You know what Grinds my Gears?

[Vicious117]

What I am really starting to get fed up with these days are the people who claim to teach or study JKD. What i have noticed from many vids and books, is that they ALL LOOK THE SAME! I mean, if every JKD man believes in their own way of expressing the Martial Arts they have learned, then why do they all look the same?
its like MMA, the name means Mixed Martial Arts, while all we usually see are; forms of boxing/kickboxing and jiu jitsu or judo. Now im not meaning anything bad by that, nor am i saying that those are the only styles, but im using this as an example. Most MMA artists fight in an almost identical fashion (once again just generalizing here). So when i see vids like this

YouTube - Martial Arts Training

and compare them to this

YouTube - Explosive Jeet Kune Do

or

YouTube - JKD Documentary - Preview


And many others alike, i see they all look the same or similar.
What im saying is that i feel that many out there are merely imitating what they see, or molding what they know down into what they think JKD should be.
I cannot explain it very well, but i feel we have molded JKD into a style full of set rules such as;
-one has to lead shin kick then jab
-one has to know wing chun or use wing chun trapping
-one has to do things the way Bruce Lee did them

while i understand that there has to be a base or root for JKD practitioners to learn from, all i see are the basics. I see people sticking to them as though they are law. when we see demonstrations of JKD today, we see what Bruce or Taky or Dan taught, but we are not moving forward with those teachings. Its like learning any other art and though JKD is a philosophy, it still has its techniques which formed from that Philosophy.And though those techniques form as basics when one starts out to learn the art, just like other arts, we are not moving forward and coming up with new ways to execute those techniques.
If i am not making sense i apologize, i know i am just rambling on about my thoughts.

[Superman17]

I am not a JKD I think its a cool art, and I would like to learn it, but I have studied a lot about JKD, and from what I understand from my studying, Bruce wanted JKD be more a philosophy then a martial aspect...

If this is the way Bruce wanted it to be then I don't understand why they don't follow the Tao of the art???

[WC_Lun]

I understand what you are saying. You have to realize a couple of things though. First, with the true practitioners of JKD they are going to follow the same core concepts that Bruce established. That is because they are effective and that's what JKD is about more than anything else...effectiveness. If varied practitioners of a martial art follow the same concepts they are going to look similiar.

The pretenders are going to look as close to what Bruce Lee did as they can because he is one of the most famous and marketable martial artist. If what they do looks similiar to Bruce's JKD then it'll be good enough to fool the uninformed masses which means money.

I have a question for you, bro. Why do you care what it looks like? Why does it need to be different from when Bruce Lee created it? If what is being taught is effective, why give a damn what it looks like? It seems you are falling into a trap that many people fall into. Being different just to be different is just as bad as following the herd just to not stick out. When it comes to fighting this is doubly bad. It doesn't matter if what you do is different or the same as everyone else you know. It doesn't matter if it is pretty to watch or makes your eyes bleed to view. All that matters is if it works. Stop viewing martial arts you see, including JKD, on whether its boring, flashy, or something everyone else is doing. View it with one criteria, will it work? I think this will open your eyes to a lot you aren't seeing right now.

[Chad]

First I'd like to point out that the videos you picked were more Jun FanJKD not JKD Concepts.

Secondly WC is right in the sense that alot of MMA works for the masses as a set style.

Thirdly, I would not ever ever have a stance that Bruce Lee had, punching from the waist, because his boxing doesn't look as good as it could be. In saying this, Muhamid Ali had a much lower guard than most boxers, so it is whatever works

[Vicious117]

Originally Posted by WC_Lun

I understand what you are saying. You have to realize a couple of things though. First, with the true practitioners of JKD they are going to follow the same core concepts that Bruce established. That is because they are effective and that's what JKD is about more than anything else...effectiveness. If varied practitioners of a martial art follow the same concepts they are going to look similiar.

The pretenders are going to look as close to what Bruce Lee did as they can because he is one of the most famous and marketable martial artist. If what they do looks similiar to Bruce's JKD then it'll be good enough to fool the uninformed masses which means money.

I have a question for you, bro. Why do you care what it looks like? Why does it need to be different from when Bruce Lee created it? If what is being taught is effective, why give a damn what it looks like? It seems you are falling into a trap that many people fall into. Being different just to be different is just as bad as following the herd just to not stick out. When it comes to fighting this is doubly bad. It doesn't matter if what you do is different or the same as everyone else you know. It doesn't matter if it is pretty to watch or makes your eyes bleed to view. All that matters is if it works. Stop viewing martial arts you see, including JKD, on whether its boring, flashy, or something everyone else is doing. View it with one criteria, will it work? I think this will open your eyes to a lot you aren't seeing right now.

No you are greatly misunderstanding my point. First, id say that i do not ever view Martial Arts on their being flashy or dull. That is a great mistake you have seen in my posts. Maybe int he past i used to think like that, but no not now and not ever in the future. My eyes were opened a while back, so forgive me if i seem a little angry towards your post, it is because "is it effective" is how i find the martial art i want to learn. Second i am not saying that everyone should look different, i am saying that JKD seems to not be Evolving and going forward from what we see in the vids. Think about it like this: In wing chun Vids we always see chain punching and Chi Sao, but is that really all that's in the arsenal of WC?? of course it isn't.

MY point is more towards your second post which is where people try to imitate other JKD greats, and try to make a profit. It is closer to that point. I am not saying people should stick out or its bad to look the same, my point behind it is the fact that jKD is not moving in any direction. Out of the vids ive seen, id hear people say "this is/ is not JKD". They aren't talking about the philosophy aspect, but the physical, which limits their choice of techniques that DO work. I seriously Doubt Bruce would've wanted people to use the same techniques without coming up with new effective ways of executing them.

[WC_Lun]

I don't have any patience for the pretenders either. However, JKD HAS evolved. If you need proof of that, look at some of the better known JKD teachers. Look at what they are doing and you will see progression, though they still stick to the core concepts. As far as your comments about chain punching and chi sao, I've seen a lot of that from people who have no wing chun experience. I also see guys who are Wing Chun, yet do not follow the concepts. Its just part of it. Not everyone has the same goals or focus so they will be different and many times lesser in thier training.

[Vicious117]

Originally Posted by WC_Lun

I don't have any patience for the pretenders either. However, JKD HAS evolved. If you need proof of that, look at some of the better known JKD teachers. Look at what they are doing and you will see progression, though they still stick to the core concepts. As far as your comments about chain punching and chi sao, I've seen a lot of that from people who have no wing chun experience. I also see guys who are Wing Chun, yet do not follow the concepts. Its just part of it. Not everyone has the same goals or focus so they will be different and many times lesser in thier training.

you do have a point there. People Like Larry, Taky, Dan, etc etc as well as Tommy Carruthers. Yes, mostly my problem is with the pretenders as well. That last part did open me up though. I can see that a person's goals in an art also affects their performance.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Vicious117

People Like Larry, Taky, Dan, etc etc as well as Tommy Carruthers.

Dan Inosanto and Larry Hastell (RIP) certainly changed JKD from what it was with groundwrk now fully incorporated (in the form of BJJ). However, Tommy Carruthers has NOT evolved the style at all, he is in the Jun FanJKD part, whereas LArry and Dan were part of the Concepts movements