Using No Way As Way, Having No Limitation As Limitation- SiJo Bruce Lee

Jeet Kune Do (the way of intercepting fist) is a philosophy formed by Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee combined and put his knowledge of different martial arts and philosophies together and found a way that enables an individual to fight fluidly with simple, direct, non classical and straightforward movements, at the same time not imposing any restrictions and limitations to it's user, using minimal movement and effort at the same time causing maximum effect on the opponent with extreme speed and agility. The philosophy works on the use of different 'tools' for different situations, they are divided into different fighting ranges as follows: kicking-long range, punching-mid range, trapping and grappling-close range with techniques flowing smoothly between them. It is referred to as a 'style without style' or 'the art of fighting without fighting' as said by Bruce Lee himself. Unlike traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed and patterned, it's a philosophy with guiding thoughts. It was named for the concept of interception, or attacking your opponent while he is about to attack. The name Jeet Kune Do was often said by Bruce Lee to be just a name. He himself often referred to it as "The art of expressing the human body" in his writings and in interviews. Through his studies Bruce Lee believed that styles had become too rigid, and unrealistic. He called martial art competitions of the day "Dry land swimming". He believed that a fight was spontaneous, a martial artist/fighter cannot predict it, instead just react to it and that a good martial artist/fighter should "Be like water" and move fluidly without hesitation. Jeet Kune Do doesn't waste any time or movement, teaching the simplest things that work best in a fight. The principle of 'Economy of motion' is something by which JKD practitioners achieve-Efficiency-An attack which reaches its target in the least amount of time, with maximum force. Directness-Doing what comes naturally in a disciplined way. and Simplicity-Thinking in an uncomplicated way.

There are many different interpretations of JKD today, there is Jun Fan JKD Bruce Lee's own personal form of JKD, Original Jeet Kune Do-the philosophy taught to his students by Si Jo Bruce Lee himself basically contains western boxing, wing chun kung fu, french fencing and also some techniques from northern and southern styles of kung fu, there were three variations of the original JKD taught in his three different schools that were in- oakland, california and san francisco, as SiJo Bruce Lee's JKD was always evolving, then there's Jeet Kune Do Concepts-the different interpretations, opinions and experiences of different JKD instructors and practitioners that led JKD on many different paths by adding or taking away the techniques from the original to make it more applicable for them in today's day, many Martial Arts, Fighting Systems and Fighting Philosophies have been added and some techniques have been removed from the original JKD to make it more effective for use today, and it will always keep evolving to keep up with the changing times of the world. then there is also a version called Functional JKD (a version/division of JKD Concepts) - this version only focuses on real combat situations, no rules, no holds barred with JKD philosophy and mentality and includes more Reality Based Martial Arts and Fighting Systems that are brutal, effective, useful and necessary for any and every real fight situation/s we might face in today's dangerous, harsh and increasingly difficult times. then there is the Progressive Fighting System (another version/division of JKD Concepts and Functional JKD) by Paul Vunak, that also is used for applications in real life situations with simple, direct, brutal and effective techniques.

 

