In the 1967, Bruce Lee developed an expression of martial arts that was personal to him called Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist in Cantonese and henceforth will be known as JKD). The art revolves around his main tenet of “Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation.” In developing this art, he drew many inspiration not only from his Chinese Kung Fu background, but from fighters such as the world famous boxer Muhammad Ali.
It is called an expression of martial arts because the art is said to be a formless form of Chinese Kung Fu. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned and is a philosophy with guiding ideas.
“The idea of intercepting is key to JKD, whether it be the interception of your opponent’s technique or his intent. The basic guiding principles are: Simplicity, Directness and Freedom (the form of no form).” – Bruce Lee Foundation (extracted 2020).
Bruce Lee suggests that philosophy with guiding ideas in JKD can be applied to both real combat as well as real life situations that are proven to be challenging and this can only be achieve when one has trained oneself to the point of an alleviated sense of self that the techniques and strategies can be applied and executed without much thought
Hence, below are the few important takeaways any martial arts practitioner can learn from Jeet Kune Do:
“Be like water”
Lee emphasized that every situation, in fighting or in everyday life, is varied. To obtain victory, therefore, it is believed essential not to be rigid, but to be fluid and adaptable to any situation.
Lee compared it to being like water, saying “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
His theory behind this was that one must be able to function in any scenario one is thrown into and should react accordingly. A strong sense of self or style is then relative when the situation dictates the action. Having the mentality of “I prefer…” or “My style is…” can be detrimental in a fight and even put you in major disadvantage if we do not flow with the punches accordingly.
Three ranges of combat
- Long
- Medium
- Close
Jeet Kune Do emphasizes on the aforementioned ranges equally. This ranges of training serves to differentiate JKD from other martial arts. This is because according to Lee, most but not all traditional martial arts systems specialize in training at one or two ranges.
His theories have been especially influential and substantiated in the field of mixed martial arts, as the MMA Phases of Combat are essentially the same concept as the JKD’s combat ranges.
Do note that the range terminology has evolved over time and some JKD practitioners still utilize the former terms.
Economy of motion
Jeet Kune Do seeks to be economical in time and movement, teaching that the simplest things work best. The guiding principles that allow JKD to achieve economy of motion includes:
- Efficiency: An attack which reaches its target in the least amount of time, with maximum force
- Directness: Doing what comes naturally in a disciplined way
- Simplicity: Thinking in an uncomplicated manner; without ornamentation
Stop hits
“When the distance is wide, the attacking opponent requires some sort of preparation. Therefore, attack him on his preparation of attack. To reach me, you must move to me. Your attack offers me an opportunity to intercept you.” – Bruce Lee
Intercepting an opponent’s attack with an attack of one’s own instead of simply blocking it. It is for this concept Jeet Kune Do is named. JKD practitioners believe that this is the most difficult defensive skill to develop. This strategy is a feature of some traditional Chinese martial arts as Wing Chun, as well as an essential component of European épée Fencing. Stop hits and kicks utilize the principle of economy of motion by combining attack and defense into one movement, thus minimizing the “time” element.
Five ways of attack
JKD’s original five ways of attack are:
- Simple Angular Attack or Simple Direct Attack (SDA or SAA)
- Attack By Combination (ABC)
- Progressive Indirect Attack (PIA)
- Immobilization Attacks (IA)
- Attack By Drawing (ABD)
