I thought I would add some regular terms in JKD to the forums for any prospective JKD student. This list is in no way complete, so please feel free to contribute to it. As you can see, my list is more based upon the classical JKD/Jun Fan syllabus. Yu Bay - Ready position Gin Lai - Salute Bai Jong - Fighting stance Ha Da - Low hit Jung Da - Middle hit Go Da - High hit Biu Je - Finger jab Chung Chuie - JFJKD Straight blast Jik Chung Chuie - Jik Chung Straight blast Gua Chuie - Back hand Ping Chuie - Horixontal fist Choap Chuie - Knuckle fist O'Ou Chuie - Hooking fist Pak Sau - Slapping hand Lop Sau - Grabbing hand Jut Sau - Jerking hand Jao Sau - Running hand Huen Sau - Circling hand Tan Sau - Palm-up block Wu Sau - Protecting hand Gaong Sau - Low outer wrist block F0ok Sau - Bent-arm elbow Bong Sau - Raised elbow deflection Doan Sau - Single-arm sticky hand Chi Sau - Sticky hands Phon Sau - Trapping hands Ha Pak - Low slap cover Wong Pak - Cross hand slap cover Jeet Tek - Intercepting kick Jit Tek - Straight kick Jut Tek - Side kick Dum Tek - Stomp kick Ha So Tek - Inverted sweeping kick Gua Tek - Inverted hook kick O'Ou Tek - Roundhouse kick Hou Tek - Back kick Juen Tek - Spin kick Jang - Elbow Sut - Knee Em
hey there empress akasha, this is not an effort to derail your efforts. yet i have serious reservations about using a wide variety of terminology in jkd training. with other martial arts terms usually reflect where the art came from. in karate they use some japanesse while in taekwondo the students learn korean terms. yet what happens in the case of jkd? during every class i hear some kind of foreign terms. they range from chinese to thai. from filipino to french. (we have some people taken with savate). maybe im simple minded yet all those words get confusing. sure calling a style by its original (native) name is appropriate. and sometimes concepts dont translate into english so well. my prefrence would be to hear right cross, round kick, trapping, etc. while training in class. getting caught up in foreign terms seems to hinder not help my efforts to learn jkd. wish that a number of instructors and even students could see that. btw. the online name you currently use might suggest being of the female gender. if so there are numerous questions about how women practice the art of jkd. for example wing chun was supposed to have been created by a woman. yet i have never seen a female jkd student favor wc material and more often they go with kickboxing-type of methods. since the classes i now take have no female students currently in attendance theres nobody to ask those kind of questions to.
imo the terminology is of the utmost importance! It keeps the history alive. I think you should use the native term for every strike and technique to pay respect to the country it came from! If the person doesn't know what you're talking about when you use that term, only then should you break it down for them! I found it difficult in the beginning, but once i knew the terminology well, now when i hear it in chinese, french, etc. it might as well be english. it just seems quicker to me. compare: "do a wiping parry on the outside followed by a slapping hand to the outside of his forearm followed with a strike!" or just say "gnoy wam pak, pak sao da"
hey daehanl, while reading your post i happened to notice the quote or something at the bottom of the screen. the absorb what is usefull and reject the rest. can we talk about that for a minute? definitions may vary about what is usefull material. for example i would consider various concepts, techniques and training methods from different martial arts to be usefull in jkd. because learning as much can enhance my abilities. maybe definitions also vary about what is reject worthy material. another example of my views here would be customs, history and philosophy lessons as they do nothing to help my efforts in jkd class. most of us have a limited time for classes and training not talking is the better investment. this is where i suggest learning martial arts in class and learning whatever doesnt fall into the category of fighting skill elsewhere. do most people take martial art class for cultural insight? not attempting to be disrespectfull toward any country. have no use for american history in jkd either. sorry to say im not in class to keep history alive or pay respects. my efforts are directed toward keeping the martial in martial arts. just have the opinion that fighting skills are usefull while culture is not. now let me cover the part about using foreign terms being easier. can you honestly remember terms from a myriad of styles and follow along quickly as if they were in english? was time spent learning those different terms instead of practicing the technique? again i try making the most of every moment in class. seriously what comes next? changing uniforms when practicing material from another style? why not only speak the native language a style came from when practicing the techniques? if a person is that bound in customs and tradition my suggestion would be as follows. take a martial art class that represents whatever cultural aspects you perfer to follow. if you like japanesee stuff take karate. if you like chinese stuff take kung-fu. then you will be preserving the terms and history not to mention keeping the proper techique for that culture. or practice jeet kune do and drop anything that doesnt benifit in a truly martial sense. cultural studies even language studies are fine just not while you need to be learning/practicing fighting skill. jkd can only be absorbed by action. the rest can be read in books.