This site is here so that everyone can share their ideas about their personal fighting experiences, stories, opinions, etc. so go ahead join and share with each other all of the things you have learned, learning and would want to learn in the forums section. Remember JKD is not a fixed style or system so don't be afraid to try anything new, if you see fit and it works, you use it to make yourself better, and protect those who cannot protect themselves, just don't throw in anything ineffectively, use everything, but in tune with each and every technique you do, flow smoothly between the ranges and techniques, be adaptable to the situation, don't be rigid and fixed on just one thing, so that you can end the fight as efficiently and as quickly as possible, don't waste your time thinking, just react to what's coming towards you, practice continuously till it just becomes another added reflex to your body, a muscle memory, as the great Si Jo Bruce Lee said " Learn and understand everything you can and then, Absorb what's useful, Discard what's not, and add what's uniquely your own" the 'add what's uniquely your own' part will only be possible with lots of research, experiences and exploring done in different styles, systems, etc. by you. So go ahead be free and try everything you can, and keep making yourself better, remember in JKD there is no 'best JKD practitioner' because there is no limit to what or who's the best in JKD, every one has different types/interpretations of JKD to what suits them, so there can't be a 'best method' or 'the right way to learn or teach JKD' the way that suits you is the right way for you and no one else, as Si Jo Bruce Lee said "Your JKD may not be my JKD, and my JKD may not be yours, but that doesn't mean that mine is the right way or your is the right way, it means we have different interpretations of our own JKD, your JKD is working for you, my JKD is working for me, none of us are right or wrong". what suits an individual the best in any fight situation and is effective for them, is best for that individual only and it may not be the same for you. Again, remember Jeet Kune Do, whether in Original form, Concept form, or Functional form, is not a Mixed Martial Art or a Fighting System, if you do have to classify it in some group, you simply can't, as it's a philosophy without a fixed style or system, as only the most effective and useful techniques and principles are put together in order to suit the individual user, it could be referred to as a hybrid fighting philosophy at best. if you want more info in detail about the JKD philosophy, read 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do', that book is your guide, your first step in JKD philosophy, you can make your way further from there then.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Article-2 - 01/01/2011

Reality Based Combat, Self Defense and Street Fighting.
Now, as for the reality based self defense and street fighting goes, i still apply JKD philosophy, i.e the freedom part of it, see, in a real assault you can't be coordinated, uniformed, and perform choreography like techniques or in other words fine motor skills could get you hurt severely or can even get you killed. real violence is short, brutal, damaging, fast, sudden, terrifying and most of all it's messy, the strikes, take downs or weapons used are in a crooked non-uniformed manner, from any direction, the attacker just has one thing in mind, it's goal is to hurt or kill you and/or your loved ones with you in any way possible so they can get what they want from you, that is the harsh reality of violence, especially in today's day, now for that, you will need gross motor skills or as you may know them; natural body reflexes, no flashy armbars or triangle chokes, no, they're for in-ring competitions, not for real violence, see many people will say that 80% of the street fights go to the ground. Well, let me tell you this, that's just a false statistic, do you know where this myth came from? No? Well, i'll tell you, see, the "80 percent of fights end up on the ground" idea came from an L.A.P.D. study in the mid 80s. The study focused on situations that officers got into on the job, so you have to realize that police officers, trying to restrain and/or cuff an individual are more likely to end up on the ground than a civilian in an attack, that stat was promulgated by Rorian Gracie to promote Gracie Jiu Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (B.J.J for short), and doesn't have any relevance to civilian self defense, that stat directly reflects the fact that at least one of the participants (the police officer) purposely took the fight to the ground in order to take the suspect into custody, it's not a coincidence that U.F.C. referee Big John was an L.A.P.D. tactics instructor for many years, there was tons of cross training in the late 80's and the early 90's between the Gracies and the L.A.P.D. So, now you know, you see, in a violent assault, for a civilian, that's us, going to the ground can be the worst possible thing you can do, just picture this, what if you do go to the ground? and the guy has friends, don't you think his friends will come and help him by stomping your head/face in? You're not a police officer, they're not afraid of you, hell they're not afraid of the law itself. Hence the crime, hello! They will use anything they find and use it on you, while you're trying to do the triangle choke or any other ground technique on just one guy. In a fight, you should always avoid going to the ground, no matter what it takes, i'm not saying you shouldn't train in ground techniques, you should train in them, just to get the basic idea of the mechanics of a ground fight or ground grappling, but just because you have the training doesn't mean you have to take the fight to the ground, no, you have to try and end it standing up and escape, not wait for others to come, this isn't a movie and you're not an action hero. Now, even if you are unwillingly taken down to the ground, well, then that's where your ground training will help you immensely. How? Well, in that case you'll use your training, not to fight your attacker there, but to escape from under him and try to get up on your feet as quickly as possible and run like hell. It will enable you to avoid being helpless on the ground, although if the opponent is bigger, taller, stronger and heavier than you, well then you're helpless anyway, just not that much, if you have trained in that area, also when i say/write to train for ground, i don't mean the ring techniques, no, again, i mean train and develop effective simple, basic, gross motor skills of ground fighting/grappling, if advanced fine motor skills aren't going to help you standing up, they sure as hell aren't going to help you lying down helpless on the ground against a physically superior attacker or an attacker who's more experienced in being violent than yourself. Remember, it's good, a big plus to train and develop your fine motor skills and advanced techniques, but when the time comes, you will only be able to use the direct, simple and basic gross motor skills, so your main focus in training should be on them.

