Jeet Kune Do

Originally, when Lee began researching various fighting styles, he called it Jun Fan Gung Fu. Not wanting to create another style which would share the limitations that all styles had, he instead described the process which he used to create it:

I have not invented a "new style," composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from "this" method or "that" method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see "ourselves". . . Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don't, and that is that. There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back.

— Bruce Lee[5]

Bruce Lee and his teacher Ip Man

JKD as it has survived since—if one views it "refined" as a product, not a process—is what was left at the time of Lee's death. It is the result of the lifelong martial arts development process he went through. Lee stated his concept does not add more and more things on top of each other to form a system, but rather selects the best thereof. The metaphor Lee borrowed from Chan Buddhism was of constantly filling a cup with water, and then emptying it, used for describing Lee's philosophy of "casting off what is useless".[6] He used the sculptor's mentality of beginning with a lump of clay and removing the material which constituted the "unessentials"; the end result was what he considered to be the bare combat essentials, or JKD.[7] The dominant or strongest hand should lead because it would perform a greater percentage of the work. Lee minimized the use of other stances except when circumstances warranted such actions.[6]

Although the On-Guard position is a formidable overall stance, it is by no means the only one. Lee acknowledged there were times when other positions should be used. He felt the dynamic property of JKD was what enabled its practitioners to adapt to the constant changes and fluctuations of live combat. He believed these decisions should be made within the context of "real combat" and/or "all out sparring" and that it was only in this environment that a practitioner could actually deem a technique worthy of adoption.

Lee believed that real combat was alive and dynamic. Circumstances in a fight change from millisecond to millisecond. Thus, he believed, pre-arranged patterns and techniques are not even close to adequate in dealing with such a changing situation. As an antidote to this line of thought, Lee once wrote an epitaph which read: 'In memory of a once fluid man, crammed and distorted by the classical mess.' The "classical mess" in this instance was what Lee thought of the "not too alive way of the classical kung fu styles".[8]

Seen in many of his movie fight scenes such as in the Way of the Dragon vs Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee fought in a side southpaw horse stance. His jabs and crosses came from his right hand and followed up with a lot of side kicks. Instead of a common check seen in muay thai, Bruce uses an oblique leg kick to block a potential kick. He adopted other defensive concepts found in many other systems such as slipping and rolling from Western boxing and forearm blocks found in Eastern martial arts such as Kung Fu.

Lee's nimble and agile skipping-like footwork is seen in his movies. This technique was adopted from Muhammad Ali's footwork in his boxing stance. This footwork can be achieved from practice using a jump rope as jumping rope imitates this nimble, jumpy action that is a quick way to maneuvre your way around and away from an enemy's strikes. The footwork also has its influences from fencing.

Lee felt that the straight lead was the most integral part of Jeet Kune Do punching, saying, "The leading straight punch is the backbone of all punching in Jeet Kune Do."[10] The straight lead is not a power strike but a strike formulated for speed. It is believed that the straight lead should always be held loosely with a slight motion, as this adds to its speed and makes it more difficult to see and block. The strike is believed to be not only the fastest punch in JKD, but also the most accurate. The speed is attributed to the fact that the fist is held out slightly making it closer to the target and its accuracy is gained from the punch being thrown straight forward from one's centerline. The lead should be held and thrown loosely and easily, tightening only upon impact, adding to one's punch. The punch can be thrown from multiple angles and levels.[11]

Lee believed that explosive attacks, without telegraphing signs of intent, were most effective. He argued that the attacks should catch the opponent off-guard, throwing them off balance and leaving them unable to defend against subsequent attacks. "The concept behind this is that when you initiate your punch without any forewarning, such as tensing your shoulders or moving your foot or body, the opponent will not have enough time to react," Lee wrote.[3] The key is that one must keep one's body and arms loose, weaving one's arms slightly and only becoming tense upon impact. Lee wanted no wind-up movements or "get ready poses" to prelude any JKD attacks. He explained that any twitches or slight movements before striking should be avoided as they will give the opponent signs or hints as to what is being planned and then they will be able to strike first while one is preparing an attack. Consequently, non-telegraphed movement is believed to be an essential part of Jeet Kune Do philosophy.[10]

Lee emphasized that every situation, in fighting or in everyday life, is varied. To obtain victory, therefore, it is believed essential not to be rigid, but to be fluid and adaptable to any situation. Lee compared it to being like water, saying "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."[12] His theory behind this was that one must be able to function in any scenario one is thrown into and should react accordingly. One should know when to speed up or slow down, when to expand and when to contract, and when to remain flowing and when to crash. It is the awareness that both life and fighting can be shapeless and ever changing that allows one to be able to adapt to those changes instantaneously and bring forth the appropriate solution. Lee did not believe in styles and felt that every person and situation is different and not everyone fits into a mold; one must remain flexible in order to obtain new knowledge and victory in both life and combat. It is believed that one must never become stagnant in the mind or method, always evolving and moving towards improving oneself.[13]

