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<h1><center><img src="blkick.gif" align="center">Jeet Kune Do<img src="blkick.gif" align="center"></h1></center>
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<font size="+1" face="arial">Bruce Lee's own style of fighting was called Jeet Kune Do, this style was taken from the best
methods from all the other schools.<p>JEET KUNE DO PRINCIPALS<p>
Jeet Kune Do shares a lot of its principals with other arts. Those who study Wing Chun will see a lot of things taken directly from it. It has borrowed a lot things from other arts such as footwork from both fencing and boxing, grappling from Judo and so on, but has a lot of unique perspectives of its own. Jeet Kune Do also emphasizes being physically fit, but most of all, the number one rule of Jeet Kune Do is to use whatever works. <p>
ECONOMY OF MOTION<p>
Economy of motion means that you use no wasted movement. That is to say, you make only the motions that are effective and necessary. Do not over extend, or follow through to far after a punch, it will leave you open. If you are able to retract quicker you can attack again quicker, or be ready to defend.<p>
CENTER LINE THEORY<p>
The center line refers to an imaginary line running down the center of ones body. The idea is to exploit, control and dominate your opponent's centerline. All attacks, defenses and footwork are designed to preserve your own center line and open your opponent's.<p> Three basic rules are: <p>
The one who controls the center line will control the fight.<p>
Protect and maintain your own centerline while you control and exploit your opponent's. <p>
Control the center line by occupying it.<p>
THEORY OF FACING<p>
The idea is to always face your opponent's center line. This does not mean that you have to be facing face to face. If you use some footwork or maybe a little trapping hands, you may end up facing his right or left side, or even better his back (Don't count on this one, but it's nice!) Now you are facing your opponent's central line, but he is not facing yours!<p>
IMMOVABLE ELBOW THEORY<p>
This is the idea that you WILL NOT compromise the space between your arms and your body when somebody is pressing an attack. If they successfully pin your arms against you then you have lost a lot of options. So when in trapping always keep about six inches between your elbow and your body.
<p>
YOUR OPPONENT DICTATES YOUR ACTIONS
<p>
Not all the time. What I mean is, don't go into a situation thinking, "I'm gonna do this, and then this, and finish him with this.", because it will never happen right. Respond to what your opponent does. If he keeps moving in, either move back, change your line of attack (e.g. sidestepping) or stop him in his tracks but it will be different each time.
<p>
DON'T PLAY NICE
<p>
A lot of arts say no hitting the groin or throat because it hurts, or there is a potential for injury. JKD is not a sport. IF you NEED to use it, use it and don't hold back, especially if it's your life your dealing with.
HOWEVER, in training always respect your partner and wear the appropriate equipment.
<p>
BE SIMPLE<p>
It's great to know a lot of techniques that are difficult or to know many that flow together, because you never know when you will need them. BUT, it is always best to use simple techniques and the lesser the number of techniques the better. Why dance around and look good when a straight jab to the face is easier?
<p>
BE HEALTHY<p>
Exercise and eat right. You know the drill. Just be healthy and happy, it will improve more than just your martial arts!
<p>
Bruce once explained this on Hong Kong television. 'There are lots of places on the human <img src="bruce.jpg" align="left" vspace="5" hspace="5">
body which are obvious spots to attack such as the head or the stomach - but if you aim for
somewhere unexpected, then your opponent can't defend themselves in time'.<p>
The main kicks Bruce used to destroy opponents often twice his size were the Groin kick, the
Front Through the Heart kick, the Shovel Leg kick and the Tiger Tail kick. With his fists he
used the Cranes Beak, the Snake Strike, the Tiger Claw and the Dragons Head. His stances
included the Deer, the Bird and the Monkey.<p>
He wrote many articles and books on his favourite subject, this one was taken from Black Belt Magazine, September 1971.
