Ok so this might be a pretty lengthy thread but here goes. So my Aikido dojo shut down and Im not sure exactly what Iām going to do now. There is a school near me that has the followin:
The instructor is ranked by Erik Paulson as a CSW teacher
He is also ranked by the Machadoās as a purple belt.
He teaches MT and
he is ranked the following in what he told me once is the āConceptsā lineage:
Dan Inosanto>Ron Balicki>this instructor
This instructor also teaches Kali/Escrima.
Hereās my questions:
1. What is the deal with JKD, JKD CONCEPTS, JUN FAN GUNG FU? Why all the names?
2. Iāve read a whole bunch of books on Bruce, some good, some bad, some knowledgeable. Was he really that good to be considered such a legend? I mean was he really that good a martial artist or was some of it movie hype? Iām not meaning to offend, Iām just genuinely curious.
3. Is the JKD this instructor teaching, from what I understand he is highly regarded, worth taking for self defense purpose. I donāt go looking for fights but would it be useful if you had to protect yourself or family?
just generally curious about it all.
It is a lengthy answer, but I'll try to summarize based on what I have come across researching things through the years.
To answer question #1, I will post a direct quote from Dan Inosanto:
āWhile Bruce Lee was alive, there were only three individuals who were ever certified and authorized by him to teach the art of Jeet Kune Do. The highest-ranked instructor ever certified by Bruce Lee is Taky Kimura, who attained the level of fifth rank and is my senior. The only other instructors certified by Bruce Lee were the late James Lee and myself. Both James Lee and I were awarded third rank.
The most senior advanced student at this time was Ted Wong, a classmate of mine and a private, personal student of Bruce Lee, who attained the level of second rank in Jeet Kune Do. Most other students at this time were ranked in Jun Fan Gung-Fu, not Jeet Kune Do. Ted Wong was one of the few people to have achieved rank in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce. You could receive a Jun Fan Gung-Fu certificate by training in a small group session, class session or private session under Bruce Lee, Taky Kimura, James Lee or myself. But to receive the Tao of Chinese Gung-Fu certificate or the Jeet Kune Do certificate, you had to be personally trained under Bruce Lee on a one-on-one basis. Only Bruce Lee could give this certificate in Jeet Kune Do.
That is why I have never given a JKD ranking certificate to anyone to this day. If everyone in the JKD clan would read his certificate, you will see it reads Jun Fan Gung-Fu, Jun Fan Martial Arts or Jun Fan Martial Arts (Jeet Kune Do Concepts). A Jeet Kune Do certificate means you trained with Bruce Lee on a one-to-one basis. He reserved the right for himself; only he could give a certificate in Jeet Kune Do. Since Bruce died I cannot issue a certificate in Jeet kune Do, but I can issue a Jun Fan Gung-Fu certificate and pass on the concepts and principles that he gave me. In honor and memory of Bruce Lee I still have a Jeet Kune Do family and clan tree, which teaches the Jun Fan Gung-Fu and Jeet Kune Do concepts.ā
So, in summary:
Jeet Kune Do: If legitimate, trained with either Taky Kimura or James Lee and should be able to trace a direct lineage back to one of those two.
Jeet Kune Do Concepts: If legitimate, trained with Dan Inosanto and should be able to trace a direct lineage back to him. Out of respect for the title of "Jeet Kune Do", Dan Inosanto has NEVER ceritified an instrutor in "JKD" (see above statement) and has used the term JKD Concepts instead.
Jun Fan Gung Fu: "Jun Fan" was Bruce Lee's birth name. It was his "style" that was taught before he moved on to his development of JKD. JKD is more conceptual in nature and Jun Fan can be thought of as Bruce's physical vehicle to express those ideas and concepts (I know there is more to it than that, but a quick easy way to kind of understand it). Jun Fan has a "set" curriculum and progression for students to learn.
To answer #2:
Opinions vary. IMHO Bruce Lee was an amazing athlete and had amazing speed and reflexes. This transferred into being a great martial artist. I also think that his ideas inspired a lot of people and they were able to take things away from their time with Bruce Lee to be much better martial artists (Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis for example). I think, for me, the biggest objection is when Bruce Lee is talked about as a great fighter when he didn't fight in anything (boxing match while in high school and the fight with Wong Jack Man with conflicting stories about what really happened and references to a lot of various "street fights"). There are a lot of people who claim/think that Bruce Lee would have beat any pro fighter out there past or present and to that there is no proof of how well he would have done against a professional fighter.
To answer #3:
Only you can decide that. With his background, he sounds like he would be a great knowledgeable instructor. BUT, does the teaching fit with your personality and needs? I would ask to watch/participate in a class and ask him what his main focus of teaching is on. Some teachers talk about self-defense and how to apply it in that manner (along with laws, de-escalation, awareness etc) and others teach geared for competition and don't cover the other aspects of what you may be looking for. BUT, the physical skills you would be learning would be very much worthwhile to learn effectively.
