Was this style really suppose to be a style?

[MMAfighter]

I was reading the book, Bruce Lee's fighting method and it stated in there that Bruce Lee was afraid to give this a name, because he was afraid everyone was going to take it was a new style, which many people have, but was it really meant to be a style? Did he really just want it to turn out to be some kind of modification to fancy styles?

 

[Corporal Hicks]

Jeet Kune Do is techinically all styles and no styles. It is the ultimate system of fighting for yourself! Put it this way as this is the way I see it.
Imagin a building and in this building there are different rooms.
In every different room there is a different style that you can learn.
Imagin you had the time (and money) to learn all of these styles. Then from each style you take what would suit you the most and discard what is useless to you.
Then put everything that is useful to you altogether and you have your own personal Jeet Kune Do.
Is that right guys?

This is not a style because it is not hindered by the restrictions that styles have, since what restricts you, you can discard. It could be a style because its your own personal style, that suits you the best, nobody else, just you.

What Bruce Lee meant by not wanting it to be called a style is that to get the point across he would have to give it a name, and if he gave it the name, JEET KUNE DO, then people would automaticly label it as a style.
I think, get a JKD guy to check the thread
IMO I think JKD is more powerful than any BBJ or MMA

 

[jkn75]

First off, I have never studied JKD. However my experience comes from observation and talking with a JKD instructor. This actually is a debate common in JKD. According to the instructor I know, there is definitely a style instead of just being a collection of concepts.

He showed some standardized techniques but each student could take those techniques and modify them to themselves. If they liked the technique they would put in their toolbox or if they didin't, toss it out. If they saw something in another martial art, they would take it and use it if it worked.

They did have some standardized drills to improve speed, closing gaps, and improve kicking and punching. They progressed in the class if they demonstrated skill in the material for their level. I wasn't too familiar with the levels that they used and the material required for each.

JKD practitioners I've dealt with are probably the most open martial artists because they find value in a lot of styles and ideas. However, some can find them a bit tough to deal with because they are brutally honest in what they think works and what doesn't.

 

[Flatlander]

Hi all! Check out this thread for some other perspectives. :asian:

This thread is also somewhat related to the topic. :asian:

 

[Drifter]

First off, I have never studied JKD.

To be somewhat abstract with the concept, we've all studied Jeet Kune Do. I don't think Bruce Lee's intent was to create JKD as a formalized style, and there's someone on the boards with a signature that's a quote of his, saying something to the effect of "If JKD is to be compared to another style, let it's name be wiped out, because it's only a name".

We all have our personal style. There are many different ways people fight in Kenpo alone. Where I go, some people are very aggressive, others prefer that you attack first. Some like to grab you and move you around. Some circle you, instead. No one will ever fight exactly like another person because we all have different attributes that need to be catered to the best we can. Therefore we all have our own Jeet Kune Do.

That's just my interpretation of Bruce Lee's intent, and if there's something I misunderstood, I'll be happy to listen.

 

[PragmaticMartialArtist]

JKD, Judo, Aikido, Jujitsu, Kung Fu. A definition of style is "To make or design in accord with a prevailing mode". Miriam Webster Dictionary.

There are many good fighters. The analogy is that not all athletes are good teachers and not all good teachers are athletes. What the prevailing martial arts have that is useful for students is structure. Structure to bring out attributes that a certain art wishes to emphasize.

The answer is yes. JKD is a style. What use would JKD be for those wishing to emphasize the attributes Bruce Lee highly sought without structure.

A better question may be is whether a person who embodies any style of martial art will move on or evolve. The reality is that a 60 year old given all things equal will not recover as fast as a 20 year old. A lot of talk is given by JKD teachers to allow JKD practitioners to evolve and put forth the practioners best attributes, but in reality most do not do this but merely try to mold and force the student to fit within the teacher's understanding of JKD.

 

[Corporal Hicks]

The answer is yes. JKD is a style. What use would JKD be for those wishing to emphasize the attributes Bruce Lee highly sought without structure.

