As we wrote previously:
we use the program and structure of JKD, the philosophy, and the source Arts the JKD Community use, without specifically looking at any schools program as it currently is or was
Wing Chun
Boxing
Fencing
Savate
Kali
Muay Thai
Silat
Jiu Jitsu
So if anyone asks if we do "Jeet Kune Do", the answer is we do not, what we do is the same stuff JKD programs are made of
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Keeping in mind the JKD principle
Absorb what is useful - Discard what is useless
JKD maxim
"Adapt like a shadow - respond like an echo"
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26 Arts of Jun Fan - JKD Thread
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/1761/26-arts-jun-fan-jkd
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Kali Kickboxing format, the JKD model, with the Jun Fan unarmed core - we will still carry on with the KEMPO Jujutsu unarmed combat self defence
We will still continue to refer to Ninpo in the Goshin, and we will look at Ninpo in the JKD format, with the Concepts, as pretty much nobody else is doing this
The JKD Community focus on the mid Asian arts, Wing Chun into Jun Fan, Kali, Muay Thai, Silat - everyone incorporates Savate, and now the Brazilian version of JJ as inspired by Gracie and Machado - everyone knows basic boxing, though most have never been in a boxing gym to train with a real coach, and nobody has ever competed in a boxing match
All Cali JKD men had a foundation in American Kenpo, the Parker system and they all did Wrestling, even if just at high school - though most JKD men in UK have a background in Karate and Judo, very few continued to carry this on
Almost no JKD men cover Japanese systems, whether that be Karate, Judo, Jujutsu, Aikido, Ninpo, or any of the Kobudo and weapons systems
This is probably down to them not being able to stay long enough to learn the systems, qualify, get their black belt, and then attain the Dan grades - this certainly means in the Traditional Koryu systems they never attained the Densho scrolls
So why do so many JKD men assume they know the arts they all claim to incorporate eg Kali, Silat, Thai, etc, the arts that do not have formal recognised grade structure and levels, densho and menkyo?
We are not talking about the high qualified men with decades of instruction and teaching eg Dan Inosanto, Paul Vunak, Rick Young
How many people who claim to be part of JKD, especially in this new generation, have trained for a long time at a low level, but have no higher level training, experience, grades, knowledge, or ability in any Art
One black belt in one art is worth more than four green belts from four different arts
As I mentioned before, when I looked deeper into the Warriors of Silat and Kali, what those Arts developed and used at their time, especially in the blade techniques and different blade weapons, there is a lot of similarity between them and Ninjutsu - in the advanced sections of those Arts, where Concept and Tactic is worked on more than specific technique, we see that in the "secret" traditions of not just Togakure Ryu but Gyokushin and Kumogakure - the Assassination and Stealth killing methods
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we can look more at JKD training and drills, starting with Interception in the KB, and the application in the Unarmed STREET phase
It is always interesting to look at the source arts, in the case of JKD are mainly Chinese
This is also the potential to look deeper into Chinese systems, to balance with our in depth study of the Japanese ryuha we have been covering the last few years, keeping in mind there is a lot of Chinese influence in many Japenese systems, in particular Karate
As you can see from the list above, we already tap some of the arts above
Wing Chun
Mantis
Tai Chi
Tiger and Crane as they appear in the source for Kempo
Chin Na as in Torite, locks as in Jujutsu
Boxing
Jujutsu
Muay Thai
Wrestling has been discussed on the Grappling board, Western wresting, which we don't really use - in America, boys learn wrestling in school and college, it isn't taught that way in Britain
Escrima - the Filipino stick system, part of Kali
We have referenced Fencing, though this is not directly practiced, the concepts are used with Boxing with the Jab, stepping, and Interception
Sikaran is the kickboxing system of the FMA that compliments Kali
Jakman, not listed, is FMA kicking system
Tukan, not listed, is FMA boxing
The other styles of KF that are relevant to us I have listed
In JKD, the listed arts are used quite heavily in WC, much less in the others, it is not a case of literally learning or using every technique and drill from each art
What we might use from the list, the ones I listed before, will depend as we go on
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FENG WEI - as we called it back then
In even earlier group was one I ran back in the early 90s, again separate from the work I was doing as a karate sensei, and my personal developments in Jujutsu and Ninjutsu
It was around this time I was training in the martial arts of other countries, Filipino Kali, Chinese Wing Chun, and the Thai arts of Muay Thai and and Krabi Krabong, at which I went on to qualify as a full instructor in all . I had begun training in JKD, in classes and at seminars, and as involved in some private training groups
My special group was called Feng Wei, in which I went back to examine the roots of the Japanese arts I was training in, by looking at the Chinese and, in the case of Karate, Okinawan origins and developments
When I founded STMA in 2008, I still continued to use Feng Wei as the name for the Unarmed Combat section, it's blend of Karate, Kempo, Wing Chun, the standing phase of Jujutsu and the unarmed phase of Kali being as fresh and relevant as it was when we started developing it, street tested and time tested.