<p><p><p>
<c><h1> LIBERATE YOURSELF FROM CLASSICAL KARATE</h1></c>
<p>
<c> by Bruce Lee</c>
<p><hr>
<b>HE TEACHES AND EXPLAINS
WHAT IS JEET KUNE DO </b>
<p>
I am the first to admit that any attempt to crystalize Jeet Kune Do
into a written article is no easy task. Perhaps to avoid making a 'thing'
out of a 'process'. I have not until now personally written an article on
JKD. Indeed, it is difficult to explain what Jeet Kune Do is, although it
may be easier to explain what it is not.
<p>
Let me begin with a Zen story. The story might be familiar to
some, but I repeat it for it's appropriateness. Look upon this story as a
means of limbering up one's senses, one's attitude and one's mind to make
them pliable and receptive. You need that to understand this article,
otherwise you might as well forget reading any further.
<p><blockquote>
A learned man once went to a Zen teacher to inquire about Zen. As
the Zen teacher explained, the learned man would frequently interrupt him
with remarks like, "Oh, yes, we have that too...." and so on.<p>
Finally the Zen teacher stopped talking and began to serve tea to
the learned man. He poured the cup full, and then kept pouring until the
cup overflowed.<p>
"Enough!" the learned man once more interrupted. "No more can go
into the cup!"<p>
"Indeed, I see," answered the Zen teacher. "If you do not first
empty the cup, how can you taste my cup of tea?"<p>
</blockquote>
I hope my comrades in the martial arts will read the following
paragraphs with open-mindedness leaving all the burdens of preconceived opinions
and conclusions behind. This act, by the way, has in itself liberating power.
After all, the usefulness of the cup is in it's emptiness.
<p>
Make this article relate to yourself, because though it is on JKD, it
is primarily concerned with the blossoming of a martial artist---not a
"Chinese" martial artist, a "Japanese" martial artist, etc. A martial artist
is a human being first. Just as nationalities have nothing to do with one's
humanity, so they have nothing to do with martial arts. Leave your protective
shell of isolation and relate 'directly' to what is being said. Return to your
senses by ceasing all the intervening intellectual mumbo jumbo. Remember that
life is a constant process of relating. Remember too, that I seek neither your
approval nor to influence you towards my way of thinking. I will be more than
satisfied if, as a result of this article, you begin to investigate everything
for yourself and cease to uncritically accept prescribed formulas that dictate
"this is this" and "that is that".
<p>
<b>ON CHOICELESS OBSERVATION</b>
<p>
Suppose several persons who are trained in different styles of combative
arts witness an all out street fight. I am sure that we would hear different
versions from each of these stylists. This is quite understandable for one
cannot see a fight (or anything else) "as is" as long as he is blinded by his
chosen point of view, i.e. style, and he will view the fight through the lens
of his particular conditioning. Fighting, "as is," is simple and total. It is
not limited to your perspective conditioning as a Chinese martial artist. True
observation begins when one sheds set patterns and true freedom of expression
occurs when one is beyond systems.
<p>
Before we examine Jeet Kune Do, let's consider exactly what a
"classical" martial art style really is. To begin with, we must recognize the
incontrovertible fact that regardless of their many colorful origins (by a wise,
mysterious monk, by a special messenger in a dream, in a holy revelation, etc.)
styles are created by men. A style should never be considered gospel truth, the
laws and principles of which can never be violated. Man, the living, creating
individual, is always more important than any established style.
<p>
It is conceivable that a long time ago a certain martial artist
discovered some partial truth. During his lifetime, the man
resisted the temptation to organize this partial truth, although this is a
common tendency in a man's search for security and certainty in life. After
his death, his students took "his" hypotheses, "his" postulates, "his" method
and turned them into law. Impressive creeds were then invented, solemn
reinforcing ceremonies prescribed, rigid philosophy and patterns formulated,
and son on, until finally an institution was erected. So, what originated
as one man's intuition of some sort of personal fluidity has been transformed
into solidified, fixed knowledge, complete with organized classified responses
presented in a logical order. In so doing, the well-meaning, loyal followers
have not only made this knowledge a holy shrine, but also a tomb in which they
have buried the founder's wisdom.
