Is a Jeet Kun Do class really needed?

Question

From my basic summary of what little I know of JKD. Its basically this, "Absorb what is useful, discard what is not useful, and add what is essentially yours." To master one art, and then branch out to discover a punching, kicking, trapping, and grappling art. Thus learning all ranges of combat. And since this is your own art, and not a nations. There can be no best or worst art, the best art is you.

1.What else do I need to know, that a class would teach me? I learned all that after a couple minutes off of a simple article.

2.Wouldn't a JKD class also be a waste since you need to discover your ownself and the style, so although going to a pure style teacher would be needed to pick up arts, a Jeet Kun Do teacher would technically be impossible.

Answer 1

You can read all you want, but without instruction and, more importantly, practice, you will "know" nothing.

Answer 2

Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless. Learn the practical and look down upon the unpractical. Yes you can go around learning different arts and putting together what is right for your. Or you can go to a Jeet Kune Do class and learn extremely effective self defense Bruce Lee already put together.
Of course discovering how you use martial art best if essential. I started Jeet Kune Do after a year of Taekwondo so I wouldn't know about first starting Jeet Kune Do. But I believe if you enjoy and find it useful, there's no need to complain.
I do believe in order to 'complete' your martial knowledge with Jeet Kune Do, one would have to take Jeet Kune Do, understand its techniques and concept, and then touch arts that interest the artist.

Answer 3

if you went to three different schools and learned three different things, you would have JKD... As with any other combo of more than one art.

So, what did bruce really discover? what did he create, that people don't do everyday?

Miletich et al are all JKD. Incidently, JKD means way of the intercepting fist. All MA's teach this. Nothing new in this!

Cross training is all it is. Cross training is a good thing. But the truth is that there is no way to mix martial arts.

All arts have techniques in common so you are just learning the same thing again...

Wise of you, huh?

Answer 4

There's 3 major schools of JKD out there
- 1. Jun Fan Wing Chun (Taky Kimura & Jimm Lee lineage)
- 2. JKD concepts (Dan Inosanto lineage)
- 3. Jun Fan JKD (Ted Wong lineage)

"To master one art and then branch out..." will gives you only branches of a tree, its surface knowledge. If you neglect the root, how can anything good spring from it?

Q1. If your cup of tea is already full, what else can it be filled with? One can read a BJJ manual too - but you can't "download" it like Neo. A good JKD class will teach you what Bruce Lee believes the "smooth rhythmic expression of smashing the guy before he hits you, with any method available."

Q2. Bruce Lee JKD is derived from what he learned, plus his evaluation of it. First and foremost, a good JKD class will seek the root and not the branches. Roots are the real knowledge which you need to discover your own expression as a martial artist.

Lastly, picking up a pure style to be express only in that style. The function of JKD is to liberate, not to bind. It is a solification, not a structure.

Answer 5

Wing chun is the style he was taught in China, though his training was incomplete. After he moved to America he looked into briefly other styles like karate and boxing. But after awhile in the states he developed a philosophy known as Jeet Kun Do. This isn't a complete style but a collection of thoughts Bruce had while tripping out. Many have combined it with an existing style as a marketing ploy. Bruce Lee's greatness came from his speed (repetitive training) and the fact he came to America while Eastern Martial arts was developing there.

Answer 6

In a nutshell, No. What the legitimate JKD schools offer are merely the convenience and availability of instructions in the different styles of martial arts you might need to hone your abilities in different fighting ranges and the chance to spar with likeminded practitioners. You can of course do this on your own, but it'll take you a lot more time to find competent instruction on the different styles you learn from and you have to learn by trial and error which costs more time and money. It's all up to you, if you are a well motivated and dedicated student of the martial arts, then learning on your own will pose no problem.

Answer 7

By not learning anything you can not discard anything...

You are talking from the perspective of discarding a JKD class without even assessing its usefulness which is def against the principals of JKD.

My advice is to learn what everyone has to offer. Learn how to do it before you decide whether it is a good technique or not. Just because you can't do it yet doesn't make it useless.

Answer 8

Jeet Kune Do is not a style of martial art.
It's just a concept.