Now, one more thing i have to address here is, many people i've met till now, say they want to train so that they can fight 5 or 6 guys at a time, well to them all i have to say is please, wake up and smell the reality, it stinks worse than garbage and rotten eggs combined, it's even almost impossible to take on one guy who's on crack or violent enough to not be stopped by more than one gunshots, with or without even just one knife in his hand, let alone 5 or 6 guys with or without weapons, the adrenaline and the panic will get you so overly disoriented and your thinking clouded, that you won't know your hands from your feet, you won't be able to do any high kicks or spinning kicks or even do a basic thing like run, yes, that has happened many times to many people, when the guy is charging towards you with a weapon with extreme aggression, anger and horrifying speeds or even without a weapon in his hand, one of the most important things that will help you, is your mind, that is, if you do manage to calm down in less than 1 to 2 seconds, that along with your simple, direct and effective gross motor skills, your own natural instinctive body movements that are easy to learn and over time with good quality and depth of training, of course you can master them with vast amount of training, it can be quite easy to develop those skills further at a higher level. There's also the matter of situations taking place in different kinds of terrains, there's much depth to go into, but i think, both, this one and the above paragraph might have given you a pretty good idea of some key points of real violence. Hope you make good use of them for yourself and not use them to harm any random person who has done nothing wrong to you, but instead use them protect yourself and try to protect those who can't protect themselves.

Another thing, see there are different types of violent situations. They are;

-Law enforcement related as in Police, S.W.A.T teams, Special Units etc.

-Club/Bar,etc. related as in Bouncers (usually 3 to 4 or sometimes more depending on what the owner finds suitable, and level of danger and the kind of crowd that comes to the club/bar, different places have different numbers, some have 3, some even have 5 to 6+ if it's a big establishment).

-High profile people related; Personal Bodyguards (usually a team of 2 to 3 per person), and VIP Protection as in Security Teams (usually more than 6 to 10 in one team or more, it depends on how high profile a person is or how much they're willing to spend), They're also hired for big events, etc.

-Then there are Military related situations, they're more War/Combat related, their training requires more Survival Skills, Weapons like Knives, Firearms and Explosives, etc. Than H2H Combat Training, as they deal more with threats that use automatic weapons, etc. rather than empty hand, when they're in combat.

-Then there are the civilian situations, that's you and me.

Of course there are sub-categories to those situations. For example, civilian situations include;

-Asocial situations such as; muggings, home-invasions, ambush assaults, etc.

- Anti-social situations such as; drunken bar fights or "ego fights", etc.

Now all of the above situations mentioned (except civilian situations) are jobs, that people do, extremely dangerous jobs, but jobs. My point being that they expect the kind of life where people try to hurt/kill them and others around them i.e team members, clients, civilians, etc. on a regular basis, where they constantly come in contact with people who are violent, but for us civilians, that's not the case. When we go out of our homes, we don't expect to get attacked by a drugged up psychopath or a drunk, asocial/anti-social psycho or a mugger who wants your money and will kill you to get it, or get attacked many other ways that we, as civilians, with not as extremely violent mindset as them, never in a million years would expect it to happen to us. As our parents have made sure that we lived our lives in a safety bubble that shields us from that part of the society and when that bubble bursts, the nightmare begins for you, the civilian, who has lived a minimal to a completely non-violent life, till that incident occurred. See, the attack happens so suddenly and so fast, that we're caught off guard, with little to no options left for us but to run or retaliate by any means and save ourselves or our loved ones. The above mentioned people also do face these same dangers in combat that civilians face, i.e. Kill or Get Killed, but the risk is more for them, as they don't always have the one luxury that civilians have, that is, To be able to Run Away, and another possibility being that, many of them might have made dangerous enemies while doing their jobs. But they're trained enough and experienced enough to know what to do, if they're faced with such dangers, even when they're off their jobs and are living their civilian lives, they know how to act during an attack, so the chances of them falling prey to the attacker are decreased, and that's because of their training in and experiences of these things. That's why, as a civilian, you too should know about these things, that help you stay safe, and the best way for you to be prepared for any attack/s and/or assault/s on you, is simply by Training For A Real Fight, Like A Real Fight. Just remember this one thing, base your training more on principles of violence, rather than basing it more on techniques. Doing that, will give you infinite freedom to explore practically infinite more options, and will make you a really good improviser in almost any situation/s. Hick's law will only apply if you base your training more on techniques than basing it on principles.