<p>
But distortion does not necessarily end here. In reaction to "the
other truth," another martial artist, or possible a dissatisfied disciple,
organizes an opposite approach--such as the "soft" style versus the "hard"
style, the "internal" school versus the "external" school, and all these
separate nonsenses. Soon this opposite faction also becomes a large
organization, with its own laws and patterns. A rivalry begins, with each
style claiming to possess the "truth" to the exclusions of all others.
<p>
At best, styles are merely parts dissected from a unitary whole. All
styles require adjustment, partiality, denials, condemnation and a lot of self-
justification. The solutions they purport to provide are the very cause of
the problem, because they limit and interfere with our natural growth and
obstruct the way to genuine understanding. Divisive by nature, styles keep
men 'apart' from each other rather than 'unite' them.
<p>
<b>TRUTH CANNOT BE STRUCTURED
OR DEFINED</b>
<p>
One cannot express himself fully when imprisoned by a confining style.
Combat "as is" is total, and it includes all the "is" as well as "is not,"
without favorite lines or angles. Lacking boundaries, combat is always fresh,
alive and constantly changing. Your particular style, your personal
inclinations and your physical makeup are all 'parts' of combat, but they do
not constitute the 'whole' of combat. Should your responses become dependent
upon any single part, you will react in terms of what "should be" rather
than to the reality of the ever-changing "what is." Remember that while the
whole is evidenced in all its parts, an isolated part, efficient or not, does
not constitute the whole.
<p>
Prolonged repetitious drillings will certainly yield mechanical
precision and security of that kind comes from any routine. However, it is
exactly this kind of "selective" security or "crutch" which limits or blocks
the total growth of a martial artist. In fact, quite a few practitioners
develop such a liking for and dependence on their "crutch" that they can no
longer walk without it. Thus, anyone special technique, however cleverly
designed is actually a hinderance.
<p>
Let it be understood once and for all that I have NOT invented a new
style, composite, or modification. I have in no way set Jeet Kune Do within
a distinct form governed by laws that distinguish it from "this" style or
"that" method. On the contrary, I hope to free my comrades from bondage to
styles, patterns and doctrines.
<p>
What, then, is Jeet Kune Do? Literally, "jeet" means to intercept or
to stop; "kune" is the fist; and "do" is the way, the ultimate reality---the
way of the intercepting fist. Do remember, however, that "Jeet Kune Do" is
merely a convenient name. I am not interested with the term itself; I am
interested in its effect of liberation when JKD is used as a mirror for
self-examination.
<p>
Unlike a "classical" martial art, there is no series of rules or
classification of technique that constitutes a distinct "Jeet Kune Do" method
of fighting. JKD is not a form of special conditioning with its own rigid
philosophy. It looks at combat not from a single angle, but from all possible
angles. While JKD utilizes all the ways and means to serve its end (after all,
efficiency is anything that scores), it is bound by none and is therefore free.
In other words, JKD possesses everything, but is in itself possessed by nothing.
<p>
Therefore, to try and define JKD in terms of a distinct style---be it
gung-fu, karate, street fighting, Bruce Lee's martial art, etc.---is to
completely miss its meaning. It's teaching simply cannot be confined with a
system. Since JKD is at once "this" and "not this", it neither opposes nor
adheres to any style. To understand this fully, one must transcend from the
duality of "for" and "against" into one organic unity which is without
distinctions. Understanding of JKD is direct intuition of this unity.
