Jeremy Lynch and D.M. Blue talk to JKD legend Chris Kent.

Watch on YouTube (54min) or listen on Apple Podcasts.

Jeremy Lynch and D.M. Blue talk to friend and fellow JKD Man Octavio Quintero and discuss the art of JKD and the pitfalls of teaching.

Watch on YouTube (1hr 3min) or listen on Apple Podcasts.

JKD Wednesday Night Group founding members Jeremy Lynch and D.M. Blue delve into the history of the group, their memories of training with legends like Bert Poe and Sonny Bygum, the current state of Jeet Kune Do, and more.

Watch on YouTube (1hr 3min) or listen on Apple Podcasts.

The first official JKD Wednesday Night Group jersey features “Los Angeles Chinatown JKD” on the front and an illustration of Tim Tackett and Bob Bremer on the back.

While not a primary training tool in Jeet Kune Do, the Wooden Dummy is great for working on sliding leverage, parrying and slipping, and other Wing Chun and boxing elements of JKD. Sifu Tim Tackett shows his personal mook jong made for him by Jerry Poteet, an original student of Bruce Lee. Senior Instructor Jeremy Lynch demonstrates the use of the ‘jut sao dummy’ in the JKD Wednesday Night Group garage. The final segment of this video covers how the same material practiced on the dummy is applied on a live opponent. *This is Volume 8 of the Level 2 Chinatown JKD video series.

This commemorative design honors Bob Bremer, an original Bruce Lee student and the most influential member of the JKD Wednesday Night Group.

This commemorative design features Bob Bremer and Tim Tackett, the guiding voices of the JKD Wednesday Night Group.

Live Camp- $360
Zoom Camp -$160
European Zoom - $99 (8am to 12pm PDT)

The camp will take place in-person at the Pinon Hills Labyrinth Martial Arts Retreat in Southern California, and will be streamed LIVE on Zoom. Mid year rate in-person price is $360 USD, and the special Zoom price is $160 USD. The 2024 camp will have an amazing lineup of instructors and sessions and you won’t want to miss it! Act now to reserve your spot - Visit https://www.phlmar.org/event-calendar, call (213) 808-2169 or email pinonhillsarts@gmail.com to register.

Friday, 09/20 from 08:00 to 16:00 PDT

Saturday, 09/21 from 08:00 to 16:00 PDT

Sunday, 09/22 from 08:00 to 14:00 PDT

Overnight accommodations: All camp attendees can camp onsite complimentary. You must provide your own sleeping gear. Amenities provided for outdoor kitchen includes refrigerator, outdoor showers, & restroom. Hammocks can be provided per request.

Nearest airport is Ontario International Airport- 41 miles distance and LAX is 91 miles distance. There are local Airbnb’s in Phelan and Wrightwood. Contact pinonhillsarts@gmail.com for recommendations for certain size groups. Local hotels such as Holiday Inn Victorville, Courtyard by Marriott in Hesperia.

JKD Wednesday Night Group instructor Shawn King talks martial arts and self defense training, nutrition, mindset, and more. His background in Law Enforcement, Security, Jeet Kune Do, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu give the podcast a unique flavor. Follow @simpledirectjkd on Instagram.

In this episode: Doug Palmer’s book Bruce Lee: Sifu, Friend and Big Brother

Listen to the full episode (14min 59sec).

*Link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Sifu-Friend-Brother/dp/1634059859

JKD Wednesday Night Group instructor Shawn King talks martial arts and self defense training, nutrition, mindset, and more. His background in Law Enforcement, Security, Jeet Kune Do, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu give the podcast a unique flavor. Follow @simpledirectjkd on Instagram.

In this episode: JKD footwork - Is it good?

Podcast excerpts:

01:16
I recently worked out at another gym on a guest pass. It was a weightlifting gym. I say this because what I saw there was not what you would expect to see at a typical weightlifting workout-type gym. I observed a guy with his hands wrapped like a typical boxer, and not the type of hand wrapping you see at like, get-in-shape, aerobic kickboxing, if anybody’s old enough, Tae Bo-type ‘let’s get in shape’ gym. He had the whole white bandage and padding on the knuckles and then he had blue hand wraps over the top. Anyways, he was over by the bench press when I first saw him and in between doing bench press sets, he would get up and shadow box. And I watched him and I could tell immediately he had actually done some real boxing training. The stance and punches were both really sharp. But that wasn’t what caught my attention the most, it was his footwork. It was really smooth and fluid. It almost looked like it was effortless like he was floating on the ground. I was really impressed. It was me witnessing this that brings me to today’s topic of footwork.

03:58
With JKD, because it’s greatly influenced by fencing and has fencing-type footwork, we mostly think of footwork for the rapid forward closing of the distance to land a lead strike, like a finger jab or lead straight punch, or rapid backward footwork to evade oncoming and incoming strikes. Similar to sort of how a fencing match looks. We go forward trying to strike with the sword and they move backwards to avoid it. Well, being able to move forward rapidly and backward is important. I think in JKD, we may practice it so much, at the expense of our other footwork. I believe the angling footwork that mostly comes from boxing is just as important, if not more important at times, especially if we look to the real world and self defense, combat, fighting, whatever you want to call it.

Listen to the full episode (12min 55sec).

*Link to article mentioned at the end of the episode: https://jkdjoaquinmarcelo.com/entrevistas/TheScienceofFootwork.pdf

Matching Bremer/Tackett Hoodie and Athletic Joggers. These are special order items which can take several weeks to produce and shipping costs will be significantly higher than normal. For shipping to the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand, shipping costs will be approximately $16 USD per item. Shipping to other parts of the world may cost up to $35 USD. Contact us for information on how to order.

Matching WNG Dragon Hoodie and Athletic Joggers featuring the Chinese characters for Jeet Kune Do and the JKD Wednesday Night Group logo. These are special order items which can take several weeks to produce and shipping costs will be significantly higher than normal. For shipping to the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand, shipping costs will be approximately $16 USD per item. Shipping to other parts of the world may cost up to $35 USD. Contact us for information on how to order.

JKD Wednesday Night Group instructor Shawn King talks martial arts and self defense training, nutrition, mindset, and more. His background in Law Enforcement, Security, Jeet Kune Do, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu give the podcast a unique flavor. Follow @simpledirectjkd on Instagram.

In this episode: How effective are groin strikes for self defense?

Podcast excerpts:

02:38
Bruce Lee shows the primary targets in fighting as the eyes and the groin on page 1 of chapter 10 of the [Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method] Skill in Techniques book. He continues on a few pages later to show other vital targets that include the shin and the knee, throat, solar plexus, and a few other targets. But he does talk about the importance of these other targets, like striking the knee. I’m going to explain why I believe the targets that he lists as primary, I’m going to label a little bit different. For example, I’m going to say I would go 1A for the eyes, 1B for the knee, and then move the groin to 1C. So I put it more as a, you know, other vital target rather than the primary two vital targets as Bruce listed.

04:39
We’ll move on now to my reasoning for moving the groin to 1C and behind the knee, and behind the eyes and knees as primary targets. My first reasoning for moving the groin kick is the typical results from the groin kick; And that is that there isn’t a typical result. Speaking from personal experience I’ve been hit in the groin more times than I would like to remember. Luckily none of them left permanent damage that I know of. I mean I still managed to have two kids. But I’ve been hit in the groin and dropped immediately. I’ve been hit and had a delayed reaction. I’ve been hit and continued on fighting through it. I’ve also been hit and had no reaction. Maybe it was because of the angle of power where I was hit. Could be a lot of factors. But my reaction to groin strikes that I’ve had to absorb has been mixed.

10:28
Now you know moving on to why I rate the other ones higher. I rate the eye jab as 1A because I personally have never gotten poked in the eye where at least it hasn’t caused me to stop for a second and if nothing else then bring my hands up to my face.

Listen to the full episode (15min 38sec).

We’re offering several different JKD Wednesday Night Group hoodies in multiple colors. Current products include Tim Tackett commemorative Hoodies and our “Legacy” Hoodies featuring the classic WNG logo. More designs are being added all the time, so be sure to check back regularly to see what’s new.

The old-school JKD Wednesday Night Group T-shirt is back. Simple and efficient, this shirt features the “Legacy” WNG logo on the front and the Chinese characters for Jeet Kune Do on the back. Available in black or white.

We’re celebrating Sifu Tim Tackett’s 50 years of teaching with these special edition sweatshirts. Available in two colors, black and navy. This same design is also being printed on hoodies and t-shirts. See more products in our merch section.

While the back fist is a valuable tool in combat, sometimes when it is used it has too much preparation, or is thrown from an obvious position if you are in a proper Jeet Kune Do ready stance. In the video below, Jeremy Lynch demonstrates the correct ways to deliver the back fist.

One common issue when used in a classical karate method from a JKD stance is that the attacker has to move his front arm, which opens his centerline and tells the opponent that an attack is coming.

Another problem with the traditional use of the back fist is that most people use the back of the hand to strike with. By doing this with a lot of power and striking the hard surface of an opponent’s head, there is a good chance you will break your hand. It is much safer to use the bottom of the fist instead.

In JKD we deliver the back fist in a different manner. In JKD the back fist is not a power move and is done in a whipping motion. When Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer to learn to “hurt him with a flick” he was taking about a technique like the JKD back hand strike. We like to call it a back hand strike instead of a back fist as we will see below the fist is not the only way to strike with it.

When throwing a back hand strike, we flick the wrist at the end of the attack so that we are hitting with knuckles instead of the back of the hand.

When hitting with the back of the hand, we try to target softer areas like the nose or the eye.

At the Wednesday Night Group, we prefer to deliver the stationary straight lead punch and any stationary back hand strikes the way Bruce Lee taught Bob Bremer to do it. Instead of the hand going first the way we do any hand strike while moving forward, we twist the rear foot sending some of the weight to the front leg. In a sense, the rear foot throws the punch.

Another way to use the backhand is the finger flick or finger fan to the eye.

The back hand strikes are very useful tools and can be used effectively in combat. Remember that this type of strike does not have a lot of power, but can stun an opponent enough that you can either escape the encounter or finish with more powerful finishing techniques.

The Back Fist In Combat

The back hand strike can be a useful tool in combat. It is a very fast tool, and can be used to angle away from an attack. It can be used in defense as a counter to an attack. It can be used as an attack, and it can also be used as method to gain an attachment to trap your opponent.

Using the back fist as a counter attack:

If you opponent tries to strike you with a hand attack, you can angle out and score with a back fist.

• Defense against straight lead punch or jab in matching stance:

• Defense against straight lead punch or jab in unmatched lead:

The back fist as an attack:

You can use the front hand back fist to set up a rear back fist against a blocker in a matching stance. The back fist attack works really well against an opponent who you are sure will try to block your attack.

If you notice that your opponent’s rear hand is protecting his face, throw the rear arm back fist and instead of snapping with it, stick to his arm and then lop sao and hit with front hand.

Next, from an unmatched lead, if you are sure that an opponent will try and block your back fist, you can angle out with a rear back fist with the intent to stick to your opponent’s front arm instead of trying to attack his head. You can then trap his arm with your back fist hand and deliver a straight lead punch to his head.

• Back fist against the blocker who is in an unmatched lead.

One more example of using the back fist as an attachment to trap the arm of your opponent:

If you are in a matching stance to your opponent, you can throw a front hand back fist with the intention of sticking to his front arm instead of striking his head. Bruce Lee called this type of attack “throwing garbage”.

Alternatively, you can lop sao his front arm and hit.

You can also use the finger fan type of attack to open a line of attack against a blocker.

As we can see, the back fist type of attack is very useful and can be applied in variety of ways. It is a valuable tool in the JKD man’s arsenal. Like most things, to make it work in the real world takes practice.

To become fearless is not to be our primary purpose or pursuit; this point is critical. We have but to observe the world around us to see the frantic and neurotic behaviors of others.

In having trained ourselves to scan our environment, evaluate the immediate surroundings and filter out potential threats, we can place fear in check. Our reliance on intuition is, as courage, a complete opposite of fear.

When we speak about neutralizing fear, it is not speaking with regards to the cessation or elimination of all phobias. It is quite unhealthy to foster being completely fearless. There is place and time for when we should be afraid and too, those things in which we should fear. Fear is not always wrong; in fact true fear becomes for us a warning beacon. Again we also must be awake to differentiating actual from perceived fear. For we understand that perceived, unjustifiable fear is a crutch upon which we rely, and it seeks to dominate our reason.

Natural fear is integral in being human, and given the individual’s understanding it may be right or wrong. Additionally, this fear can manifest itself in a destructive or productive state, which is very much determined upon whether we regulate it or it controls us.

”I have had a great many troubles, but most have never happened.”

Samuel Longhorne Clemens

Action

Your ability and willingness to adapt, improvise and overcome in a plan of S.E.R.E. (survival–escape-resistance-evasion) must be planned for prior to an encounter. Apart from any chosen action(s), planning remains the key to your survival. Duly note as it has been prescribed before, action is much faster than reaction.

Decrease response time by minimizing responses. Human reaction time from threat awareness to threat reaction is 0.75 seconds.

Don’t fool yourself either, no plan is perfect, you must consider the other dynamics involved. Through your mental preparation and force-on-force (FoF) training/drills, you should have worked through many contingency plans. Never, never surrender; keep an ever constant vigilance for the chance to overcome or exploit any lull or weakness of the opposition.

Indecision & Reaction cost time, and every 0.5 seconds is that much time off your life. Take the time to train to minimize responses, so that you can act decisively at the moment of truth.

By reducing the amount of extraneous material taught, you can eliminate the chances for mistakes or fumbling. If we can take a few core skills and apply them (with variables), we can enhance the spectrum of applicable knowledge and survivability.

Skills, Techniques, Tactics and Strategy

First consider that placing yourself at a 45 degree angle to your opponent, places you almost completely neutral to the area of effectiveness for his tools. In so doing you force your opponent to alter his position and maneuver to catch up to you. Do you remember action versus reaction? Well this is it in application, disruption. Any impact used to regulate his physiology and psychology is of course a disturbance. In a simple step you are able to achieve three key maneuvers:

1. You have zoned away from the attack or primary line of engagement.
2. You have altered his plan of attack, and it will take a few vulnerable seconds to readjust; in so you have
   achieved disrupting.
3. By disturbance through the application of various impact tools you are able to affect him physically and psychologically.

Flow Chart of Combat Development

Skills are ones ability to do something well, either via training or through experience. All skills are motor skills, and each plays a functional role:

• Fine motor skills are defined as coordination of small refined muscle movements which occur usually in coordination with the eyes. The term manual dexterity is a universal reference for these skills, or the reference of eye & hand coordination. The abilities range from primitive gestures like grasping or grabbing objects increasing to athletic abilities, precision maneuvering, writing, drawing, manipulations, etc.
• Complex Motor Skills are the acquisition of progressive developmental skills. These are skills which without accomplishment of basic skills compromise further progression. These include more cognitive processing than either fine or gross motor skills. These complex skills include and develop into judging distance, timing, tracking, rhythm, language, social-emotional skills, postural control (without which controlled movements are not possible), and awareness of movements. Complex motor skills are a matter of linking simple movements with compound physical skills. It is learning basic movements or postures such as sitting, standing, walking. Linking is to simultaneously pair these basic skills with additional and more complex movements of the limbs. One final note, stress can negatively affect fine and complex skills mutually. Either low or moderate levels of stress can in fact interfere with one’s ability to be decisive or maintain their voluntary muscle control.
• Gross Motor Skills requires large muscle groups to partake in physical events and achieve a host of activities. Gross Motor Skills entail the major movement functions of our large muscle groups. These functions are comprised of walking, kicking, sitting upright, lifting, throwing, maintaining balance, coordination, jumping, reaching, and numerous others. Gross motor abilities share connections with various other physical or otherwise athletic functions. Something as simple as a student’s ability to remain in an erect upper body position, has a definite affect on the ability to write, support an erect posture for alertness, in observing activities, et cetera. In order to perform adequately in physical activity, an individual must be able to form judgments regarding various incoming data and respond promptly with the appropriate and accurate muscle movements. While engaged in the course of motor activity an individual must make use of constant sensory feedback.

Technique: The What
These are various procedures or skills that are required in carrying out a specific task. Techniques are the management of basic skills and the means in which something is achieved or operates. These can also be considered a method, system, procedure or a modus operendi.

Tactics: The How
Tactics are methods that are applied in skilled planning pertaining to organizing and maneuvering to achieve a goal.

Strategy: The Why/When
Simply put strategy is planning and conducting. It is a devised plan of action or the carrying out of a plan to achieve a goal. This is the means of adaptation crucial to success, or the improvement of viability.

The principles of personal combatives seek to introduce you to the mental aspects of survival as well as engaging you physically, mentally and psychologically via skills and technique. Learning skills and technique in a manner which is progressive will get you on target, and allow you to slow things down, respond promptly and effectively on task. Understanding the platform skills and utilizing appropriate technique are key to effectiveness in personal combative survival.

It is not my effort or intention to proselytize you; rather it is my desire to convey viable information for personal survival in a combative format. What we are concerned with and covering are primal realities. Note these statistics, 1 in 3 women in her lifetime will be a victim of a sexual assault, 3 in 9 people will confront a situation with a mortal outcome.

As we have already surmised, the truth is that the world is a violent place. Boundaries are crossed and feelings are hurt. Victims become subject to prosecution and predators are acquitted; as a result predators of society resort to violence, sadistic behaviors and mayhem to accommodate, avenge or save face.

In an effort to increase ones survivability we will introduce some key principles within an expandable platform. All the information is based on “you bet your life” experiences. The material is derived from personal sources and experiences from the fields of WWII, to Korea to Vietnam to all the other dirty little wars. This also includes lessons learned in prisons, correctional facilities, force prevention, anti/counter-terrorist activities, and daily patrols. Information has been gathered from both sides of the fence as well, both predators/hunters and survived victims have contributed insight into the development of this curriculum.

Here is a synopsis, remember and reflect on this; encounters occur and end just as quickly as they started, with a violent fervor, and within 0 ft – 6 ft. This area shall be referred to as KOA (the kill zone). Note that within this distance, attacks by grouped individuals share mixed but educational results.

For example:
85% of gunshot victims survive, whereas 65% of knifing victims survive. Thus, in regard to knife attacks, you are looking at a 1 in 3 chance of survival. In that venue, the 1:3 scenarios are:

1. The predator becomes a former resident of terra firma.
2. The predator and hunter cease to exist.
3. Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the anvil; the predator continues to breathe and procreate.

Our first task then is to remain aware and alert and at the recognition of an assault maintain distance. Ideally the distance to keep the opponent at bay is 10’ ft. It is here where one needs to identify their position in space and time during the interim of interaction. Continually maintain zoning, while disrupting and disturbing your opponents’ game plan. Here too, we rely upon visual contact of intent, and verbal communication; being ever vigil of gambits. As we have discussed, leave nothing to chance. Predators do travel in packs, especially the cowardly, weak and insecure.

Learn It Right Before You Do It Fast

In learning and educating yourself in combatives you can, as you train, decrease response time by minimizing responses. You will actually learn and comprehend more quickly if you actually slow things down.

Meet it - Greet it - Beat it

It cannot be stressed enough the importance of meeting, greeting and beating the situation before you. You must accept the reality of what it will take to survive before you can train for it.

The confidence required is developed through the successive use of mental preparation and physical conditioning. You create the outcome by your mind set, a mind set that is realistic, poised and of absolute resolve. Be strategic in all approaches to any endeavor, train for the exception as well as the rule. Do not allow yourself to be taken off guard. Again it is preparedness not paranoia; but it is the lack of preparedness, environmental awareness and a lackless desire for survival that gets you - DEAD!

The combined physiological and psychological preparation/conditioning creates a set of guidelines for combating threat. This formula of attitude & knowledge, understanding & knowledge and skill & understanding are essential roles in personal combatives.

Let’s break it down a bit more. When we speak here of attitude & knowledge, we are largely referring to the mental elements which stem from: Doctrine & Training the preparation, conditioning and awareness. This consists of awareness, decisiveness, poise, and absolute resolve; in addition to drilling, training and exercising.

Understanding & Knowledge or Intelligence pertains to the education of the combatant. This involves the ability to deduce and analyze as well as apply the information given.