Just one more thing, despite all that i wrote, i still believe, Prevention is better than cure. If you train in proper prevention methods you won't have to face violence in the first place, because the best fight is the one you're not in. You also have to know about the external unpredictable factors during these situations such as weather, terrain, witnesses (this one is important because it will all depend on what they say to the law enforcement officers, when they arrive), also, someone who is intervening might get hurt and then you will be responsible for injuring or possibly even killing him/her, an ambush from your attacker's friends/partners/acquaintances, weapons involvement, biological factors such as contagious diseases contracted from your attacker (thru blood, sweat, saliva, etc.) or from the location/terrain you're in. That also brings me to blood, as many are afraid of the mere sight of others blood, imagine to see your own, not to mention the adrenaline and the fear and panicked state of mind you'll be in during these situation with S.H.(Steroid hormones; cortisol, cortisone, etc.) flowing through your brain and body, and much much more to consider, that was just a quick and short list. I'd also like to add, that not only what happens before and during the violent episode is important to know and train for, but what happens after is equally important, you have to be prepared to face the consequences of using violence in today's society, to not only face physical (injury or death of you, whoever you are with or even your attacker), but emotional and psychological damage too (guilt, P.T.S, nightmares, emotional and psychological scars, trauma and fear of that place and other people), not to mention preparing to face the nightmare that is, The court of law, the witnesses and even possible revenge from the individual or his friends, family, etc. that you damaged in combat. In short, real violence, it's really messy. Being prepared overall by training to; avoid it or prevent it, are the only logical ways for you to; - Reduce your chances of being the victim. - Surviving violence, if you couldn't prevent or avoid it. - Then facing the consequences of using violence in today's paradoxically pacifist, but violent society.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note, that i do not condone violence, i simply provide the training, advice and tools to prevent it and sometimes you just have to take the violent road in order to avoid being a victim of violence yourself.

I'm not responsible for the illegal or any kind of negative use of the information given on this site or during sessions, it's up to the student to use it responsibly, as in only under controlled and supervised environments in the presence of an instructor, and avoid using any physical force without justified cause in combat. Prevention is better than cure.