The Feng Wei training group met on a Tuesday night and was called the Tuesday Night Fung Fu Club - I simply wanted to not name it as a style or association, and simply call it what it was. However what it actually was turned out to be the founding of a new association and dojo, just like Shiro Tora was in the more recent years.
Shiro Tora is the White Tiger
he represents the West, the season of autumn
Byakko as one word is White Tiger in Japan
Byakko Ryu is a name I have been contemplating for future use if we expand what we do as an association of clubs
Bai Hu is the Chinese for White Tiger, which doesn't sound so good
White Tiger represents the element metal in the gogyo
Feng Wei in Chinese is Suzaku in Japanese, a great name for a MA dojo
Feng Wei is more accurately the phoenix
Zhue Que means red bird
a more accurate translation of red is vermillion, a more specific shade of red
Suzaku translates as Vermillion Bird, though Red Bird or Phoenix sound better
Fire Bird or Fire Hawk also work
The common bird used in MA is the Crane, so Red Crane
Aka Tori is the literal translation of Red Bird, as one word spells Akatori
Hi No Tori would be the literal way to say Fire Bird
In this situation we use hi rather than ka as fire, as we would use do rather than chi as earth
The bird's element is of course Fire, it's direction is South and it represents Summer
Just as the White Tiger of the West is symbolic so is the Red Bird of the South
So the Sozaku training that was going on in the early 90s at the TNKFC has influenced and founded a lot of what we do at Shiro Tora in the early to mid (what decade is this, the "teens")?
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Bruce Lee warned people against getting caught in the "classical mess" of any one martial art and to train in as many arts as possible to build your own system OF TRAINING, by which he didn't mean YOUR OWN ART.
We do now, of course, have people giving out black belts in JKD.
Bruce's concept was actually to cross train and not be someone doing an MA, just do what you needed to do - he had a much more pure vision
it's the people who tried to turn JKD into just another MA system, the opposite of what he said to do, that caused the later confusion
Gracie's wanted a system that would work for them against any opponent - the fact their "their" MA became something that people who copy and distort later on is again against the original vision
Neither Bruce or Helio wanted any MMA style, that was not the point they were working to get across
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Tactics are even more important - not just HOW to kick but WHY and WHEN.
most people who stick to a traditional art are become more blinkered
- what Bruce Lee called "The Classical Mess".
Bruce Lee referred to savate in great depth when he was developing Jun Fan Kickboxing, and many 2nd and 3rd gen JKD instructors in USA are seperately qualified savate instructors.
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Five Ways of Attack
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/804/ways-attack
Attributes
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/489/attributes
The IJ - the eye jab
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/405/ij-eye-jab
This is the strike that never fails!
Nobody can withstand a finger jab to the eyes, it doesn't matter what training they've had, how strong they are, or what drinks or drugs they have ingested.