Then of course Operations which is our skill & understanding. Operations refer to one being able to not only comprehend the material, but have the ability to actively refine and adapt it to self and situation.

Again let us summarize our guidelines; they are as follows

1. Doctrine & Training i.e. attitude & knowledge.
2. Intelligence i.e. understanding & knowledge and
3. Operations i.e. skill & understanding.

Many of the ideas conveyed here in this text are repetitive and interrelated with good reason, to learn them. These points are significant regardless of occupation or place in society. There are a few lessons which are expanded in the roles of LE, CO, MP, operators, grunts, shooters or spooks. There are also different rules of engagement and disengagement to consider as well. However, the focus of this text is survival; it is a basic but informative base for all readers.

Let us take an example from the studies of the New York Police Departments annual “Analysis of Police Combat Situations” reports. It reveals to us that less than a one percentile (1%) is victim of an assault without prior warning. So again based on real time, real world “you bet your life” material, we can learn that awareness is of foremost importance. From these insights we can deduce that surviving mortal attacks can be avoided or altered to our favorable outcome. Consider the evidence brought back from the field; when we come to comprehend the actions involved in threatening situations, we can survive. When we have properly applied the processes that were taught in analyzing and evaluating, we can survive. If we plan and have contingency plans worked out prior, we can survive. If we train in realistic scenarios, learn basic skills, refine them and apply them in a FoF environment, we can survive!

Let us redundantly state again, you must accept reality before you can train for it. When you begin to train, train realistically, progressively, and refine your techniques. All skills can be learned, and with appropriate training, all skills can be applied. These efforts may present themselves as initially callous, some lessons equally severe and in force on force the outcomes bleak, yet we endeavor to persevere; drive on and learn to live another day. As I tell my students too often, “it is better to learn from your errors here in training, than to die forever in the moment of truth.”

Preparedness is not paranoia.

Preparing yourself with mental training is just as crucial for combat as it is for a career. One major benefit of mental preparedness training is you cannot make any mistakes; you cannot die. In this mental preparation we are able to see ourselves in a varied amount of scenarios; hopefully each better than the other. This as you know is the practice of visualization.

When I first started martial arts, more specifically my studies in JKD, I can still recall reading very early on Bruce Lee’s quote “You fight like you train.” I live by that today. If you train well you will fight well; if you don’t train - well let’s face it, you won’t. So very early on I was introduced to visualization. For a youth it was no real breaking mystery, children do it all the time; and most often get scolded for it, because they were daydreaming. I knew then, and refined it more as I trained in martial arts, prepared for fights, in various army schools/courses, and when I later studied psychology.

In all not much changed, I still saw myself doing what needed to be done. I would then go back and each time, find a way to better myself, my performance and the outcome. Improvise, adapt, and overcome are basic rules. There is always a means to better improve your outcome. As you educate yourself via books, courses and experience you learn to adjust your mental environment even more. You can take that hostile situation and practice responding efficiently to it, from pre-engagement to the judgmental onslaught of the do-gooders. Mutually practice initial engagements and break contact, pre-disengagement break offs, as well as following through on inevitable contact to situational neutralization.

Pre-set mentally absolute resolve; “Never-Ever Quit”. Condition your mind to encourage confidently your attitude toward your personal survival. Do all that you can prior to confrontation to learn to avoid confrontation. Your attitude, level of awareness and the 7 P’s are of major importance to the outcome.

In your visualization scenarios you should have varied backgrounds, surroundings, circumstances and the like, and from them you should have derived at various responses. This is your first means of planning for confrontation. In taking what you have learned and going through it and over it, you commence solidification of these responses. Understand that via visualization, you are creating experiences. Your mind cannot differentiate between what you are visualizing and what is real. In this manner you are pre-programming yourself for success.

The more creative but realistic you can be in your visualization training, the greater your survivability in the moment of truth. Take the time to continue practicing your scenarios mentally and physically. At the time while you do visualization, physically place yourself into varied positions (lying down, sitting at the kitchen table, standing at a bar, hunched over your car, in the shower etc). Experience your body moving along with your visual exercise. You can practice the visuals alone while on a break at work, or waiting for something; but when the opportunity avails itself, go through the physical motions of the techniques learned also.

Ethical Responsibility

You must understand that any undertaking of personal protection is for the moment a right to be cherished and protected. We must assure that we exercise extreme caution in the application of personal combatives. This flows over into the transitional areas of firearms, electrical devices, chemical agents, impact and/or edged defensive tools. Anyone who is trained in a system or has initiated any such training must understand the role they are playing for others who are also involved. Many rights are being subdued in the name of the Privacy Act, as well as by those who want you controlled.

Furthermore as an individual in the process of defending self and family, having gone to the extreme to avoid any altercation or confrontation, duly note that deadly force is an absolute final measure. If you can avoid it, do so! You owe nothing to your ego, or anyone else who might think you less a man or person because you managed to actually quell or avoid a confrontation.

You can remain safe anywhere if you only maintain poise and absolute resolve. This is a key lesson in the art of survival. Your determining features are the desire to live and your aptitude. Your odds of survival are improved as you accrue practical knowledge, refine your ability to devise, and learn to employ those lessons in real world situations.

If one is suddenly thrust into isolation, in a desolate environment or in the control of an aggressor, one can diminish or forestall the distress. If you can memorize and recall the following acronym, you can and will lift yourself from the ills of circumstances in any situation. “S-U-R-V-I-V-A-L” it is a key term you will find posted at the U.S. Army Ranger School in Ft. Benning Georgia, and the JFK SWCS at Ft. Bragg, NC. This acronym is extended to operatives, pilots, aviators and other elite units of the U.S. military.

S- Size up the situation by considering yourself, the vicinity and your adversary.

• Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. You will always revert back to what you have been trained; remember it and anticipate success. Immediately find a secure hide. Remain vigilant, consider options, and plot a course of action. Your confidence will increase. Think poised, be poised. Relax until you know where you are and what you will do.
• Much of your rational fear is rooted in your alien surrounding; make a conscious effort to know landmarks etc.
• Be ever observant of your adversary. Pay attention to any routines and/or habits, anything that stands out. Remember observational awareness. Always have an awareness of what is taking place around you.

U- Undue haste makes waste.

• Maintain a combat mindset, a mind that is prepared and calm. Don’t be in too much of a
  hurry. In a rash decision you will become careless and impatient. Get it right before you do it fast.
• Once again, your state of mind is the key. Do not let things get away from you. Deal with the facts, deal with the moment. Don’t excite yourself to anger; it can only further decrease your ability to rationalize. Control your breathing, relax and maintain absolute resolve.

R- Remember where you are.

• Note as you can all times, places, events, objects, and colors. Remember any and everything that can be of assistance to you immediately and in the near future.

V- Vanquish fear and pain.

• Conquer fear even though it is natural. At this moment it is a hindrance. Take the time to identify it and immediately control it. Having directly entered the moment by subduing your fears, you will respond readily, naturally and promptly.
• Pain can turn to panic, know this without thinking. If you have resolved to survive prior, you can repel any acts of irrationality.
• 7-P’s = Proper Prior Planning Precludes Piss Poor Performance. Think ahead, train ahead, plan ahead. Seek opportunities to escape and evade.

I- Improvise

• Continually seek a means to improve your situation, never ever quit. Take action, act rationally; perform a personal inventory (improvise- adapt- overcome). Do what you can, with what you have, and with what you have trained.
• Accept what you have been dealt. Learn to adapt and tolerate discomfort, new conditions, and adversity. There were others before you that have faced and overcome many of the situations which you will encounter. Persevere, endure, believe that you can and do it! Get your mind around S.E.R.E. (survival–escape-resistance-evasion).

V- Value living

• Eradicate your fear by maintaining hope, and through proper prior planning. Always seek
  to improve your survivability.
• Save your energy, preserve your strength. You want to have the ability to act in the moment of truth. Don’t waste what you cannot afford to expend.
• Keep your objective in mind. Remember that your goal is to live, to survive.

A- Act rationally, appropriately, with reason; without haste and/or panic.

L- Learn basic skills. Knowledge is your best insurance.

Bruce Lee never wanted JKD to be a style - but 50 years ago the term “style” was something very closed and had a negative connotation. Today, the styles are much more open than before and usually adapt a lot of things from other arts. Bruce Lee never wanted JKD to be a closed system, but he had a JKD structure, a JKD base, and certain JKD techniques.

We’ve added some techniques that fit the JKD structure, but we don’t call that “Jeet Kune Do.” We use JKD as a base or a foundation - everything else has to fit onto that foundation. There are some good things that we use from other martial arts like Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu, or shoot wrestling - but we don’t call them JKD - we call them Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu or shoot wrestling. I think it is important to give credit where credit is due. I think we added some very good things that I’m sure Bruce would have liked. JKD didn’t end with Bruce Lee in Los Angeles, but JKD is not adding other disciplines to the art either. The key is having an understanding of how to stick to the principles.

You see, if you don’t really understand JKD principles and techniques, you can’t add according to what is JKD. Adding for the sake of adding is not a JKD attitude because you may be adding because you lack deep understanding of a JKD technique. For instance, according to Bruce’s writings, “JKD has a tight structure in defense in attack.” So why are some people adding to the JKD core entry techniques with the groin wide open? You don’t add something that goes against the basic principles of the art. you need the roots, period.

Without roots, people get confused and end up without a structure to grow from. No criteria and no guidelines equals no learning. You can’t learn everything at the same time. You need a strong core of something to develop from. It’s like having a bunch of branches with no trunk. You need the roots and you need the trunk - that’s what Jeet Kune Do is for us. But it is true that JKD is a very individual thing and everybody is a bit different. There is a level in JKD where you can’t teach the student any more. This is because JKD’s highest level is about personal expression in combat. How are you going to teach somebody to express themselves? You can help them, but their personal expression will come from them, not from you.

Ultimately, one needs the core understanding of how the JKD philosophy works and how it affects the physical art. I really believe that JKD provides a way for everybody to create their own path - and not to just follow another’s.

[](https://martialartsdigital.com/jeet-kune-do-principles/)

An attack is an offensive action made with the objective of scoring a hit on an opponent. This action may be a single motion (simple attack) or comprised of several motions (compound/combination attack). It may be a direct attack in that it travels straight to the target via the most direct route. Or it may be indirect in which case while the attack begins in one line, it finishes in another.

The type of attack one uses is generally dictated by the form of defense used by the opponent. Is he a runner? Does he attempt to parry or does he attack onto your attack? Likewise, the decision to use a particular offensive action is influenced by the opponent’s technique and method of fighting (his on-guard position, the way he moves, his size, etc.) This is what Bruce meant when he stated, “My opponent’s technique decides my techniques.”

A main factor in attack is to try to take advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses while avoiding their strengths. For example, if they are a good kicker, when you stay out at long range you allow them to function in their area of strength. If you can close the distance and jam their kicking abilities, you avoid their strength. On the other hand, if the opponent is weak in grappling skills, you may seek to attack that area.

In Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do there are five ways of attack:

• Single direct attack – From an on-guard position the attacker shoots a punch directly to the opponent’s midsection with no attempt to disguise the motion.
• Attack by combination – The attacker bridges the gap with a low line kick, and follows up with a high backfist, low cross, lead uppercut punching combination.
• Progressive indirect attack – The attacker draws a preliminary reaction from the opponent by using a low cross false attack to close the distance. The attacker then deceives the reaction and scores in an open line.
• Attack by drawing – The attacker baits the opponent by appearing to lower his rear guard, then as the opponent kicks into the open line, the attacker angles their body and scores into the now open line.
• Hand immobilization attack – The attacker fires a lead punch to gain an attachment, then immobilizes the arm and scores.

Primary/secondary attacks

Primary attacks are offensive actions initiated by oneself with the intention of landing using:

• Pace – Using one’s superior speed and accuracy with no attempt to disguise the attack.
• Fraud – To deceive the opponent by appearing to attack in one particular line and upon drawing a reaction switching the attack to hit in an open line.
• Force – Attacking a closed line with sufficient force to open it.

Secondary attacks are offensive actions intended to outmaneuver or retaliate against the attacks initiated by the opponent in one or another of their different stages:

• Attack on preparation – A preparation is any preliminary movement a fighter makes to facilitate the development of their offensive action such as taking a step forward, or attempting to engage the opponent’s arm. Such motions are sometimes referred to as “motions without intention” in that there is no actual offensive action involved. An attack on preparation must be done before the opponent starts their attack. The attacking action you use against the opponent starts their attack. Split-second timing differentiates between attack on preparation and counterattack. The attacking action you use against the opponent’s preparation should be as simple as possible to give the opponent the least amount of time to reorganize.
• Attack on development – An attacking action that arrests the opponent’s action midway to the target.
• Attack on completion – An attacking action made as the opponent’s action is at full extension.

Simple attack

A simple attack is a single offensive action executed in one tempo with the objective of going to the target via the most direct route. Single direct attack and single angulated attack would be classified as simple attacks. Simple attacks are classified in two categories: direct and indirect.

A direct attack is made in the line of engagement or an opposite line made by simply “beating the opponent to the punch” or catching their moment of vulnerability. Direct attack should be timed against the opponent.

Indirect attack is a single movement, the first half of which causes some reaction from the opponent so that the second half of the motion may be completed opposite the original line of engagement into an open line.

In boxing this drill is also referred to as a corner drill, used as an essential element of a fighter’s ability to take and defend against a punch, and to see where the attack is coming from. It dates back to the Filipino boxing era and was employed by many knife fighters to teach them how to acknowledge the lines of attack and the body movement necessary to set up the combinations following the primary attack. Dan Inosanto originally trained many of his students and fighters with this drill that was passed down through several of his teachers and trainers.

This drill was originally shown to me by Tim Tackett and Bert Poe, who once trained a specific few in their garage and was kind enough to share some great information every Wednesday night in Redlands, California.

The drill originally consisted of one person standing against the wall with both hands up while the other would punch non-stop to the head and body for one or three minutes. This drill conditions the person getting hit as to how to take a shot and cover. For the feeder, it tests his/her arm endurance to punch from one-three minutes straight, working on angles and attacks.

This drill is great for developing your pain threshold. Everybody loves to dish out pain, however very few can accept or put up with it. For a fighter, it comes with the territory.

During my fight career, this drill was the “bread and butter” for my daily training routine. I give credit to this drill for saving my face and brain to take as little abuse as possible, while remaining in the slugging range both standing and on the ground. This drill became a substantial part of my daily rounds of stand-up training. I used it as my “resting” rounds between my punching, kneeing, kicking and sprawling.

Instead of stopping and resting, I was thrown into the corner on the ropes and had my trainer throw all types of angles and ranges of punches at me. Using only two guards, the windshield wiper defense and the double pillar defense, along with head and shoulder movement, I was able to read my opponent’s intentions and attack combinations. My whole theory was to remain fighting toe to toe and not get hit. If I didn’t use this standing, I used it on the ground when I was getting my head punched at. I modified this drill to best fit my body structure and style of fighting.

I changed it into five parts:

1. A) Windshield wiper defense: I’ve found to be the best punch cover defense against a boxer (rear hand catches everything).

B) Double Pillar Defense: Great for punch, kick and elbow defense, best used against a kickboxer (both hands, forearms and elbows block everything).

2. Clinching on the 1/2 beat. You should clinch on either the 1/2, 1 ^1/2, 2 ^1/2 or 3 ^1/2 beat motion. No more than 4 punches should be thrown at you before clinching. Clinching should be done on 3 levels: 1. Head 2. Body 3. Legs (drill teaches timing on when to engage).

3. Striker stopping, stuffing or nullifying the clinch attempt. This trains the striker how to stop the grappler from completing or playing his game (keeps you standing).

4. Shooting or clinching, getting stopped, then re-shooting or clinching makes you aggressive and persistent at a non-stop pace.

5. Puncher stops clinch or shoot and re-shoots. This trains the striker how to stop the clinch or shot attempt and re-shoot to go on top.

This drill is specifically formulated for the MMA fighter. It teaches you a defense no one can penetrate, timing the shot, stopping the shot and re-shooting to put your opponent on his back so you can control top side. It’s great for stand-up, on the ground and succeeding without getting hit.

This drill is also easy to find training partners for. All you need to do is walk into your gym and yell, “Who wants to punch me in the head!” I guarantee you’ll get a few takers.

Remember to start slow and then pick up the pace. Mix 1 ^1/2 punch combos, break in and out and step in at three different angles: 1. Diagonal left 2. Straight in 3. Diagonal right.

Start out with conventional boxing’s five punches: jab, cross, uppercut, hook and overhand. Then add backfist, hammerfist, spinning backfist, liver shot, spleen shot, kidney shot and heart punch.

Mix and match punches, change the rhythm of attack speed, and fake or feint your way in!

HAVE FUN, GET GOOD AND LEARN HOW NOT TO GET HIT!

See the complete drills in action at erikpaulson.com.

Jeet Kune Do was one of the first martial arts built upon the idea that the system should adapt to the individual rather than the individual to the system. Bruce Lee’s personal journey in the martial arts began with Tai Chi as a child and Chinese Boxing as a teenager, and ultimately led him to the belief that all labels of ‘style’ are too restrictive. “Using no way as way” became the motto of JKD and to this day many believe that JKD is simply a philosophical framework, with no techniques to learn or specific movements to practice. Bruce’s own words help provide insight into his thought process around the time Jeet Kune Do was created.

The following quote from Bruce Lee appears in the January 1968 issue of Black Belt magazine in a section titled “READER’S SOUNDING BOARD. Bruce Lee talks back”. It came in response to a reader’s question concerning “just how much Wing Chun he [Lee] still remembers and how much of it is included in his style”.

Real-World Application

Now that we have an overview of the JKD process in Bruce Lee’s own words, there are a few questions that immediately come to mind:

• What does this approach look like in practice, when applied to real-world training?
• Should a student be expected to spend years and years learning the basics of the art before moving forward in the process?
• When is it appropriate to “discard what is useless and add what is essentially your own”?

Bob Bremer once said “you should be able to learn in 6 months to a year to pick up the knowledge.” He stressed that “Fighting is a young man’s game, Bruce said it way back then. If you fiddle around too long, you’re not going to physically be able to do things. You should learn to handle a small amount of violence proficiently.”

Going back to the L.A. Chinatown days, self-expression was allowed for from day one. No two individuals will perform even the most basic technique the same way. For a beginner, mimicking the instructor and the way they move is definitely part of the learning process, but trying to ‘look like Bruce Lee’ while performing the techniques is not necessary. A 6-foot tall, 210-pound student is not going to move like Bruce, who was 5-feet 7-inches tall, 145 pounds.

As far as adding and subtracting from JKD, we have a process for analyzing techniques. If you find a better way, use it, but when sharing the art, give others the same opportunity to experience the foundational material and decide for themselves what to keep and what to throw away. This way we preserve the legacy of Bruce Lee and his art of Jeet Kune Do.

REGISTER NOW >>
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The camp will take place in-person at the Pinon Hills Labyrinth Martial Arts Retreat in Southern California, and will be streamed LIVE on Zoom. Mid year rate in-person price is $360 USD, and the special Zoom price is $160 USD. The 2023 camp will have an amazing lineup of instructors and sessions and you won’t want to miss it! Act now to reserve your spot.

Friday, 09/22 at 08:00 to 16:00 PDT

Saturday, 09/23 at 08:00 to 16:00 PDT

Sunday, 09/24 at 08:00 to 14:00 PDT

Overnight accommodations: All camp attendees can camp onsite complimentary. You must provide your own sleeping gear. Amenities provided for outdoor kitchen includes refrigerator, outdoor showers, & restroom. Hammocks can be provided per request.

Nearest airport is Ontario International Airport- 41 miles distance and LAX is 91 miles distance. There are local Airbnb’s in Phelan and Wrightwood. Contact pinonhillsarts@gmail.com for recommendations for certain size groups. Local hotels such as Holiday Inn Victorville, Courtyard by Marriott in Hesperia.

[](https://www.phlmar.org/event-calendar)

Just about every day I get messages from people on social media and in my inbox about how they can get started in JKD. Reasons for wanting to study Jeet Kune Do vary. Some do because they’re a huge Bruce Lee fan and watched and re-watched all of Bruce Lee’s movies. While others, like myself, wanted to study the physical art or expression of what Bruce Lee wrote about. Then there are those who watched some of the more recent movies or documentaries about Bruce Lee and are simply curious. There are also those who want to learn how they can put the JKD thought process into what they’re already doing… and the list goes on.

