Jeet Kune Do, style or not?

[Xue Sheng]

I wanted to post this here as well, thank you @Taiji Rebel for pointing it out to me

 

[windwalker099]

It was said that Krishnamurti was a big influence in shaping Bruce's thinking..

Freedom from the known

" Truth has no path, and that is the beauty of truth, it is living.
A dead thing has a path to it because it is static, but when you see that truth is something living, moving, which has no resting place, which is in no temple, mosque or church, which no religion, no teacher, no
philosopher, nobody can lead you to - then you will also see that this living thing
is what you actually are -"

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

" Truth has no path,

Truth has path.

I wonder if Bruce Lee had ever trained "hip throw". If he did, he won't say those thing.

"Hip throw" require that your

1. right foot land in front of your opponent's right foot.
2. left foot land in front of your opponent's left foot.
3. left arm control your opponent's right arm.
4. right arm control your opponent's waist or left shoulder.
5. hip on your opponent's belly.

If you miss any part of these 5 requirements, your "hip throw" won't work.

 

[windwalker099]

指月之指，非是月；道之法，非是道。
The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon; the method of the Way is not the Way itself.

Krishnamurti’s philosophy, truth has no fixed path. Bruce Lee’s martial arts philosophy techniques are tools, true understanding comes from direct experience and adaptability.

The throw is a tool, not a doctrine.
The moment you treat it as the only way, you lose the ability to flow.

 

[Holmejr]

So when does JKD simply evolve and look like MMA? Or will we always be able to tell what it is just by observation?

 

[windwalker099]

So when does JKD simply evolve and look like MMA? Or will we always be able to tell what it is just by observation?

One way of looking at it:

Jiddu Krishnamurti:

"When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent."
Krishnamurti emphasized direct experience over labels and doctrines.

This idea is also expressed in some Taiji practices at a certain level of mastery, where transcending rigid forms and labels becomes key to deeper understanding and freedom of movement.

Wang Yongquan:
"Follow the rules and break the rules, break the rules and follow the rules. Only when you practice to this level can you achieve emptiness without stagnation, freedom of movement and stillness, formlessness and imagelessness, and the whole body is transparent."

Krishnamurti also said:
"Truth has no path, and that is the beauty of truth, it is living."

This directly applies to JKD’s core philosophy—it is not a rigid system but an evolving, adaptable approach to combat. Bruce Lee rejected the idea of JKD being a "style." If JKD truly follows its own philosophy, then its evolution depends on the practitioner’s level of awareness.

Seeking to label or define it would seem contrary to its core principles. "It" does not evolve; rather, practitioners using this philosophy as the basis for their own self-inquiry evolve.

One might look at who the teacher was that a practitioner followed / trained under
to understand the "practitioners" reflection " look/usage " of this within their movements.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The throw is a tool, not a doctrine.
The moment you treat it as the only way, you lose the ability to flow.

If you don't even know the only way, you can't even start to flow.

First you need to develop a set of tools. When you have enough tools in your toolbox, you can then talk about abstract stuff such as pointing fingers to the moon.

JKD assume it's students have all completely developed their toolbox. How to put the 1st tool, the 2nd tool, ... into the toolbox, JKD has never addressed that issue.

I don't believe Bruce Lee had ever defined what tools needed to be in JKD's toolbox.