Please do check the law in your city/state/country regarding the topic of self-defense.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since the age of 8, my training has always been Reality Based and Street Oriented and i have used it, when needed, for that purpose only, it was never for sport, recreational or exhibition purposes ever.
Over the years, I have been exploring and expanding my knowledge by understanding and applying many different principles and philosophies in my training, combat based and life based, one of them being the philosophy of J.K.D and understanding it, in it's three different forms of evolution; Original Jeet Kune Do, Jeet Kune Do Concepts and Functional Jeet Kune Do, with that, i have also been training in and exploring different methods, styles and systems like, Muay Thai (The Traditional Martial Art, not the sport), Original/Traditional Muay Boran (not the today's modern cut out and demo/exhibitionist version), Military and Civilian "Versions" of Krav Maga [also not a Martial Art but a Fighting System], William Ewart Fairbairn-Eric Anthony Sykes WW2 Combatives or as many call it today Defendu (which is not truly accurate by the way) or GutterFighting (as it's commonly known amongst those who train in Combatives, it was taught to the Shanghai Municipal Police, O.S.S and to S.O.E during WW2), O'Neill's version of Combatives (which was drawn from Fairbairn/Sykes Method), Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (Unarmed and Knife Combat), Navy Seals Fighting System, Military Martial Arts or Modern Army Combatives as they call it today, Traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Eskrima, Wing Chun, Western Boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Mixed Martial Arts (i modify it for the purpose of facing real violence, by removing the unnecessary ground grappling techniques, only leaving the essential ones, and also adding weapons training, but still keep the conditioning, drills, etc in it), i have researched many 'Reality Based Street Self Defense Fighting Systems', i have also trained in Specialized CQC [close quarters combat]-with and w/o weapons, it's actually nothing fancy, it's just combat focusing more on close range and clinch range. I'd like to take a moment here and Thank many people who made my training in the above methods possible, unfortunately many wanted to remain anonymous for certain personal reasons, and if any of you are reading this, you'll know who you are and i Thank You All so very much from the bottom of my heart for sharing your knowledge and experiences with me, i have the utmost respect for all of you and you will always have my eternal, undying gratitude for your generosity.
 

 

Now, besides the physical training, i also study and research subjects like; Psychology, Human Biology and Physiology, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Criminal Psychology, Sociology and Social Behavior, Criminology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Behavioral Science, N.L.P, Philosophy, Toxicology and Study of Poisons, Venoms, Toxins and Criminal law. I am an expert in none of them, of course, but i know enough to be able to incorporate these subjects in my training and apply them functionally, as required by a situation, before, during and after combat. I prefer being the jack of all trades and i try my best to be a master of some. But it's not easy to try and do that.

I have been in a few violent confrontations myself, and no, I'm not bragging, far from it, believe me there's nothing to brag about, i was victimized due to my small build at the time, (i'm still small, btw), but the simplest and most vicious things that i had to do, helped me get myself out of those situations. Over the years, I also have gathered gory, detailed information on many different experiences from different people who were willing to share and who were victims of the same and in many cases even worse fates, but luckily survived, including people who face dangers on a regular basis; like club security/bouncers, retired police officers and soldiers, bodyguards, and even civilians with the same kinds of experiences. I'm always on the look out for such people and instructors who are knowledgeable and provide good quality reality based training/information, and try to share my knowledge and experiences with him/her and vice versa, not ever for their certification, i don't accept that ever, and many don't give it either, i'm only there for their invaluable knowledge and experiences. I always modify my training and improve myself based on that information, along with my own experiences and try to keep up to those highly dangerous and extremely unpredictable "combat standards", principles and strategies that today's societal violence requires us to have, but since nothing is a 100% in violent attacks/assaults, even this "way" of training isn't a 100% completely flawless, not even close to being that, but it has worked for me so far, and therefore, i still continue to train like that, when i do find something even more effective for me than this, then sure, i'll move on up to that.

I train 7 days a week keeping up the good quality of my training along with the quantity, i only sleep minimum 4 to maximum 6 hrs now, sometimes a little more, if i'm extremely tired from training classes, or a seminar, etc. then my training day begins everyday. I have already completed my education and have a Master's degree in English Literature, it was something i did so my family would shut up about my education lol Well, but i don't care much about that, all I care about and always have cared about in my life is my training and keeping myself, my loved ones and others around me safe, and most of all, my career. Each and every one of my training and experiences has taught me something or the other, and I'm grateful for that for eternity, some have given me scars and (long term) damage no doubt, but they have all made me a better person, physically, psychologically and as stupid as this may sound/look to some, but spiritually too, but i still have a long way to go, no doubt about that, as there is no end or limit to what i can and will learn in the future or what things might happen to me then. For me, my journey is more important than the goal to become the best i can be as a person and as an instructor. It is the journey that will give me the knowledge i seek as an Instructor and as a Person. I have and will always respect all Martial Arts, Fighting Systems and Methods, Street Fighting, Reality Based, Military Based, Ring-Based any and all others, etc. I respect all Life and all Fighters and Instructors, as long as they are honest and dedicated in training and in life generally, not just towards themselves, but also towards their students, their loved ones and the people around them, and provided that they don't impart useless and/or dangerously ineffective knowledge on their students, putting their or anyone else's life in danger in any situation/s. That (dishonesty towards oneself and others), for me, is a big NO as an Instructor and as a Person. Do not lie to yourself or others. Be Honest and Truthful in your Teachings, and as much as you can be, in Life too. Practice what you preach/teach.
 

