Jeet Kune Do Footwork (Full DVD)

I would like to share this interesting video I've came across. It's by legendary Tim Tackett on the basics of JKD footwork. Check it out. It comes in 6 parts.

I'm back

Sorry I've neglected this blog but I'm back now and I will try to post more stuff that come from my journey.

Hey guys, check out this cool web page on Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do

If you know me, I'm obsessed with the art of Jeet Kune Do. Why? Because that's grandfather of realistic combat and mixed martial arts. Bruce realized that being efficient in only one art isn't enough to make you a good fighter. You have to be well rounded or in another words a complete fighter. That said, here is a another website that supports the art of Jeet Kune Do-nunchuckguy.com.

Jeet Kune do Punch

It is time to go to basics of Jeet Kune Do punch and introduce something modified as well.When Bruce Lee came up with JKD he studied mechanics of the human body, perfected it and implemented his knowledge in every aspect of hand to hand combat. When it comes to JKD punch also known as straight lead hand punch, Bruce utilized economy of the motion and body mechanics to create it. Shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line and that is why this punch is so effective.

Since Bruce Lee was right handed he used his strongest side as a lead hand to punch and advised that others do the same. Since I'm right handed and for the purpose of this tutorial I will talk about the south paw stance. Other reasons for using your right hand is because it is closest to your target, it requires less time to reach it, it is more accurate then your cross and in Jeet Kune Do we use straight punch 90% of the time to attack. With the proper body mechanics such as relaxation which brings speed, weight shift to front leg before punch lands, turn of your feet and hip will increase the power produced by the straight punch. Look at the image above to see which areas of your knuckles to use while executing the punch. Notice that only first 3 knuckles are used while executing Jeet Kune Do straight Punch. Those are your strongest knuckles in your fist and by properly executing this punch, it eliminates the chance of injuring your hand.

Now lets talk about modified punch. This punch is actually nothing new, I've just added it so it can work better for women in self defense. When Bruce Lee was teaching these techniques, martial arts were still new in United States and not many women were interested in learn this as they are today. Today we can see  women fight in mma competitions. Once more, nothing is different when it comes to executing this technique except when you punch you do not use your fist to cause damage but open palm. This punch is also known as palm heel. Your fist will be open, fingers facing upward just like when police tells someone to stop while driving but your thumb is tucked in and pressed tight to your fingers. You will use your cushion part of your palm for striking. This eliminates potential injuries of knuckles and or wrist while punching. This  punch is more suitable for womens self defense then regular way of punching. To illustrate this better, please check out the image on your left.

Many people will dispute that traditional punch is a lot stronger then palm heel because you use your knuckles. However, this statement is not true. It is not the knuckle that causes the damage, knocks someone out and so forth, it is the proper body mechanics that lead to creating power punching. To prove my point check out this video. Guy gets knocked out while playing slapping game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvHZTrwVKEY They were using nothing but palms, yet consequences are the same as regular punch. 'Till the next time, have a great day.

My problem with many Jeet Kune Do videos

On Youtube you can see hundreds of so called Jeet Kune do videos. They all show you two guys standing, facing each other and their hands are touching like in Enter the Dragon when Bruce Lee was about to fight Ohara. Then, they show you pak sao, lop sao, etc. In reality JKD is more then this. These are only the drills yet, when you search for JKD videos all you see is that. These people only set patterns to the art, create clones out of others and once again it slowly becomes what Bruce was running from. No one but Paul Vunak shows you Jeet Kune Do in a dynamic fight like scenario. The moves are almost different each time he shows them. The reason for this is because he demonstrates them in a sparring fashion and he reacts to given conditions & in process doesn't even think about the counters or attacks. This is what really Lee's JKD and its philosophy is about. Almost all other videos are killing the purpose of the JKD art, turning it into Katas, forming patters and predictability. Another point to come across, Mixed Martial Arts is more close to real JKD then all these videos. Why? because they train dynamically, they spar & they train to react to given conditions. Here are some of  Bruce Lee quotes that support this article.


"When an opportunity in a fight presents itself, "I" don`t hit, "it" hits all by itself."
 
