Jeet Kune Do

Our expression of Jeet Kune Do is often referred to as ‘Old School Jeet Kune Do’, and we feel the term is accurate enough to describe what we do. Old School JKD is primarily based on the Los Angeles Chinatown stage of Jeet Kune Do, which began in the mid to late 1960s at Bruce Lee’s College Street school and continued through the early 1970s in Dan Inosanto’s backyard training group, which was overseen by Lee. In 1973, Tim Tackett was granted permission to have his own small training group in Redlands, California and so began the JKD Wednesday Night Group. Initially meeting in a rented hall in Redlands on Wednesday nights, the group eventually moved to Tackett’s garage, where Jeet Kune Do training continued under his watchful eye until 2023, when he moved to North Carolina to be with family.

During that 50 year span, many brilliant martial artists trained with the group, shared their knowledge, and had an impact on the JKD taught there, most notable of whom was Bob Bremer. Now retired, Bob Bremer quickly became a living “JKD filter” for anything being taught on Wednesday nights that strayed too far from the simplicity and directness of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. Bob brought a unique perspective from his time spent training with Bruce.

It can be said that the core of Wednesday Night Group JKD comes from two direct, primary sources: Dan Inosanto and Bob Bremer. Inosanto was one of only a few people ever certified as an instructor in Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee himself. Other first-generation JKD students who significantly contributed to what Bremer referred to as the group’s “usable knowledge” included Pete Jacobs, Dan Lee, and Jerry Poteet. Jim Sewell and Bill Bremer, also original students from the Chinatown school, shared their first-hand knowledge and experiences.

Two more highly influential figures were Bert Poe and Sonny Bygum, who as veterans of major world conflicts and numerous other “adventures” brought a necessary combat mindset to the group and found an able and willing disciple in Dennis Blue, who served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and performed similar duties in the private sector.

In the mid to late 1980s, future MMA pioneer Erik Paulson trained with the Wednesday Night Group after moving from his home state of Minnesota to Southern California. After hearing of the Gracie family’s system of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the group paid for Paulson’s first private lesson in Rorion Gracie‘s garage on the understanding that he would share any valuable lessons learned. The Wednesday Night Group has explored a variety of grappling arts over the years with some amazing teachers like Lloyd Kennedy and Jim McCann.

The JKD Wednesday Night Group continues to investigate and gather knowledge from as many sources as possible, while strictly maintaining the integrity of Bruce Lee’s teachings as we learned them. We do not attempt to alter, modify, or change what was taught in Chinatown, but rather continually refine the tools and techniques taught by Bruce Lee and advance our training methodologies to remain relevant in the modern martial arts world. Our JKD journey continues under the leadership of Sifu Tackett and Sifu Bremer’s senior disciples, Dennis Blue, Jeremy Lynch, Vincent Raimondi, Brent Lance, et al.

“What we want our students to do is to be able to do the core curriculum of Jeet Kune Do, make it his or her own, then adapt, evolve, and add what is their own. That will be their JKD. But we also feel that they shouldn’t add what goes against the basic principles of JKD and call it Jeet Kune Do. Remember that any architectural principle is based on a strong foundation. Let the core curriculum be your guide to the building of your foundation and let the house you build on top of it be your own.”

Tim Tackett

The Wednesday Night Group’s Essence of JKD

• Basic footwork for attack and defense
• Power in all tools
• Intercepting + basic parrying
• Stop hit and/or kick as primary means of defense
• Economy of motion
• Hammer principle
• Leg obstruction
• Straight lead + basic boxing hands
• Basic kicks
• Simplified trapping
• Controlling distance and rhythm
• Non-telegraphic attacks
• Time commitment theory applied in snappy and heavy hitting
• Getting rid of the clicks (i.e., constantly working to become more efficient)
• Precision and timing
• Basic grappling defense
• Practice against worthy opponents
• Awareness of the environment
• Adaptability (“fitting in”)
• Daily decrease (working on doing more with less)

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