Is Jeet Kune Do consider a Chinese Martial Art?

Is Jeet Kune Do consider a Chinese Martial Art or is it consider a mixed martial art

__________________
The knowing of Violence and living in no violence brings peace. Shaolin Chuan Fa {Kung Fu}
myspace.com/shaolinkempopr
http://groups.msn.com/shaolinkempofkc

i thought it was a 'concept' that could be applied to any art, not an art of itself

__________________
"Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter." - Sir Winston Churchill

Fu-Pau is correct, but it is a principle of concept that embraces the MMA philosophy.

Peace-
Cam

__________________
Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

“	Fu-Pau is correct, but it is a principle of concept that embraces the MMA philosophy	”

I didn't know that! I always thought it was a system in itself. So what your saying is that JKD adapts itself to what your style is

I always knew it was a philosophy, however i always thought it contained some basic core structure. Everytime I've witnessed any type of JKD practicioner it always looked like Wing Chun to me.

JKD drills are based heavily on Wing Chun and other Chinese martial arts, including Judo/JuJitsu, and does have some basic principles as well as postures, etc. However Bruces want was for each individual to find what works for *that* person, and discard all other techniques, in order to, eventually, learn about *yourself*. So JKD really has no direct correlation to MMA, although many think that is the case:

Certain styles are so huge that one could spend many many years learning all the forms and applications, etc. A complete system like Pai Lum has combined in its curriculum standing and ground fighting, etc. If one trained Pai Lum and then JKD, one would go from embracing ALL of the ideas of Pai Lum, to only embracing a subset of it, that subset which works best for THAT person. It just so happens that many JKD people find it more efficient to apply JKD to an array of martial arts...Although, to date, Ive never trained at a TMA school that only taught one style.

To quote the founder:
"Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so that it can ssume all forms, and since it has no style, Jeet Kune Do fits in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do uses all ways and is bound by none and, likewise, uses any techniques or means which serves its end. In this art, efficiency is anythign that scores".

So, really, to try and correlate JKD directly to Wing Chun, MMA, or any other martial style is in itself stripping JKD of its greatness. JKD transcends that, and is IMO, an abstract generalization of martial arts. JKD does have drills, etc based on arts, but to learn those drills and use them only is to miss the point.

__________________
PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

PlumDragon, thank you for the information. So in a way, are you saying that JKD follows along the lines of what the Shaolin temples did in absorbing all types of fighting styles into one type of fighting style or does it just become part of the style by utilizing what is efficient within that system I have always been fascinated by JKD and it's philosophies mainly because of Bruce, but I never really understood how one could just do JKD as a system in itself. From what you are saying you really need to already have studied some type of martial arts in order to get anything out of JKD. If you do not have that base then what are you to draw on to become proficient Please don't take any of this the wrong way I am just trying to learn more about this system.

“	I didn't know that! I always thought it was a system in itself. So what your saying is that JKD adapts itself to what your style is	”

No... JKD actually IS "your" style. It is not a syatem and will always differ from person to person and never be the same for any two people.

“	I always knew it was a philosophy, however i always thought it contained some basic core structure. Everytime I've witnessed any type of JKD practicioner it always looked like Wing Chun to me.	”

JKD itself doesn't contain a core structure. There are people who learned under Bruce and teach as he did but basically they are either teaching "their" style or Bruce's "style". ANyone's JKD may contain WC... or it may not contain any WC at all.

Too many people dogmatized what Bruce did and turned THAT into JKD, which is actually what Bruce said NOT to do. A lot of these people teach that "style" as JKD, but it is really not because it is taught the same to all people. Other teachers "kind of" get it and they teach what is called JKD concepts, which is basically modern MMA principles utilizing other arts than the core dogmatized MMA arts and is mostly FMA based.

“	So JKD really has no direct correlation to MMA, although many think that is the case:	”

Well... yes and no. Depends on which definition of MMA you are subscribing to. If your definition of MMA is the actual sport itself, then no, JKD is not related. If your definition of MMA is the dogmatized training philosophy of 90% of the current MMA competitors (boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and BJJ) then it does follow the JKD philosophy but has fallen into the trap of boxing itself in and dogmatizing. If your definition of MMA is simply "mixing martial arts" to come up with a diverse skillset that suits YOU as an individual, then yes, that is JKD and that is also MMA.