reply: windtalker i can see your point and respect it. however, it's just my opinion. i don't get all uppity or anything when someone calls it a roundkick. i just refer to it as a n'ou tek when i say it. I didn't have to study it like it was Espanol in highschool. just every time someone refers to a certain kick with that name, i practice the kick, and after awhile the name just clicks. So you see, I spend all of my time practicing and the terminology is merely an afterthought. Tradition in the sense of modesty and honor is very important to me, and i believe a lot of new martial arts mentalities are lacking a lot of values. not paying respects is one of them. that's the difference (once again imho) between a thug and a martial artist. for me using the terminology is like siting a book to avoid plagiarism. speaking of which, i need to site my quote! also, here's another scenario. if you had never taken martial arts before, and never knew the name for a frontkick. you ask your sabomnym (korean instructor) and he says "ap chagi" (korean for front kick) is that really so bad? did he just waste your time with his culture? or is he just teaching you what he calls the kick? now you both know what someone is referring to when someone says apchagi? i say, it's no big deal. he's not forcing you to eat kimchi and speak hanguk... flowing from one language to the next is very very easy. if i am doing savate and i jump into class and everyone is doing Foutte! i don't have to ask, "what?" i know it is a roundkick without thinking. plus i just like knowing as much as possible. that's just me!
Windtalker - I agree with you up to a point about the names. I think many martial artists can tend to over-intelectualise things, and some can be become very immersed in the context behind the martial art. In all honesty, I don't think I have ever seen that in JKD. My reasons for creating the list is that knowing the names of the techniques are important, not from a fighting point of view, of course, but from a training point of view. I want to be able to tell my students "Right, pak sau, lop sau, biu ji, to chung chuie". It is a beneficial training tool as it saves time, and essentially does what you have stated in your post - allowed students to get more out of class, as it means that less is needed in the way of explanation. Now, when we are fighting, these terms are not important, but neither is the style that we are taking from. If I pak sau- biu ji somebody, it doesn't mean that i am going to carry on with wing chun. I may switch to Kali. Me thinking about what style i am taking from doesn't happen. It is a sub-conscious change. I guess you could argue that knowing where the technique comes from isn't important to one's training, but I would disagree. Knowing where a technique comes from allows you to know why that technique works, in some cases, and why we use it. This is quite evident when one uses the Pangamot (open hand techniques) from Kali. They work with both weapons and empty hand, but were initially designed for weapons. By learning this, it facilitates training with weapons, as it allows the student to transfer the open-hand techniques to the weapons. I agree that naming can sometimes be taken overboard. I also agree with you on certain issues such as calling a roundhouse kick a roundhouse kick. That is what it is to me, and I don't need numerous names to know how to do. So, I call it a roundhouse kick. But, the same applies to pak sau, lop sau, etc. But, I think that a certain ammount of nominal association is important to ones training. The majority of the kicks that i have listed, I simply refer to as Straight kick, straight kick, etc, as we have western terms for these kicks. So, i don't see the point in over-intelectualising things by calling them by different names. But, I learnt the names out of interest, in my own time. If anything, that is partly what this list is about. Some technique names are important to know. Others are simly out of interest. At least this way, people can learn the various names outside of class, rather than in You posted: You are correct, or at least in my experience, in your assumption that many JKD women focus more on kickboxing. However, I think this is more down to the instructor. Many instructors have the mindset that women train for different reasons to men; an assumption in which they are, on the whole, correct. Many women train for fitness over skill, and the techniques that many women learn are more based on getting away from a situation, rather than ending it. Many instructors teach a women to, for example, kick an asailant in the shins and then run away, as he