While JKD is popular in some respects, it isn’t very widespread and there aren’t a whole of qualified instructors out there that can teach the physical principles and the structure of Jeet Kune Do. These days though, there is more availability in regards to video lessons and there isn’t a shortage of material on YouTube either… But with that comes a lot of misrepresentation. (Not saying the material is good or bad, just saying what is often represented as JKD, isn’t.)

Some teach “JKD Kickboxing” with a whole series of kickboxing combinations that is thought to embody the JKD principles. While others feel it is more of a philosophy, and that JKD is about taking the best out of a bunch of different styles; which probably comes from the idea of “self-expression” and “adding what is specifically your own”. I trained using that philosophy for years…

The thing is, you don’t know what you don’t know until you know. And if you want to call what you do JKD, then you need to know and understand what JKD should consist of in the first place…

“JKD has a structure and a way to do certain things. It is more than philosophy about freedom or just a thought. It is NOT doing your own thing.”

Tim Tackett

So what is it then? The list can get very long, but here are some things that should be present in your training:

• Balanced, relaxed and functional structure based on Bruce’s unique combination of Fencing / Boxing / Wing Chun
• Centerline awareness and hand immobilization from Wing Chun
• Intercepting (not blocking)
• Directness (e.g. closest tool to nearest target)
• Economy of Motion
• Non telegraphic attacks
• Use of broken rhythm
• Power generation from the proper understanding and use of: kinetic chain, gravity, torque, short arc principle etc.
• Primary use of lead hand / lead leg (coordinated side forward)
• Daily decrease (don’t add for the sake of adding something new)
• Efficient control of distance and time using footwork and tools from boxing / fencing

And a whole ton more…

My point being that: there’s a difference between being “formless” as opposed to having “no form”. Having “no form”, means that you can do whatever the heck you please. The other means that there is a way, but you are not bound by it. Once you understand, and more importantly can apply, some of the key tenets I’ve listed above, you can then start implementing the idea of: “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own”.

The goal isn’t to try to become a clone of Bruce Lee. Your expression will be colored by your physical attributes and prior training background. Hence the aim is to train and create your own individual expression by using his “way” as “your way”.

I know many people completely disagree with me on this, and that’s fine… but this is where I draw the line in the sand in what is and isn’t JKD.

In all areas of study and practice there is an inevitable desire to crystallize, standardize, and otherwise encapsulate that which was once free, fluid, and in a constant state of evolution, into a definable and easily digestible product by imposing boundaries and limits. Gradually over time, The Way is mistaken for The Truth and becomes a mold which individuals are expected to conform to.

In the case of the art of Jeet Kune Do, I believe that a form of this process began out of necessity; There was a legitimate need to protect the integrity of the original teachings from those who sought to profit from the celebrity of Bruce Lee and the rarity of informed practitioners and teachers. We absolutely must have a foundation from which to educate and pass on the tools and tactics of JKD. Should the principles of daily decrease, simplicity, and directness be lost, then one can no longer claim to teach Jeet Kune Do. We must do everything within our power to live up to the high standards set by first and second-generation instructors like Dan Lee, Bob Bremer, Ted Wong, Tim Tackett, and others in keeping the flame of JKD burning bright.

What we must never do is allow ourselves to become arrogant and complacent in the belief that our expression of JKD is a finished product, no longer in need of refinement and innovation. We have a responsibility to continue to create new and enhance existing methodologies for training and teaching our core material and principles. No one should attend a JKD seminar and feel that “we just work the same stuff over and over”. We should focus on offering fresh perspective on the techniques and strategies that comprise our expression of JKD and the many different ways they can be practiced and applied. Jeet Kune Do must remain a living art, free from the limitations of ‘style’ but always maintaining the integrity of Bruce Lee’s original teachings.

1. Build a JKD filter

There are many techniques in the martial art world that are taught. Some are very efficient and some are not. Some only work on certain types of opponents. Once you have learned the essential elements and have worked on trying to understand the strengths and weaknesses of any particular technique or style you can then decide what works or not in any particular situation. You can create what we call a “built in BS detector”. The other main reasons are a part of this filter.

2. Learn how not to be bound by any style or system

Any style or system has a “way” to do something. They react in the way they are taught to react in a certain situation. This can work a lot of the time, but since a lot of arts mostly seem to train against what they are taught, they sometimes have difficulty against what they have never seen before. When the UFC started we saw that many trained martial artists were unable to deal with the grappler, as they had never trained against it. This is not such a problem now as most martial artists cross train in grappling as well as stand up. Still there may be a problem of only training for the ring, which for safety must have rules. JKD can at least make you aware that what works in the ring may not always work in the street. That said training for the ring and cross training is some of the best training out there. Reason #3 is one of the main ways of looking at things that can make reasons 1 and 2 work.

3. What are they offering you?

When someone attacks you, they are offering you something, so you can counter-attack them. If you are able to control the distance, your opponent will need to step forward to bridge the gap to attack you. This means that their front leg is vulnerable to a side kick or leg obstruction. When you are working on defending against an attack always notice what they are giving you. You need to understand that it is almost impossible for an opponent to attack without leaving an opening of some kind. You have to make sure you have the awareness to “see” the attack coming as well have the tool to stop the attack. Some arts that I have studied teach things that will only work against someone who is not skilled or is skilled in something that may or may not work against a certain opponent. When training in a system, JKD can help you be aware of what your opponent is offering you. But depending on the school or the teacher, you may want to keep this to yourself.

The way we teach JKD is to really analyze the good and bad points of each thing we learn. I remember when we were working on street grappling with Lloyd Kennedy, he told us that if we noticed anything that he was teaching may not work or if he was offering us something that could make him vulnerable to a counter, to point it out to him as he would rather learn that in a class situation instead of on the street. We try to do this with every technique that we are working on.

4. What are you giving them?

The reverse of #3 above is to understand what you are giving them when you attack. Like a zone defense in basketball there is always 1/3 of the court open to the offense. They just have to be able to take advantage of it. Since attacking a skilled opponent can be dangerous, we prefer to counter-attack with either a stop hit or kick. If we do need to attack because of circumstances, then we attack in a way to shut down their ability to intercept.

5. Full contact sparring

While many arts now do some form of full contact sparring, most of it is some form of ring sparring. If you are training for a full contact fight against particular opponent, you are also training to fight in a known environment with rules and a referee. You may also know what type of fighter you are going to face by either studying film or researching his trainer, etc. The point is that you have some idea of what will occur in the contest. You have probably even watched film of the fighter.

You may in your sparring in class train against various types of opponents. For example, you might train specifically against an opponent who gives ground against an attack, or one who shoots for a take down, or one who blocks, or even intercepts your attack. In the street you have none of this information or much time to read the intentions of your opponent.

With drills like the hammer principle, we try to work on reading the intention of our opponent in a street situation. We also try to make our sparring as alive as possible by having the attacker take on the aspect of one of the above fighters without the defender know what will be coming.

While many arts have some if not all of the above reasons, we have found that a lot of our training is different in that instead of daily increase, we try to work on daily decrease. That is, JKD believes in doing a few things well instead of doing a lot of things not so well. As Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer, “The best way to win a fight is to just reach over and knock him out.” By working on a few things, we try a get as much power in our basic punches and kicks as possible so we can intercept with enough power to stop the attack as quickly as possible. The problem is that the student is always looking for a new technique. If he is always working on making the basics better and better and honing the skills that he has, he may become bored and quit. That is why Bruce Lee said that Jeet Kune Do is not for everyone.

Walk On.

[](https://www.jkdwednite.com/Street-Effective.pdf)

Fortunately, debates over which style of martial art is ‘the best’ have become less and less common. Professional Mixed Martial Arts competition has driven home the point Bruce Lee was making decades ago; Being unwilling to adapt and integrate means the lid on the coffin is closing. However, with the increase in popularity of “Reality-based” training, the old Sport vs. Street argument is ever-present.

It would be tough to count the number of times I’ve heard some variation of the following statement:

“That won’t work on the street! People don’t fight like that.”

Is this simply one of those cliches leveled by martial artists at other systems or schools to prove why their way is superior? Or is it a valid criticism in at least some cases?

The streets are filled with people who cover the entire spectrum of fighting skills and proclivity for violence. Professional boxers, BJJ black belts, Soldiers, Policemen, Gang bangers, Drug addicts, and Predators of all colors and stripes share the same streets as you and I do.

Often what’s meant by the above statement is either;

1. That fine motor skills are lost, or at the very least heavily degraded under acute stress, and/or;
2. There’s a good chance you won’t see the attack coming.

It’s certainly true that the more violent the encounter, the less skill is usually involved. Therefore the ‘skilled responses’ that we sometimes train against (a well executed straight punch or crafty defensive maneuver for example) are not “realistic”. Add to that the fact that most martial arts training is conducted as if to prepare the student for a duel; shoes removed, wearing ‘workout’ attire and squared off with a single opponent who is likewise dressed for the gym and unarmed.

Some very good instructors I know stress the difference between getting into a fight and being the victim of an attack. Fights sometimes begin with two people facing off and ample warning; Maybe not the ones we have to worry about as expert martial artists (ha!), but certainly those involving young males and alcohol, women, or some combination of both. Attacks on the other hand usually happen without warning. The attacker is not looking for a fight; He wants to achieve his objective and get away before men with guns and badges show up. Worse yet, there will probably be weapons and/or multiple persons involved.

As generalizations go, the previous paragraph is a pretty good one. It certainly helps to remind ourselves to think beyond the ‘dueling’ mindset. There is however, one caveat: Reality is highly unpredictable.

I taught a gentleman who works at a correctional facility in Southern California. He related to me that most instances of violence against the staff involve skilled attacks. Inmates are sharing the martial arts training they received on the outside with one another. Officers confiscate makeshift training equipment on a regular basis. Wrap a pillow around a phone book, tie it to your arm and you’ve got an effective Thai-style striking pad.

Rather than generalizing or speculating about what type of attack will be used against us should we be attacked, or throwing around a bunch of statistics on street fights, I’ll pose what I feel is a pertinent question that’s not asked nearly enough. Are there key principles we can focus on in our training regardless of which art we study, to maximize effectiveness when facing any threat, be it a fight or an attack scenario? I believe there are. This article is an attempt at describing and organizing those principles, as well as providing a few drills that you’ll hopefully find useful.

MINDSET

One of the main lessons lessons I’ve learned from my teachers in the martial arts is the importance of mindset. Most anyone can, through training, develop a combative mindset. We may not all be warriors, but this is an area with potential for vast improvement among martial artists. We’re going to focus on two aspects, awareness and attitude.

1) AWARENESS

Needless to say, it’s tough to counter an attack you don’t see coming. Awareness puts you in a position to respond, both mentally and physically. A prerequisite to making any self defense method effective is having knowledge about what’s happening in the world around you. Without it, nothing else matters.

2) ATTITUDE

The idea of “having an attitude” usually carries a negative connotation, but when it comes to fighting it’s absolutely critical. When I speak of attitude, I’m talking about three things primarily:

Acting with intent

Sloppy technique executed with “emotional content” usually beats perfect technique done half-heartedly. Put simply, emotional content equals intent. We decide on a course of action and perform that action with maximum effort, holding nothing back. In a self-defense situation, when our life, or the lives and well being of others are on the line, our intent has to be to cause enough harm to stop the threat. Escape and/or evasion aren’t possible, therefore violence must be countered with violence.

Having an accurate perception of our own self-worth

My life and well being are worth defending, as are yours. Never hesitate to use force to defend them. This would seem to be a no-brainer, but as any experienced martial arts instructor can tell you, it’s an area where many people have issues, and often they aren’t aware of them.

Having confidence in our abilities

Effective training gives us the confidence to know that our skills will work when the time comes to use them. For those with low self esteem, a lot of physical training may be required to overcome it.

Proper mindset plays a huge role in dealing with what we’re about to discuss, which may be the most dangerous element of any confrontation on the street.

DEALING WITH AGGRESSION & RETURNING AGGRESSION

One critical concept related to self-defense that often goes unmentioned is unequal initiative. The first person I heard speak at length about it was Craig Douglas. Most of us have little desire to get involved in any sort of conflict. We just want to go about our business. Someone who has decided to rob or steal, driven by a chemical addiction for example, is operating on a completely different level. Even the rowdy drunk guy in the bar looking to pick a fight has probably amped himself up pretty well prior to approaching his mark. The result is that we’re very suddenly going to be faced with a lot of physical and verbal aggression with little or no chance to prepare for it.

Let’s look at a few drills that I believe will help develop the ‘aggression switch’ that you need to deal with and counter those sudden bursts of violence.

F.O. Drill

In the late 1970’s, one of Dan Inosanto’s students by the name of Bob Ward was working as a strength and conditioning coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Through Mr. Ward, Guro Inosanto and a small group of his students including Larry Hartsell, Jerry Poteet, and Tim Tackett brought functional martial arts techniques and training methods to the National Football League. Sifu Tackett shared a drill with us in his training group that he used with the pro football teams. The purpose was to get guys with a calmer temperament in the mindset of hitting hard.

1. Form a circle
2. Coach starts the drill by shoving the person closest to him while yelling “F**k you!”. The more aggressive the better.
3. The player shoves back, then repeats the scenario by shoving the next closest person to him/her. The coach can tell right away what kind of players he’s dealing with. It’s a good thing if the drill gets out of hand.

Mountain Goat Drill

No matter how great our technique, physical strength matters. It’s crucial that we learn how to take full advantage of what we’ve got using leverage, and most of all, be able to apply it under pressure against an opponent of equal or greater strength.

The mountain goat drill is nothing more than a head-to-head drill, literally. The goal is to drive your partner backward through sheer force and leverage without using your hands.

Phone Booth

Standing in line at a store, going to a concert, or walking through any generally busy area means other people are going to get close to you. An attacker that knows what he or she is doing will take advantage of those small trespasses into our personal space that we all allow out of common courtesy. Adding to that, probably the most shocking statistic I’ve found is that more people in the United States are murdered each year during an argument with an acquaintance than in the commission of any crime (FBI Uniform Crime Reports 2012). That means we must learn to defend ourselves from the range in which we typically hold a conversation with people that we know.

For this drill, using whatever equipment or barriers are available, we create a space approximately the size of a phone booth and put two people inside of it. On the trainers command, they fight all out at close range for 5 to 15 seconds or until the trainer calls time. It’s important that the students are not allowed time or opportunity to prepare.

The point I’m making here is if you can’t deal with the initial burst of aggression from an attacker, you won’t survive. Knowing yourself and your own limitations is crucial.

LOSS OF FINE MOTOR SKILLS & EFFECTIVENESS OF SKILL TRAINING

What’s not often mentioned is that while fine motor skills may go out the window during an extremely violent confrontation, the attributes developed through ‘skill training’ do not. A boxer’s hand speed is not going anywhere. The MMA fighter’s elite strength and conditioning isn’t either. Most certainly the professional Soldier is not going to lose the combative skills and mindset acquired through years of intense training because some knucklehead is accosting him or her outside of a bar.

As martial artists, it’s our job to find out at what point our techniques break down into gross movements and train in a way that minimizes the loss of fine motor skills. One way of finding out where exactly those skills break down is to video record ourselves sparring with varying levels of speed and power and analyzing the results. We would typically separate each variable in to three levels of intensity and then mix and match.

For example:

High speed / Medium power / vs. 1 Opponent

Low speed / Low power / vs. 2 Opponents

After running these sparring exercises the saying “speed kills” really proves itself to be true. The speed of an encounter has great effect on the loss of fine motor skills. One guy moving very fast is harder to deal with than two guys moving slow. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from this is that it can be turned around on an attacker and used to completely change the dynamic of a confrontation.

SPEED & REACTION TIME

We aren’t all gifted with amazing physical speed, but we can all reduce the amount of time it takes us to react. We do that simply by eliminating unnecessary options.

There are several contexts in which reaction time can be measured. The “Handbook of Perception and Action: Motor Skills” defines them as:

• Simple reaction time – The time required to perform one predetermined action based on a stimulus
• Choice reaction time – The time required to perform one of multiple possible actions based on a stimulus
• Go/No-Go reaction time – Choosing whether or not to perform one of multiple possible actions based on a stimulus

In short, the more choices there are to be made, the slower the overall reaction time. An “expert” will instinctively preselect an action to be taken, making them faster than the “average” person. Bruce Lee was a huge proponent of training a limited number of responses to any given attack. In his art of Jeet Kune Do, it’s referred to as the principle of daily decrease.

The idea behind daily decrease is that it’s ideal to “own” a few techniques, refined to such a high level that your responses are automatic and happen without thought.

SIMPLE IS FAST

To be truly street effective we need to have one response that will cover many scenarios and can be drilled over and over until it becomes a simple reflex. Being able to fall back on this single technique increases reaction speed and thereby our chances of surviving the most dangerous part of the fight, the first few seconds. We all freeze when faced with danger, what matters is how quickly you can recover and start doing something.

There are many options for a one-size-fits-all response taught by some great martial arts instructors. I included a few of them in a previous article titled High Performance Sparring. The one that I’ve found to have the greatest effectiveness for myself is the simultaneous high/low cover that I learned from D.m. Blue, the most senior active member of the JKD Wednesday Night Group.

Which technique you choose isn’t important, so long as it meets a few simple criteria. It needs to work under less than ideal conditions, whether executed perfectly or not, against a blade, impact weapon, and the empty hand. If it works well against a punch but gets you stabbed by a training partner concealing a knife, find something else. There are many options.

In summary, cultivate awareness, develop an aggression switch, know your limits, and keep it simple.

Foreward

[](https://www.jkdwednite.com/Close-Quarter-Tactics.pdf)

When I started taking Jeet Kune Do around 1970 we were mostly working on the kickboxing phase of JKD. We mostly trained for combat by keeping the fighting measure which is a distance that you keep between you and your opponent so that he has to take a step toward you to be able to hit you with a hand or foot attack. The only close quarter combat we worked on was to enter with a hand or foot attack. We would follow that up with some sort of trap followed up with a strike, lock or throw, or all of the above.

You can see some of this type of training in the book that Larry Hartsell and I wrote called “Jeet Kune Do: Entering to trapping to grappling”. While these tactics work very well if you and your opponent are squared off and you can maintain the fighting measure, sometimes you are taken by surprise. When that happens, you need to be able to defend yourself in close when you are taken unaware by your opponent.

When I started teaching JKD in my garage around 1975, I was fortunate that a warrior named Bert Poe showed up to help me teach. Bert was trained as a Marine Raider at the end of World War II. What he added to our knowledge was military close combat tactics which fit in with JKD principles of efficiency and simplicity. Bert worked with us on reactions and techniques to defend a surprise attack. In the article below we show the fighting measure as well closer attacks.

Tim Tackett

Introduction

Nearly 40 years after the death of it’s founder, Bruce Lee’s “Way of the Intercepting Fist” is alive and well thanks to a small group of brilliant and dedicated proponents. A handful of Sijo Lee’s original students deserve much of the credit for continuing to teach Jeet Kune Do to small groups in backyards and garages, just as it was done in the 1960’s. They have also authored numerous books and videos that give us insight into the origin, development and technical aspects of the art.

We can derive from this pool of knowledge as well as from the name of the art itself, that the primary objective of the Jeet Kune Do practitioner is to “intercept” an opponent either before he attacks, or during the initiation or execution of his attack. Following the JKD principle of “longest weapon to the nearest target”, the intercepting strike is typically a lead hand finger jab to the eyes or lead leg kick to the shin/knee of the opponent.

In order for the tactic of interception to be successful, we must control two key elements of the fight: distance and time.

The Fighting Measure

The concept of the Fighting Measure was borrowed from the sport of Foil Fencing. The distance between two fencers is maintained so that neither can attack the others body from the on-guard position without a forward lunge. This is called the Fencing Measure. A similar measure is used with the Epee, although the distance is extended due to the targeting of the weapon hand. The JKD practitioner measures off against his opponent in almost the exact same manner as the foilist.

