opon the foundation I've given them but right alongside it, we work back in the Old School Gung Fu. 

My Sifu has a great system and "his way" is a part of my advanced curriculum along with the continuing evolution of "their foundation." 

I also have my students go to my Sifu as much as possible.


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 4, 2005)

Have you trained for any time under a JKD instructor?


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## James Kovacich (Feb 4, 2005)

My Sifu's father was a senior student under James Lee in Oakland. They do not use the JKD name. They call their art The Tao of Gung Fu but when I first started there they called their system James Lee Gung Fu.

Their system is unique in the sense that that while the Oakland students for the most part disapeared, they kept on training. Evolving from their teacher James Lee.

Today their system is highly evolved and tough to beat.
Heres an article about them that was published in Jeet Kune Do magazine in 2002. Just click the .pdf link.
http://www.scientific-streetfighting.com/SIFUSTORY.html

Scroll down on this page and I'll be with my Sifu at his seminar.
http://www.scientific-streetfighting.com/MACIASGUNGFU.html

I will also be with him at this bigger event where he is a featured instructor.
http://www.realcombatonline.com/roundtable/showthread.php?t=204


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 4, 2005)

Yes, I am aware of this system. I can see why you like it ! 

Regards,
Steve


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## James Kovacich (Feb 4, 2005)

Do you know my Sifu?


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 5, 2005)

No, but I have head of him before. I'm always interested in MMAs concepts, in addition to more traditional stuff. I try to learn as much as I can about other styles/concepts.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2005)

AC_Pilot said:
			
		

> No, but I have head of him before. I'm always interested in MMAs concepts, in addition to more traditional stuff. I try to learn as much as I can about other styles/concepts.


I'm sure you've heard good things of him but he's not a mixed martial artists. Felix Macias Sr. and Felix Jr. (my Sifu) are known for teaching a "very pure" Gung Fu system heavily influenced by the teachings of James Lee. They have expanded and evolved into a very solid Gung Fu system.

I'm the one that brought in the mixed martial arts. 
1) Because I love to grapple &
2) Because I beleive that if you can "stop" any kind of attack because you have knowledge of their fighting style and / or ranges, then it is much easier to impose "my will" on them.


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 7, 2005)

Cool. I like grappling also, but definitely prefer to stay on my feet and control my opponent thru Dumog, Kali (wrenches/destructions/arm bars) and Aikido techniques. I don't want to be on the ground any longer than I am forced to be, the natural fear of multiple attackers is omnipresent. 

I plan to take up Sambo/BJJ related to JKD concepts, one day a week, soon, and officially take up Aikido Budo in the future, as well. Time/distance to the classes is the only barrier but the grappling class is on Sundays and only 30 minutes away.. so it will be first.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2005)

You're right. I spent 3.5 years in a BJJ school and then I realized I already had everything I needed from them. Now I study Trad. Ju Jitsu and Eskrima and it all blends really well.


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## still learning (Feb 7, 2005)

Hello, I am not a JKD student. It seems the art of " JKD" is not suppose to be explainable? For it is fighting with no style which can be consider a style? UM? Everyone needs to learn the basics of striking? If Bruce Lee was alive what would he be teaching today? Just the basics? and you create your own fighting style (Your own fighting way?). Are we to think that JKD is a "free for all" way of fighting? No guide lines? No princples? and No concepts? Maybe I am the one that is confuse? sorry just my thoughts.......Aloha

  Yet "What is the way in the intercepting fist?" must be a style?


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 7, 2005)

Until the time of Bruce's death, he, over the years, progressively, developed a training "regime" or "system" for imparting the concepts and basic techniques he believed were effective for *many but not all* people. Bruce's idea was to develop each person's attributes and mentality to a higher level, and then allow the graduated-to-higher-level student to discard what did not work for them in the real world, and with this new understanding, seek out what would work for *them*. So, *my* developed "JKD" will be different from *Fred's* and *Jackie's*. But we all start out with training syatems similar to kata, which Bruce developed.. it's just that we will not be using those exact techniques in real combat, something similar, *maybe*. But these basics are like the first 5 steps on a ladder up to a tower full of knowledge, if you stop at the 5th step you never attain the treasure, a treasure only you can use, your own unique "style", the "unknown art" :asian:

The "intercepting fist/foot/elbow/knee/etc.." is a *concept* of interception and simultaneous destruction of something vital on the target. It's a *concept* Bruce promoted which has great utility, and is *the *ultimate fighting skill in combat. There are many ways to intercept and therefore it cannot be put in a box. Nor should it be! :supcool:


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## AC_Pilot (Feb 7, 2005)

Forgot to add one of my favorite stand up grappling arts from which I have extracted techniques: Praying Mantis.


Still Learning.. it would defy any but a very broad based student of *many* arts to explain what a developed JKD practicioner used in an encounter.. sometimes it's a mutation of a technique, and not the original technique. Add to this an assortment of techniques from different arts in an encounter, seamlessly applied, and it gets complicated to the new viewer of same. The practicioner must dissect what they did, *later*, as during the act it's done without concious thought as to what needs to be done, it's simply *done, in the now*. In order to get to this point one must have natural ability, extensive training in JKD concepts and working on the various required attributes, and extensive exposure to/hands on training in the techniques in many arts, to the point where the techniques eventually chosen can be dissected and analyzed/melded with that person's unique "style".