attempts to strangle you (a flawed answer, in my opinion). But, there are women out there who want to go deeper into the art and study further. These are the women who are serious about their training - it is not just for fitness, but also for skill. It is down to the instructor to recognise this, and introduce that student to further aspects of the style. One might argue that this is predjudice of a kind. But, the reality is that many women do train for different reasons than men. Men want to get tough; to be able to fight like bruce lee. A lot of women lack that egotistical drive, and train for fun and fitness. This isn't to take anything away from women martial artists, and is not an attempt to slate male martial artists. It is, of course, a generalisation. Edit - Lamar Davies has written various articles on women in JKD. Here is one of them http://www.hardcorejkd.com/hjkd_women.php Em
As a point of reference, I have decided to post a more collaborative list, courtesy of Sifu Lamar Davies II. Many of them are unnessecary to one's training, but may be of interest to some. Part I - General Terms Kwoon - School, gym, institute, place of training Joap Hop - Group together, line up Jyu Yee - Come to attention Yu Bay - Ready Hay, Hey - Begin Gin Lai - Salute Jeet - To stop or intercept Kune - Fist Jeet Kune Do - Way of the Intercepting Fist Sifu - Instructor Simu - Female Instructor SiGung - Instructor's Instructor Sijo - Founder of the system Don Chi Sao - Single-arm sticking hands Seong Chi Sao - Double-arm sticking hands Poon Sao - Rolling arms Gor Sao - Chi sao sparring Phon Sao - Trapping hands Lin Sil Die Dar - Simultaneous defense and attack Tek - Kick Jung Seen - Centerline Ha Da - Low hit Jung Da - Middle hit Go Da - High hit Mook Jong - Wooden Dummy Sil Lim Tao - First Wing Chun form Bi Jong, Bai Jong, By Jong - On-guard position Jee Yao Bok Gik - Freestyle sparring Fa Kune - Flowery, ineffective style or method Part II - Specific Strikes Chung Chuie - Vertical fist Biu Jee, Bil Jee - Thrusting finger, finger jab Qua Chuie, Gwa Chuie - Backfist Oou Chuie - Hook punch Ping Chuie - Horizontal fist punch Jin Chuie - Uppercut Choap Chuie - Half-knuckle fist punch Woang Jeong - Side palm smash Yun Jeong - Vertical palm smash Jao Sao - Running hand palm smash, hooking palm smash Sat Sao - Slicing hand, palm down chop Jik Chung Chuie - Vertical fist blast Jik Tek - Straight kick Juk Tek - Side kick Oou Tek - Hook kick Hou Tek - Back kick Juen Tek - Spin back kick So Tek - Sweep kick (Reverse hook kick) Dum Tek - Stamp kick Lin Dum Tek - Cross stamp kick (Oblique kick) Qua Tek, Gwa Tek - Inverted hook kick Jeet Tek - Foot obstruction, stop kick Jeet Da - Stop hit, intercepting hit Sut Da - Knee strike Jang Da - Elbow strike Part III - Defensive Terms Tan Sao - Palm-up hand Pak Sao - Slapping hand Mon Sao - Inquisitive hand, asking hand Wu Sao - Protective hand Goang Sao - Low outer wrist block/parry Boang Sao - Raised elbow deflection, wing arm parry F0ok Sao - Bent-wrist elbow-in parry Bil Sao, Biu Sao - Thrusting fingers block/parry Jom Sao - Inward chop block/parry Jum Sao - Sinking elbow parry Gaun Sao - Splitting block/parry (uses both arms) Kwun Sao - Rotating arms block/parry (uses both arms) Part IV - Trapping Terms Pak Sao - Slapping hand Lop Sao - Grabbing hand Lin Lop Sao - Cross grabbing hand Tan Sao - Palm-up hand (wedging) Jut Sao - Jerking hand Gum Sao - Pinning hand Jao Sao - Running hand Huen Sao - Circling hand Heung Sao - Shoulder trap hand Man Geng Sao - Neck pulling hand Lan Sao - Bar arm Tok Sao - Elbow lifting hand Cup Sao/Kau Sao - Scooping hand Part V - Lin Sil Die Dar Terms Tan Da - Palm-up hand with hit Woang Pak Da - Cross slap cover with hit Loy Ha Pak Da - Low inside slap cover with hit Ouy Ha Pak Da - Low outside slap cover with hit F0ok Da - Arm resting on opponent's with hit Goang Da - Low outer wrist block/parry with hit Bil Da, Biu Da - Thrusting fingers block/parry with hit Boang Da – Wing arm parry with hit
