Jun Fan Gung Fu /Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do background information Jeet Kune Do is the martial art developed by the late great Bruce Lee. Although Lee is mainly thought of as a film star his achievements in the martial arts cannot be ignored. His philosophy and concepts were far beyond his time which led to him training and teaching the World Champion fighters of that time. In the 1960's it was frowned upon for Chinese to teach foreigners but Bruce Lee would teach anyone who was willing to learn. Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun Gung Fu while living in Hong Kong and was one of the first to bring Gung Fu to America. He began experimenting with various fighting systems from all over the globe in an attempt to find the most functional ways of defending oneself. He found that the Wing Chun he had been studying was effective in given circumstances but was at a loss in others. There are four basic ranges of combat for unarmed defense (usually condensed to three). These are Kicking, Punching, Trapping (Clinch) and Ground fighting. We now refer to these as Stand up or Kickboxing, Clinch and Ground. The style Lee had been studying emphasized trapping range with emphasis on limb trapping. He realised after training with boxers, wrestlers and other martial artists that he needed to be a complete fighter that could fight from any given range. His modifications and additions to the Wing Chun style were so severe that he could not call it Wing Chun anymore. He called his new method Jun Fan Gung Fu which literally means Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. It consisted of longe range kicking techniques, boxing techniques (Bruce Lee felt boxing was one of the best fighting systems), various wrestling and grappling techniques blended with his former style of Wing Chun. In 1967 he coined the term Jeet Kune Do (JKD), which translated as 'the way of the intercepting fist'. JKD is a conceptual approach to combat as well as life. It emphasizes self expression, which Lee felt was lacking in the martial arts. JKD's philosophy was to absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. The martial art of Jun Fan Gung Fu was specifically Lee's own. It was his experiences that lead to this expression. So this was Bruce Lee's expression of JKD. What worked for Bruce Lee may not have worked for another who didn't have his speed, timing, and awareness. So another's expression of JKD may not be the same as it's founder, Bruce Lee. Here at the McLeod Academy we believe that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), especially Erik Paulson's CSW methods, are the most effective expression of JKD available. Simple, direct and proven time and time again. During his development of JKD, his friend and training partner was the legendary Dan Inosanto. Inosanto logged more than 2000 hours of training under the master. He was the instructor of Bruce Lee's JKD at the famous Los Angeles Chinatown gym, teaching 95% of the classes there. Many of the techniques Lee had shown his friend were not allowed to be shown at the Chinatown gym. It is due to Sifu/Guro (teacher) Dan Inosanto, that these are available to us. Sifu/Guro Inosanto is an instructor in many different martial arts systems, constantly researching new material, absorbing what is useful and rejecting what is useless. It is down to him and his students in this country, such as the amazing Sifu/Guro Bob Breen, Terry Barnett, Rick Young, Ralph Jones and others, that we have been introduced to other arts such as Kali, Eskrima and Silat from South East Asia.