“	So in a way, are you saying that JKD follows along the lines of what the Shaolin temples did in absorbing all types of fighting styles into one type of fighting style or does it just become part of the style by utilizing what is efficient within that system	”

Neither. The first example you mention above sounds very much like dogmatized MMA training today. The second sounds a lot like the way I train and teach. JKD was somewhere in the middle of those two. It doesn't automatically define what is efficient and inefficient within a system. What is considered efficient will differ from person to person and each individual will wind up utilizing different techniques from the same styles.

To make it as simple as possible...

JKD is an entirely abstract concept that has no techniques, no forms, no mechanical skills, no structure or drills and only 1 principle... To study as much as you can (different styles and arts) and to choose whatever works best for YOU as an individual from all your experiences and then form YOUR system around that.

Peace-
Cam

__________________
Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

JKD gives both the student and the teacher a lot of freedom, but then that often turns into wondering. JKD is often an excuses art, not the art itself but many that claim to train in it.

It's too easy to say anything fits and nothing is certain, sounds good but often there are no fair comparisons. To simply say I do not forms is great if you don't like forms, but then doing it that way you will never know what you don't know.

If you take another approach that often happens in the many variations of JKD in that you learn a little of this and a little of that and put it together, first you miss the real connections, second you miss the depth of things.

There are common basics in all arts but basic is not so basic.

__________________
You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.

Oh and to answer the question...no

__________________
You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.

That means that JKD does not have a ranking system or Katas or forms It just has concepts, philosophy and fighting techniques, that if you dont have basic MMA experience you lost

__________________
The knowing of Violence and living in no violence brings peace. Shaolin Chuan Fa {Kung Fu}
myspace.com/shaolinkempopr
http://groups.msn.com/shaolinkempofkc

“	That means that JKD does not have a ranking system	”

Correct. There are some people that teach a style and give ranks and call it JKD but they are missing the point. True JKD does not have a ranking system because there are no set guidelines to make up a ranking criteria.

“	or Katas or forms	”

Nope.

“	It just has concepts, philosophy and fighting techniques,	”

No. It doesn't "have" anything... no concepts, no philosophy and no fighting techniques. JKD itself IS a philosophy.

“	that if you dont have basic MMA experience you lost	”

Not sure I understand that part of the statement...

A person can train in 24 different styles and call what they do JKD. A person can train in 24 different styles and use 1 technique from each style and call what they do JKD. A person can train in only 1 style and call what they do JKD. A person can know only 1 technique from only 1 style and call what they do JKD.

JKD is not a style or a set of mechanical skills or techniques or principles. It is not a set of forms or a training regimen. There is no "set" of anything that defines JKD.

JKD is an individual's sole pursuit to gather knowledge and techniques from as many different sources as that individual deems fit. Each individual will set their own guidelines. During this pursuit, the individual's gathered knowledge and skill set will ultimately become that individual's "style". It's not something that the individual can actually teach to someone else because what works for that individual may not work for someone else. When most people train in what they are calling JKD (with ranks and set techniques) they are more than likely learning what Bruce's "style" was at the time of his death from the knowledge he had culminated up to that point. The people that teach JKD in this manner missed the whole meaning of JKD.

Peace-
Cam

__________________
Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

that means, if you dont have basic Martial Arts experience, your lost

__________________
The knowing of Violence and living in no violence brings peace. Shaolin Chuan Fa {Kung Fu}
myspace.com/shaolinkempopr
http://groups.msn.com/shaolinkempofkc

“	that means, if you dont have basic Martial Arts experience, your lost __________________	”

That is what I'm saying. If you don't have any concept of basic MA then JKD would probably not be for you, right

I still think most of ya'll are missing the point...

JKD is the pursuit of building MA experience.

Peace-
Cam

__________________
Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

well, sort of yes and sort of no- it is a fighting system. he was one of the first to really start to use the word system over the word style.
He brought concepts from styles under a method of application (his) and built a system.

__________________
You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.