### Correct Distance

[](/close-quarter-tactics/fm1/)

[](/close-quarter-tactics/fm1a/)

### Incorrect, Too Close

[](/close-quarter-tactics/fm2/)

[](/close-quarter-tactics/fm2a/)

Keeping the Measure

In theory maintaining the Fighting Measure is simple. We must mirror the opponents movement. However, against a skilled and/or unpredictable opponent is where problems may arise.

• What if the opponent has great initiation speed? A fast fighter may bridge the gap and attack so quickly that you do not have time to intercept (even from the fighting measure).

• What if you are attacked by surprise at close range? Is retreating to gain distance possible or even desirable?

The end result is that the measure has been broken (and you probably got hit). The fight is on at close quarters and interception is no longer an effective tactic.

The JKD Answer?

It is said that the specialty of the Wing Chun system is close range fighting. Although it is one of three arts that form the base of Jeet Kune Do, many of it’s close range techniques are not included in the original material that Bruce lee taught to his students (elbows, knees, and sweeps for example).

The Western Boxing elements of JKD do provide some basic tools for infighting, however these strikes alone do not provide a complete solution. I think it’s fair to say that there is a gap to be filled. Let’s look at some proven techniques for dealing with close range problems the JKD practitioner may encounter.

The Emergency Response

Note: This is what we call an “Oh Crap! Response”. It’s used when you are attacked by surprise or caught off guard for any reason.

To keep things simple and direct, we will begin by using the emergency response as a point of reference from which we defend the vital areas of the upper body and launch our counterattack. Almost anyone can do this with no training at all as it’s a natural human instinct to lower the head and raise the arms when caught off guard. An added benefit of this posture is that it helps those with lesser body awareness feel more comfortable when faced with an attack because it is essentially a standing fetal position!

It’s important to remember that this is a transitory position. We will never maintain this position for more than a split second. The priority is to safely move off the line of attack. This forces the opponent to reorient his body in order to continue attacking, thereby gaining us time and the opportunity to attack his structure at a point of weakness.

We get off the line by stepping with either foot at a 45 degree angle; The 11 o’clock position when stepping with the left foot, or the 1 o’clock position if stepping with the right. Depending on the opponent’s line of attack, we will end up either inside or outside of the opponent’s attacking limb.

Key Elements of the Emergency Response

- Sink at the knees to create a strong base - Inward tuck of the midsection to facilitate proper posture for both defense and attack (power) - Shoulders projected forward - Head angled down but always looking towards the opponent (never turn away)

Changing Direction

A crucial component in making any of the following counterattacks work is a sudden change of direction from the 45 degree outward angle of the emergency response to a 45 degree inward angle to take away the opponent’s balance. Change direction as many times as necessary, from outside to inside or vice versa.

Walking A Line

Once Joel’s balance has been compromised, Dennis walks through to the point of structural weakness – the tip of the triangle.

Fighting to the Head

Any time we take an opponent to the ground, we will immediately circle around to his head and away from his legs. This is to avoid any possible counters from the downed opponent.

Counterattack

Following the JKD principle of “offensive defense”, we use the emergency response as the initiation of our counterattack when caught off guard. The primary objective is always striking. Secondary is manipulation of the arms or legs.

Let’s look at a few examples of attacks from both the inside and outside positions.

Forearm Shunt to Takedown (Inside Position)

Bruce Lee often reminded his students to “take the closest available shot”. The logical follow up to the emergency response is the Forearm Shunt. This is a forward and upward strike with the outside of the forearm which is very effective at knocking the opponent off balance. The primary target is the side of the neck.

Contact is made first with the ridge of the hand, followed by the forearm as the strike travels through its forward and upward arc.

Ideally, the Shunt is accompanied by two or more simultaneous strikes. This is referred to as “overkill” in the Filipino Martial Arts. Some potential weapons are the forehead (headbutt), the 2nd forearm, the point of the elbow, and the shin.

Sequence 1

1) Dennis Blue and Joel Brown square off.
2) Joel executes a looping right punch or haymaker. Dennis crashes using the emergency response on the inside.
3 & 4) Using his forearms, Dennis strikes Joel across the side of the neck with his right arm while simultaneously striking the attacking arm with his left and headbutting. Repeat this 3 times, driving forward with each hit.
5) Dennis controls Joel’s attacking arm and forces his head down while changing direction.

6) Dennis then delivers a knee strike but rather than retract the leg, he steps through and stomps the foot down to the ground (Repeat the ‘knee and stomp’ motion as many times as necessary to take the opponent down).

7) Dennis finishes his opponent.

Note: Steps 2, 3, 4, & 5 are performed in one continuous motion.

We only need to modify this sequence slightly to make it work from the outside position.

Quarter Swing to Forearm Shunt to Takedown (Outside Position)

Here we'll use a "Quarter Swing" strike with the rear hand to enter from the outside. It's important to note that we use a drop step (falling step) when executing the quarter swing. The strike itself in this example is a downward chopping motion into the opponent's attacking arm, right at the bend of the elbow. This will clear the line for an immediate Forearm Shunt to the neck.

Sequence 2

1) Dennis Blue and Joel Brown square off.

2) Joel executes a straight right punch. Dennis crashes using the emergency response on the outside.

3 & 4) Dennis steps inward at a 45 degree angle, chops down on Joel’s arm, and applies the forearm shunt to the side of Joel’s neck. He now has control over the attacking arm and Joel’s balance has been compromised.

5 & 6) Dennis controls Joel’s attacking arm and forces his head down. He then delivers a knee strike but rather than retract the leg, he steps through and stomps the foot down to the ground.

7) Dennis fights to the head.

Note: Steps 2, 3, 4, & 5 are performed in one continuous motion.

There are several variations of these sequences. Watch the Close Quarter Tactics companion videos for more. These videos are freely available on YouTube through the efforts of Sifu Dennis Blue, Mike Blesch, Steven Resell, Joel Brown, and Angelico Tolentino.

You can also download this article in PDF format.

Close Quarter Striking Tools

Primary Targets

Striking Progression

Sifu Dennis Blue taught us this progression and it’s been very helpful in getting us to focus on just a few primary shots from the multitude of striking options available in close quarters.

1. Shocker (heart strike)
2. Choke (throat grab)
3. Chin Jab (base of chin)
4. Throat Jab (jugular notch)

Shocker

The Shocker is a blow which uses an outward snap of the wrist just before impact to send a shock wave through the target area of the chest directly over the heart. You can also apply a mid-post if needed.

The next three strikes are initiated using mechanics similar to the Shocker.

Choke

The striking surface here is the web of the hand between the thumb and index fingers. The strike makes impact in the center of the chest first, beginning from the sternal angle and driving upward to the throat. The impact of the strike will get the opponent’s head moving up and back, at which point the fingers will grasp the trachea.

Chin Jab

Just like the previous strike, the chin jab begins low and centered on the chest. It then drives straight up, making impact on the base of the chin with the palm heel.

Throat Jab

Once again, the strike begins at the sternal angle and moves upwards to the throat. Two or more fingers press into the jugular notch (in and down) while maintaining forward pressure to drive the
opponent straight to the ground.

Training Drills

Instead of going straight to force-on-force training, we start out at a low level of resistance and steadily increase from there. The first stage is what we call the Zombie Drill. Beginning from a neutral position at arms length, (See CQC - (82) photo) the trainer will attack in one of three ways:

Now we’ll begin to integrate the striking progression and some trapping into our counterattacks.

Sequence 3

1) Joel executes a looping right punch or haymaker. Dennis crashes using the emergency response on the inside.
2 & 3) Dennis controls Joel’s striking arm and uses it as an anchor point while applying the Choke technique from our striking progression.
4) With Joel’s body weight moving up and back, Dennis uses a low post (slaps the kidneys) while continuing to drive forward. The forward drive takes Joel down to the ground.

Note: The Chin Jab, Throat Jab, and Choke are interchangeable.

Sequence 4

1) Joel executes a straight right punch. Dennis crashes using the emergency response on the outside.
2) Turning in at a 45 degree angle, Dennis lop sao’s Joel’s attacking arm with an anchor step and fires a finger jab at Joel’s eyes. In this case Dennis stepped back with his right foot, using the same ‘drop’ as with a falling step.

3 & 4) Dennis changes direction using a knee strike.
5 & 6) Dennis maintains control of the arm as Joel hits the ground, finishing with the technique of his choice.

Applying the “JKD Filter”

The first question we must ask is do the techniques presented here provide answers to a problem that a simple trap and straight blast or short flurry of shovel hooks and uppercuts can’t solve? Undoubtedly, the answer is yes when dealing with surprise attacks or an opponent who is able to bridge the gap at will and deliver his attacks accurately. The opponent has seized a momentary advantage and we must turn the tide back in our favor.

• Adaptability: Will the technique work against both straight and curving strikes as a single attack or combination?
• Vulnerability: Does it leave me exposed to counterattacks which may be more damaging than the initial attack I’m defending against?
• Structure: Do the takedowns involved allow me to stay on my feet with only the opponent going to the ground?

Conclusion

While simplicity is always crucial to the JKD’er, here it is critical. How much practice will these techniques require before they can be used effectively in combat? After all, these are secondary responses. The greatest returns will come from cultivating awareness to prevent surprise attacks along with preparing for when they do happen. Emergency responses and improved reaction speed to counter an opponent’s initiation speed can be a worthwhile investment of time, but to practice Jeet Kune Do at it’s highest level is to intercept on intention. Stop the attack before it starts.

[](https://www.jkdwednite.com/JKD-Filter.pdf)

By labeling Jeet Kune Do as “just a philosophy” with no curriculum or progression of techniques, we rob it of the technical merits of the material taught by its founder, Bruce Lee. On the other hand, by crystallizing the art as “only what Bruce Lee taught,” we deprive ourselves of the free expression and naturalness (or natural-unnaturalness!) advocated so strongly by Sijo Lee.

Our group does not believe that either approach is wholly correct. The Original JKD material (so-called) combined with the philosophical elements contained within Bruce Lee’s notes and writings provide a foundation upon which we build our own personal martial art. In our case, this is the origin of “Old School JKD”.

Using the principles laid out by Bruce Lee along with an understanding of the foundation and function of Jeet Kune Do, we can investigate other arts and draw out their essence. We call this the “JKD Filter”.

Jack Of All Trades or Master of Some?

Many will say that the only way to be a true martial artist is to train everything. Boxing, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, and Judo for competition. Kali for weapons, Reality-based martial arts for self defense, and so on. All have been pressure tested and proven effective. No doubt. However, there are two significant questions that I feel every martial artist who cross-trains in this manner should ask themselves:

1) Is it more efficient to flow from one art to another (and one delivery system to another) than to have a single platform from which I can utilize all of my attacks and defenses?

2) Does an accumulation of techniques make me a better fighter or would I benefit from limiting the amount of tools I train in order to hone each one to a very high level?

Time is every human beings most valuable asset. When taking into account that fighting arts like Boxing, Wrestling, or JKD require athletic ability which often begins to disappear as we reach middle age, efficient use of training time becomes critical. This is one of the reasons why daily decrease is such an important JKD principle. How can I perform the required repetitions to “master” any given technique if I’m spending my training time adding new techniques or practicing many different arts using different structures?

Applying the JKD Filter

We are always looking for a better way, trying to find more efficient tools and examining our own weaknesses. Constant research and experimentation are necessary. However, in order to get maximum benefit from our training time we must have some way of filtering a vast amount of material without having to train everything. In simple terms, this is how we analyze new material:

Necessity – Does it add something that is lacking from our game?
Structure – Do we have to change our delivery system to accommodate the new technique or does it fit in with what we’re already doing? A basic example of this would be a technique which doesn’t work well from an unmatched stance (i.e. Right lead vs left lead) forcing us to change leads in order to use it and thereby negating the advantage of the dominant side forward structure and telegraphing our intent.
Adaptability – How limited is its application? Will it work against different types of fighters? Against different methods of defense? Under less than ideal conditions?
Vulnerability - Does it leave us exposed to counterattacks which may be more damaging than the initial attack we’re defending against?

Sometimes a technique that we really like may not pass through the filter. The question then becomes do we need to keep the technique if only to train against it? Even when the answer is no, we have still gained some experience from the process and will, at the very least, be more familiar with a technique which may be used against us.

“It’s not what you can learn, it’s what you can throw away.”

Bruce Lee (to Bob Bremer)

The 80/20 Rule

Also known as the “Pareto principle”, the 80/20 rule states that quite often 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts. Therefore, to achieve maximum results, you should spend 80% of your time on the 20% that matters. This is a very useful idea which has been applied successfully to numerous disciplines. For our group, it essentially functions as a 2nd level to the JKD filter by reminding us to focus on the core techniques and principles of JKD. The trick is figuring out exactly which techniques make up the vital 20% that will deliver 80% of the results.

When it comes to combat sports like MMA and Boxing the task is somewhat simpler because of the detailed statistics available. We can discern that for a lightweight MMA fighter more fights are finished by submission than KO, so the fighters training habits need to reflect that. The opposite becomes true for the Welterweight class and above. Admittedly, there is more than one way to interpret the data (ie. Smaller fighters need to work on their punching power and larger fighters need to work on their submissions) but that isn’t relevant to the current discussion.

In Boxing we find that the fighter that throws the most jabs usually wins. The trouble with a “street fighting” art like Jeet Kune Do is that there is no accurate way to obtain those types of statistics. Then how do we decide which techniques will be our primary responses (the vital 20%)?

The solution for us has been threefold:

1. Following JKD principles – Particularly “economy of motion”
2. Individualization – Accounting for strengths, weaknesses, and temperament
3. Testing – Learn from successes and failures in sparring and scenario training, as well as in the ring/cage.

“Spend 80% of your time on what you will use 80% of the time.”

Tim Tackett

Conclusion

The JKD Filter and the principle of Daily Decrease can be applied to any martial artist’s training regimen, regardless of style. Whether your base art is Muay Thai, Judo, or Karate, and you train for self-defense, competition, or both; strong fundamentals will force your opponents to respect and prepare for your most basic tools, making all of your secondary responses more effective and maximizing your training time.

[](/High-Performance-Sparring.pdf)

One of the most frequently recurring topics of discussion within our group centers around sparring. Specifically, the best progression of drills to prepare new students for contact sparring, as well as how and when to step up the intensity. Now, we realize there is a certain segment of the martial arts community that believes light contact sparring, including sparring progressions, drills, and games is a waste of time. Realism is the priority, therefore it’s high intensity or nothing all. Some flat out do not believe in “sparring”. They tend to be the Combatives and/or Reality-Based Self Defense groups, who sometimes prefer Scenario Training (simulating everyday, real life situations as opposed to “dueling”), and other times simply believe that the only way to prepare for a fight is by fighting, whether for self defense, sport, or anything in between. While the sentiment is understood, we do not wholly agree.

When you find yourself struggling with a technique, or, are having trouble dealing with a technique being used against you, the most simple solution is to break it down to a basic level and work the fundamentals. Repetition is king. The more times an undesirable action is repeated, especially under acute stress, the more ingrained it will become. That can only be resolved by repeating the proper response, over, and over, and over. In our opinion, this is where low intensity sparring, drills, and games become invaluable.

The purpose of this guide is to introduce the training methods and concepts that our group utilizes, and then ask that you, the reader, create your own way.

Skill Assessment

When dealing with a new student we look for the following skills and attributes to determine how prepared he or she is for sparring.

• Defense – Do they know basic covers, slips, parries, and defensive footwork?
• Stress Response – How do they respond to slight increases in pressure from the trainer during drills? Do they have poor natural responses like turning their back to the attacker, leaning away with the head to try and keep from getting hit, thrusting both hands outward to try and block the incoming strikes, etc.?
• Attitude – Do they display self-confidence? Have a naturally aggressive or passive personality? Are they critical of themselves when they make a mistake?
• Attack/Counterattack – Do they have a basic understanding of distance, striking tools, takedowns, etc.?

Basic Drills for Assessment

The two drills we use most often during the assessment phase are the “Wall Survival” and “Jab-Catch-Return” drills. These are very basic boxing drills. If you are not an instructor or coach, and need to gauge your own strengths and weaknesses, then an alternative is to record yourself performing the drills with a partner.

Wall Survival Drill

This drill comes to us from the late Bert Poe. It’s used by pro fighters/trainers and has been invaluable to our group. There are several variations of the drill, but for this section we’ll stick to the most basic version.

1. The student places his back to a wall (ideally padded, but any wall or even the corner of a boxing ring or cage wall will do).
2. The trainer will feed punches to the head and body at random. It’s important that the contact level and speed of the punches are kept to a minimum to begin with. Gradually increase the pressure.
3. The student must keep his back to the wall. He may use only defensive maneuvers at this point.

One round should last about 60 seconds for a beginner.

Note: More advanced versions of this drill include allowing the student lateral movement and having the trainer feed kicks as well as punches. We will cover those later.

Jab-Catch-Return

This is a simple test of the students ability to defend and counterattack. Before getting to the drill, let’s define exactly what a “catch” is and how it’s used.

Technically a block, the catch can be a useful defense against a surprise hand attack. Ideally, the fighter should be striking simultaneously while catching. If unprepared, this may not be possible, in which case he or she would catch and follow up with a counterstrike. Mechanically, the technique resembles catching a baseball in a glove. The catch provides a bit more subtlety for counter punching than a regular block.

The drill can be done with or without boxing gloves.

1. The trainer initiates the drill by throwing a jab at the students chin.
2. The student will catch the incoming punch and return a jab.
3. The trainer catches the students punch and returns a jab. The drill is performed in sets of 3 jabs.

Either side can initiate the set once a rhythm is established. Begin with a steady rhythm and as the drill progresses, introduce half beats. This is where bad habits will begin to show themselves, even under light pressure.

Sparring Safety 101

The staples of creating a safe and productive training/sparring environment include providing your students and/or training partners with the skills needed to prevent themselves from getting knocked out, and to control the power of their punches (by controlling follow through). First and foremost, let’s look at what causes knockouts and some general rules for preventing them.

Preventing Knockouts

Most of the knockouts that take place during sparring/fighting are caused by a sudden whipping action of the head (rotational force) from strikes. The result is quite literally brain damage (lesions in white matter tracts), due to shearing forces that occur when the head is rapidly accelerated or decelerated. For the most part, these lesions do not heal. A build-up of lesions from repeated blows to the head will actually make you easier to knock out!

The thought of “losing your chin” should make most fighters reconsider the protective measures they take to avoid getting knocked out, not to mention the long term effects of brain injury that may include physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral complications.

How To Protect Yourself

Our skulls are best suited to protecting the brain from forward impacts. If you are going to take a punch, you need to take it on the forehead if at all possible. This is the reason (along with protecting the chin) for the forward and downward tilt of the head in any good fighting stance.

In addition to tucking the chin and leading with the forehead, it’s also important to pull your shoulders up. Not only does this protect your chin and jaw line, it shortens your neck and minimizes rotational force when you do get hit. The shorter you can make your neck the better.

The Knockout Drill (for worst case scenarios)

We all get caught with a big punch from time to time, so it’s important to condition yourself to fight through that “daze” if at all possible. The Knockout Drill is a pretty good alternative to taking real punches to the head. This drill only requires two people, but is most safely performed with three.

1. The student crosses his arms over his chest, and bends at the waist so his upper torso is horizontal and he is staring at the ground.
2. The trainer gently spins the student around in a circle.

Number of rotations:
Beginner: 6-9 | Intermediate: 10-14 | Advanced: 15-20 | Expert: 21+

After the chosen number of rotations are completed, either the trainer or a 3rd person will feed focus mitts which the student will punch repeatedly for 20 seconds. The straight blast (straight lead and rear punches in rapid succession) is the simplest to feed, but can be replaced with any punching combination.

Note: Perform this drill with caution. If the student does not have good balance, make sure that a 3rd person is there to prevent them from falling. Even a few slow spins can cause some people to lose their balance completely.

Eliminating Dangerous Stress Responses

Next, we need to address the natural responses to danger that most of us have which serve us well in everyday situations, but can cause a lot of problems in a fight. Imagine turning around to see a baseball flying directly at your face. The most natural reactions are to turn your back, lean your head away, or even to throw your hands out to try and stop it from hitting you. They’re usually good enough to keep you from getting hurt. The problem with reacting that way when you’re attacked by another person is there’s almost always more than one punch coming at you. Turning your back may save you from the first shot, but you will end up in a very bad position to deal with further attacks. We need to ingrain, through repetition, safe and effective responses to replace the ineffective natural ones.

