Jeet Kune Do Basics

Bruce Lee disected rigid classical disciplines and rebuilt them with fluid, po-mo improvements. "It's good but it needs restructuring," he would say. Classical techniques did not take into account the reality of street fighting.

Jeet Kune Do does exactly that. It is based on reality. Lee utilized all ways but was bound by none. Hence the term, "Having no form, as form."

Lee criticized Karate for its broken motions, and Wing Chun for its flashy techniques. Both, he said, were not ideal to use in actual combat. Notice, he did not criticize the studying of them, but rather, being bound by them. In Jeet Kune Do, there is no definitive style: it´s style is no style. Hence the term, "Using no way, as way."

Here, we begin to see the genius behind the man. "Efficiency is anything that scores," wrote Lee.

Simply put, it's English translation is "way of the intercepting fist." Lee's simple philosophy was rather than block a punch and hit back with two distinct motions, why not intercept and hit in one, fluid stroke.

Fluidity was the ideal -- to keep moving. Water, Lee would always say, is the toughtest thing on earth.

It is virtually indestructable; it is soft, yet it can tear rocks apart. Move like water.

Learning JKD

Bruce Lee once said, that when he first learned to punch, a punch was only a punch. Then, when he learned the art form (and trained with form), a punch was no longer a punch. But after learning, and applying self to what he learned, in the end, a punch was only a punch.

Notice the three stages of learning: 1) Unlearned state, 2) Training, 3) Applying self.

Lee´s idea of learning martial arts is to learn what you can, train with the existing systems, then throw away what does not work for you. This is the key: you must train first. Only aftwards, will you be able to apply your own judgements about what works and what doesn´t.

Then stick to what works for you. Lee´s studies included Tai Chi, and Wing Chun Gung Fu. These, of course, lead to the development of Jeet Kune Do. "Accept what is useful. Reject what is useless."

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