"Original" Jeet Kune Do Vs. Jeet Kune Do Concepts

As I had mentioned in my earlier post, the current JKD scene is plagued by a popular debate over how JKD is being taught. This debate begin around 1995 and is due primarily to the fact that a lot of column writers, who had little or no training in JKD, were producing articles regarding Bruce Lee's art. Much of the public, including some original students of Bruce Lee, think Dan Inosanto has diluted the art of JKD by teaching others martial arts in his seminars and referring to it as Jeet Kune Do. On top of that, many believe Dan no longer teaches the original material Lee developed while he was still alive. People see Dan as someone who is trying to cash in on his association with Bruce Lee and several people have made the claim that Inosanto's true motive is to own a chain of JKD schools! Still others accuse Dan of selling instructorship certificates over the Internet and that he is the reason there are people teaching a mix of martial arts and calling it JKD. Thank God there are answers to all of this nonsense. But before we get to that, let me first explain what original Jeet Kune Do is and how is supposedly differs from Jeet Kune Do Concepts.

"Original" Jeet Kune Do is a movement within the last decade to preserve and practice only the techniques, training methods, strategies, and philosophy Bruce Lee himself taught to his students and personally favored. The majority of practitioners from this camp believe that JKD is what Lee taught from 1967-1973 and is a complete system based on the idea of intercepting an opponent's technique or any intent to hurt you. Practitioners of "original" Jeet Kune Do favor the idea of finding the freedom of expression Lee spoke of by drilling and practicing specific "JKD techniques, strategies, and training methods". Followers of this philosophy believe JKD is very much a style and that is should be taught the way Lee left it when he died. If a practitioner decides to add any other techniques, strategies or training methods to what JKD already has, then that individual should not call their art Jeet Kune Do. When Lee taught JKD, he had all of his students put their strong side forward since the lead hand and leg would be used about 80% of the time. Also, Bruce always stressed the importance of footwork and body mechanics behind every movement. There was a very specific on-guard stance that Lee developed based on how important is was to keep yourself covered at all times and to stay light and mobile when fighting. "Original" JKD practitioners see the simplicity of this approach and believe that hard work is the key to making JKD work for an individual. If someone were to 'carelessly' add something to the art, "Original" JKD practioners would be quick to say that the person simply did not try hard enough to make Lee's methods work.

Jeet Kune Do Concepts is a movement to preserve and practice Lee's original techniques, methods, strategies, and concepts. But it is also a means of continuing the research started by Bruce and to advance the practice of Lee's art by incorporating techniques, training methods, and strategies from other martial art systems. Followers of this camp believe that Lee would have wanted his students to continue to research different styles in order to find anything useful they could incorporate into their training. Dan Inosanto is the person who coined the phrase "JKD Concepts" and is the leader behind this school of thought. Within the practice of JKD Concepts, a student is taught the base system that Lee used at all three of his Jun Fan Gung Fu Institutes. That base system is called Jun Fan Gung Fu and it includes Bruce's evolution of ideas, techniques, training methods, and strategies that took place from 1964-1973. Within the original Jun Fan Gung Fu is also the concepts that guided Lee in creating his personal Jeet Kune Do. It was during this time that Dan Inosanto was training with Lee and it is well known that what Bruce was teaching during this time period was constantly changing. After a practitioner has reached a high level of proficiency and understanding of Jun Fan Gung Fu, they are then encouraged to seek out other systems and fill in any gaps they may have in their personal fighting 'style' using the concepts of JKD as guidelines. This could include the addition of training methods, techniques, strategies, philosophies, etc. However, a student is taught not to add anything just for the sake of adding, but to absorb new material only if it makes the individual better at fighting as well as in daily life. In this manner, each JKD Concepts practitioner is free to find their own JKD expression without being bound by having to use only the material Lee taught during his short lifetime. However, if someone finds that they can make Bruce's choice techniques and strategies work for them and that is all they need, then they are encouraged to stay with the original art. Once a practitioner is taught the JKD foundation, he/she is free to do as they please. The primary idea behind JKD Concepts is that no one art has all the answers for any possible self defense scenario and that every martial art has something to offer. Therefore, Jun Fan Gung Fu is one method, but not the only one. Jeet Kune Do is viewed not as a style, as Bruce Lee himself stated in his 1971 article, "Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate". Rather, Jeet Kune Do is held as a compilation of concepts that Lee devised as guidelines to use when investigating other martial art systems. The end objective is to find what works for you as an individual without having to limit yourself to another person's way of fighting. Every human being is different and will therefore have different attributes as well as advantages and disadvantages. So, in the practice of JKD Concepts, a student is encouraged to find what works for them, even if it means using little to none of the base system of Jun Fan Gung Fu.

The crux of this rift in JKD also stems from a difference of interpretation on a popular Bruce Lee saying. In the LA Chinatown school, Lee hung a poster which he had specially made and it read as follows: "The truth in this style is different for each individual. 1) Research your own experience in combat 2) Absorb what is useful 3) Reject what is useless 4) Add what is specifically your own". It is the last point on which the debate has grown out of control. "Original" JKD practitioners have used this phrase to mean add your own attitude, desire, intention, and mental and psychological approach to training. The Concepts group has used this phrase to mean the same as above but it also means add whatever works for you in combat; whether it is techniques, strategies, tactics, philosophies, principles, concepts or training methods from other martial arts. The most popular martial arts that are offered to JKD Concepts practitioners are those in which Dan is certified to teach. These inlcude Savate, Kali, Muay Thai, Penjack Silat, Kuntao, Kenpo Karate, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Wing Chun Gung Fu, Shootwrestling, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, and a few others.

It is easy to see why people with no knowledge or training under Dan Inosanto would be confused about what JKD is and isn't. Not to mention the fact that Bruce's now famous article that I posted earlier doesn't really clarify a whole lot in terms of what JKD is meant to be. With such a large division over what JKD is and isn't, and with failed attempts at unify both camps, JKD remains in a state of disharmony. Be that as it may, at the time of Lee's passing, the burden of carrying on the art of Jeet Kune Do fell on Dan Inosanto, the only man Bruce certified as an instructor in the art. Being in such a position has caused many people to criticize Dan's job of carrying on for Bruce. The harsh stings and bruises Dan has verbally received from an uneducated public has not gone unfelt over the years. True to Dan's nature, he has not felt the need to justify what he does to anyone or point out other people's short-sightedness when it comes to Jeet Kune Do. Dan has done what he believe is right and what he alone has been authorized to do by his mentor, Bruce Lee.

As you will see in my next post, Dan has not only protected and preserved the arts of his late mentor and friend, but he has done more than any other student of Bruce Lee to educate the public regarding Lee's arts. And he has done so without prostituting or degrading the integrity of Bruce's creation or his ideals.