JKD: Minimum Curriculum?

[Transk53]

Flowing from one art to another is still..... moving from one art to another art isn't it?
I don't recall Bruce having to flow from one to another.... he could perform one strike which embodied the essence of his research. Are these one in the same? Or merely the same in one's view?

I am reading this right, then yes I agree with you. However, to me it feels like an extension of personality, rather than actually fitting. I would argue that Bruce would it as unnecessary. Just my own personal viewpoint, not meant to disrespect.

 

[Thunder Foot]

None taken.
In American history we called "separate but equal" segregation, a form of discrimination in relation to people. How is this ideology not segregation in the form of Martial Art? How can this be seen as "integration"?

 

[knight2000]

Just for the record, Bruce never actually named anything he taught as "Jun Fan", this was the name of his school coined after his Chinese name "Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute" where he taught Wing Chun. Tim Tackett, has an excellent audio interview where he gives his personal account of training there and what was taught and clears up the fallacy of "Jun Fan Gung Fu" as it's own inherent fighting system.

Actually you are very wrong. By the time Mr Tackett trained in LA Chinatown it was JKD being taught in the Jun Fan Gung fu institute. However, in Seattle and early on in Oakland it was Jun Fan Gung Fu being taught. I quote several letters to Taky Kimura that refers to the Jun Fan system picking up where Wing Chun left off.

 

[Thunder Foot]

Actually you are very wrong. By the time Mr Tackett trained in LA Chinatown it was JKD being taught in the Jun Fan Gung fu institute. However, in Seattle and early on in Oakland it was Jun Fan Gung Fu being taught. I quote several letters to Taky Kimura that refers to the Jun Fan system picking up where Wing Chun left off.

Interesting, do you have sources for these quotes? Because everytime I've seen JFGF, its always been followed by "Institute". For example in addition to Tackett's audio interview, here's an excerpt from Dan Inosanto's book "Jeet Kune Do -The Art & Philosophy of Bruce Lee":

So as he began to see that Wing Chun placed too much emphasis on close range or in-fighting (hand techniques) at the expense of long-range (kicking techniques) fighting, Bruce incorporated some of the more refined kicks of the Northern Chinese styles. And it is this hybrid form of Wing Chun that today we refer to as Jun Fan. Originally though, the term (Jun Fan) was used to designate the school – not art – of Bruce Lee. You see, the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute was the name Bruce gave to the non-commercial establishments in Seattle, Oakland, and Los Angeles; and later the meaning again shifted somewhat to mean “the place where Jeet Kune Do trains.”

Likewise, here is a copy of the cetificate Taky received from Bruce for the Seattle school, which notes that he is an Instructor at the institute where the Wing Chun was taught...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Bruce Lee's Original Plans For The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute

From Shannon Lee

I went into the archives to pull original notes and documents that my father typed and used as his blueprint to start his school, Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.

 

[Thunder Foot]

nice post Xue. We can clearly see in Bruce's notes "Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute" everytime it's mentioned, as well as "Chinese Gung Fu" anytime Gung Fu is mentioned.

 

[Xue Sheng]

You may also want to take a look at "Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense by Bruce Lee". I would look myself and quote what s needed but reading is rather difficult at the moment.... as is typing

 

[Thunder Foot]

Yes, I have that one. In all honesty I was hoping to get some sources to read showing otherwise before giving it another read through.

 

[Towel Snapper]

JKD does have set techniques for most people, JKD is bound by science, it has rigidity, it has form, and that form alters slightly for each individual, but nearly everyone is going to be using a lead hand finger jab to the eyes, because its such a useful devastating and scientific weapon. Its just too good to leave out. Its always going to be in there. Its fast, its untelegraphic, it can potentially end them in one blow, its close to the target, it travels a straight line etc etc etc

Unless you a slow, short armed, fingerless dwarf its gonna be in your style. As are other high % tried and tested techniques.

 

[Thunder Foot]

People always mention that "Jun Fan Gung Fu" is the core of JKD, but we are challenging our JKD community to take another look at this framework. Because according to his notes and those that trained with him, Bruce never created a Jun Fan system. He did however teach Wing Chun to students who didn't know what it was. Now if one is confused on what the core of their martial art is, then their foundation becomes weak and no structure can be built upon it.

After training both sides of the JKD coin and then training in Wing Chun, I can honestly say that a majority of our community simply does not understand the core of jkd nor it's principles. One simply can not evolve/progress past that which is outside of their experience.

 

[Thunder Foot]

Going back to the OP, I believe the minimum requirement is really Wing Chun. If I think about it, that's where all of Bruce's principles of Martial Art were learned; principles that he continued up to the end.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Going back to the OP, I believe the minimum requirement is really Wing Chun. If I think about it, that's where all of Bruce's principles of Martial Art were learned; principles that he continued up to the end.

That is pretty much what the guy I briefly trained with said

 

[arnisador]

That seems to match what's done in practice--I just wonder how far you could take absorb what is useful/reject what isn't and not have Bruce Lee say "Dude, that's not what I meant".

 

[Xue Sheng]

That seems to match what's done in practice--I just wonder how far you could take absorb what is useful/reject what isn't and not have Bruce Lee say "Dude, that's not what I meant".

Sadly I think you run into that as soon as you walk into a school that calls itself a JKD school with a set curriculum

 

[Thunder Foot]

I cant think of another way to get the message across. There would have to be a starting point, wouldn't there?
If such a thing as minimum curriculum did exist, I would think that it would lie in the principles and however one can express them in their purest capable form.