Jeet Kune Do seeks to be economical in time and movement, teaching that the simplest things work best, as in Wing Chun. Economy of motion is the principle 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
• Simplicity: Thinking in an uncomplicated manner; without ornamentation

This is meant to help a practitioner conserve both energy and time, two crucial components in a physical confrontation. Maximized force seeks to end the battle quickly due to the amount of damage inflicted upon the opponent. Rapidity aims to reach the target before the opponent can react, which is half-beat faster timing, as taught in Wing Chun and Western boxing.[14] Learned techniques are utilized in JKD to apply these principles to a variety of situations.

"When the distance is wide, the attacking opponent requires some sort of preparation. Therefore, attack him on his preparation of attack. To reach me, you must move to me. Your attack offers me an opportunity to intercept you."[15] This means intercepting an opponent's attack with an attack of one's own instead of simply blocking it. It is for this concept Jeet Kune Do is named. JKD practitioners believe that this is the most difficult defensive skill to develop. This strategy is a feature of some traditional Chinese martial arts as Wing Chun, as well as an essential component of European épée Fencing. Stop hits and kicks utilize the principle of economy of motion by combining attack and defense into one movement, thus minimizing the "time" element.[16]

When confronting an incoming attack, the attack is parried or deflected, and a counterattack is delivered simultaneously. This is not as advanced as a stop hit but more effective than blocking and counterattacking in sequence. Practiced in some Chinese martial arts such as Wing Chun, it is also known in Krav Maga as "bursting". Simultaneous parrying and punching utilizes the principle of economy of motion by combining attack and defense into one movement, thus minimizing the "time" element and maximising the "energy" element. Efficiency is gained by utilizing a parry rather than a block. By definition a "block" stops an attack, whereas a parry merely re-directs it. Redirection has two advantages, it requires less energy to execute and utilizes an opponent's energy against him by creating an imbalance. Efficiency is gained in that an opponent has less time to react to an incoming attack, since he is still withdrawing from his attack.

JKD practitioners believe they should direct their kicks, as in Wing Chun, to their opponent's shins, knees, thighs, and midsection.[17] These targets are the closest to the feet, provide more stability and are more difficult to defend against. Maintaining low kicks utilizes the principle of economy of motion by reducing the distance a kick must travel, thus minimizing the "time" element. However, as with all other JKD principles nothing is set in stone. In typical JKD style, if a target of opportunity presents itself, even a target above the waist, one could take advantage and not be hampered by this principle.

• Long
• Medium
• Close

Jeet Kune Do students train in each of the aforementioned ranges equally. According to Lee, this range of training serves to differentiate JKD from other martial arts. He stated that most but not all traditional martial arts systems specialize in training at one or two ranges. His theories have been especially influential and substantiated in the field of mixed martial arts, as the MMA Phases of Combat are essentially the same concept as the JKD combat ranges.

As a historic note, the ranges in JKD have evolved over time. Initially the ranges were categorized as short or close, medium, and long range.[18] These terms proved ambiguous and eventually evolved into their more descriptive forms,[19] although some may still prefer these original three categories.

JKD's original five ways of attack are:

1. Simple Angular Attack or Simple Direct Attack (SDA or SAA)
2. Attack By Combination (ABC)
3. Progressive Indirect Attack (PIA)
4. Immobilization Attacks (IA)
5. Attack By Drawing (ABD)

The Wing Chun centerline.

Punching from the Wing Chun centerline.

The centerline can be expressed as the height of a triangle.

An animation of mechanical linkage to the shoulders of the triangle illustrates the importance of guarding the centerline.

The centerline is an imaginary line drawn vertically along the center of a standing human body, and refers to the space directly in front of that body. If one draws an isosceles triangle on the floor, for which one's body forms the base, and one's arms form the equal legs of the triangle, then h (the height of the triangle) is the centerline. The Wing Chun concept is to exploit, control and dominate an opponent's centerline. All attacks, defenses, and footwork are designed to guard one's own centerline while entering the opponent's centerline space. Lee incorporated this theory into JKD from his Sifu Ip Man's Wing Chun.[20]

The three guidelines for the centerline are:

• The one who controls the centerline will control the fight.
• Protect and maintain your own centerline while you control and exploit your opponent's.
• Control the centerline by occupying it.

This notion is closely related to maintaining control of the center squares in the strategic game chess. The concept is naturally present in xiangqi (Chinese chess), where an "X" is drawn on the game board, in front of both players' general and advisors.[20]