Examples Of Poor Natural Responses

Proper Emergency Responses

Within the curriculum of many combative systems you will find techniques for dealing with what one of my teachers likes to call the “Oh Crap! Moment”. You are caught in a vulnerable position and your tools have been spent, are out of play, or for one reason or another cannot be employed effectively. Maybe you’re just outgunned. This is where the emergency response comes in to play.

Salute / High Cover-Up

To get a feel for the technique, grab the back of your head with your lead hand so that the point of your elbow is aimed down your partner’s center line. Notice that your jaw, neck, temple, and the area behind your ear is protected. This can be done on either side of the head.

3-Point Cover / Supported Elbow Frame

Similar to the Salute, but now your rear hand will reach over top and grab the lead forearm just above the elbow, creating a “frame”. The head is lowered slightly, so that you are looking under your rear forearm. Notice the 3 points created by the elbows along with the top of the head. This technique was popularized by JKD’er Burton Richardson and a very good defensive boxing program that has been used in MMA and elsewhere successfully.

The Modified Dive

This is the most aggressive emergency response and therefore has to be modified for use in sparring. In a self defense situation, the intention is to slam your fingers into the attackers face. In sparring, we’ll use our palms to strike the opponent’s forehead rather than his face. The technique involves thrusting both hands outward and lowering your head, similar to diving into a pool.

Proper Defensive Maneuvers

Note: As a Jeet Kune Do group, we very rarely, if ever, use any defensive move without striking at the same time (or before if possible - think hit first, then defend). Keep that in mind while reading this section.

1. Footwork

Without a doubt, the most important element of defense in sparring is footwork. Let’s look at a few of the maneuvers we consider to be crucial to a proper defensive game.

Curve Step

Curving and striking can be a very effective counter to a straight punch. It’s especially useful against an opponent in an unmatched stance (orthodox vs southpaw, or vice versa). The curved punch is initiated with the hand, followed by a lead step and ending with a rear step (all in one fluid motion) so that you are now aligned at a 45 degree angle to the opponent. Exercise caution when using the technique against a fighter in a matched lead as you will be moving towards his rear hand. Like many footwork methods, this must be executed with explosive energy.

Side Step (Lateral Push Step)

A side step in Jeet Kune Do is usually thought of as 2 movements, a step with the outside foot and then with the inside foot to recover back to your stance. We try to make every footwork maneuver as explosive or “crisp” as possible, regardless of the distance we want to move. Our version of the side step is essentially a lateral push step (a.k.a. push shuffle). It involves pushing off the foot opposite the direction you want to move, while lifting the other foot off the ground just enough to allow yourself to move freely. If you want to move to your right, you will push off your left foot. To move left, simply push off your right foot.

Step Out

A simple technique whereby the fighter will take a one step in any direction to evade or counter the opponent. This can be done with either the lead or rear foot. When stepping out to the rear hand side, the fighter will step with his rear foot. Common strikes would be a straight punch to the head or a kick to the leg/body while stepping. When moving to the lead hand side, the fighter will step with his lead foot and typically launch a straight rear punch or cross at his opponents chin.

• Keep in mind protecting the groin (just in case).
• Practice springiness in returning to the “On Guard” position.

Rear Step

As the name suggests, this is a simple step back with the rear foot. We prefer to step back at a slight angle rather than straight backward. In an orthodox stance we would step to 5 o’clock with the right foot. A southpaw would step to 7 o’clock with his left foot. We call the combination of a rear step and a straight lead punch the “Dempsey punch”, as it’s essentially a backward falling step punch. Others may refer to it as a “defensive jab”.

2. Head & Upper Body Movement

Secondary to footwork is head and upper body movement.

Slip

A slip is an evasive movement that will allow you to place your head and upper body to the outside or inside of an incoming straight punch. Typically, you will take a small step forward and to the side with the front foot (outside or inside depending on the direction of the slip). This will provide enough space to evade the punch without having to lean too much with your upper body.

Duck

The duck is a useful defense against both straight punches and hooks. Drop into your legs by bending at the knees and letting your body fall into a half-squat position. Keep your eyes focused on the opponent’s sternum. Do not look down. As always, to protect yourself, pull your shoulders up to shorten your neck.

Bob & Weave

The Bob & Weave as we teach it is basically an angular ducking movement used against hooking punches. You would evade a left hook by ducking slightly forward and to your left (to the 11 o’clock position - away from the opponent’s left hand) and then “bobbing” under the punch and back up to the 1 o’clock position (now outside the opponent’s left hand, as it has passed over your head).

For a right hook you would duck at 1 o’clock and come back up at 11 o’clock. The key is always initiating the movement by going away from the incoming punch.

Crunch

The first defense against body shots that we teach is the Crunch. You defend the side of your body being attacked by bending to the side slightly from your waist to drop the point of your elbow into the area just above your hip bone. DO NOT bring your guard down by taking your hand away from your head. Your hand will be able to maintain contact with your head around the temple area. The trick is to shorten one side of your torso by bending in that direction.

3. Hand Defenses

Lastly, we’ll deal with hand defenses. These are usually the lowest percentage defensive maneuvers, and are rarely used without some type of head movement.

Catch

Technically a block, the catch can be a useful defense against a surprise hand attack. Ideally, the fighter should be striking simultaneously while catching. If unprepared, this may not be possible, in which case he would catch and follow up with a counterstrike. Mechanically, the technique resembles catching a baseball in a glove. The catch provides a bit more subtlety for counter punching than a regular block.

Cuff

A cuff is essentially an upward catch. By moving the opponent’s extended punching arm upward, a gap is created that can be used to get to close range. It was traditionally used to set up body shots but it can also be used to setup a takedown or clinch.

Parry

A parry is a simple hand maneuver used to deflect an incoming strike. Parries are NOT a primary means of defense in Jeet Kune Do. Viewed as a safety measure, parries are almost always used in conjunction with a strike. As a last resort a parry may be used with some type of defensive footwork or body motion. Here we’ll focus on the two types of parries we use most often:

Preserve Your Partner!

You must be able to control the damage done by your strikes without having to alter the mechanics. This is done by controlling the penetration or follow through of the strike.

1-to-5 Drill

This drill comes from a gentleman named Dan Lee. He was a student of Bruce Lee in the 1960s. What makes this drill so great is that it teaches you to punch with full speed and power without harming your partner. There are 5 levels of follow through.

1. Surface punching. Little to no follow through. This is referred to as “cracking the egg”.
2. Punch ½ an inch through the target.
3. 1 Inch of follow through.
4. 1 ½ Inches of follow through.
5. Punch 2 inches or more into the target.

Run the drill on hard focus mitts. They provide the best feedback.

1. The trainer calls out a number between 1 and 5 then flashes a mitt (any punch).
2. The student must hit with the appropriate amount of follow through and recover as fast as possible.

The deeper the follow through, the longer it takes to recover. The trainer can run the same drill with combinations. For example, he can call out “1 - 3” and then feed a jab/cross combination. The drill works for kicks, elbows, and knees as well.

Ingraining Proper Responses

Here is an example of how we utilize the 1-to-5 progression of power and resistance within simple drills to ingrain proper defensive responses.

Slipping Progression

1. Slip a single straight punch (outside or inside)
2. Slip two straight punches (outside then inside or vice versa)
3. Hitting to slipping (student throws 4 straights, trainer returns 2 straights)

Bob & Weave Progression

1. B/w a single hook
2. B/w two hooks
3. B/w two hooks with broken rhythm
4. Hitting to b/w (student throws 4 straights or hooks, trainer returns 2 hooks)

Boxing Survival Drill

1. Use all head and upper body movement plus hand defenses (stay in the pocket - student defends only)

Kick Defense Progression

1. Low line kicks
2. Mid line kicks
3. High line kicks

Kickboxing Survival Drill

1. Use all footwork, head and upper body movement, plus hand defenses (student defends only)

Wall Survival Drill Progression

1. No movement (hand defense and crunch only)
2. Evasive movement only (hand defense and upper body movement only)
3. Allow lateral movement against the wall plus hand/upper body defense (trainer adds kicks)
4. Move away from wall – Circling/angling footwork only – No retreating (all other defenses)

Fight Survival Drill

1. Add takedown defense to previous drills (trainer shoots, punches, and kicks)

As the trainer, you must steadily increase the pressure. Use the 1-to-5 progression. If the student fails to defend the majority of attacks, take a step back to a lesser level of resistance and power. The ability to defend 80% of the incoming attacks should be your cue to move up to the next level.

Sparring Games

Attitude is 80% of the battle in sparring (and fighting for that matter). We never want a student to feel that they cannot defend themselves. Sparring games come after acquiring at least a basic level of defensive skill.

With small class sizes it becomes difficult to match up students based on skill level. One of the major advantages of sparring games is that students of varying skill levels can work together, without forcing the more skilled students to have to fight down to their partners level. By terming these drills “games”, it lowers stress levels right off the bat. Emphasis is on “play” rather than competition. Here are a few examples.

Isolation Sparring

Isolation drills are great for honing individual tools and can also help “level the playing field” when students of different skill levels are matched up. Both tools and targets can be restricted.

An endless number of combinations can be created to challenge students. For advanced students that have no trouble with simple restrictions, try making them spar on one leg (for example: stand on right leg and jab with right hand).

Styles Game

An interesting variation for advanced students is to assign each a specific “style”. For example, make one student a counter-puncher and the other a pressure fighter.

Defense & Evasion Game

This can be a very frustrating drill but the results will speak for themselves. The trainer will play the attacker while the student defends.

Sequence 1:

• The student may use only his rear hand to parry, catch, or cuff. No head movement is allowed.
• The trainer will feed only straight punches. Use of combinations and broken rhythm is encouraged.
• To make the drill more difficult the trainer will randomly call out “switch” and the student must switch leads in his stance. The trainer may switch leads at any time without warning.

Note: Do not get caught up in playing the parrying/blocking game. The key component here is footwork! Make use of angled steps. Try to avoid moving straight backward.

Sequence 2:

• The student may use only head movement, slipping, ducking, and the bob and weave. He may not defend with either hand.
• The trainer will feed both straight and curving punches.
• To make the drill more difficult the trainer will randomly call out “switch” and the student must switch leads in his stance. The trainer may switch leads at any time without warning.

Footwork is again critical in surviving this drill without taking a beating.

Sequence 3:

• The student may use all defensive maneuvers but cannot move his feet. He must remain stationary for the duration of the drill.
• The trainer will feed both straight and curving punches but will not circle the student or force the student to move his feet in any way.

The covers discussed earlier are the only means of succeeding at this drill.

Trainers Choice Game

Not only is this drill good for the student, it’s also helps the trainer practice seeing openings quickly. It’s best that a student plays the role of trainer for this game before switching out and performing the drill himself.

1. Two students square off.
2. The trainer stands behind one of the students and calls out openings in the opponents defense as he sees them.
3. The student may only attack the target designated by the trainer (example: left leg, right body, or chin)

Start with only punches. When a basic level of proficiency is achieved add kicks. The student decides which tool to use to attack the chosen target. Finally, add takedowns.

Infighting Game

Two students stand toe to toe and duke it out at close range. Use of full face headgear is recommended for this drill as well as chest and rib protection. The starting distance should be inside of punching range but not quite clinch. Once the drill starts either student can use over/under-hooks to set up strikes. No knees, short kicks, throws, sweeps, or takedowns.

Open The Guard Game

This drill is based on infighting tactics we learned from Dennis Blue. It begins from close range in what’s called the “high outside reference point” in JKD terminology. The student will attempt to open his partners guard and score with a shovel hook, uppercut, or any close range strike.

Sequence 1:

1. The starting position.
2. The student strikes his partners arm near the elbow with a hook to open up his defense. The force of the hook turns his partner enough create an opening to the body.
3. The student launches a shovel hook into the opening.

Sequence 2:

1. The starting position.
2. The student pushes up on his partners arm (forearm to forearm, at a 45 degree angle).
3. The student launches a shovel hook into the opening.
4. He follows up with an uppercut to the head.

Note: Shovel hooks and uppercuts can be replaced with forearm strikes, quarter swings, or any other close range technique.

Conclusion

Sparring obviously does lack realism, and that is exactly what makes it a valuable training tool. It doesn’t make much sense to intensely pressure test a technique you don’t “own”. There must be some progression from learning a tactic, honing the skills required to make the tactic successful, testing it in scenarios, and ultimately using it in combat. We, as martial artists, view sparring as a means of exposing and eliminating weaknesses in our skill set.

A good friend of the Wednesday Night Group is Hock Hochheim. Hock has talked to us about what he calls “the myth of the duel”. What he means is that most people in martial arts train as if were still living in the age of dueling. The age of dueling was a time when two gentlemen would meet at a certain time and settle their differences with either a gun or sword. The closest thing to that we have today is the Boxing or MMA match, where two fighters would meet at a certain time with rules and a referee. When I was in high school in the 1950’s it was still common for two guys to meet at a park after school and have a fight. They would square off like two boxers and the fight was on. When one gave up the fight was over, and they shook hands and usually became friends. Sadly those days are long gone.

Today most street type fights occur in a bar or nightclub and there is usually some one to break it up. In the street it is a different story. Sometimes it’s a robber with a gun that wants your wallet. While the best thing to do may be to throw your wallet one way and run the other, some of the time we resist and then have a good chance of not making it home to our family. What to do against an armed assailant is beyond the scope of this article. However, what to do against an unarmed opponent who confronts you in a public situation is not.

The worst thing you can do in a street confrontation is jump into a stance as soon the person says something like, “What the hell are you looking at?”.

This will not scare them and gives them way too much information. When someone comes up to you in the street, it may be only to find out how to get somewhere or what time it is. They may be totally innocent or be a thug seeing how you react to their approaching you. The point is that you have no idea what is going on. What you must be sure to do in any case is to remain calm and make sure that the distance between you and the person is far enough away that to attack you they must step forward. Bruce Lee called that “the fighting measure”.

You must also learn to always stand in a natural stance with your strong leg forward and your hands in a relaxed position.

Below we see the natural stance talking to someone in the street at the proper distance.

If the person you are talking to tries to step toward you raise both hands as a barrier and tell him in a strong voice not to take another step.

If he continues to come forward you can use a double finger thrust to the eyes.

Or you could use a different response based on your level of skill and training.

The important thing is to keep your response simple and direct. After you have stopped the attack you can decide to retreat or finish him. In most cases it might be best to just get the hell out of there.

The important thing is that whenever you go out of the house you need to make sure that you are able to come home in one piece.

[](/Punching-Power.pdf)

Something has been lost in the modern fighter’s quest for brilliance in every conceivable aspect of the martial arts. Boxing on Monday. Wrestling on Tuesday. Core Conditioning on Thursday. Martial art hobbyists around the world now have training opportunities formerly available only to the pros (and they are taking advantage!). Undoubtedly this type of training breeds well-rounded and capable fighters. That is not in question. In fact, the “average” martial artist of today is head and shoulders above his or her counterpart of decades past. That said, what if there was a single missing element waiting to be (re)discovered that could separate even high level MMA fighter’s from their peers? Something so neglected I dare call it a secret. Prepare to have your striking tools transformed from adequate to elite. That secret is about to be exposed.

“The primary purpose of martial art is applying bodily force”
Bruce Lee (with respect to Edwin L. Haislet)

Lower Body Mechanics & Footwork

The Falling Step

Sometimes referred to as the “Drop Step”, the Falling Step is the foundation of all punching power. Famously described in Jack Dempsey’s “Championship Fighting” (1950), every fighter should already be familiar with the technique. I will discuss it here briefly because it’s mechanics relate to every other method of power generation within this writing.

1) Assume a neutral stance with feet shoulder width apart, arms dangling at your sides. You may prefer to take a comfortable fighting stance instead, feet staggered, with no more than 18 inches distance between the lead and rear foot.
2) Let the weight of your body begin to fall forward and lift your lead foot off the ground just enough to fall into a long lead step. Your foot should land flat on the ground just in time to keep you from landing on your face!
3) On a hard surface you should hear a loud slap when your lead foot makes contact with the ground as the step has all of your body weight and the added momentum of the ‘fall’ behind it.

From Falling Step to Short Step

Some may ask how the falling step can be used in a combative situation. Others will recognize it’s application right away. Like any large movement, the falling step should be condensed (from long to short) when necessary. Once the mechanics of the step are second nature, begin to apply it as a short, explosive movement to all of your straight punches. Vary the length of the step depending on the distance required to reach the target and work up to applying the ‘drop’ by stepping in place, or even with no step at all!

Heel/Toe Sway

This technique involves a shift of weight from the ball of your lead foot to the heel of your rear foot (and vice versa) in a quick, snapping motion. It will help facilitate the transfer of body weight from front to rear needed for powerful hooking punches (it also applies to straight punches as you will see).

1) Assume a comfortable fighting stance with feet shoulder width apart and no more than 18 inches distance between the lead and rear foot. Raise the heel of your rear foot approximately 1 inch off the ground so weight is resting on the ball of the foot. A good fighting stance should always have this as one of it’s features for maximum forward explosion.
2) Snap your rear heel to the ground while simultaneously raising the heel of your lead foot approximately 1 inch off the ground.
3) Without pausing, perform the same movement in reverse by snapping your lead heel back to the ground while raising the heel of your rear foot, returning you to the starting position.

Steps 2 and 3 should be done in one smooth movement, causing your body weight to sway back and forth on the balls of your feet.

Sudden Drop

This type of movement will be very familiar to the Hsing-I practitioner. I originally learned the technique from Sifu Jeremy Lynch of the JKD Wednesday Night Group. It was later shown to me by Sifu Tim Tackett (2nd Generation JKD Instructor and Hsing-I black belt) during a demonstration of power strikes from the Hsing-I system he learned in Taiwan in the early 1960s. Although I’m sure the technique is well known by readers, I’ve rarely seen it used (and in particular combined with the Heel/Toe Sway) in the delivery of a hook punch. We will discuss the combination of the Sudden Drop, the Heel/Toe Sway, and upper body mechanics later.

1) Assume a comfortable fighting stance with feet shoulder width apart and no more than 18 inches distance between the lead and rear foot.
2) Drop into a half-squat position by pulling your legs up toward your midsection. It should feel as if your feet almost come off the ground for a split second.
3) As quickly as possible, return to the on-guard position (to prepare for the follow up attack). You should not remain in the half-squat position for any longer than it would take to execute a lead hook punch.

When applied to a punch, this movement is very subtle. You will not typically drop as far as a half-squat position (especially when striking a taller opponent), but rather condense the movement into a short, quick drop. This helps speed up the transfer of body weight that takes place during the execution of a hook punch.

Upper Body Mechanics & Structure

Hip Torque & Core Rotation

Power starts from the ground (footwork and leg drive) and is transferred up to the shoulders via rotation of the hips. This is true for both hooks and straight punches. Here is a great medicine ball drill that Sifu Jeremy Lynch uses to illustrate (and develop) proper hip torque in hooking punches:

1) Assume a neutral stance with feet shoulder width apart. Hold a medicine ball with both hands at chest height. Have a partner hold a focus mitt at head height for a right hook punch. Use a heavy bag if no partner is available.
2) Rotate your upper body counterclockwise while keeping your feet in place. At full rotation you should be able to hand the medicine ball to a person standing to your left.
3) Return to the starting position in one smooth motion. Repeat the counterclockwise rotation 3 times. Do not rotate farther than what is comfortable.
4) On the 4th rotation, drop the medicine ball (mid-swing) and explode into the focus mitt with a right hook. Your upper body should feel like a stretched rubber band being released.

Repeat the process several times before working your left hook (clockwise rotation).

Shoulder Rotation

Jack Dempsey’s book “Championship Fighting” contains an excellent description of the “Whirl”, which is the whipping action of one shoulder forward and the other back. During one of my first lessons in Jeet Kune Do I was given a slightly different explanation which I believe is worth recounting. Imagine a chain connecting your left fist to your right. Every time you execute a straight punch and then retract it, the retraction causes your opposite fist to be jerked forward violently into a follow up straight punch. This technique is especially useful for ‘negative/positive’ strikes. Negative refers to a light punch with no real intention of penetrating deep into the target. This allows recovery (and follow up) to happen much faster than a with committed punch and can confuse an opponent when the rhythm suddenly changes on the follow up shot. Positive would be a deep, penetrating shot and naturally slower. Think Jab-Cross with a O…N…E… TWO cadence (slow/fast).

