First of all let's define what JKD "was" when it was created before we get into what JKD "is" today. Throughout the 60's and early 70's Bruce Lee spent many years researching what he called "The Truth In Combat". What he was looking for here was what it would take to be a complete fighter. This would mean you would have to achieve a level of ability that would allow you to perform in every scenario you might find yourself in combat. This does not mean you have to be a superhuman to defeat an attacker. Actually its quite the opposite. Bruce Lee discovered that everyone pretty much fights in four main areas these being: Kicking, Punching, Trapping, and Grappling.
So therefore in order to be able to fight for real you must have an understanding of these ranges for REAL. Bruce Lee then started to research everything he could that concerned fighting in these ranges. One discovery he made was that you could Intercept or stop someones attack by striking the focal point of thier attack. This requires a level of timing and can only be achieved by training it in its natural environment. He also discovered that very few poeple had a working knowledge of the Trapping range or Clinch range as many poeple call it today. He also discovered that this range is paramount to defending yourself on the street as you spend the majority of your time here. The reason why is that most altercations tend to happen with alot of grabbing, pushing, holding and punching, holding and stabbing, holding and kicking, choking and grappling. If you think of any fights you've ever seen I'm sure that you can recall one of those things happening in the course of the fight. If you visaulize what it takes to do any or all of those then you can see in your mind that you would have to be standing right in front of that person or that person may appear right in front of you and start an attack. Also very few if any real street or home attacks start with both poeple squaring off in a stance and throwing kicks or punches in an arranged manner.
After learning of these principles he decided that the best thing to do right off was to enter into that clinch range where he then could inflict the most pain to end the altercation and survive the attack. How he achieved this was by entering with an interception and then following up with a Straight Blast to the upper body. This creates a wave of forward pressure that puts your assailant off balance and leaves them helpless for the moment. Hence allowing you to gain the upper hand in the range that you know you will end up in anyway. Now that you are here you can finish this with the tools that are available to you naturally. Bruce Lee found that this method worked very well in empty hand situations , but there was an area in which it was not complete "Weapons"training.
Although Bruce Lee studied many different methods of weaponary, he never really included it in his teaching to other students. The only person that he did any kind of real weapons training with to my knowledge anyway would be Dan Insoanto. When Bruce Lee died he left behind an unfinished piece of artwork for the world to figure out. Or did he? What bruce really wanted was for poeple to be free of all the barriers and for them to think for themselves. I feel he achieved this by showing them that if you keep training with an open mind and keep the training Real then you will find that "Truth In Combat" that you are looking for.
So back to the first question of "What is Jeet Kune Do"? Well I wish I could answer that for you. You see JKD exists on many different levels and is different for each individual person. To understand this you have to look at how it came about and where it has gone. First off it started with Bruce Lee when he came to the States in the late 50's. Througout the 60's he progressively trained and shaped his own art as he learned from others and his own discoveries. When he met Dan Inosanto they did much learning together and progressed it even further until the time of Bruces passing. At this point it was left up to Dan to carry on evolving the art that they named together "Jeet Kune Do - The Way of The Intercepting Fist". Since then Dan has evolved it to a much higher level than it was when Bruce passed away and although it is JKD it is not the exact same JKD that Bruce and Dan did back in the early 70's. It still carries the same principles, but the weapons training that has grown into it made it a much more complete piece of artwork. There are also many other poeple that trained with Bruce on maybe a lesser level than Dan, but they still carry knowledge of what Bruce Lee was conveying to the world and they continue to teach it to the public today. This again creates another level of JKD that exists. You see because JKD is about being free and having the ability to make your own choices in your training then it becomes an interpretation and not a way. Hence the term "Having No Way As Way And Having No Limitation For Limitation".
So what are we left with then? Well its simple. There is my JKD and your JKD and thier JKD. My own may be the same as yours but it does not have to be you see. You may ask - Well then how do you know if it is JKD at all then and not something else? Basically the core principles must be the same in order for it to be JKD. We cannot speak for other individuals and thier JKD, so here is a list of the core principles that sets High Combat JKD apart from other philosiphies as we see it:
"Always strive for something better and settle for nothing less". - I said that :0)