<p>
There are no prearranged sets or "kata" in the teaching of JKD, nor are
they necessary. Consider the subtle difference between "having no form" and
having "no form"; the first is ignorance, the second is transcendence. Through
instinctive body feeling, each of us 'knows' our own most efficient and
dynamic manner of achieving effective leverage, balance in motion, economical
use of energy, etc. Patterns, techniques or forms touch only the fringe of
genuine understanding. The core of understanding lies in the individual mind,
and until that is touched, everything is uncertain and superficial. Truth
cannot be perceived until we come to fully understand ourselves and our
potentials. After all, 'knowledge in the martial arts ultimately means
self-knowledge.'
<p>
At this point you may ask, "How do I gain this knowledge?" That you
will have to find out all by yourself. You must accept the fact that there
is in help but self-help. For the same reason I cannot tell you how to
"gain" freedom, since freedom exists within you. I cannot tell you what 'not'
to do, I cannot tell you what you 'should' do, since that would be confining
you to a particular approach. Formulas can only inhibit freedom, externally
dictated prescriptions only squelch creativity and assure mediocrity. Bear
in mind that the freedom that accrues from self-knowledge cannot be acquired
through strict adherence to a formula; we do not suddenly "become" free, we
simply "are" free.
<p>
Learning is definitely not mere imitation, nor is it the ability to
accumulate and regurgitate fixed knowledge. Learning is a constant process of
discovery, a process without end. In JKD we begin not by accumulation but by
discovering the cause of our ignorance, a discovery that involves a shedding
process.
<p>
Unfortunately, most students in the martial arts are conformists.
Instead of learning to depend on themselves for expression, they blindly
follow their instructors, no longer feeling alone, and finding security in
mass imitation. The product of this imitation is a dependent mind. Independent
inquiry, which is essential to genuine understanding, is sacrificed. Look
around the martial arts and witness the assortment of routine performers,
trick artists, desensitized robots, glorifiers of the past and so on----
all followers or exponents of organized despair.
<p>
How often are we told by different "sensei" of "masters" that the
martial arts are life itself? But how many of them truly understand what they
are saying? Life is a constant movement---rhythmic as well as random; life is
a constant change and not stagnation. Instead of choicelessly flowing with
this process of change, many of these "masters", past and present, have built
an illusion of fixed forms, rigidly subscribing to traditional concepts and
techniques of the art, solidifying the ever-flowing, dissecting the totality.
<p>
The most pitiful sight is to see sincere students earnestly repeating
those imitative drills, listening to their own screams and spiritual yells.
In most cases, the means these "sensei" offer their students are so elaborate
that the student must give tremendous attention to them, until gradually he
loses sight of the end. The students end up performing their methodical
routines as a mere conditioned response, rather than 'responding to' "what is."
They no longer "listen" to circumstances; they "recite" their circumstances.
These pour souls have unwittingly become trapped in the miasma of classical
martial arts training.
<p>
A teacher, a really good sensei, is never a 'giver' of "truth"; he is
a guide, a 'pointer' to the truth that the student must discover for himself.
A good teacher, therefore, studies each student individually and encourages
the student to explore himself, both internally and externally, until,
ultimately, the student is integrated with his being. For example, a skillful
teacher might spur his student's growth by confronting him with certain
frustrations. A good teacher is a catalyst. Besides possessing a deep
understanding, he must also have a responsive mind with great flexibility and
sensitivity.
<p>
<b>A FINGER POINTING TO THE MOON</b>
<p>
There is no standard in total combat, and expression must be free.
this liberating truth is a reality only in so far as it is 'experienced and
lived' by the individual himself; it is a truth that transcends styles or
disciplines. Remember, too, that Jeet Kune Do is merely a term, a label to
be used as a boat to get one across; once across, it is to be discarded and not
carried on one's back.
<p>
These few paragraphs are, at best, a "finger pointing to the moon."
Please do not take the finger to be the moon or fix your gaze so intently on
the finger as to miss all the beautiful sights of heaven. After all, the
usefulness of the finger is in pointing away from itself to the light which
illumines finger and all.
---
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