Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do

Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do

Jun Fan was the Chinese given birth name to Bruce Lee. It means "to arouse and shake the foreign countries". Bruce Lee truly lived up to his name. Jeet Kune Do-"the way of the intercepting fist"

Jeet — stop, catch, or intercept: stop is to deflect, catch is to grab, intercept is to parry. Kune-"of the fist" Do — style, way or method Thus, "the way of the intercepting fist"

Bruce Lee became a legend in his own time. In 1971 He came out with an article stating "eliminate yourself from classical Karate" which exploded into the martial arts world and nothing has been the same since. So much has been said about Bruce Lee's system of Jeet Kune Do, or should I say the system of no system. Bruce Lee was once asked, "Do you have ranking in Kung Fu?" and Bruce Lee replied, "not in traditional Kung Fu, however we do have a unique ranking system in our particular style." He went on to say "actually I should say a ranking system of no ranking."

"The first rank is a Blank circle, which signifies original freedom. The second rank is green and white in the form of the yin yang symbol with two curved arrows around it. The third is purple and white, the fourth is gray and white, the fifth is red and white and the sixth is gold and white. The seventh is red and gold, which is our school's emblem, and the eight rank, which is the highest, is a blank circle, the return to the beginning stage. In other words, all previous rank certificates are useful for cleaning up messes." Bruce Lee

People have been buying the red and gold yin and yang symbol in the form of a patch or decal from most martial art supply centers for years and were not aware that Bruce Lee himself had designed this symbol for his rank and school emblem.

Jeet Kune Do is always evolving and each individual has his own Jeet Kune Do within him, not everyone will do Jeet Kune Do the same. Bruce Lee himself said, once you learn trapping, discard it, use it when it is necessary, don't hang on to it. Jeet Kune Do is scientific street fighting, the tools to know how to react in any situation. The ultimate form of self defense.

(Your Jeet Kune Do may not be my Jeet Kune Do)

When you do these drills, it's not the drills that are going to become the fight but you learn to react to the other practitioner. To move to the other practitioners reactions, this will change according to the individual. Whether you are 5'5 or 6'5 everyone has different options but we learn Jeet Kune Do properly. Once we have thoroughly understood seeking the center line as well as all the other principles then we use our own options that work best for us. Options are the key because this means you are focused on what you are doing and not what your opponent is doing. Both practitioners have learned the bong sao sloop or hinging off the gua chuie the way it was taught by the Si-gung. I may throw a shuffle hook punch you may throw a reverse shuffle hook punch because this seems to work better for you. This is the way of no way and there is no set patterns or rhythmic kata in doing Jeet Kune Do, that is why they are called drills. We all use the same Jeet tek drills and learn the same Jeet tek stop kicks. When you apply this you may throw an oblique with right lead forward and I may be better left lead forward but we both know and have done the same Jeet tek drills. In combat the application will be different because after I do an entry using many techniques my options may not be your options but we both know and have learned Jeet Kune Do. Thus your Jeet Kune Do may not be my Jeet Kune Do. "Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own" Bruce Lee

When this statement was made they were referring to people who have advanced knowledge of Jeet Kune Do. It does not refer to a beginner of the art or someone who has never learned JKD.

Absorb what is useful-to know what is useful is to already know these drills:

Fake to the fade Three bijong positioning

Reference points In the half beat

Lin sil di dar Matching and unmatching leads

Sensitivity energy Doan chi sao

Broken rhythm Ching Wu

Speed paks Sil lim tao

The six sectors Jeet teks

Mook Jong Five way neuro muscular response drills

Siong chi sao Triangular foot work

Independent action Aggressive sticky hands

And there are even more....

Reject what is useless-After you have learned, for example, broken rhythm, and again the operative word is learned, you may not us it but once in 15 different spars so remember if you've never been there before chances are you'll never go, if you've been there before chances are you'll go again.

Add what is specifically your own-There are certain drills you will find work well for you, for example, the lin sil di dar mook jong. This mook jong only has two arms so you learn to gain structure and power hitting twice in one hit. Protecting your center line as you attack. He who hits first hits twice.

There are many things said about Bruce Lee's art, and some people are not willing to go through the door to see what Bruce Lee was all about. They want to stand out of context on one statement that was said about the system of JKD, which is "absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own." This is one of the truest statements ever to be made referring the art of Bruce Lee.In my education of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do I have met only a few who truly know what that statement means and live by it.