Posture

This may be the most difficult aspect to explain. Consider a boxer’s posture (See Photo 1). Anatomically speaking it is considered very poor natural posture. The curved spine, shoulders sagging forward, elbows tucked in to cover the ribs. The critical aspect of the boxing stance or any fighting stance for that matter is what we call the “Two-percent tuck”. That is the inward tuck of the midsection to support all other elements of the boxing posture.

Where the discussion of posture gets interesting is when we add elements of Hsing-I heavy hitting (See Photos 2 & 3). I have observed Sifu Tim Tackett teaching this (along with the Sudden Drop) to large groups of students who are initially hitting with relatively little power. Within minutes of learning these principles the entire group will be hitting twice as hard! The technique was taught to Sifu Tackett as the “Downward Smash” (aka “Drilling”) and involves sinking from the sternum into the boxer’s posture and dropping all of your body weight onto your rear leg to deliver a brutal downward palm strike.

Tools & Delivery: Developing power through body mechanics

Downward Smash

We typically begin teaching this strike from the 3rd step of the progression due to it being the most practical. Also, the progression requires training time not usually available in a typical class or seminar. Drill all 3 steps with a partner holding a focus mitt out to the side of his/her body with the elbow slightly bent and the surface of the mitt facing upward at a 45 degree angle. The key is to make impact on the target with an outward thrust of the palm heel. For the first 2 steps, we will strike with the rear hand. In step 3 the lead hand will be used.

1) Assume a comfortable fighting position and line up with the focus mitt, one large step from your partner. Imagine that your hands are incredibly heavy and totally relaxed. Raise both hands well above your head and step through with your rear leg, changing leads. Drop all of your weight from your sternum and bring the heel of your palm down on the focus mitt just as your foot lands on the ground.

2) Line up with the focus mitt, one large step from your partner. Raise your striking hand to head height while stepping through with your rear foot and bringing all of your body weight down onto the focus mitt using the same mechanics as described in step 1.

3) Line up with the focus mitt, arms length from your partner. Raise your striking hand approximately 6 to 12 inches above the target and while remaining stationary, strike with the heel of your palm using only sinking body weight.

You now have the body feel required to execute a devastating close range Palm Hook.

Tools & Delivery: Practical application of power mechanics

Palm Hook

This is an incredibly powerful close range tool that can be used from many different positions. Maximum damage is inflicted by driving the full mass of your body into the hook. Ideally, this strike should penetrate approximately 4 inches into the target with an outward thrust of the palm heel. Drill this technique by having a partner hold a focus mitt at head height.

1) Assume a comfortable fighting position and line up with the focus mitt. To achieve proper distance for the strike, your forehead should be approximately 6 – 8 inches from the edge of the focus mitt. Align your striking hand with the target, 6 inches away (See Photo 1). You should need no more than 6 inches to generate knockout power.

2) Apply the body mechanics you have learned in the following order:
Heel/Toe Sway – Sudden Drop – Hip Torque – Shoulder Rotation – Outward thrust of the palm heel – Impact!
(See Photo 2)

The Heel/Toe Sway initiates the fast transfer of weight. The Sudden Drop should start just before your rear heel touches the ground. Hip Torque is activated next, driving the Shoulder Rotation. Hand movement begins immediately after the rotation of the shoulders. It should feel as if your striking hand is being dragged slightly behind your body similar to a powerful round kick. Just before impact on the target, the palm heel is snapped outward creating a hydrostatic shock effect.

There should be no perceptible time delay between any of the actions described above. Everything should be executed in one smooth motion.

3) Recovery is an important factor in the successful execution of the Palm Hook. The 2nd half of the Heel/Toe sway movement (shifting body weight back from rear heel to a balanced on-guard position with the rear heel raised) will initiate recovery. Quick counter-rotation of the hips and shoulders will do the rest. (See Photo 3)

Variations of the Palm Hook
The Palm Hook described here is a hybrid of what we call the “snappy” and “heavy” hooks. Some variations include:

4) Maintaining weight on the lead leg and driving the toes of the lead foot into the ground
5) Stepping to 7 o’clock with the rear foot when hooking
6) Striking with a corkscrew motion of the hand and arm so impact is made while the forearm is horizontal with the elbow raised

The purpose of this article is to introduce the body mechanics used to generate power in striking. Watch the companion video for free on YouTube.

This group was organized to promote the martial art of Jeet Kune Do as conceived and taught by Bruce Lee. We recognize that Jeet Kune Do consists of two components; one a technical, scientific, concrete component (Foundational Structure) and two; A General philosophic component. The first component is;

1) A Foundational Structure:

This foundational structure is primarily built upon the combative arts of Fencing and western Boxing. The center line principle and some streamlined hand immobilization techniques from Wing Chun Gung Fu are also part of this foundation. This foundation includes a specific stance, specific footwork, specific tools performed, trained and refined in a scientific way, a specific Five Methods of attack, and a specific scientific philosophy which calls for: 1) economy of motion 2) scientific principles of body mechanics 3) the goal of Intercepting an opponent as the primary and most efficient means to ending an attack once initiated by an opponent.

Additionally, live drills and sparring MUST be a part of the training program, otherwise, practitioners are practicing ‘Dry land swimming,’ which only serves to inflate their egos while doing nothing to realistically prepare themselves for fighting. We submit with the authority of lineage, historical facts, and scientific principles that Jeet Kune Do cannot exist without the essential foundational structure and the specific scientific philosophy. The second component is;

2) A General Philosophy:

This general philosophy states in part that; the practitioner is ultimately more important than any system or structure owing to the fact that we are all individuals, with varying physical shapes, abilities and temperaments. Knowing this, the foundational structure is not a mandate, rather, doing what is the most efficient natural response at the moment action is required is the ideal. This does not mean that we permanently disregard the foundational structure and philosophy for an inferior, less scientific, less direct, or less natural response, (JKD is scientific fighting). Then the practitioner would be leaving the confines of JKD and scientific methodology and would be partaking in the unscientific “tool / art of the month” club which many people mistakenly believe JKD to be. Many people embrace the ‘individuality’ philosophy of JKD and totally neglect the maybe more important scientific base on which JKD rests. These two principles ideally exist together, but neither one can be neglected.

Expressing oneself as an individual and as a JKD practitioner means the most efficient response for a particular moment. Not any old technique or tool will do! (If you practice efficient tools your responses will be efficient, and the opposite is also true, inefficient training breeds inefficient responses)! We have found that in most situations JKD tools are the most efficient. We base this belief on scientific principles of body movement and observation, not blind belief in dogma.

Additionally, the most efficient response for the moment might turn out to be something normally very awkward or less efficient. However, the needs of the moment outweigh normalcy in regards to responses. We understand that responses of this type are not foundational, but are functional, and serve the greater scientific principle of directness and efficiency (closest tool to nearest target). Once executed, a practitioner most likely will be able to resume combat out of the foundational (most scientifically efficient) structure.

Additionally, practitioners are encouraged to add tools that are “specifically their own,” that is, what fits their unique body, attitude, etc. the best. Adding is only done however, if these tools can be added without permanently altering the basic JKD foundation and philosophy. Practitioners are ultimately encouraged to research through observation and experimentation to become a martial artist who has discovered what tools, methods of attack, etc., fit him the best, thereby elevating the individual above any so called martial art.

It is our contention however, that to be called Jeet Kune Do, (The way of the Intercepting Fist) a person’s expression of martial art though expressed in a unique manner, must maintain the JKD foundational structure and specific philosophy. Otherwise, why call it JKD? For JKD is an intercepting art, and the fencing / boxing foundation allows intercepting to happen with greater frequency (owing to scientific principles) than any other structural foundation. So, if you’ve left the intercepting structure and philosophy behind, be honest, and don’t call it JKD!

JKD Attributes

• Primarily based on a Fencing / Western boxing structure. Centerline principle and streamlined hand immobilization added from Wing Chun.
• Specific footwork, (a fencing / boxing hybrid,) and tools (Taught by Bruce and fit the structure).
• Emphasis on intercepting.
• Scientific, streamlined, efficient and direct, (closest tool to nearest target).
• Strong side forward.
• Primary use of lead hand and lead leg.
• Five methods of attack.
• Primarily a street art. (Although can very easily be applied in the ring).
• “Add specifically what is your own,” (without permanently changing the foundational structure).
• “Express yourself!” (Do what is most efficient for you at each moment).
• Able to fight / Combat, in three general ranges. (Calling these ranges, kicking, punching and grappling is not accurate because you can punch kick or grapple in more than one range)!
• You MUST be “In the Water!” (Live drills and sparring).

Because of the books and articles I’ve written about Jeet Kune Do, I receive a lot of e-mails, most of which are questions. The most common is: How long will it take me to become a JKD expert and be certified to teach?

I usually reply with a question of my own: How long would it take you to become a great basketball player and then a coach for a college team? It’s obviously a rhetorical question designed to convey what many people forget – that JKD or any other martial art is an athletic endeavor and that advancement requires the development of balance, speed, fast-twitch muscles and so on. While you can get better every day if you put in the time and effort, not everyone can get good enough to be considered a teacher.

The other common question is: How do I get started in JKD?

The first thing you should do is search for a recognized JKD school or certified instructor. While there’s no official master list of authorized JKD schools, it can be helpful to check the web site of an acknowledged expert such as Richard Bustillo to see whether he or one of his students has a school in your area. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to figure out how far you’re willing to drive to study with a qualified teacher because travel will probably be required. Point of reference: While attending law school, one of my students would drive 110 miles each way once a week to learn JKD. It’s obviously not as good as training two or three times a week, but progress is possible.

If you can’t find a school close enough for regular trips, consider attending a JKD camp. A week-long training event is a great way to get started. It can help you gain an understanding of basic JKD techniques, which you can then practice at home – perhaps while studying books or videos.

And if you’re unable to find a camp or seminar in your area? You can build on the martial art you currently practice by supplementing it with JKD techniques learned from books and videos. A more formal alternative might entail finding a school that teaches wing chun or Western boxing, both of which are part of JKD, and then fine-tuning it with those books and videos.

Sometimes a beginner will assemble a group of friends and try to learn JKD from scratch using books and videos. It’s convenient, but you risk picking up bad habits and getting injured. Nothing beats learning from a qualified instructor in a safe environment.

If you’re fortunate enough to find a good school in your area, does it matter whether you have some experience in another art or are a complete beginner? Here’s what I’ve observed: Often, a beginner will do just as well as a student with a lot of experience.

My opinion is backed up by my own experience. When I started JKD in Dan Inosanto’s backyard class, I was already a kung fu teacher, and consequently there were a lot of things I had to unlearn. The JKD on-guard stance was completely foreign to me. While the kicks were similar to mine, the basic punch with the strong hand forward proved difficult. Some of the footwork was easy, but some was challenging. The hardest part was not relying on blocking and then hitting for my basic defense; I had to learn to intercept.

Although it’s often easier for a beginner to learn a new technique than it is for an experienced martial artist to unlearn one, there are no hard and fast rules. You may be one of those black belts who takes up JKD and progresses very quickly.

One final warning: Just because a teacher has a JKD certificate on his wall doesn’t mean he’s qualified. A simple Internet search will reveal that certificates proclaiming that you’re a master of anything are a dime a dozen. It’s always a good idea to check the background of the teacher before you sign up.

One of the most famous Bruce Lee quotes referring to our beloved art of Jeet Kune Do is “Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation”. Unfortunately, this one quote has been the cause of a great deal of confusion. Another quote of Bruce Lee’s that is used frequently is “I don’t believe in styles” and another, “My followers in Jeet Kune Do, do listen to this … all fixed, set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.” The confusion is between two major and opposite interpretations of these quotes. On one hand, you have the belief that anything you do is Jeet Kune Do because Jeet Kune Do cannot be categorized and there is “No limitation” on what you do. On the other hand is the idea that there is a basic and highly scientific structure in Jeet Kune Do which all individuals learning JKD should be taught. I subscribe to the second belief.

Let me describe in short how I and the other instructors of the Wednesday Night Group have come to this conclusion. I know that we are not the only ones to think this way, I am simply explaining how we got there.

When I moved to California in December of 1990 I was the self-proclaimed number one fan of Bruce Lee. I had been searching for JKD for most of my life and that was when I met Tim Tackett. I immediately realized that I was fortunate to have been accepted into this group (which would later be dubbed the Wednesday Night Group.) I did not, however, understand just how lucky I was. My first night in Tim Tackett’s garage I met Bob Bremer. I soon found out, that not only was Bob Bremer an original student of Bruce Lee, but he had a reputation as the “Ass Kicker” of the Chinatown school. Tim Tackett was undoubtedly an excellent teacher, but as the first several months of my training went by something very profound began to happen. As we would practice a technique from this art or that, Bob would speak up and remind us what Bruce Lee had told him on many occasions about using techniques where you left yourself open to counter-attack. Little by little he began to help us take a good look at what we were practicing and instilled in us the principle of questioning what you learn, which in most martial arts schools is extremely taboo. I will always be grateful that Tim Tackett did not bristle and resist this, but encouraged Bob to say whatever he felt was right.

What made this time at the Wednesday Night Group so special and important was the fortunate combination of people that were there, each giving input and all searching for truth. Bert Poe, Sonny Bygum, Dennis Blue, and Jim Sewell were regulars and each brought an individuality and an intense yearning for truth and simplicity. My friend Louis Berard started training around the same time I did and together we soaked in all we could from these great instructors. We practiced hour after hour together.

The end result was that all of us realized that a large portion of what we were doing was not Jeet Kune Do. Many of the techniques we were practicing were from other arts and less direct and less simple than what we already had. We realized that somewhere along the line, someone must have decided that Jeet Kune Do was about learning as many arts as possible, and getting as many techniques under your belt as you could. I am happy to say, that for the majority of years that I have studied and taught at the Wednesday Night Group we have prided ourselves on learning and teaching primarily the Jeet Kune Do curriculum that Bruce Lee taught at his last school, the Chinatown School.

Now, the question begs answering, “what about those first quotes that refer to not being bound by any style?” Here is my answer. Not one of us feels that he is confined by what we teach. We are completely at liberty to add any technique that is better than what we do and to drop techniques if we find them outdated. The amazing thing is, when you look at Jeet Kune Do with a critical eye, you must confess that the majority of the art is still cutting edge. The examples show the simplicity and directness that JKD still has over the majority of ways that people respond to attack. Not only are the responses to attack cutting edge, but Bruce Lee incorporated some outstanding drills to develop speed, timing and sensitivity to which I have yet to find an equal. Each technique, when taught in the manner that Bruce Lee meant it to be taught will give the practitioner the ability to strike with maximum power.

One of the things that strengthens my belief in this way of thinking even more is that when you look at the majority of schools that have decided to teach everything under the sun and call it Jeet Kune Do, they are very rarely as powerful as they could be (and ought to be). I have worked with several such schools and many wonderful people that know very much about all the various arts that are passed around, but know very little about what Bruce Lee called “Hurting ‘em with a flick.” Power is drastically missing and in many cases, so much time is spent learning this technique or that, that there is little time to become a FIGHTER. Bruce Lee emphasized daily decrease, not increase. In our case this philosophy has been a great success. We try to have a handful of tools under our belts that will serve us. If ever a new technique is added to our regimen it is only after intense scrutinization. We ask, “Will it work on the street?” “Am I open to any kind of counter attack?” “Is it better than what I am already doing?” If we cannot answer all of these questions appropriately then we simply do not add it.

One of the greatest gifts that Jeet Kune Do has given our group is the absolute freedom to question what we learn or even the instructor himself. When one is completely honest with one’s self and without ego, it is easy to see that simplicity, and not complexity or flash is the key. But alas, simplicity is boring. Training the same techniques over and over is no fun. Taking a never-ending journey to get more from yourself at times does not feel as rewarding as getting a new belt in a new art. People mistake the path to simplicity as the easy way out. That belief could not be further from the truth. The path to simplicity requires continuous self-evaluation. In order for your art to support you, you must be tried by fire until your muscles react exactly when and how you want them to. When you have reached that point, you realize that you have only reached one of the lower summits in the journey up the mountain of self-discovery.

To use no way as way, to have no limitation as limitation means that you must be free mentally and physically to express yourself however you must. This is not possible when the mind is bogged down with an endless clutter of mediocre and unscientific techniques.

When Jeet Kune Do trapping is mentioned today, it is met with a number of positive as well as negative responses. On one hand, there are those who think anything Bruce Lee wrote, talked about, illustrated or performed is definitely Jeet Kune Do. No doubt about it. On the other hand, you have people who view training methods like trapping, try the techniques a few times, and then decide whether Bruce Lee would have made major modifications or tossed out the entire thing altogether. In the end, neither of the above responses shows an understanding of how Jeet Kune Do really works, or more importantly, what it takes to make it work for you.

Jeet Kune Do was the result of an evolution of Bruce Lee’s personal experience in the martial arts. Although most are familiar with the phrase, “Using no way as way,” there remain definite, scientific guidelines to how JKD works. Understanding this, we can do away with the first of the above responses, because we realize that Bruce Lee himself eliminated a large portion of the methods he had previously practiced.

As far as the second response, it is necessary to understand the process we go through before we just chuck a technique or method as “useless.” First, we ask ourselves, “Is there another, more scientific way to get the same results that we were aiming for with the technique?” Note I said, “more scientific way,” not “another way.” Secondly, we ask ourselves, “Have I truly drilled this enough to make it my own, or have I just tried it and found that it was just hard to do?”

If the toughness of the drill decides what technique you keep, then you have no business in the martial arts. Thirdly, we ask, “Do I really understand the purpose that Bruce Lee had when originally teaching this?” We must either answer those questions satisfactorily or we continue trying to perfect the drill in question. The fact is, when we look at the Chinatown Jeet Kune Do (that is, Jeet Kune Do from Bruce Lee’s last school) we have a hard time finding things more scientific than what is already in place. True, we have placed more emphasis on some things than we used to (like grappling), but for the most part, Jeet Kune Do as a whole still works better than anything I have ever seen.

Here is another way to look at JKD trapping: In my experience, people have a large misunderstanding of how trapping is to be applied in a fighting situation. Something Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer gives insight into how we should be using trapping. Bob was asking Bruce for further explanation on trapping. Bruce Lee turned to him and said, “Just claw your opponent’s hands down and beat the (bleep) out of him.”

Now we know that Bruce wanted them to work technique, but somewhere along the line it seemed that all the pretty drills designed for teaching flow were mistaken for the fighting technique itself. The traps demonstrated on my Trapping Skills and Drills DVD are shown one at a time to give you a way, or scientific method, to “claw the opponent’s hands down.” In these drills, you’ll learn to generate snap in your traps as well as defending in close range. When the opportunity arrives, you’ll have a great way to remove a barrier to your end goal, which is a quick win.

The number one problem people run into when attempting trapping in sparring, or even more difficult, in a street fight, is that they go in with a plan of what they will do. The have trained with a certain type of energy in the drills, and when they try to duplicate the results with a spastic opponent, it all falls apart. If they had truly studied what Bruce Lee taught, then they would never go into a fight with a plan to do this or that. You simply take what’s available and fit in with your opponent.

Trapping is a means to an end, with the end being to land a punch. People approach it as if the end is to do another trap, which is why it doesn’t work for them. When you have the understanding that trapping training is designed to be just one way of entering into the attack, rather than a JKD signature move, it starts to become much more realistic to apply.

I personally have pulled off trapping with empty hands and wearing boxing gloves. The trick is to not go looking for it. So, when people ask what I think about JKD trapping, I tell them, “It works, when it works.” To say trapping doesn’t work is like a person not landing their rear cross in a fight and deciding that the cross doesn’t work. On the other hand, many people come in with the attitude that trapping solves all problems in a fight. This is like a person who saw someone win a fight with a rear cross and decided that this would be their first move. It may seem elementary, but I really do run into these extremes all the time.

