JKD Philosophy
A Logical System of Self-Defense
Jeet Kune Do is a self-defense systematic that stresses simplicity and aliveness above all else. Why? Because the nature of a violent encounter demands simple answers. And fast. This means we must master the basics. But exactly what do we mean by basics? Basics according to what standard?
The following is an overview of the Jeet Kune Do Systematic. We aren’t presenting a technical guide to class structure, but the philosophical structure that technique and training rest upon. Without this structure presented and clearly articulated there’s no way to avoid the illogical extremes we see around us: copying Bruce without understanding why he did what he did, or spouting unconnected and often contradictory ideas in the name of martial freedom.
Contrary to that, we believe fervently that Jeet Kune Do is a specific and brilliant self-defense philosophy and science. The following is a statement of that philosophy and science.
Foundation
The Moral & Technical Foundation
Self-Defense is the act of keeping oneself as safe as possible in the event of UNAVOIDABLE violence. No one has a moral right to steal someone’s consent.
The moral law protects one’s life, property and labor. No person can morally be denied their opinion (mind), physical safety/sanctity, labor, or property.
All attempts or threats to diminish or abolish these may be countered with self-defense violence provided:
- You don’t start it (innocence). Violence is morally permissible only in defense of a right.
- It must be immediately necessary (imminence).
- Your counterattack must be proportional to the threat.
Consensual combat is not self-defense. Self-defense science, therefore, is logically focused on the elimination of the threat (provided that escape/evasion are impossible), not athletic victory.
Tactical Core
The Fighting Measure
“The Fighting Measure is the safe distance you keep from the enemy so that he has to step to you in order to attack.”
Lack of distance renders any attack ineffective. The Measure is the “no tailgating” rule of fighting.
Unlike the goal of mutual combat, the JKD “fighter” is concerned with defense first, not offense; the goal is safety, not domination. By using distance smartly the JKD fighter can expertly take advantage of the enemy’s illogical/immoral goal setting – make them miss and make them pay.
When used by the serious student, the Measure is a weapon itself. It is the guide to footwork, striking, and timing.
JKD’s systematic goal is, in the absence of being able to avoid the fight, to counterattack. The simplest expression of this goal in practice is the “stop-hit” wherein the JKD fighter attacks the attacker as they try to step forward to score a hit.
Jeet Kune Do is a Fighting Measure system.
Position
The Ready Position
The necessity to attack the attack requires a launch position. The JKD on-guard is that position. It seeks to optimize without contradiction the ability to attack the enemy’s attack AND move as necessary.
JKD favors the power-side forward because the goal is to intercept. The forward side stance provides optimal range for advanced weaponry while diminishing the risk to the defender via staying a small target.
The leading finger jab, jab/straight lead, snap/hook kick (groin), and side kick (knee) are the most effective tools to attack the enemy in order to impose upon him significant injury.
Watch your balance! Weight is evenly distributed. Knees bent. Rear heel slightly raised. Quick, cat-like steps and pivots move the Ready-Position whenever the stop-hit or counterattack is temporarily unavailable.
Striking
Straight, Non-Telegraphic Hits
The Ready-Position is ready to fire straight hits at the nearest, most vulnerable target. Think speed, speed and speed!
Advantages of Straight Hitting
- Faster (direct), more accurate than round blows, and less telegraphic.
- Balance less disturbed – more readily integrated into the Ready-Position and footwork scheme.
- You remain a smaller target. Easier to remain “behind the weapon.”
- More powerful than roundhouse blows when properly executed. We bench press more than we can do a dumbbell fly.
Movement
Footwork Moves the Ready-Position
To simplify violence, position is key; a man can’t hurt what he can’t hit.
Short, rapid steps and pivots to adjust range & angle. Cat-like, small movements that can instantly adjust to the terrain and environment.
Ted Wong said, “move like a fencer, hit like a boxer.”
Slide-steps, step-slides, pivots, push-shuffles are the four types of JKD footwork.
No movement should be used without intent. The purpose of footwork is to move the Ready-Position and the Ready-Position is prepared to fire straight, non-telegraphic bombs at the enemy’s most vulnerable target.
“The feet are every bit as important as the hands in boxing.”
— JIM DRISCOLL
Summary
The "Big Four" Tactical Foundation
01
Fighting Measure
Ready Position and distance control
02
Straight Hitting
Eye jab, jab, snap kick, side kick
03
Footwork & Defense
Step-slide, pivots, parries, head movement
04
Close Quarter
Hand control, trapping, hit & move simultaneously
Whenever the Measure is breached the JKD defender is doing one of the other three, possibly more than one, immediately. Knowing “where you are” in this systematic is the key to application success. You simply lose JKD if you lose the integrated simplicity of these tactical/technical principles.
Application
Close-Range Combat
Use the “infighter’s crouch” as needed. Jams, checks, beats, and trapping are “preps” (aids) to be deployed when the Measure has been breached and the stop-hit, footwork or evasion are all not safely available.
Trapping is absolutely a valid part of the JKD systematic. A trap is emergency cash. A trap pins an opponent’s countering ability while hitting him.
Think of JKD infighting as a sudden ambush with consummate skill – an auxiliary application of the Jeet concept. Speed, speed, and more speed is required. The longer one stays in the Measure, the more danger. Finish him, control him, and/or get out of there!
Deeper
JKD & Philosophy
Bruce Lee studied philosophy both in college and via self-study. Many of his more esoteric and confusing statements stem from his brilliant mind asking deep philosophical questions.
Philosophy’s foundations are: metaphysics (study of ultimacy), epistemology (study of the nature and origin of knowledge), and ethics (value theory/right and wrong). JKD is, therefore, a self-defense art and science resting upon the philosophy of moral rights.
A philosophy, properly speaking, is an integrated (that is, logical) understanding and statement of the facts of life. JKD, philosophically speaking, is a logical result of the correct moral philosophy of self-defense rights.
Logic & Science
Original Jeet Kune Do
To say this is to say the work of Bruce Lee in regard to his martial system consisting primarily of elements of Ip Man Wing Chun, old-school boxing and fencing.
It’s not so important WHAT Lee did as WHY. The best evidence of our theory is in the works of Bruce Lee himself. Lee sought simplicity above all else.
Our contention is that we teach Original JKD but the goal isn’t to copy. It’s to understand and perform.
The worry that saying JKD is a fighting method violates the “have no way as way” motif confuses tactical application freedom with physics and logic. A writer, for instance, is “bound” by the alphabet but “boundless” in creative freedom.
“The waist pivot is faster and easier to learn and is used as a basis for the teaching the art of hitting.”
— TAO OF JEET KUNE DO
Self-Defense Restated
- Everyone has a right to protect themselves from violence, coercion, fraud.
- Self-defense is the moral use of force to protect one’s rights.
- The application of force by the defender requires a system.
- The goal of a self-defense system is to keep one as safe as possible in the event of unavoidable violence.
- Jeet Kune Do is the system we’re using for self-defense.
- The premise of JKD is to “stop” or “intercept” the attack.
- JKD is, therefore, a rational self-defense system as its core goal is that of self-defense.