Stages in the cultivation of Jeet Kune Do

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”.

The foundation of Jeet Kune Do is very much like Wing Chun in that it advocates elbows in position, the center line and straight punching. Now there are three stages in the cultivation of Jeet Kune Do, each of them interrelated. The first stage is “sticking to the nucleus”; the second stage, “liberation from the nucleus”; the third stage, “returning to the original freedom.”

Classically speaking, sticking to the nucleus is merely based on the interior/exterior straight line and rejects the curved line on the idea that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. True, the straight line is very efficient (depending on the circumstances, that is), but rejection of the curve will lead to separation from the whole and the totality will not be achieved when men stubbornly cling to one partial view of things. After all, a good martial artist should be able to strike and kick from all angles and, with either hands or legs, take advantage of the moment.

Therefore, straight punching in Wing Chun becomes a means to an end, but not the end itself, and it should be reinforced and supported by other compact angle punches and kicks as well, thus, as a whole, making one’s style more flexible without confinement or limitation. Like western boxing, Jeet Kune Do is most fluid and the fluidity of movements lies in their interchangeability.

According to Bruce Lee’s description in 1968, Jeet Kune Do has a foundation of physical techniques based on simple scientific principles. This is corroborated by many of his students from that time. The on-guard position (stance) that most of them were taught had the front hand hovering around eye level, an ideal position to deliver a lead straight punch or finger jab to the eyes. These lead hand tools along with the low-line side kick are the basis for intercepting an attack and were heavily emphasized in training. As Bruce explained in Black Belt magazine, the first stage, sticking to the nucleus “is merely based on the interior/exterior straight line and rejects the curved line on the idea that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line”.

However, Jeet Kune Do students of that era were also taught that combat is dynamic, and the individual must be able to adjust to circumstances without hesitation. To quote Bruce Lee directly, “a good martial artist should be able to strike and kick from all angles and, with either hands or legs, take advantage of the moment”. Think of a boxer facing an opponent who shells up under an onslaught of straight punches. The boxer flows around their opponent’s defenses with hooks and uppercuts like water flowing around an obstacle placed in its path. A flexible style without “confinement or limitation” defines the second stage of Jeet Kune Do.

By combining the first and second stages we have the natural returning to original freedom, and that is, the absence of a standardized style, the notion of attaching to a method, or the idea of rejecting the straight or the curve. Any action that is based on a set, conditioned course is the action of choice and such action is not liberating and will create conflict and resistance. After all, you can straight-punch a swinger and curve a straight puncher; sometimes the straight is useful, sometimes the curve, depending on the circumstances.

In the eyes of combat, there is no set course, but the totality of action, and in this totality there is nothing to choose and nothing better or worse. One can say that the pivot of Jeet Kune Do passes through the center where the curve and straight converge and, in the ultimate, Jeet Kune Do is a circle without circumference.

The third stage of “original freedom” discards predetermined actions all together. You should not have to choose, but rather, accept what is offered by the opponent and respond. At the highest stage of cultivation actions occur without thought. This is Wu Wei.

Now, Jeet Kune Do can no longer be likened to a style. There is no set path. However, having experienced the structured training of the first two stages, following scientific principles and utilizing specific techniques that are informed by those principles, you approach the stage of “original freedom” with an educated mindset.

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.

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