dose anyone that studies JKD cop flack from traditional martialarts sutednts

zendokai guy

White Belt
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
I do Zen do kai its a mixed style that has only been around for the last 35 years.
now when i go into a martial arts shop or academy or even in general discution, when i get asked what i do i get majorly frowned apon.
i just want to know if any JKD members get those same frowns as i do because they arnt studing something more traditional.
 
I have not studied JKD for many years now but I was never frowned on if I told anyone I studied it. Back when I was learning some of it there where many people looking for JKD instructors .
 
If someone does frowns upon you in this case, its because they lack respect for all martial arts. In my humble opinion there is no such thing as one superior martial art, only masters & students that possess various degrees of skill.

Some people that study a particular martial art believe after a short period of training that they have a clear understanding of anything martial arts related. And they will display this sort of action. There are others that have studied for many years in their art, so when they are confronted with someone that has learned an art that they are unfamiliar with, or that they have an non-researched opinion of, they immediately feel negatively towards that human being.

Sadly there are some people that would give in to such thoughts, and not realize that such negativeness only serves to seperate martial artists and not bring them together.
 
I think that Bruce Lee was famous enough and lots of top guys went to study with him at some point (chuck norris, Joe Lewis, etc) that it gave JKD alot of instant credit.

Now, when you talk about most TMA's they frown upon anything new for the most part. For alot of them, the older the better. There is alot of 'my dad can beat up your dad' mentality. For example, if you look at Isshinryu, there are many people who criticize it because the founder took some of Goju ryu and some of Shorin ryu to create it. I have heard from both of those styles that Isshin is just watered down Goju/Shorin.

Now, if you take a "newer" martial art that has ties to Japanese or Okinawan styles and the founder isn't even asian, then it just has to be crap, even though no one has usually spent the time to learn about it.

My advice, is like what my old college roommate used to say. "Everyone sucks to somebody else". Look around and see if what you are learning is quality (for you) and is workable. If it is and you enjoy doing it, don't worry about what others think.
 
The issue, is not that its not "traditional" (there's just as many "JKD type" artists that frown on "Traditional Arts" for just as wrong a reason). I think in a lot of people's minds (at least those that have been around for a while) they've seen a lot of these fly by night made up arts. In the 70's it was the plethora of made up kung fu styles and Bruce Lee wannabe's that suddenly popped out of the woodwork with grandiose secret shaolin monk training stories, etc. claiming tradition. In the 80's we had the Ninja craze and "ninja masters" popping up everywhere. In the 90's it was the bombardment of MMA and BJJ "champions" setting up shop (much like the plethora of "world champions" in TKD).

As long as your art's creator is honest about its origins (and his previous training), is a good teacher, and you find value in what they're teaching, that's all that should matter for you.
 
I recall speaking casually with a gentleman/neighbor/friend of mine about this that and the other thing and the subject of Martial Arts came up. He showed me his BB certification in TKD to which I gave him a bow (for I was indeed in the presence of someone who had studied far more than I have and thus deserved my respects), he asked me if I studied and what art. I gave him a quick synopsis of my own MA-studies and simply said that it was JKDI.
He stood up and gave me a bow.

No, I've never gotten any "flack" from anyone because of it.
 
If someone is giving someone else 'flack' because of what they study, they themselves haven't studied long enough to gain the wisdom and insight to appreciate the endeavours of the martil artist. Remember it's never about the art, it's about the individual.
 
thanks guys it is always something that i have wanted to know...
the founder of ZenDoKai was for the mostly gougurou (i have terrible spelling i know) then he trained in tkd and even with the gracy jujitsu and what really gets the flak is that he incorprated kung fu into the mix i think that is where most gougurou students and trainers look down upon us.
once again thankyou all it is really great that people can see that teachings are whats important
 
If you are enjoying what your doing and learning from it do not worry about what others think
 
Back
Top