Sunday 27 October 2013

Monday 4 March 2013

Jeet Kune Do





Jeet Kune Do (; (Pinyin: Jiéquándào, Cantonese: Jitkyùndou, Jyutping: Zit6 Kyun4 Dou6, also "Jeet Kun Do", "Jeet Kuen Do" or simply "JKD") is an eclectic/hybrid system and philosophy of life founded by martial artist Bruce Lee [2] in 1967 with direct, non classical, and straightforward movements. Due to the way his style works, Jeet Kune Do practitioners believe in minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed. The system works on the use of different 'tools' for different situations. These situations are broken down into ranges (Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling), with techniques flowing smoothly between them. It is referred to as a "style without style" or "the art of fighting without fighting" as said by Lee himself. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding thoughts. It was named for the concept of interception, or attacking your opponent while he is about to attack. However, the name Jeet Kune Do was often said by Lee to be just a name. He himself often referred to it as "The art of expressing the human body" in his writings and in interviews. Through his studies Lee came to believe that styles had become too rigid, and unrealistic. He called martial art competitions of the day "Dry land swimming". He believed that combat was spontaneous, and that a martial artist cannot predict it, only react to it, and that a good martial artist should "Be like water" and move fluidly without hesitation.




Lee's philosophy
I have not invented a "new style," composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from "this" method or "that" method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see "ourselves". . . Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don't, and that is that. There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune-Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune-Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back.







Principles

The following are principles that Lee incorporated into his Jeet Kune Do. He felt these were universal combat truths that were self-evident, and would lead to combat success if followed. Familiarity with each of the "Four ranges of combat", in particular, is thought to be instrumental in becoming a "total" martial artist.
JKD teaches that the best defense is a strong offense, hence the principle of an "intercepting fist". For a person to attack another hand-to-hand, the attacker must approach the target. This provides an opportunity for the attacked person to "intercept" the attacking movement. The principle of interception may be applied to more than intercepting physical attacks.
The "Five ways of attack", categories which help JKD practitioners organize their fighting repertoire, comprise the offensive teachings of JKD. The concepts of "Stop hits & stop kicks", and"Simultaneous parrying & punching", borrowed from épée fencing's and Wing Chun's concepts of single fluid motions which attack while defending, comprise the defensive teachings of JKD. These concepts were modified for unarmed combat and implemented into the JKD framework by Lee, to complement the principle of interception.