JKD the path to enlightenment
Jeet Kune Do, or “Way of the intercepting fist” is the vision of combat that was created by international superstar Bruce Lee. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding concepts.
Jeet Kune Do or JKD as it is generally referred to by its students, is focussed on street fighting defensive tactics and is not concerned with the traditional aspects of martial arts such as patterns and forms. It aim’s to develop athletic physical attributes in it’s participants and teach them economy of motion and tactics in fighting that allow the student to protect themselves effectively in real conflict situations.
Mr Daniel Inosanto was Bruce Lee’s best friend, training partner and is the man given the task of propagating the development and growth of JKD by Bruce Lee before he died. Guro Inosanto is responsible for introducing the Filipino Martial Arts into the JKD training system as a way of increasing coordination, reaction speed and dealing with weaponry efficiently. He is one of the most influential martial artists in the world and has a huge following of highly talented students including Rick Young, Bob Breen, Terry Barnett, Neil McLeod, Mike Gregory, Jeff Imada and Daniel Lonero.
Can Do Martial Arts head coach Ben Richardson was taught JKD by the now legendary Bob Breen whilst attending The Academy in London in 2004. Eleven years on Ben has his Back Belt in JKD under Bob Breen and has an instructorship under Sifu Paul Vunak, and was invited to join the International Inosanto Instructors programme in 2010. Ben is now working towards his full instructorship on this, the world’s most prestigious JKD coaching course attending camps in both Rome and California.
Recently both Jordan Squires and Scott Witham of can Do Martial Arts, have also been invited to attend the International instructors course, which means Can Do now has 3 coaches certified to teach JKD by Bruce Lee’s right hand man, and are the only Academy in Oxfordshire to have this honour.
Although JKD has no system or syllabus as such, at Can Do and many academies one has been created in order to allow the student to learn “the basics” and gradually progress their skill level and develop physical attributes over time. As a student progresses to the end of the syllabus the idea is that they have formed their own ideas, concepts and skill set that provides them with their JKD.
JKD was and is ultimately about self-discovery and self-expression through martial arts. The journey the student undergoes is the most important aspect of training, becoming more as a person and a practitioner through dedicated training and practice. JKD has no set boundaries and is in constant evolution as it moves with the times. As the world is ope to more and more cultures and martial arts, people are crossing the globe with regularity and with the rise of MMA as a professional sport, more and more people are aware of different fighting styles and have more access to them. So while the original arts used by Bruce Lee may not be en vogue anymore they are far from obsolete and his principles will remain timeless.
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