What did Bruce Lee mean when he said he doesn't believe in Styles?

Question

Was Bruce saying that he doesn't believe in Judo, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Doe etc.? In that case doesn't JKD teach some kind of style? Is he saying learn everything and pick what works best? Did Bruce believe in belts if he didn't believe in style?

Answer 1

What he meant was one should not limit fighting to just one style, meaning if you're in a fight, not taking down an opponent with a Jujitsu technique when the opportunity arises because your training in Tae Kwon Do is focused more on kicking may cause you your life. He was one of the first martial artist to point out that no one martial arts is the be all and end all. You must take into account that during his time, in the 70s, martial arts wasn't as well known or as widely practiced and available as it is today and most schools or style then claimed to be the ultimate and invincible fighting art than can defeat all others. So training in more than one martial art was frowned upon, since martial arts schools back then were more of a fraternity than a school and one can't be a member of two different fraternities. Bruce developed JKD not as a series of techniques like what most people think, but as a philosophy, a way of thinking. He had graduated college with a degree in Philosophy. So Jeet Kune Do (or Way of the intercepting fist) is a not a bible on how to fight, but a guide on how to choose the methods and tools of fighting to suit you so you can fight effectively.

Answer 2

I think what Bruce Lee meant was that studying martial arts is a personal style in itself- within a style you will encounter things you're awesome at, things you suck at, things you would do, and things you would never do. Add experience of two or three other styles into the mix, and you naturally build a repertoire of techniques that are the best for you. I have to disagree with the notion that Bruce was trying to build the "perfect" style in Jeet Kun Do, but rather a style that was efficient and handy for him and others. When he first started, he did Wing Chun, but wasn't very happy with it. JKD was created by an incredibly intelligent man who was also a great teacher, which is why so many are drawn to him. I don't do JKD but I can appreciate his genius.

Answer 3

Hello, I am a huge follower of Bruce Lee. Have been since I was about 5 or 6 and now I am almost 31. Bruce Lee wasn't nessaccerily against the styles themselves. He was infact against the 'fixed' positions and the 'stances' one has to be in in order to perform a technique. I own his Tao of Jeet Kune Do and have read it many times and still read it to this day. He believed that a fighter should not be limited in his/her knowledge of fighting, yet at the same time to be able to take what he/she was good at and use it and take what they weren't and discard it. Bruce Lee was a huge believer in not wasting energy. To not tense up until the moment of impact, so therefore it is been known to be called Impact Striking. He didn't really believe in forms, He thought that they cuased a false sense of reality. Not realistic for a street fight. And as everyone knows, that is what he was all about, real life fighting. As for belts, no he didn't. His thoughts on belts was 'Why were them, they only hold up your pants.' I am sure his art of fighting is now being taught with belts. But when he trained, he didn't wear one. LOL, he didn't need to, everyone knew he was good. He is the reason why i started martial arts.

Answer 4

Back in the day, people followed the martial arts religiously. They believed that if you practiced judo then you should only use throws on the opponent. However when Bruce Lee came, he changed all of this. He showed everybody that their should be no one set style that dictates how to fight an opponent. For this reason he made Jeet Kune Do. He took aspects of different styles to make a style of his own. In those times, this would be seen as creating a cult but Bruce Lee knew that it was stupid to follow one set style. Instead, he thought that you should use what works best. This was what he meant by be like water. We should be flexible and adjust to whatever situation that is given instead of waiting for an ideal situation.

Answer 5

He believed in formlessness, that you should be like water in that you would take the form of your 'container' (i.e. the space you were fighting in was as much a factor of your 'form' as what you had practiced leading up to the moment of conflict). This is an idea he likely adopted from war philosophy but that he certainly emphasized in his Martial Art philosophy to a far greater extent than any other form extent in his time. And the idea has some degree of wisdom, especially for faster striking oriented practitioners of martial arts. Water is never at rest, it merely waits. When the bowl is overturned, water acts (rather than reacting) instantly. Water can not be broken, for it bends under applied pressure but nor is it soft which allows it to strike with great force. For larger, slower, or grappling minded practitioners it doesn't carry as much wisdom, as these individuals tend to favor a more solid, methodical approach to pick apart or work over an opponent. Just my take on it.

Answer 6

I believe Bruce Lee meant we should think of martial arts as a whole, not broken down into so many different styles of fighting. In his teachings, and beliefs, he saw that a person must be able to defend himself/herself against any attack whether it be from the ground or standing. He believed that for someone to be a student of martial arts, they must incorporate, or experience, other styles of martial arts into their own martial arts education. One of my favorite stories about Bruce Lee is that he was wrestling someone, sorry I forget this person's name, trained in Jujitsu. Bruce Lee lost this match. After the match, the Jujitsu martial artist came up to Bruce and asked "If this was real life, what would you have done differently to escape?" and Bruce Lee responded "I would have bitten you." I love this story because it shows that Bruce Lee new knowing only one style was not enough to be a great martial artist. It was not enough to survive any attack or situation. I remember Dana White saying once in an interview, that Bruce Lee was practicing MMA before people even knew what MMA was. Bruce Lee was a true martial artist.

Answer 7

styles are like religion. full of dogma and remain unchanged regardless of its problems. it is this dogma that is at question. staying rigid to one thing will never allow you to grow to potential. you may grow to potential in ONE thing, but that wont help you. too many people here blow wind up their own @sses and think they are awesome just because they have done years of the same thing and have high grades in it.

but arts dont relate to life outside the dojo. so we need to understand many aspects of life, and many aspects of arts. only through knowing as much of life as we can could we ever come close to understanding it.

to you people who follow arts that dont see the purpose in knees or elbows, but see the purpose in point sparring, you are the worst. to be the best, you must be able to use everything the body has, in every situation. one art wont show you that.

cross training is teh key, but because of brainwashing and ego caressing from instructors many people dont see the need. so Bruce had the right idea. to try it all, to see crap when you see it, and to identify good advice when you do. too many arts are full speed crap with no physical application.

why learn fancy when it wont be viable outside the dojo? for looks alone? then what a waste of training time learning what doesnt work.

Answer 8

Once you study for many years you might notice that one move is just like another move you practice just turned sideways (done on the y axis instead of the Z ect.... ) Or maybe its the reverse action of another move .. a back elbow is the reverse action of a standerd punch. ect... (most basic example I could come up with)

Anyway.. after enough study you start to see how many moves are related to each other. Once you see enough of them you see how the human body can only move in a "limited" set of ways and how all arts fit into the same patterns of movement.

Now they differ on weight distribution, stances ect.. but a punch still has only so many ways you can punch, even if that number is 200,000 ways its still just variations on maybe 20 different punches done at different angles with different timing, or stance or target, or whatever.

He was trying to express the fact that ALL fighting types, can be distilled into basic formulas for movement and once you understand the formulas you can apply them to your body type and become a true artist expressing yourself and your unique flavor. aka "style"

Don't seek to follow in the footsteps of great men, instead seek what they sought.

Answer 9

what he meant was that if all you do is karte or judo you limit yourself in learning he meant to learn all aspect karate's low quick kicks TKD's high kics ju jit su's submissions judo's throws all styles have good points they are all useful or they would not have lasted for thousands of years but you cant get in to the minds et that karet is betetr or judo is better learn all the aspects of martial arts not just one styles technigues

Answer 10

Styles limit you to one or the other. As the master said, would you rather be a pitcher, or the water that goes in the pitcher? Water will take on whatever shape it is put into, but a pitcher is still only a pitcher. I would rather be water.