It is the primary strike in JKD and one of the first and most important strikes we perfect in Feng Wei.
Anybody who has got a bit of dust or sand in their eye knows how painful it can be and how much it can distract you. Imagine what a full force fingertip will do!
The eyeball is the weak link in anyone's chain.
If you only ever learn one "pressure point", learn the eyeball.
If you only ever perfect one PE, make it the eye jab.
PEs - Pre-emptive strikes
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/373/pes-pre-emptive-strikes
Closing the gap - and NOT the Wing Chun way!
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/257/closing-gap-wing-chun
Feng Wei
shirotoratiger.proboards.com/thread/4/feng-wei
This is the best class to start with as it just requires an empty room and people. It's diverse and we train in drills over modules for maximum skill update. I've had a lot of success with this format before and it isn't rivalled by anybody else doing the same thing.
It takes the core skills of Wing Chun, but not just traditional WC, but the modified style, and also the BMS that I did with Derek. It's similar to what I was teaching in Warlingham in 93-96, but a lot looser.
I've also added a lot of Jun Fan and JKD drills over the years, and a lot of the boxing skills.
There are also drills from karate, Thai and Kali, as well as Jujutsu.
Like I said, we'd have to call it something other than WC or JF.
(But it's just a name, don't fuss over it!)
I've adapted the functional training for the streets of UK at the start of the 21st century, so it really is a new streetfighting system. It contains the drills myself and my doormen practiced and used, and it's effective in those scenarios.
It's in the spirit of what Bruce was doing back in the 60s, but it's a long way from the JKD I've done at the end of the 90s with Dan and Bob. It's a bit like what Rick Young does, a bit Paul Vunak.
It's MY JKD - I just don't call it JKD.
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There are five recognised ways of attack:
Single Direct Attack
Attack By Combination
Progressive Indirect Attack
Hand Immobilisation Attack
Attack By Drawing
Hand Immobilisation Attack (HIA)
This is what we see in JKD and Wing Chun as trapping.
If I am going to use my jab to my opponent's face and he has his lead hand blocking my route, I jam his arm at the elbow with my rear hand and hold open the line for my attacking punch. This pak sao entry is the basic Wing Chun attack.
There are five recognised forms of defence:
Interception
Evasion
Parry and hit
Block and hit
Distance
Interception
The most advanced of these is Interception, in which we do not even consider the opponent's technique, we just intercept his forward motion as he moves in and blow him away with a powerful blow of our own. The stop hit is the obvious example of this. Bruce Lee, who developed his base art of Wing Chun with drills from boxing, took the idea of the stop hit - it's concept - from the art of fencing. This is how he came up with the name for his system Jeet Kune Do "The Way of The Intercepting Fist". Bruce has been quoted as saying that if someone was to learn his punch technique, along with closing the gap, that was all they would ever need to learn, and that they could "blow away" anyone, regardless of style or grade.
This takes martial art to it's highest level, where a true mastery of distance and timing has been developed. Regardless of what the opponent intends to do, he needs to come towards you to do it - he needs to step into range. When the moment is right you close what is left of the distance down to create the ideal range for your own technique, giving him no chance to launch his own attack.
Bruce developed the aweseome "Inch Punch" from Wing Chun's straight blast for this purpose. My own Wing Chun teacher Master Derek Jones was devastating with his own inch punch, and has given amazing public displays of this technique, which I am fortunate enough to have on video.
Any technique could be used for this purpose, the cross would be an obvious one, so would the gyaku zuki, taking on board karate's maxim about "one hit, one kill".
Obviously, interception, the stop hit, is something that will only come to you after many years of practice, through many rounds of sparring, as you become able to land the shot as the opponent starts to move in.
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JKD
Jeet Kune DO
The Way Of The Intercepting Fist
Bruce has been quoted as saying that if someone was to learn his punch technique, along with closing the gap, that was all they would ever need to learn, and that they could "blow away" anyone, regardless of style or grade.
