Is my jeet kune do, your jeet kune do?

I¡¯m intrigued by Jeet Kune Do.

From what I understand it¡¯s a style with no style, no set forms, no stances, no kata. But I don¡¯t quite understand, if there are no stances or no kata, and no set style to fighting then what are you taught?

When you go to a JKD class what does the instructor teach you, are you expected to develop your own fighting style, in essence your own JKD?

I study Tae Kwon Do and my friend studies Karate, if we where to go to a JKD class would we learn different things or would we still learn only what the instructor does?

I guess what I want to know is, what is Jeet Kune Do.

Are there any good books available on the subject, more along the lines of what Jeet Kune Do is as opposed to how to learn Jeet Kune Do.

Hope someone here can enlighten me.

 

I would try not to get so bogged down with definitions, just keep your mind open as it seems to be. You can't really define JKD and what is taught is simply what the teacher thinks is right and you are to develop and change that accordingly, as you see fit.

I highly recommend the "Tao Of Jeet Kune Do" by Bruce Lee or any of his other books

 

When it comes to JKD I heartily recommend reading less and training more. Get in the gym, run, spar in all ranges against fully resistant opponents, with and without weapons.

JKD is about experience not theorising on Internet forums.

 

I'm not so much interested in learning it as i am in understanding it. I'm happy with my TKD, but JKD is an idea i find interesting and i'd like to understand more.

 

I find that very strange.

 

I believe that you aren't "taught" in JKD. Rather, you are helped, if I'm not mistaken.

In the TV show 'Longstreet' when Bruce Lee appeared, Longstreet asked Bruce if he can teach him what Bruce showed him(that being JKD). Then Bruce replied, "I cannot teach you...only HELP you to explore yourself, nothing more."

 

If you ask me, the way i see it, is that it is something that you can teach yourself at home providing that you got the correct equipment. JKD is completely what you make of it yourself and not what you get taught. An instructor is just there to maybe give you his opinion and ideas so that you can create your own. He is also just there for most people as someone to provide the necessary equipment so that they can use it in accoording to what they feel and how they want.

 

I suppose what you are sayin valiant is right to an extent as if you cannot define JKD you cannot say that something is or is not JKD, thus, if someone hit and kicked a heavy bag at home and developed their own style of fighting, they could refer to it as their JKD. Although, the way I have interpreted what I have read and heard is that you have to get shown the basics, say of kickboxing-how to throw a side kick e.t.c then you can choose whether or not to incorporate that into your style of fighting or not, you can incorporate different styles as well, techniques from karate or TKD e.t.c, as it is formless you can basically do what you want. Yet, it would help you to be taught the way to do certain techniques in order to incorporate them into your style as people are not born with the knowledge of how to execute proper kicks e.t.c

thats my take on the matter anyhow, I am open to correction from those more experienced as I think writing this post has merely confused me more

 

Hmm... This is always a hotly discussed topic. I happened to see this quote from Dan Inasanto recently (I think we can all accept that he is an authority of JKD):

"I study Aikido, I study jiu-jitsu, I study Karate, I study Tae Kwon Do. I'll put it together and call it Jeet Kune Do. Is it Jeet Kune Do? It's Jeet Kune Do for them. BUT IT IS NOT THE JEET KUNE DO OF BRUCE LEE. The Jeet Kune Do of Bruce Lee has the Jun Fan Gung Fu material in the beginning and then from there they are supposed to grow and expand, that is Jeet Kune Do. And it is different for every individual. So I would say, if you did that; put Karate and Aikido and Tae Kwon Do and maybe wrestling, that could be your Jeet Kune Do, that's correct. But it is not the JKD as devised or created by Bruce Lee. Because when you see he had the Jun Fan which he thought were the basics, important, and then expand and find your own Jeet Kune Do."

- Guro Dan Inosanto

 

Me, i would rather learn other martial arts before JKD as my experience and knowlege would then help me to develope.

I do Tang Soo Do and am intrested in taking Hapkido & Kung Fu (Jan Fan/Wing Chung) in the future. These 3 would possibly make my JKD

 

I think that pretty much answers the main question in here.

GOOD POST!

 

Same here. It is all about your interpertation of what you think is important. And if you realize, you must be serious about what you do and see. What made Bruce Lee good at martial arts was his love for martial arts, and martial arts was his life.

 

The man said it himself:

"As an actor, as a human being, as a Martial Artist - all these I have learned from Martial Arts."

 

^ what they said.......just read Tao of Jeet Kune Do and forum your own conclusions

 

The important thing is just to train. Discussions on what JKD is have been around forever (well, since 1973) but it tends to turn political.

 

Yoda wrote"When it comes to JKD I heartily recommend reading less and training more. Get in the gym, run, spar in all ranges against fully resistant opponents, with and without weapons.

JKD is about experience not theorising on Internet forums." BRAVO!BRAVO!I SAY YODA...and in responce to CRAIGWARREN we use drills instead of forms,katas,etc..and try to make them as safe and as close to combate as possible without injury i.e chi sau ,hubud,sinawalli,lock flow etc....

 

Basically, Jeet Kune Do cannot be taught. All those "schools" are really just con-men trying to earn money.

 

zephyrus17 wrote"Basically, Jeet Kune Do cannot be taught. All those "schools" are really just con-men trying to earn money." In reply to that comment, one should educate oneself before engaging their big mouth.

 

I kinda hoped he joking about that one.... sarcasm was not made for the interenet

Hey Guro, you can quote people much easier and clearer by using the "quote" button, to the bottem right of each post. Just click thaton the post you want to quote, and vola!

Welcome to the forum btw.

 

kewl thanx for the help