.

Maybe, but I dont quite agree. Its not a style. There is no structure because nobody can teach you your own style. I personally think that JKD is personal development of other arts or techniques into something that would define as being JKD.

Its not a style. BL did not want people to call it that.

 

[MA-Caver]

In one of his last interviews, Lee seemed to be more concerned about expressing one's self honestly, totally. Thus his prescribed "no-style as a style" thought. Someone here has/had a signature that quoted Lee about his concern of the name of his philosophy (remember, his major in college was philosophy). Jeet Kune Do "the way of the intercepting fist" I believe (and it's just IMHO) was a concept. "The way", the path, something to follow as you guide yourself to your own expression of who you are. He obviously wanted people to be able to have a means of expressing themselves and say "this is who I am, this is how I fight/defend myself". He talked about being able to do some fancy moves and being able to have this cool stance and technique down and how he felt that it was not a real representation of who/what that person is/was.
I think it would be important for those interested to watch "Bruce Lee: Warrior's Journey" as it contains the entire interview where he speaks about this.

 

[James Kovacich]

Maybe, but I dont quite agree. Its not a style. There is no structure because nobody can teach you your own style. I personally think that JKD is personal development of other arts or techniques into something that would define as being JKD.

Its not a style. BL did not want people to call it that.

JKD has structure. It's not the structure that is common in most schools but it is structured. It's roots are Gung-Fu. It was taught under the label of Wing Chun and evolved into Jun Fan Gung Fu and then Jeet Kune Do.

 

[Sifu Barry Cuda]

Hey guys, Ive been teaching JKD/kali for a long time now and I can tell you as someone who put some time in with peaple like Dan Inosanto and Paul Vunak that JKD is not "technically a style" but a method of progression.What JKD is, is thoroughly training the 4 ranges of combat so you can find what works for you and sharpening ones attributes.Did you know training speed can be broken down to many types of speed: reaction speed, performance speed to name 2? When you study 4 ranges you can discover your own personal JKD.I do not have 2 students that move think or respond the same. yet they are all expressing JKD.Bruce Lee himself could stop a jab with a spin kick and yes thats JKD albeit Bruces personal JKD. Bruce did not like to do Kali limb destructions, they were to slow for him, but they work fine for 'normal people'. JKD must be felt,and experienced.No way to even try to understand it from a book, Barry combatartsusa.com

 

[bcbernam777]

I did study the "formalised JKD" for a while, what I think essentially Bruce was trying to get to as has already been pointed out is that MA is a human experiance that transcends "boxes" and labels, and that human experiance expresses itself through a persons own individual expression. It is the ultimate goal of any Martial Artist to achieve that state of the art of artlessness, where no matter the styling no matter the kata etc etc, we absorb the art into ourselves after training in our techniques, forms etc and the principles that they behold are transformed within us to become our own "way" free from the confines of technique.


My attempt at explaining what is a very philosophical, and undefinable subject

 

[achilles]

To get the answer to this question you must understand what Bruce Lee meant when he wrote about transcending "for" and "against" and looking at things without attachment. Jeet Kune Do is not for or against style because either would be a form of attachment that would distract from the way. Jeet Kune Do uses style to achieve its goals just as it uses non-style. JKD is adaptability which is far more fluid than for or against.

In more concrete terms, Bruce Lee definitely taught particular tools and tactics. There was a finger jab, a lead punch, a side kick, pak da, etc. These were the tools he used and taught to put his philosophy in to action. However, JKD doesn't necessarily end there. A JKD man should continue to develop himself. For some this means cross training and for others this means getting a deeper understanding of the original tools and tactics. I think it means both to some degree because going to far in either direction takes away from the efficacy of fighting ability (contrast the seminar student who has dabbled in every art under the sun with the compulsive Bruce Lee freak who can't stop keep from being choked out on the ground and you see my point-granted that these are both extreme examples).

 

[Andrew Green]

JKD is marketing.

Thats all.

In order to teach you need a name, this was the one Bruce Lee used.