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2005)

still learning said:
			
		

> Hello, I am not a JKD student. It seems the art of " JKD" is not suppose to be explainable? For it is fighting with no style which can be consider a style? UM? Everyone needs to learn the basics of striking? If Bruce Lee was alive what would he be teaching today? Just the basics? and you create your own fighting style (Your own fighting way?). Are we to think that JKD is a "free for all" way of fighting? No guide lines? No princples? and No concepts? Maybe I am the one that is confuse? sorry just my thoughts.......Aloha
> 
> Yet "What is the way in the intercepting fist?" must be a style?



Everything exists that you stated with a "no" in front of it. It really depends on what method of JKD you attempt to learn. The LA JKD came out way differant than the Oaklnad JKD which I'm affiliated with. Mine came from the Gung Fu roots it that Jeet Kune Do was born from. LA JKd just evolved differantly. 

It's not about no style. You have to have tools to work with. It's about after learning and perfecting your tools being able to use them "without being bound by a style."

Just like a real fight really happens. :uhyeah:


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## ufsofpa (Feb 6, 2006)

ok first of all, Guru Dan was training with Bruce when JKD was evolving, or when Bruce started to expirement with concepts and other arts. The time before Bruce went to LA he was calling it Jun Fan Gung Fu. Yes I met Guru Dan and talked to him out in Princeton , and heard what he had to say. In all honesty, if Bruce didnt trust him or feel that he was not capable, why did he tell him it is his resposibilty to continue the growth of JKD? There is to many politics in JKD, what is true JKD and this is the way Bruce taught it and wanted it. Sorry, JKD is the art of expressing the human body. Discovering your own truth. Using no limitations as Limitations. Dont quote what Bruce said, he never intended his philosophies for that. Besides JKD was a art built on one mans concepts and beliefs, his way of what works for him and what does not. 

That is what JKD is all about. If he eas alive today, he would be really pissed at seeing where JKD is going today. The certificate that Guru Dan hold, is to be evident that Bruce did leave him everything. He is a good teacher. And when he dies, then things will get worse. Just like when Bruce died. So the point is JKD is what is your truth? Not what is one mans truth that was talked about over 30 years ago. Discover what works for you and what does not, once you figure that out, you have discovered JKD.


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 6, 2006)

I am not a JKD practitioner, but I have often wondered how so many JKD schools popped up so fast when Bruce Lee only approved 2 or 3 people to teach, Dan Insanto being one of them.

Insanto's article it was a very interesting read.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2006)

Xue Sheng said:
			
		

> I am not a JKD practitioner, but I have often wondered how so many JKD schools popped up so fast when Bruce Lee only approved 2 or 3 people to teach, Dan Insanto being one of them.
> 
> Insanto's article it was a very interesting read.


 
So are we "assuming" that the rest of the "original" students have nothing to offer? 35-40 years JKD experience is far more than ANY of Dans 2nd generation students have. JKD even Dans way is NOT what Bruce intended it to be.

Heres an intersting site. You tell me if they should teach or not. If not why.
http://www.taoofgungfu.com/


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 7, 2006)

akja said:
			
		

> So are we "assuming" that the rest of the "original" students have nothing to offer? 35-40 years JKD experience is far more than ANY of Dans 2nd generation students have. JKD even Dans way is NOT what Bruce intended it to be.
> 
> Heres an intersting site. You tell me if they should teach or not. If not why.
> http://www.taoofgungfu.com/


 
Point taken.

In rereading Dan Insanto's article and looking at the website you suggested, and your response I can see that there are more than 3 people that would be qualified. 

I am certain the people that Bruce Lee approved have since approved others to teach. And his senior students, which he may not have approved; I am certain continued training and are worthy teachers. And based on the philosophy of JKD I am certain Bruce Lee would approve as well.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2006)

Xue Sheng said:
			
		

> Point taken.
> 
> In rereading Dan Insanto's article and looking at the website you suggested, and your response I can see that there are more than 3 people that would be qualified.
> 
> I am certain the people that Bruce Lee approved have since approved others to teach. And his senior students, which he may not have approved; I am certain continued training and are worthy teachers. And based on the philosophy of JKD I am certain Bruce Lee would approve as well.


Sigung Macias was Jimmy Lees student before the Oakland JKD school existed and until Jimmy's death. Jimmy never approved anyone to teach. Sifu Macias, Sigungs son, started training around 1968.

Advanced Martial Technology "without" certification.


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## James Kovacich (Feb 7, 2006)

If you go to that same site and click the "articles" link (give it a minute to load up, it's Adobe format) you can count that there were 42 students at the Oakland school and several passed on their teachings.


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## Dancing Dragon (Feb 9, 2006)

Honestly I believe "Jeet Kune Do" is the art that Bruce Lee developed and practiced during his lifetime. If you want to know what his JKD actually is, then you should to go ask Bruce Lee. What Dan Inosanto practices is his interpretation of JKD, with emphasis on FMA, which is great if it works for him, my style has emphasis on fancy kicks, which is also great because it works for me. It's my interpretation, but I know that it's not JKD because Bruce Lee didn't practice it that way. Inosanto took what Lee taught him and took it to his own level. I learned after training in JKD and then turning around and reading Bruce Lee's books like Tao of Jeet Kune Do, that I needed to find what worked for me as a martial artist. So anytime someone asks me what I practice, I say martial arts, not JKD.


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