To properly understand and perform Jeet Kune Do, one must understand that Bruce Lee looked at the big picture. He didn’t keep techniques because they looked pretty, and he did not place more emphasis on one technique than another. He emphasized “fitting in with your opponent,” which means training each part of your body at different angles and rhythms so that you feel comfortable striking from wherever you end up. Trapping falls in the middle of that. When you rely on trapping as your bread and butter, you become one-dimensional and easily beatable. But when done right, trapping can be a devastating shock to your opponent.

JL: What is your background in the martial arts? Give us the full history.

DB: I initially got into martial arts because my father was a boxer and he was also at that time involved with, I guess you would call it gangs. And there was a lot of rivalry then, so he wanted to make sure that I was able to fight too, so one of the big things was for him, when he came home from work, to show me a little bit of boxing. That was further perpetuated by my brother, who was quite a few years older than me. He and his friends always had bets that, “my little brother can beat up your little brother”, so every Friday like clockwork, they’d put all the little brothers together and make us fight.

Then the “Asian persuasion” of the martial arts really took course, and my father decided to put me into that. I started in Japanese Shotokan, which lasted for a short while before that school made a transition to a hybrid system which combined Judo, Karate, and some forms of Chinese martial arts. I also studied Hung Gar. We moved several times and I ended up in Redlands, California which at that time was literally in the middle of nowhere. There was one Karate school. So, I trained on my own for a very long time and I actually used textbooks to draw material from.

I started formal martial arts training again in the military style of Ji Do Kwan, which is a little bit more hardcore form of Tae Kwan Do, it’s not the sport form that most people practice now. The instructor was a former… they called him the “Ghost” at the time, or the James Bond of Korea. He was a tough dude. It was fun to be able to work with him because he pushed me, probably harder than he should have, but I kept it to myself.

One of the guys I was training with was reading books and found out that Tim Tackett lived here in Redlands. So, he tried to call Tim a few times and I remember Tim hanging up on him, telling him, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t teach Jeet Kune Do.” So I said let me try. I called and said “Mr. Tackett, my name is Dennis Blue and I’m currently taking Tae Kwon Do and I’m really interested in further educating myself and progressing my martial arts skills, and I’m wondering if you’d grant us the opportunity to come up and train with you.” And he said “Oh sure, we meet on Wednesday’s at 7 o’clock, come on up.” I started with Tim in 1977 and I’ve pretty much stayed with him for a long very long time. I did leave a couple of times for a while, I was in the service, got out, went back a few times, got into law enforcement for a very short period of time, but in the interim, whenever I had the opportunity, I came back to train with Tim. And Bert Poe was there, so I got a lot of combative training during that time. Later on down the road I started teaching on my own and started going down to the Inosanto Academy where I was watching some of the classes that Dan Inosanto was teaching. During that time Eric Knaus, Marc Denny and those guys were there. Burt Richardson was there. Brandon Lee was there. I got to work with those guys a couple of times, got to watch them work out. And that’s when the Dog Brothers started their deal. So, I was there when they first started out which was really cool. One of my students at that time was working out with them. So, I got a lot of stuff out of that.

Also at that time, I picked up a lot of students because Tim was only teaching classes on Wednesday’s. So I got people like Erik Paulson, who I was going out to Palm Springs and Palm Desert to train. Also, Bruce Wilkerson and a couple of other guys I trained with 2 or 3 times a week.

Over the years, due to relationships, whether they were with friends or with women, I managed to be around Thai’s a lot and so there was a phase where I was hanging around Saekson Janjira and I picked up a lot of the Muay Thai from there that I was bringing back to the school that I had at that time. We had a class just for the Muay Thai.

One of the girls I was going out with had uncles who were eskrimadors and they taught me a couple of things here and there. Barry Dixon was also a Doce Pares guy and he showed us a couple of things.

I try to pick up as much to refine my skills as possible, because I feel that as I have gotten older, I am not physically able to do some of the things I used to be able to do. However, because of the biomechanics that I had developed in the platform early on, I still have some of the residual results from the physical training that I had then. Now I’m a little bit smarter about how I train.

JL: How has your approach to martial arts changed over the years?

DB: I have a lot more insight about “combativeness” as it were. It all starts with your ability to adopt a particular attitude. You can have all the skills in the world and all the knowledge in the world but if you do not have the attitude that allows yourself to understand that in a confrontation that is going to require me to survive, to try to save my life or the lives of people around me, I’ve had to have already made up my mind that there’s a great chance that I am not going to come out of this alive, but I’m going to do the best that I can.

I firmly believe in the use of implements. Sharp objects, blunt objects, projectile weapons, chairs, whatever. And to me that’s JKD. Whatever it takes for you to survive. I’m not so much big on the idea of being a “winner”. If I survive, I’ve won something.

JL: Does it come down to training with emotional content?

DB: Emotional content is crucial. Being aware of your own state of mind is critical. Again, there are a lot of people that want to do martial arts, they want to get out there and spar, they want to roll around, but they do it with the mentality that they’re going to walk away from it unscathed. I like to take it three steps further. What if during the course of that you’re fighting with this guy and six other guys jump in? It’s not the same ballgame.

JL: Many people want to learn that, it’s very difficult to teach…

DB: If you have a solid foundation, and I’m going to use the term platform rather than foundation, if you have a platform that’s very flexible, that allows you to choose and take materials that you can apply to any given circumstance, you have a great start. But if you’ve been trained in one system, and it’s designed to fight people who are doing your system, when you run into someone who’s system is designed totally different than yours, you’re going to have an issue. If you’re not diverse, if you’re not a knowledge seeker you’re going to be left in the dust, like when BJJ came out. It caught a lot of people off guard who were stuck in the format that “I’m this or I’m that”. They categorized themselves to do one thing, so that’s what they became and that’s all they could do. They couldn’t do anything else.

Another misnomer is the term “Mixed Martial Arts”. Real martial arts involved everything. What essentially happened is someone said “well I’m not that great a puncher so I’m not going to punch in my system, I’m just going to go in and try to throw that guy down”. They limited themselves because of a talent that they did not possess, so instead of further developing it to where they could use it in association with the other material that they had, they threw one part of the pizza away and now you have half a pizza or maybe a third of a pizza left and it’s not the same thing as a whole.

JL: Reverse evolution…

DB: Yeah, that’s a good term. For me JKD is using whatever I can, whether I’m pulling a sidearm or using a knife. That to me is JKD. There is a basic platform, footwork, basic strikes, but I think a lot of people limit themselves to the kickboxing aspect of JKD, which is a training tool, or drills to develop rhythm, speed, and certain attributes. They need to move beyond that in terms of how they train it.

JL: Can you talk a little bit about your military career?

DB: Yeah, very little. (laughs) I was in the Army, I admit it.

JL: What was the time frame?

DB: I initially went in, in 1979. When I got out, the papers will argue, but it was somewhere around ‘84 or ‘86, depending on you know, whatever… but I did a lot more believe it or not, outside the military than I did in the military. There are PCC’s, which are Private Civilian Contractors, and PMC’s, which are Private Military Contractors. I did that and I also tried Executive Protection for a while. Prior to that, when I first got out, I actually went into Law Enforcement with the Sheriff’s Department for a very short time and it got very political so I got out of that.

I drew a lot from the military, despite the fact that it wasn’t a clean break when I got out. We both left a bad taste in each other’s mouths. I still love my country. I still love the military. I hate what they’ve done to it. It’s become such a litigious society that even in law enforcement or the military you cannot defend yourself anymore. You become the bad guy if you defend yourself. Like in the military now, in some situations you cannot fire back until fired upon? Let’s see, so if that first strike is mortal, how am I going to fire back?

JL: What is your personal philosophy on how Jeet Kune Do should be taught? How the training should progress, going forward into the future.

DB: As an instructor, I think the instructor themselves should be a perpetual student. They should never, never stop learning. Whether it’s JKD or any other form of martial arts, you should never stop refining yourself. No matter how good you think you are, you should never stop trying to get better, and how you measure better is debatable. If you’re not giving your best all the time, you’re not going to put out your best all the time.

No mastery of Jeet Kune Do would be complete without a thorough working knowledge of the straight lead. Used both offensively and defensively, the straight lead is the main weapon used for the stop-hit in defense. It is also one of the main weapons used to attack your opponent.

For all its importance, the small details that make the straight lead such a key component in combat are sometimes overlooked in many JKD or Jun Fan schools. JKD students often just hit the focus glove with no idea of the distance needed to make the punch effective. And many don’t know the penetration needed to get the most power from the straight lead. The reasons are both simple and complex:

• JKD students never learned it; or
• They learned it from one of Bruce Lee’s students who were not around when he taught it during the last evolution of this attack.

We must remember that Bruce was constantly researching and refining his art to find a better, more efficient way. As he once told Bob Bremer, “The best way to win the fight is to just reach over and knock your opponent out.” Bremer told us that Bruce was a lightweight looking for the power of a heavyweight. Anyone who held a focus glove for Bruce Lee during any era of Jeet Kune Do can attest to his tremendous power. But Bruce was never satisfied; he was always looking for a better way.

Creative Genius

Bruce Lee’s creative process might go like this: he would notice that his punch connected with great force. He would then ask himself, “How can I hit with optimum power and still not injure my hand.” He wanted the strong hand forward, since it had greater chance of landing, because it was already halfway to the target. He also knew that the strong-hand forward punch has more power than a hit with the weak hand.

Jeet Kune Do can never be considered boxing, even though the style has boxing elements as part of its structure. If we think about how the front hand is used in boxing, we can conjure up pictures of the jab, which is used as a probe to check your opponent’s defense. It also can be used to keep your opponent off balance and as a minor blow to set up a major blow. This technique is usually thrown from the shoulder in a speed jab or with the shoulder and hip in a power jab.

The jab is a great tool in boxing, but will prove ineffective against someone who is proficient in JKD. Bremer calls such a person a “JKD’er.” If someone attacks you with a jab, you should be able to either intercept it or use sliding leverage and hit him. The same is true for any fake – if your opponent fakes, hit him.

This article will show the way Bruce Lee taught the straight lead punch to Bremer the last year he taught in the United States. It’s not the only way to punch, but we’ve found that it works the best for us. We’ll start with the basic principles of the straight lead punch:

1. A straight punch is faster than a curved one; the shortest distance to the target is a straight line.
2. It’s more accurate since there’s less chance of missing.
3. Your balance is less disturbed.
4. You can hit from a longer range.
5. The farther the punch travels, the more speed it picks up, so you want the hit to land when the arm is fully extended.
6. The punch should end with a snap.
7. The basic target is the nose.

The basic mechanics of the straight lead punch are:

1. In the on-guard position your fist should be level with your opponent’s nose.
2. The elbow should be tucked in for maximum power and to make the punch more deceptive.
   Everyone has seen photos of Bruce Lee with his front hand low and his elbow out. He told Bremer that you could hold your hands in this position because you were a good distance from your opponent and kicking attacks were more likely.
3. The punch should snap from the elbow. To get the idea of the elbow snap, Bruce Lee had his students take a few punches with a 1-pound hand weight.
4. The angle of fist should be 45 degrees. While you can hold your fist at horizontal, vertical or 45-degree angles when you punch, Bruce found that for the straight lead punch, the 45-degree fist worked best. All the elements of the arm and shoulder lined up, he maintained, and you could hit with the middle knuckles instead of the bottom three (common in the wing chun vertical punch).
   Test the best angle by assuming a strong stance in front of your partner and holding your fist in front of you with your elbow straight. Have your partner hit your fist hard with their palm and you’ll see which way seems stronger.

The most efficient way to use the JKD straight lead punch is to maintain the fighting measure, which is also called the critical distance line. This requires plenty of footwork practice. At the fighting measure you are just outside your opponent’s extended finger jab, meaning that to hit you he has to take a step toward you. This allows you to intercept him at the correct distance to give your punch the maximum power.

Practice this punch by hitting the focus glove. Not only will it help build power, but the person holding the glove can let you know if you have too much preparation in your punch. You can also make sure you are snapping the punch with your elbow.

You should only have about a 2-inch penetration when you hit with this punch; this allows you to snap through the target and minimizes your risk of injury.

Recovery is also important; you need to return to the on-guard position as quickly as possible to guard against a counter blow and deliver a second hit.

Whether you are using this punch to attack or to defend, remember that the punch starts from the rear foot and not the shoulder.

Intercepting with the Punch

The common refrain is that when you punch in JKD, the hand always moves first. This is true when you are moving forward, since it helps disguise your punches while allowing you to hit with the fist just before your front foot touches the ground. But even then the power of the punch comes from pushing forward with your rear foot. When punching from a stationary stance, you achieve maximum power by twisting your rear foot and transferring the weight from your rear leg to your front.

While vital to any “JKD’er,” the straight lead is difficult to learn, because it requires timing, correct distance, body torque, speed, relaxation, snap, no preparation and a lot of practice. But without its mastery, your Jeet Kune Do training will never be complete.

The Wednesday Night Group has gotten a lot of questions about Bruce Lee’s speed. They usually want to know if he was as fast as he seemed to be in his movies. The truth was that Bruce was even faster and had to slow his movements down so the camera could pick them up. Even though Bruce Lee was very fast, he told Bob Bremer that he had met people who were faster than he was. He told Bob that because of this he had to learn to be deceptive.

When most people talk about speed, they are usually talking about how fast a particular punch or kick is, but speed is much more than that. In fact, Bruce Lee broke down speed into 6 types and wanted his students to drill to proficiency in all of them.

Perceptual Speed

The first type of speed that Bruce taught was perceptual speed. This is defined as “quickness of the eye”. Having good perceptual speed in defense means that you can see an attack coming toward you. You can judge the distance and its trajectory, so you can devise the proper counterattack. It also means that you can see any opening in your opponent’s defense as it occurs.

Mental Speed

The next type of speed that we work on is mental speed. Mental speed is the ability to take advantage of what the mind sees. In other words, the eye sees the opening, and then the mind reacts to it and decides on what course of action to take.

Initiation Speed

The next course of action is based on initiation speed. To be able to effectively take advantage of mental speed, you need to be able to have what Bruce Lee called economical starting. This simply means that you’re able to fire a punch or kick as quickly as possible. To do this you need to be in a good ready stance and be able to fire whatever tool you need with the greatest possible efficiency.

Performance Speed

The next aspect of speed is the one that most people think of when they think of speed. We call it performance speed. This is simply how fast a particular technique travels from point A to point B. We’ve found by testing that a lot of people have very similar speed in their punches and kicks. We’ve found that what makes one person faster than any other martial artist is that they are able to use all of the above aspects of speed.

Alteration Speed

Bruce Lee also found two other types of speed that are important to martial artists. The first one is alteration speed. This is the ability to start one technique, but be able to switch to another one if you see a different line opening up. To be able to do this efficiently you need to have the first four types of speed. For example, if you start one movement and you see that your opponent is starting to leave another line open, you will be able to switch your attack to this new opening.

Sensitivity Speed

The last aspect of speed is sensitivity speed. This is the ability to be able, when you have any contact with your opponent, to feel any opening as it occurs and then be able to react to it. We have many energy drills to work on this. The best known one is probably chi sao, or sticky hands.

To be able to make your Jeet Kune Do work in combat, you need to be able to see or feel an opening and then be able to take advantage of what you see or feel as quickly as possible. To do this you need to drill as much as possible on all six types of speed.

All martial arts have a specific structure. It is this structure that makes their art work. To understand any martial art you must first look at its structure. You can think of structure as a base of operations from which the attacks and defense of a particular art spring from. Structure is the base from which the art grows from. Structure is the roots from which the branches of the art spring from. To understand any art is to understand its structure. Bruce Lee said that to defend against another art, you don’t need to learn that art, but you must be able to understand its delivery system. The delivery system is the means by which the attack comes from point A, (the attacker) to point B (the defender). To a great extent this delivery system is based on the structure of the art of the attacker while the defender bases his defense on the structure of his art.

One of the problems of style as Bruce Lee saw it was that a student of a particular style only understood things from the perspective of his style which is mostly based on its structure. To understand this we need a short history lesson. When I was teaching Kung Fu in the late 1960’s, style was everything. If you were a kempo man you didn’t also train in karate or kung fu. You mostly practiced against other people from your style. The only time that you saw another style was when you went or participated in an open karate tournament, but even then their were specific rules that made the difference in style seem minor. These tournaments were also limited is scope because they were non-contact. At Ed Parker’s yearly International Karate Tournament you had various Japanese, Chinese, and Korean styles competing. Their methods of defense and attack were based on but also somewhat limited by their structure. I went every year to this tournament as I usually had some students fighting in it so was able to see structure in action as it were.

A Korean fighter like Chuck Norris had a stance that allowed him to kick efficiently while still being able to punch as it was not too deep or too narrow. A fighter like Joe Lewis used a deep horse stance which limited his attack to mostly his front hand and foot, but also gave him a strong defense. A Shotokan karate man would have a deep front stance which would give him a strong base for linear attacks like a step thru punch or a straight rear kick. Their delivery system was based in large part on their structure. It was part of Bruce’s genius to look at an art and to understand its structure and its limitations. It was very hard for anyone in the 1960’s or 70’s to see the limits of their structure because the rules of the non-contact tournaments didn’t allow someone to take advantage of possible weakness in the structure of your opponent. For example, while you could do a leg sweep you weren’t allowed to kick the leg.

Once full contact matches started things changed. The first on the scene was kickboxing. Fighters soon discovered that their karate type punches were not that efficient with boxing gloves on, and they soon turned to boxing trainers for help. Kickboxing then became a mixture of karate kicking and boxing punches, but kicking to the leg was still not allowed. When the kickboxing in Japan added leg kicks, we saw the advent of Thai boxing. Any deep horse type stances would no longer work. This was proven when Hong Kong sent five of its best fighters to Thailand to compete against five Thai fighters. Not one kung fu man lasted more than 1 round.

Before any of this was going on, Bruce Lee had already changed his art. The difference was that he did it ten years before anybody else. Bruce had discovered in a fight that his wing chun style was too limited. He felt that there were universal truths to combat that could be discovered if only one could look beyond the confines of style. He wanted to come up with a structure that was based on mobility so any deep stance was too limited for him. He could see some one like Muhammad Ali move and control distance so he always seemed just out of his opponent’s reach. Bruce then developed a modified boxing stance where he could punch or kick with ease. Bruce wanted more angles of attack than wing chun offered him, so he added basic boxing repertory to his art. When he realized that his front hand finger jab could be used like a foil in fencing, he added many principles from Western fencing and called his art Jeet Kune Do or the way of the intercepting fist. He got the name from fencing theory as fencers feel that the most efficient method to deal with an attack was to intercept it before it can be fully developed.

The next big change came about with the beginning of the “no holds barred” types of matches like the UFC. Kickboxers who entered soon found that they had little defense against being taken to the ground, or any way to get back to their feet again. Kickboxers discovered that they need to learn some grappling skills if they wanted to survive in the ring. Later grapplers learned that they need learn some punching and kicking if they want to survive in the ring, and what we ended up with is mixed martial arts. Most fighters that we see today in the ring are a mixture of various grappling arts, Thai boxing, and Western boxing. Today one of the most popular martial arts is called mixed martial art which is basically a mixture of grappling and stand up arts. The question is just how do you mix martial arts? How do you mix arts that may have different structures? Do you try to learn all the structures then flow from structure to structure, or do you take one structure and then add what fits into that structure?

Jeet Kune Do is an example of the last method in that it has one structure and adds only those things which fit that structure. The Wednesday Night Group has tried to do the same thing as we have investigated other arts. The first thing we did was look at the strengths and weaknesses of what we teach. The main weakness that we saw in our JKD was that it had very little grappling. We decided that we needed to be familiar with how a grappler attacks and how to defend against it. We decided that we needed to learn to survive in the street and not the ring. We wanted to focus avoiding being taken to the ground, but if we were taken to the ground we wanted to be able to get up again as soon as possible.

I was fortunate to have worked with some of the best grapplers around. I’ve worked with people like Larry Hartsell, Mark McFann and Erik Paulson. Our garage group has been fortunate to work with people like Bert Poe who was interested in ending the fight as soon as possible and had a no nonsense approach to fighting and grappling. We also worked with a great former college free style wrestler, and we’ve now have someone with good background in Greco-Roman wrestling.