to daehanl-we seem to have (to a point) opposite definitions of tradition and respect. both of use seem to agree that modesty and honor are good virtues and should have a place in martial arts training. several years ago my older brother quoted a famous taekwondo instructor (sorry to say i cant remember who it was) that said moral values seperate martial artists from brawlers. far as that element being missing from many schools today i honestly dont know if thats accurate or not. theres some hesitation on my part to say there are schools that dont teach values because i havent visited many. also i would not feel comfortable judging a school entierly based on the behavior of some of thier students. now about the differences we seem to have about what tradition means. and i would like to provide a specific example of what i consider traditional and not as well. traditional for me refers to keeping techniques and training methods exctly the same. also i view tradition as keeping the cultural part of a martial art intact. this is not the best example by a long shot. yet the first thing which comes to mind is that many schools wear no shoes because that is considered tradition. while on the mats we dont wear shoes to protect the mats from damage. otherwise we train in shoes because odds are that we are going to be wearing them when a confrontation occurs. this is by no means saying anything negative about american kenpo. for any kenpo students out there respect you chosen path and would not disrespect or attempt to demean your efforts. now that we have a disclaimer in place let me continue with the following. some martial artists were (and still are)very confrontational about what belongs and doesnt) in martial arts. yet there have been (and still are) that take a different approach. consider the late ed parker. (who i have enormous respect for). two different things parker did when creating american kenpo have always impressed me. first parker did change the material from the kenpo he once took into what now is american kenpo. the dogma of keeping techniques and training as they were did not discourage his efforts. another thing is that parker began teaching classes using the native language of the place where the art was being taught. from what little experience i have of meeting students of american kenpo there seems to be little or no effort to keep chinese or japanese terms in place. the schools teach in english. from what i understand that wasnt very common back then. today we see the mma students learning in a very different way as opposed to back in the day. there is no tradition (by my definition) which prevents them from using the best training methods available. not are they confined to any set techniques because someone felt it necessary to insist that was not proper. the effort is to be the best martial artists they can be which means using the best training methods and techniques available. and having met some mma students the qualities of ethics and morals seem to exist there as well. just not terminology. if someone begins talking about sensitivity drills, swimming drills or wiping drills i understand what is being said. new students dont have to spend time learning the foreign terminology then translating as much into english. and for many of us the idea is easier to grasp by hearing a concept or technique in english. if you or anyone for that matter prefer using terminology from other countries thats non-essintial thats fine by me. have always refered to wing chun as just that not beautiful spingtime. and i also refer to my instructor as sifu not teacher. yet learning hundreds or more foreign terms doesnt seem to help my training.
When I first started learning Jeet Kune Do & Kali I always struggled with the Terminology and I got asked this question "Do you want to know how to do it, or how to spell it?"
windtalker, i believe we have an understanding. in fact i believe we agreed from the beginning, but with small technical differences in opinion. i must say the one thing that makes jkd so amazing is that there is so much to learn from everyone else, and not getting caught up on the little insignificant things. i believe culture is a very important thing. not necessarily to preserve in it's old form, but to be adapted into modern times(in both our lives and martial arts). i believe strong culture builds character. it keeps the martial arts culture alive. using whatever terminology my instructor uses is how I personally show that I am grateful for what I am being taught. when i go to seminars and the person is chinese, filipino, or french it pays to know the terminology in their language. they sometimes won't refer to it in english terms because they are not native english speakers.
i agree. the content is more important than the terminology. BY FAR! but i still like to learn as much history and terminology as possible, outside of class.
Sometimes the way to pronounce a word gives you the way it is meant to be used in application(or can give you clues to) this has been true for me in muay thai at least. Once i have learnt the meaning for the word sometimes i have had a glimpse of understanding,so i think it would be equally as important(and helpfull) when learning a art that is outside your culture to make a effort to learn the language