 

 

-The day you think you're stronger and superior to anyone, is the day you get weaker and inferior than everyone. The meaning behind this being, don't ever let your ego get a hold of you and bring you down.

-Your opponent is the least of your worries, your biggest enemy is your ego, your foolish pride and your fear, you should never let them get in your way and destroy you.

-A true Warrior is always humble and kind towards others, and is brave, forceful and brutal when the situation demands it.

-A true Warrior has a calm and well-balanced nature and mentality and it stays that way even when he/she is put in danger, managing to panic the least and getting angry enough to eliminate the threat in the quickest and most efficient way possible.

-(When it comes to training and combat). Fight like you train, train like you fight.

-Keep it short, simple and direct to the point.

-It's the journey that make things exciting, rather than the destination.

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just A Note About The Training You Will Receive.

Please note that when you will be training for self defense, there are no guarantees that the same scenarios you train with would happen in a real situation, as real life-threatening attacks/assaults are always unpredictable, though i can guarantee that the training will help you to prepare yourself psychologically and physically for the pressure, the panic, the intensity and the injuries you'll have to deal with in a violent situation, this training will help you become more vigilant and ready to act with enough viciousness and violence so you can escape from a situation where things happen suddenly, without any kind of warning. Remember what Bruce Lee said, "The Reality of any fight is not in fixed patterns, the reality is outside of all fixed patterns". The best option is obviously to avoid violence and solve it verbally or just walk/run away, but in case you can't do either of them, this training is for those situations. This training is not meant for violence, it's meant to prevent it from happening to you.

This training is not meant for sport competitions or tournaments, just for violent situations and self defense only, as the principles and techniques/strikes you'll learn and train in, if you use those in any sport based event fights, i'm pretty sure that you'll be disqualified in the first strike, not to mention you may even injure your opponent badly and needlessly and might be legally held responsible for it.
Remember, here you won't just learn how to punch, kick or block an attack, you'll learn and understand the principles of combat and violence, the 'anatomy of violence' if you will, and how to apply those things to combat for your safety and to protect your loved ones, and even to protect those who can't protect themselves (this one's your choice of course), and to end the confrontation as violently, quickly and efficiently as possible for you to escape it or if possible, prevent it from happening in the first place.

Again, i want to be honest here, so i state that i do not teach or claim this to be a specific new "style" or "system" or "method", no, it's not something that i "created" or "formed", violence has always existed, these things (street fighting, attacks/assaults, rapes, etc.) they already exist all around you, they might be happening in some corner of the world as i'm typing this. The thing is, what you train in here, is plain and simple violence, combat, street fighting, whatever you want to call it, with knowledge gathered from different sources and real life experiences, and the training is based on that, on the principles that you can apply to just about anything you might come across, no useless flashy added techniques, just the principles you'll need to combat violence, along with a handful of simple, direct and effective methods/strikes that could even save your life if you, god forbid, get into some kind of messed up situation. Again, it does not have a name, as it's not something specific, it's just training for violence with violence, so that you can fight it and survive it, it's just plain old combat/brawling training, with a 'train everything, but use what works and perfect it till your natural reflexes sharpen up' mindset. Well, that's it. i can't be more clear than that. You will train how you'll fight. If you're just here for certifications and "flashy things" then honestly, you shouldn't be here; A Reality Based Fighting class, in the first place. Maybe you should just go to some mcdojo; http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mcdojo with all of the flash and zero quality or maybe a kiddie sport fighting school that issues certificates and belts like it's Christmas, with all the "cushy benefits" you're looking for. It's as simple as that. That's it.
 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Note.