We started by using a basic JKD method of training called “before, during and after”. What this means is that we look at something in the following manner:

1. Before means that we look at the distance the attacker is from us and how the structure of his art has him enter to grapple with you.
2. During means that he’s moving toward you or is grappling you high like a Greco-Roman wrestler, or performing a high single or double leg take, or a low single leg.
3. After means that he’s gotten a hold of you and is either taking you to the ground or is placing you in a lock or choke. It can also mean that you’ve been taken to the ground.

We then look to see if we have the tools to deal with each attack. If we don’t then we try to come up with one. We start this by looking at the rules that each type of grappler is used to see if we can find any weakness in what they are used to dealing with. We look at how the structure of the art is taught. Do they do a low single leg takedown so that it is hard to strike them in the eyes or do they offer their eyes by doing a high leg take down? Another example is that when a good Jiu Jitsu man takes you to the ground he tries to establish as base from which to continue the attack. We then look for ways to disturb his base to help us get back on our feet again.

We look at other arts for two basic reasons. One is to see if we have the tools to defend against them. To do this we look at the other art’s structure and their delivery system. We then look at the art and see if it has something to offer us that we’re lacking or may be a better way to do something. We’re not looking to add for the sake of adding. We’re not looking for the 47th way to deal with a boxer’s left jab. What we’re looking for is a better way. One good example is how we looked at Thai boxing.

While Bruce Lee had written many personal notes on using the knees and elbows in combat, he hadn’t up to the point of his death taught much of it to his students. We felt that learning more about how to use knees and elbows would be a good thing, and where else to look it study it would be better than Thai boxing which uses them in all their full contact matches. When we started working on that aspect of Thai boxing we quickly learned that it fit the basic structure of our stance which is similar to a boxer’s stance but maybe a little wider than shoulder width. We also felt that the rear legged round kick that the Thai’s use had great value because of its tremendous power. The first time Bob Bremer saw us working on it the said, “That’s a great kick, but not on the initial move.”

Bob was correct because Thai boxing has a different structure from JKD and from a JKD structure the kick is not that efficient if done on the first move. Let me explain.

The Thai boxer stands with his shoulders square and his toes of his rear foot about even with the heel of his front foot. It is this narrow stance that allows his to kick his opponent’s front leg without being that easy to see as the kick does not have that far to travel. With the basic JKD stance the kick is too easily seen. To use it in the ring or street as the first move of an attack from our stance would be to invite a counter. We would have to use it from the basic Thai structure. Many JKD students do it this way or make the mistake of doing it from a JKD structure, but we’ve chosen to do everything from a JKD structure. We do the rear leg Thai kick but “not on the initial move”.

In conclusion to understand the art you are doing or to understand the art of another look at the basic structure of the art as that is the basis of understanding.

“Whack!”

For the 20th time in a row, that sound echoed through my head. I was at Bruce Lee’s house, and he was standing about five feet away from me in the Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do ready position.

“Block my biu gee (finger jab) this time,” he said. Then Bruce began to move his hands around. As soon as I thought I saw him start to move forward, there was that horrible “whack” sound as his palm hit my forehead again. Bruce grinned at me and said, “One more time.”

At that time I was only in my late 30’s and prided myself on my quickness, but I knew without a doubt, no matter what I did, he would smack me in the head again. After growing frustrated at my futile attempts at blocking Bruce’s techniques, I finally exclaimed, “Damn it, Bruce! You’re the fastest person I’ve ever seen! There’s no way I can block your strikes.” Bruce just shook his head. “I’m not that fast. In fact, I’ve met many people who were faster than I am, so I’ve learned to be deceptive.”

“Deceptive.” When I queried him about what he meant by this term, he pointed out that one of the principles that he was employing so successfully on me that day was the Hammer Principle. This principle, Bruce explained, enables you to gain a 1/2 beat on your opponent’s defense by allowing you to sneak your lead arm forward six inches in a non-threatening manner.

Bob Bremer

Training The Hammer Principle

While it is impossible to show the hammer principle in still photos, the following photos will give you some idea of the technique.

The hammer principle is one of the best techniques that Bruce Lee taught. According to his lesson plans, which are published in volume 3 of Bruce Lee’s notes entitled Jeet Kune Do edited by John Little, it was also one of the first things that he taught. Bob Bremer seems to be the only one of Bruce Lee’s students who seems to remember it and teach it. He has been kind enough to share the finer points of the excellent technique.

The hammer principle is so great a technique that we spend part of each Wednesday night’s class working on it. After years of working on it we have all come to the conclusion that we will never master it. This will become clear if I explain how we work on this technique.

First of all everybody gets a partner. The one doing the hammer principle measures off around 2 feet from his extended arm away from his partner who is taking on the role of trainer. He then attacks with a finger jab to the trainer’s forehead while dropping his arm as if he had a hammer in it. The trainer then tries to block the attack; the first thing we discovered was the major benefit seems to go to the trainer. It seems that more the man attacks; the easier it seems for the trainer to block it. The reason for this is that the trainer starts to pick up the attacker’s preparation. At first it will be an obvious preparation. For example, he’ll move his body first and then his hand, instead of hand first. The reason the blocker is called the trainer is that his job is to start pointing out the attacker’s preparation. At first he’ll only notice large body motions like dropping or raising the body a split second before the attack.

Once he rids his partner of these larger motions, he seems to be able to notice more subtle preparations. He may notice that the attacker’s elbow comes out first, or he may notice a slight facial expression before the attack. Once he points this out, and the attacker has gotten rid of all physical preparation, the trainer seems to be able to sense when the attack will occur. He will start to perceive the attacker’s physical tension, which will occur a split second before he attacks. Once the attacker has learned to hide his physical tension, he may be able to then work on what Bruce Lee called non-intention. This is the difficult stage where “you don’t hit. It hits”. I’ve only been able to achieve this a couple of times. It is a very strange feeling to suddenly strike out with an attack, and not realize until afterward that you hit. When you are able to hit with the hammer principle without intention, it is impossible for the trainer to block you. If you strike without any preparation and without intention, your hit will land before it is seen.

If you practice the hammer principle for a long time, a special benefit will occur. The attacker will be able to notice when the defender/trainer’s concentration wavers. Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer that when he did the hammer principle on him he (Bruce) seemed to know when Bob lost his focus. As soon as Bruce noticed Bob’s focus waver, he would smack Bob hard on the forehead from about 3 feet away. Bruce Lee told Bob that at some point there would be a split second when his opponent was not with him. He said that he always seemed to know when that was.

In our Wednesday Night JFJKD class we even make it more difficult to master the hammer principle by switching partners. The advantage of this is that the trainer gets to analyze every member of the class for their preparation. By doing that, we have found that when sparring it becomes much easier to recognize an attack and therefore to intercept it.

Finally if the person attacking becomes too successful from 2 feet away, then we move him to 2 and half feet away. If you keep making it more and more difficult for the student, he will continue to keep growing and growing as a martial artist.

Last year the Bruce Lee Educational Foundation held its annual meeting and seminar in Las Vegas. This meeting is our non-profit organization’s major fundraiser for the year, as the yearly membership fee is barely enough to print and mail our newsletter. During the autograph session in which the various members of the BLEF board of directors (The Nucleus) sign books and photos, a young man handed me a magazine opened to a full-page photo of myself on one page and a full-page photo of my teacher, Dan Inosanto, on the other. I didn’t remember ever seeing this photo before. The magazine was called Masters and Styles and had been published the year before. At first I was just surprised at being in a magazine for over a year and not being aware of it.

A while back Chris Kent was kind enough to send me a copy of the magazine. On the cover it says “13 Masters Reveal Their Secrets”. I am of course honored to be included with such martial arts greats as Ralph Castro, Thomas Mitose, and others. Also included were my senior Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do brothers, Ted Wong and Richard Bustillo. I must admit though that I was at a loss to find any secrets in the basic techniques I was shown doing. I am also not sure that there are any secrets in Jeet Kune Do. If there are then they’ve been kept a secret from me for 30 years. I know that there were some things that were taught in the Los Angeles Chinatown School that Bruce Lee didn’t want shown to outsiders. For example, he didn’t want his students to show the double pak sao outside of class. This has confused people, and some have written that there were many techniques that were kept secret from all the Chinatown students.

Although some people believe this to be true, I have yet after almost 30 years of JKD training with my teacher Dan Inosanto and others, and after teaching it a various summer camps and at the non-profit Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Wednesday Night Group for 25 years, and after 4 yearly BLEF seminars where I saw most of Bruce Lee’s students demonstrate, I have yet to come across any of these so called secret techniques. I can remember when working with Dan Inosanto as a part of his backyard group that he told me that he would not hold anything back from me, and I have always taken him at his word. The only possible exception might be the hammer principle, as Bob Bremer is the only person I’ve seen do it. I have also been unable to find any secrets in the copious notes of Bruce Lee that we have access to.

As I looked at this magazine I couldn’t help wondering what Bruce Lee would think about it all. I know from his writings that he was totality opposed to the use of the word master. He wrote that the term master denotes slave. We also wrote that as soon as you feel that you have “mastered” something that the lid of the coffin is starting to close. As he told my friend and fellow JFJKD Wed Night teacher, Bob Bremer, “In the end what have you really mastered?” I know that Bruce Lee would really be upset if any teacher professing to be a JKD instructor ever referred to himself as master. This is very clear from his notes as well as talking to his students. I can vividly remember my teacher, Dan Inosanto, who taught for Bruce at the Chinatown school, angrily crossing out the word “master” on a flyer that someone had sent him advertising a seminar he was going to do somewhere. He made it quite clear that he never wanted to be called Master Dan Inosanto. This comes from a man who knows more martial arts than any one I’ve ever seen.

You could become a master in the martial arts I learned in Taiwan, as they were linear in nature. That is, there were a certain number of forms to learn and a certain number of techniques to learn for each belt in the Taiwanese association. After you reached an 8th degree black, you could be considered a master. The same cannot be said for Jeet Kune Do.

JKD is by its very nature is circular rather than linear. Bruce Lee even described it as “a circle without a circumference”. I think that this will be clear with an example of how we train a typical JKD technique. For our purposes we will use the hammer principle as an example.

The hammer principle is one of the best techniques that Bruce Lee taught. According to his lesson plans, which are published in volume 3 of Bruce Lee’s notes entitled Jeet Kune Do edited by John Little, it was also one of the first things that he taught. Bob Bremer seems to be the only one of Bruce Lee’s students who seems to remember it and teach it. He has been kind enough to share the finer points of the excellent technique.

The hammer principle is so great a technique that we spend part of each Wednesday night’s class working on it. After 3 years of working on it we have all come to the conclusion that we will never master it. This will become clear if I explain how we work on this technique.

First of all everybody gets a partner. The one doing the hammer principle measures off around 2 feet from his extended arm away from his partner who is taking on the role of trainer. He then attacks with a finger jab to the trainer’s forehead while dropping his arm as if he had a hammer in it. The trainer then tries to block the attack; the first thing we discovered was the major benefit seems to go to the trainer. It seems that more the man attacks; the easier it seems for the trainer to block it. The reason for this is that the trainer starts to pick up the attacker’s preparation. At first it will be an obvious preparation. For example, he’ll move his body first and then his hand, instead of hand first. The reason the blocker is called the trainer is that his job is to start pointing out the attacker’s preparation. At first he’ll only notice large body motions like dropping or raising the body a split second before the attack.

Once he rids his partner of these larger motions, he seems to be able to notice more subtle preparations. He may notice that the attacker’s elbow comes out first, or he may notice a slight facial expression before the attack. Once he points this out, and the attacker has gotten rid of all physical preparation, the trainer seems to be able to sense when the attack will occur. He will start to perceive the attacker’s physical tension, which will occur a split second before he attacks. Once the attacker has learned to hide his physical tension, he may be able to then work on what Bruce Lee called non-intention. This is the difficult stage where “you don’t hit. It hits”. I’ve only been able to achieve this a couple of times. It is a very strange feeling to suddenly strike out with an attack, and not realize until afterward that you hit. When you are able to hit with the hammer principle without intention, it is impossible for the trainer to block you. If you strike without any preparation and without intention, your hit will land before it is seen.

If you practice the hammer principle for a long time, a special benefit will occur. The attacker will be able to notice when the defender/trainer’s concentration wavers. Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer that when he did the hammer principle on him he (Bruce) seemed to know when Bob lost his focus. As soon as Bruce noticed Bob’s focus waver, he would smack Bob hard on the forehead from about 3 feet away. Bruce Lee told Bob that at some point there would be a split second when his opponent was not with him. He said that he always seemed to know when that was.

In our Wednesday Night JFJKD class we even make it more difficult to master the hammer principle by switching partners. The advantage of this is that the trainer gets to analyze every member of the class for their preparation. By doing that, we have found that when sparring it becomes much easier to recognize an attack and therefore to intercept it.

Finally if the person attacking becomes too successful from 2 feet away, then we move him to 2 and half feet away. If you keep making it more and more difficult for the student, he will continue to keep growing and growing as a martial artist, but he will never master any part of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do.

I hope that you can now understand why Bruce said, “In the end, what have you mastered?” JKD is indeed a circle without a circumference.

Stages In The Evolution Of Bruce Lee’s Martial Art

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One of the major reasons for forming what is now called The Bruce Lee Educational Foundation was to promote unity and comradeship between the four phases of the evolution of Bruce Lee’s martial art. Unfortunately this may not always be the case. The reason may be a misunderstanding of what Bruce Lee was attempting to do with his personal evolution. Bruce was interested in constant experimentation, but it was not just experimentation for its own sake. Bruce’s intense study of other martial arts, and the passionate analysis of various modern training methods were for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to make himself a better martial artist. With this end in mind Bruce Lee used his schools as a sort of living laboratory. For example, a technique could be tested in the crucible of full contact sparring. Then an analysis could be made as to its efficiency.

The yearly JFJKD seminar can give participants a chance to experience all four eras of Bruce’s martial art. As James Demile said, during an interview about the late and great Ed Hart who was Bruce’s second student, he was glad that people got to see all four stages of Bruce’s development as it was important to see how A became B, and B became C, and finally C became D. If you were at the Seattle seminar it was obvious that there are vast differences in the way the four eras approach Bruce Lee’s martial art. I think that James DeMile said it best during his portion of the third seminar in Seattle, Washington. Referring to the differences he observed between that of first era, which he was an important part of, and the forth (Chinatown) era, he said that it was as if we had different teachers. At first glance it does look like the first era and the last are two totally different martial arts with the only thing in common is that they were taught by the same person, Bruce Lee. But if we look at a brief history of Bruce Lee’s martial art growth we can see that instead of looking at it as four separate arts, we should look at it as merely stages in one extraordinary man’s desire to become the greatest martial artist in the world.

It must be remembered that when Bruce Lee came to the U.S. in 1959 he was only 18 years old. His main martial art was wing chun, which he had studied since the age of 13. His first student was Jesse Glover who went to Edison High School in Seattle with him. Through Jesse Bruce started training his second student, Ed Hart. Later he started teaching James Demile and then Taki Kimura. At that time Bruce Lee mainly taught a modified version of wing chun with some techniques from other gung fu systems. After about a year, Bruce, tired of being a bus boy at Ruby Chow’s restaurant, opened a school with Taki as his assistant instructor. Jesse Glover, Ed Hart and James Demile, not wanting to start all over, dropped out.

In 1962 Bruce started teaching James Lee and Alan Jo. In 1963 he moved his family to Oakland, leaving the Seattle school in Taki Kimura’s capable hands. In Oakland Bruce started a process of shedding some of his old techniques and adding some new elements to his personal martial art. He added a major emphasis on physical conditioning. Bruce also added Western boxing footwork to add mobility to his art, and Western boxing punching to add variety and angles to his punching repertoire. At this time Jun Fan Gung Fu, which is what Bruce Lee called his art, consisted of wing chun trapping and straight punches with four corner simultaneous blocking and hitting, a mixture of Northern and Southern Chinese kicking techniques with angle punching and footwork from boxing.

In 1964 Bruce made his move to Los Angeles to co-star in the Green Hornet television show, and left James Lee in charge of the Oakland school. While in Los Angeles, Bruce made many trips to both Oakland and Seattle to work with James and Taki.

In 1967 Bruce opened the Chinatown school with Dan Inosanto as the head instructor. At this time Bruce started adding fencing theory to his martial art. His front hand finger jab was used in a similar way to a Western fencing foil. He adapted fencing attacks into the five ways of attack. But most important of all he took the most efficient defensive technique, which is to intercept your opponent’s attack with a stop hit. Bruce Lee felt that being able to stop hit is so important that he named his art Jeet Kune Do which means “the way of the intercepting fist”.

With all of the above in mind, how should someone from let’s say the Taki era look at a technique from the Chinatown era which seems to contradict the way Bruce taught them to do it? First of all we must get over the concept of what is right and wrong. It is my opinion that techniques from all the eras have value and are in there own way correct. We must also keep in mind that the four eras were not totally separate as they flowed from one to another. Having studied with various students of Bruce Lee from the Chinatown era, I can state unequivocally that there are even variances in the way Bruce taught them a particular technique. A careful study of Bruce’s notes from the Chinatown era shows that while he seemed to teach the same things to different people, he made sure they worked on what would be better for their body type. It is clear from working with different Chinatown students that Bruce Lee tailored his instruction to the individual so that they would do what worked best for them. This can be a small difference punching with a diagonal fist instead of a vertical fist, or a large difference as the stop kick with its most common follow-up. He seemed to teach people of smaller stature to do a shin-knee side kick followed by a finger jab. For people of larger stature, like Bob Bremer, for whom it would be more efficient to crash the line, he taught a leg obstruction followed by a snapping diagonal punch. In the above case neither technique is right or wrong. They’re just different.

One thing I know for sure is that Bruce Lee was not looking for an inferior way to do something. The idea that a technique from the Chinatown era is inferior to a technique from an earlier era would be opposite of all we know about Bruce Lee. After all he was audacious enough to write in a magazine article an invitation to anyone reading it to drop by the Chinatown school and full contact spar. Bob Bremer told me that more than one person showed up to spar, watched the training for a while, then changed their mind and left.

One example of a change between Bruce Lee’s first era and the Chinatown school is the straight blast. Bruce told Bob Bremer that there are really two straight blasts. He told Bob to use the wing chun shoulder square blast when your opponent is right in your face to get him off of you and stun him. This gives you the proper distance for the one-inch penetration-snapping punch. Once you get the proper distance you finish your opponent off with a straight blast that uses the weight of your body by throwing your shoulders into the punches as well as your entire body. This is what Bruce lee would call a non-crispy attack which can also use boxing hook punches as well as straight line punches. But this should only be used after your opponent is injured and would be unable to counter attack effectively. An example of this can be seen in a video taken in Bruce Lee’s backyard where his is punching the heavy bag with heavy hooks. He, of course would never have attacked someone with this method unless it was safe to do so. If you want to see this type of straight blast in action look at Jack Dempsey attacking Jess Willard in their title fight. I know Bruce Lee watched it.

I feel that all of Bruce Lee’s students should make an effort to learn as much as possible, or at least experience, the techniques and drills of all the phases of Bruce Lee’s martial arts. We should try to understand why Bruce threw away what he did; why he changed certain things; why he added certain things. We need to know, for example, if his not focusing on the wooden dummy in Chinatown was because he had already got the value out of it, or if he found a training method that he felt was more productive. We can’t know only guess.

If by some miracle Bruce Lee could come back for a short visit, I would ask him,”Sifu, of all the techniques you learned, of all the drills you did, and of all the exercises you went through, which ones were the most important? Which ones do you feel were a total waste of time? And which ones were essential for turning you into the great martial artist you became? Although we cannot know the answer, I feel that students from all the phases of Bruce Lee’s life should get together in the spirit of mutual cooperation and love for the legacy that Bruce Lee left us and try to the best of our ability to answer these questions. I know that we would all become better martial artists and teachers if we could do this.

After all we can’t really know what JKD would look like if Bruce Lee were still around to look into the most efficient ways to use the human body for combat. Probably a student of Bruce’s would look at what we were doing in 1973 and say that it looks as if we had different teachers. What we need to do is look at the core curriculum and use it as a guide into our own investigation into the most efficient way to use the human body for combat. I feel that by sticking to Bruce Lee’s principles of combat while at the same time learning and developing our own JKD we will honor Bruce’s memory in a way that he would approve of.