The rest of the training and system is for what happens if you don't get the Interception
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We don't "do" Jun Fan in STMA , we follow the same progression through the same arts
We don't "do" JKD in STMA, we follow the principle and concepts
We do not call what we do "JKD"
Or we do "do" JKD, we just don't call it that
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REAL fighting is not
choreographed exchanges you see in movies
the tournament matches with referees and rules
When it comes to a REAL fight most martial artists aren’t ready for it
They train in controlled environments, following a linear logic that assumes fights will stick to one style, one technique, one range
a real fight doesn’t work like that
It’s chaotic, unpredictable, and unforgiving
The only rule is there are no rules
That’s the kind of fight Jeet Kune Do (JKD) was designed for
Bruce Lee understood this reality.
Between 1964 and 1973, Bruce and Dan dissected hundreds of martial arts, picking and blending elements from 26 of them
The goal wasn’t to create a “perfect style”
it was to build a system that prepared you for the brutal reality of combat
Here’s how JKD works:
It’s not about mastering one style.
JKD teaches you to flow seamlessly between techniques and ranges.
It’s not about choosing between a boxer’s jab, a Wing Chun trap, or a Muay Thai clinch
it’s about using whatever works in the moment.
It’s built for all four ranges of combat:
Kicking range: Keep the fight at a distance.
Punching range: Close the gap with speed and precision.
Trapping range: Dominate in close quarters with control and pressure.
Grappling range: Handle takedowns and submissions when the fight hits the ground.
Most martial artists never test themselves outside their comfort zone.
The Tae Kwon Do student assumes their kicks will keep opponents at bay.
The Wing Chun practitioner believes they’ll control the fight in trapping range.
But what happens when the fight doesn’t stay there?
They lose.
Bruce Lee’s philosophy was simple:
“My movement is a result of your movement, my technique is a result of your technique.”
JKD doesn’t lock you into one way of fighting.
It teaches you to adapt, moment by moment, to the energy, movement, and range of your opponent.
This adaptability is why JKD isn’t just a collection of techniques
it’s a mentality.
A readiness to flow with the chaos of a fight.
every martial art has strengths and weaknesses.
Western boxing excels at punching but lacks kicks.
Wing Chun dominates in trapping range but struggles against grappling.
Tai Chi is powerful in redirection but vulnerable to overwhelming pressure.
Bruce didn’t try to combine styles for the sake of it.
He used their strengths to build a system that prepared you for any opponent, in any range.
In JKD, you don’t train to win in one dimension.
You train to survive in all of them.
when you step into the gym, ask yourself:
are you training for the fantasy of fighting
or the reality?
Real fights don’t care about your style, your rank, or your techniques.
They test your adaptability, your attributes, and your ability to act without hesitation.
That’s what Jeet Kune Do is all about
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How and why is it that a "Martial Arts" Black Belt with years of training can lose in a Street fight to an untrained thug?
The answer isn’t found in their techniques.
It’s in their attributes—the qualities that shape a fighter.
Attributes like:
Killer instinct: That switch to attack mode without hesitation.
Sensitivity: Feeling your opponent’s moves, not just seeing them.
Timing: Landing the blow at the perfect moment.
In Jeet Kune Do, techniques are just the tip of the iceberg.
The real fight is won beneath the surface, where your reflexes, power, and adaptability lie.
Bruce Lee understood this.
That’s why Jeet Kune Do isn’t about cataloging moves.
It’s about how you perform them.
A jab that’s telegraphed or poorly timed? Just a jab.
But a jab thrown with the right attributes? That’s Jeet Kune Do.
This is why JKD emphasizes attribute development.
Whether it’s sparring with a stick moving at 150 mph to sharpen reflexes or knife sparring to fine-tune sensitivity, the goal is clear:
build the fighter, not just the repertoire.
Because in a fight, it’s not the belt around your waist that matters
it’s the attributes inside you.