Since then other people have been using it, usually those that desend from his "lineage" (another thing that shouldn't be important) problem has been that each group does somtehing different and wants the name to be associated with what they do.

 

[Adept]

The way I look at it, JKD is a philosophy, not a style.

 

[Corporal Hicks]

I agree!

 

[James Kovacich]

The way I look at it, JKD is a philosophy, not a style.

That depends 100% on who trained you.

 

[Hip-Hopkidoka]

Hello everyone, I'm one of the new guys here so please bear with me.

Though I've had training in JKD, the style that I use is not JKD but my own interpretation of it called Hip-Hopkido. I've taken Lee's advice and added, subtracted, and changed what I needed to make the techniques and concepts of JKD work for me; yet my base and foundation will always be in JKD. Just as Bruce's base will always be in wing chun.

I believe that the "way of the intercepting fist" is Bruce Lee's particular path and way of expressing the human body. It belongs to him and no one else will ever be able to claim something that was created and belongs to someone else. You can sure try and emulate him and take what he teaches, but essentially I believe he wanted every martial artist not to follow his philosophy and techniques, but to follow his example. I also believe that was Bruce said about there being only ONE way to fight (unless you had more than 2 hands and 2 feet), but there are multiple interpretations of this one way.

Hip-hopkido, just as Jeet Kune Do, is just a name or label used to separate my way from others. Simply so people have something to call it and nothing more.

Seeing that I had problems with Wing Chun trapping techniques I just used the linear attack theories. For defense, I studied Aikido and took the concepts and theories of spherical defense and incorporated that. I love Capoeira so I took the training techniques like practicing inside a confined circle, and my own personal Ginga (staying in motion), and most important the concept of Malicia (deceiving the opponent). And my favorite hobby outside of martial arts is breakdancing, so I take the rhythm and beat of dancing and incorporate that as well.

So basically it's Jeet Kune Do + Aikido Defense + Capoiera Concepts + Breakdancing = Hip-hopkido or "way of the deceiving fist". So instead of interception, I focus on deception. It works for me, so that's what I use.

So all in all, I just think that what Bruce Lee created can only be fully understood and used by him. And that's why I would never seek mastery in JKD unless I was learning from Bruce himself. So, to me JKD is a concept/theory rather than a system/style.

 

[arnisador]

In principle, JKD is an approach.

In practice, people have codified it into a style(s).

Is this good or bad? I'd say...yes. It's inevitable and necessary, but something is surely lost.

 

[achilles]

Jeet Kune Do is the name Bruce Lee gave to his study of martial arts. As we all know style is merely an illusion, but there is also a personal history and a body of work developed and researched. In this way, there is no end to what Jeet Kune Do is, but there is a beginning. There is a body of knowledge that Bruce Lee taught, but there is more to the story.

 

[MA-Caver]

Jeet Kune Do is techinically all styles and no styles. It is the ultimate system of fighting for yourself! Put it this way as this is the way I see it.
Imagin a building and in this building there are different rooms.
In every different room there is a different style that you can learn.
Imagin you had the time (and money) to learn all of these styles. Then from each style you take what would suit you the most and discard what is useless to you.
Then put everything that is useful to you altogether and you have your own personal Jeet Kune Do.
Is that right guys?

This is not a style because it is not hindered by the restrictions that styles have, since what restricts you, you can discard. It could be a style because its your own personal style, that suits you the best, nobody else, just you.

What Bruce Lee meant by not wanting it to be called a style is that to get the point across he would have to give it a name, and if he gave it the name, JEET KUNE DO, then people would automaticly label it as a style.
I think, get a JKD guy to check the thread
IMO I think JKD is more powerful than any BBJ or MMA

Gee for a guy confused by the "Tao of JKD" you seem to have nailed it on the head... huh?? :idunno:

I call JKD a philosophy and not a style. Remember that Lee was a major in Philosophy while in college... it stands to reason.

Either way it is a powerful art but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's more powerful than any other. But that's just IMHO