Rather than a style, Jeet Kune Do, the Way of the Intercepting Fist, is a concept. More specifically, it is, truly speaking, Bruce Lee’s concept, a reflection of his own enlightenment and understanding of combat and life. It is an idea on how to approach combat based on certain guiding principles that Lee discovered through his years of training before his death in 1973 at the age of thirty-two. The most basic, and most essential, of these concepts is the idea of striking your opponent at the moment he launches an attack. This concept was borrowed from European fencing, though other Asian arts, on close examination, often espouse similar ideals. Japanese swordsmanship has the concept of Sen sen no sen, which means much the same thing and has been borrowed by other Japanese martial arts. It is at this point of extreme vulnerability that the art of Jeet Kune Do finds its greatest expression.
Jeet Kune Do (or JKD) developed from the more formal style of Jun Fan kung fu, which was based predominantly on Wing Chun kung fu. Jun Fan reflected Bruce’s early experimentation with his core style and his attempts to accommodate his early experiences upon arrival in America from Hong Kong. This change in environment brought to the young Chinese man a great many different experiences and exposure to a variety of fighting arts and the non-Asian personalities who practiced these styles, many of whom number among America’s finest martial artists. Bruce, naturally expressive and creative as a child actor, found the perfect catalyst for his personal development. Though most famous as a movie star performing incredible kicks and punches, Bruce Lee was a pioneer (in the West; there was a tradition already established in the East of assimilating different aspects of different arts) in blending different martial systems together to create an art that was both an expression of himself and a highly viable combat method: Jeet Kune Do. Lee is often cited as being a major force in the creation of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) which itself blends various arts, most notably Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, boxing and Muay Thai.
Bruce Lee combined elements of all arts together in a way that suited him. He was critical of what he labeled the ‘classical mess’, or the empty performance of ritual. At that time few in the world, including Lee, understood what the rituals - the forms or kata - of arts such as kung fu and karate symbolized and Bruce cannot be criticized for reaching these conclusions. Time and further research has taught us however that it was not so much the rituals (the kata or pre-established forms) that had no meaning, but rather the confusion lay in how they were interpreted. Bruce became unpopular with traditionalists, but very popular with those looking for a more individual approach to combat, one that they saw as reflecting more closely real fighting. Bruce used a variety of different equipment and his knowledge of contemporary science to enhance his skills. He was, for example, an early proponent of protein drinks, which he would make himself. He sponsored the practice of free sparring and contact (wearing protective equipment) and purposely kept classes small so that the instructor could give personal attention and feedback to each student. Actually, traditionally this is how an art would be learned, and it was only as a result of the widespread popularity gained by martial arts in the early twentieth century, first in their Asian home countries and later abroad, that caused class sizes to increase.
Jeet Kune Do: The Way of No Way
Strictly speaking Jeet Kune Do is not a style. My JKD and your JKD will necessarily be different, reflecting our different characters Bruce would lecture. One of Bruce’s more famous quotes, found in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, is ‘Research your own experience; absorb what is useful; reject what is useless; add what is specifically your own.’ Training then was not about accumulating knowledge, but about freeing the body and mind of preconception. Training emphasized a return to simplicity, to be achieved by the repetitive practice of basic techniques in a multitude of ways (against pads, bags, a moving opponent, the air, paper suspended from the ceiling and other methods). The pursuit of simplicity however was to be mindful, and was not a path for the lazy. Bruce tirelessly applied his method of investigation to numerous arts and became adept in kicking, punching and trapping. His death unfortunately prevented him from truly delving into the grappling arts of the world, though that would have been the next direction that he would have taken. His students have continued research in this area however and JKD practitioners were amongst the first in the world to recognize the effectiveness of Gracie (Brazilian) Jiu Jitsu. Continued training has accessed numerous other arts and brought them to the attention of a wider public. Most notably, top JKD experts have cross trained in Kali / Arnis / Escrima (Philippines), Pentjak Silat (Indonesia) and Thai boxing (Thailand).
In combat then the JKD master of the late 1960s excelled in using blinding fast strikes to close with an opponent before controlling the other’s limbs and finishing with elbow strikes and sweeps. A specialty of the JKD practitioner is the stop hit. A modern day JKD practitioner can more or less include any number of styles or individual techniques in his repertoire that keep to, reflect and express the underlying principles of the philosophy of the intercepting fist.