"Don`t think, feel! It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don`t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory."
Bruce Lee

New Bruce Lee Websites

Today I want to talk about this newly launched web site dedicated to non other then greatest martial artist of all time Bruce Lee. There you can learn more about Bruce Lee himself as well as his art of Jeet Kune Do. Also, you can buy related products, watch videos, download stuff and follow Bruce Lee.com on Facebook and many other social networking sites. It is a very nice site done in flash. I'm glad that Shannon Lee, Linda Lee and others finally decided to make a legit Bruce Lee page that looks awesome as well. Please check it out, you won't regret it. Oh yeah, also check out The Bruce Lee Foundation which was founded by Shanon Lee. Enjoy these gifts :-) 
Image borrowed from bruceleefoundation.com

Defense against a larger opponent in Jeet Kune Do

We all know that Bruce Lee was a small guy but could pack a punch twice his size. Ever since he moved to United States, he realized that people were taller and stronger then him. What did he do? He learned to adapt my friend. The whole philosophy of Jeet Kune Do is to take what is usefully and discard what is not. In other words what works for you. Also, adaptation in JKD means that one technique, strategy will not work with every opponent so you need to tailor your moves accordingly. The key to a good self defense in Jeet Kune Do is for you to explore your attacker's weaknesses and use them against them. Use shortest time to reach your target, speed, strength, timing, precision. Each of these is a topic of their own.

To fight someone bigger, taller or stronger then you, means they have an advantage over you.When fighting a taller/stronger person, you need to have an equalizer that would give you a fighting chance against his reach. In this case your "equalizer" are your feet. Kick or punch to the vital areas of your adversary is one of the essentials of Jeet Kune Do. Vital areas such as groin for instance, doesn't take much of power to cause high volume of pain.  However, it takes a little more precision and speed. 


Also, kicking someone once and expecting for a fight to be over would be very foolish. The pain period is used for additional punches and kicks that would keep your enemy down for a certain amount of time to escape. Please check out Bruce Lee's Fighting Method: The Complete Edition, an excellent book on basic and advance training by Bruce Lee.  Above is a great example of Bruce Lee doing a groin kick to Ted Wong. Image property of Bruce Lee estate, from Bruce Lee's fighting method series. Notice how Lee's leg reaches it's target way before Wong's fist does? That's because the human leg is the longest part of the body and it travels the shortest distance from the floor to the groin in this instance. 


When fighting a bigger stronger opponent, your equalizer can come in many forms. Speed plays a big part as well as playing dirty. Being fight savvy is another big factor. Using your surroundings as a weapon can increase your chance of survival by double. This is another way of Jeet Kune do's adaptation. Since bigger person has more strength, it usually takes him one punch or kick to knock you down or out. In order to avoid this from happening, you have to destroy his outlets of power which are his limbs. Paul Vunak goes into great depths on this subject in his R.A.T.-Rapid Assault Tactics dvd. If you have time and money, purchase it and study very carefully. 


Use your knees and elbows to achieve this. Once the limbs are destroyed, your opponent can't continue with the attack since the volume of pain is unbearable. This will definitely prevent him from attacking you. Please check out this quick sketch that I've done to illustrate this HIA-hand immobilizaton attack or leg which is very popular term in JKD community. 

For the upper body defense, use your elbows and for the lower body defense use your knees. Since economy of the motion was and still is one of the main priorities of Bruce Lee's art, keep your elbows up like in a Muay Tai. This will decrease the distance from your elbows to your opponents fists. Move backwards as well, this will decrease the
chance of getting hit and increase more time for you to execute the right move.Warning: must practice timing, precision. 


These moves should not be taken serious to a point that this is the best & only way of defense. Jeet Kune Do is ever learning, changing & modifying process. There are millions of ways to achieve the same goals, you need to pick out those that work best for you. The ones that fit the best to your physical ability, strength, speed. When Bruce Lee came up with this combat art, he didn't even wanted to name it. The reason for this was that it would go against his beliefs that styles limit oneself from personal growth.

Bruce Lee's quote that talks about adapting and creating your own JKD:
"Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own."


"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend".