One Last Point

It has been said that Dan Inosanto has certified thousands of JKD instructors. It has also been said that Dan is responsible for the awarding of more JKD instructor certificates than any other person, dead or alive. Not only are these accusations ridiculous, but it only illustrates how uneducated some individuals are about Dan. Jeet Kune Do, under Dan Inosanto, has several levels of instructorship. Only an individual with a Full Instructor or Senior Full Instructor certificate in JKD is authorized to give out rank. These individuals are the true heirs to the JKD art. Dan also certifies individuals in any one of the styles he is authorized to teach. Many people will take part in an Inosanto seminar on Jun Fan Gung Fu/Jeet Kune Do Concepts and receive an hours-trained certificate. Some have actually used this as an instructor's credential! I have no doubt that there are thousands of people who have an hours-trained certificate under Dan, and there are probably a few hundred with an instructor rank in JKD. But what really matters is who has been awarded a Full or Senior Full Instructorship in JKD. These individuals are the only legitimate line of instructors who are given authority by Dan to teach and certify others. As Dan himself explains in the following interview, not everyone will achieve this status.

SG - Sifu, could you explain, for the people who are not familiar with your system, how you do the ranking in your organization?

DI - I like them to study for at least 3 years before I'll accept them for what I call Apprentice Instructors, and usually they spend a total of about 5 years as an Apprentice, then about 5 years as an Associate Instructor, if they make it all the way through. I don't give Full Instructor to everybody. I think in the last 20 years I might have given 12 or 14 outside the state of California. Just 6 years ago, I only had about 4. They're very rare. I have a lot of Associate Instructors. I have that both for the Jun Fan program, and I have it for the Kali program. And the Majapahit program, I go 3 years for instructorship, and then Level 1, 2, 3, 4,5,6, & 7. I have 7 levels of instructorship in Majapahit.

So as you can see, Dan certainly has maintained quality control in terms of whom he grants authority in JKD. Then again, for those who moan about pieces of paper, let us not forget what JKD is. As hard as it is to describe what JKD is, I've found the following "definition" to be one of the best. It was written by Francis Fong, a well known JKD and Wing Chun instructor. I provide it here only to clarify what JKD means to practitioners under Dan Inosanto. While Bruce Lee never put it down on paper, I believe he would agree with the following:

Jeet Kune Do is not a style onto itself. Rather, it is the system of philosophy and concepts developed by Si-Gung Bruce Lee and continued by Sifu Dan Inosanto. JKD training provides a means of self-discovery for training of martial arts. The main concept is to "absorb what is useful, to reject what is useless and to add what is specifically your own." In using this philosophy, the student learns to identify what would work best for him/her in encountering today's modern threats. The idea is to be functional in four ranges (Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling), against armed or unarmed, versus multiple opponents and in any environment. No one art can provide all the answers or solutions to effective self-defense. A process of cross training, researching and developing ourselves with different disciplines of the most effective martial arts in the world is used to overcome the limitations of any single art. Cross training enables us to fill in the gaps and weaknesses that we might have. This is the object of JKD; to be bound by no style and in combat to use no style as style, to use no way as way, to use no system as system, to have no limitation as your limit in achieving your goal. The principles of JKD can be applied to any interest or vocation in life.

Jeet Kune Do, broken down in each range: (The arts taught in each range will vary from one instructor to another, except for the Jun Fan. The arts listed below are the ones taught by Dan to his instructors and are done so because their combat effectiveness has been proven time and again.)

Kicking & Punching Range: Jun Fan Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Savate, Western Boxing, Filipino Boxing (Panantukan)
Trapping Range: Wing Chun, Jun Fan Trapping, Kali-Silat.
Grappling Range: Brazilian Juijitsu, Shootwrestling, Jun Fan Grappling
Weaponry: Filipino Kali (Stick Fighting, Double Sticks, Knife Fighting, Staff, etc.)

JKD allows an individual to train in multiple ranges from kicking to punching to trapping to grappling and learn how to transition from one range to the next. There is no set curriculum for JKD, but rather the individual develops it.

Jun Fan or Lee Jun Fan is the Chinese name of Bruce Lee. The Jun Fan Martial Arts are the training methods originally developed by Si-Gung Bruce Lee in the 1960's during his exploration of the principles and theories of JKD. It is a core foundation that can help you to discover the concepts of Jeet Kune Do. The Jun Fan Martial Arts are a blend of modified Wing Chun Gung Fu, Western Boxing, Fencing, several Northern & Southern Chinese Gung Fu styles and various grappling disciplines. The Jun Fan Martial Arts can be broken down into two main areas: Jun Fan Kickboxing and Jun Fan Trapping (within the trapping/in-fighting program will be elements of Grappling and Ground-fighting). Most styles favor one or two ranges, Jun Fan incorporates all four ranges (Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling). As a set curriculum, Jun Fan may be limited to specific techniques and training, while Jeet Kune Do has no such limitation. While Jun Fan is one tool that can be used to train the principles and concepts of JKD, it is not the only one.

If you understand the above, then you will no doubt see that certification through Dan is not necessary to achieve growth in the martial arts. Anyone can make themselves more well-rounded simply by putting in the time to cross train in and research different systems. After all, isn't that exactly what Bruce Lee did to create his Jeet Kune Do?