If you value my analysis of Jeet Kune Do lessons built into Bruce Lee’s movies and discussed throughout this website, and you wish to take your Kung Fu training to the next level, consider visiting me in Swanage, UK for hands-on private lessons, suitable for individuals and small groups.
What exactly do I teach?
I teach my own version of Chinese Kung Fu, as Bruce did. I haven’t given it a name, I just call it Kung Fu. It’s mainly based on Tai Chi, Wing Chun and Boxing, as was Bruce’s JKD. I also make use of various other martial arts, as Bruce did, and as he encouraged us all to do.
What exactly do you seek?
If what you seek is JKD: unfortunately, Bruce is gone. And his best students could not do half of what he did. You will need to compromise. The question now is, are you more interested in ‘the letter’ or ‘the spirit’ of JKD.
If you want ‘the letter’ of JKD: there’s plenty of JKD teachers out there, claiming lineage to Bruce Lee, after having trained for some time with someone who trained with someone who trained with Bruce for some time. This could be a route to practising similar exercises to what Bruce had some of his students do, at some time in his life.
If you’re more interested in ‘the spirit’ of JKD, ie, the most important lessons Bruce shared with the world, I’m here to help.
If you want to learn techniques from someone with a solid background in the same styles as Bruce trained in, who followed a similar journey through the martial arts and came to similar conclusions at similar times, I’m your man.
I followed a similar journey through martial arts as Bruce did, not by trying to copy him, but by doing my own thing, just like he did. He was not trying to copy anyone (to the letter), so anyone who tries to copy him (to the letter) is not really copying him (in spirit).
Having said that, I still very much respect the moves & exercises he demonstrated & promoted – especially those he wittingly immortalised on the big screen in the 70s – especially in his later movies, where he had more authority & control. Some of those fight scene moves and combinations make great examples for training.
My journey so far
When Bruce were a child he were exposed to various martial arts, for example, he learnt Tai Chi from his father. I learnt Karate as a child, as it was the only thing available in my local area at the time. I were awarded a black belt at the age of 9, and won various trophies in tournaments for Kata (long solo routines) but I was still generally clumsy, scared and couldn’t fight to save my life.
When Bruce were a young man he started doing Wing Chun – so impressed he was, with its efficiency, practicality and completeness, that in his first book (the ONLY book ever published in his name with his blessing), he pretty much claimed Wing Chun was the perfect martial art. I also started Wing Chun when I went to Uni and became impressed & obsessed in a similar way.
After a few years of Wing Chun under Ip Man lineage, Bruce was still a massive advocate of the general system but started doing some things his own way as he was frustrated with some things that didn’t feel right. Some of Bruce’s teachers (senior students of Ip Man) are on record saying how Bruce was head & shoulders above everyone who trained with him, including those who were supposedly teaching him. I had a similar experience myself, within the same kind of timeframe. I trained with many of the best teachers in the UK and held my own from very early on. Eventually some of the most senior representatives of Ip Man in the world were asking me how I did what I do, and started copying me discretely.
As Bruce developed his own version of Wing Chun, he loved Sticky Hands, liked partner drills, rejected solo forms, and began merging Wing Chun with western Boxing, while also training in other complementary arts and cross-training with the best martial artists he could find, irrespective the style. For example, since meeting Gene LeBell in 1966 on the set of The Green Hornet, Bruce met up with him many more times for about a year to learn basic Judo and wrestling/grappling moves.
I felt the same way after a few years of Wing Chun, so I did similar things myself. I took classes in Tai Chi, Aikido and Ninjutsu, and I did private lessons in Aikido and Judo with some of the best teachers in the UK which turned out to be mutually insightful experiences. I wasn’t trained in Tai Chi from childhood like Bruce was, but I personally feel more at home with this passive/defensive side of Kung Fu, while Bruce appeared & claimed to favour the more aggressive side, at least in his 20s, although there is potential evidence that he admired the other side, at least in his 30s – re, Tao Of Jeet Kune Do (a collection of Bruce’s notes and cuttings from other books, published posthumously without Bruce’s blessing, some of which he may have believed in more than others), “it’s better to endure, if you can” (paraphrasing). Having said that, there is also potential evidence to the contrary, from the same book (“if he graze your skin, you smash his flesh; if he smash your flesh, you break his bones; if he break your bones, you take his life” – again paraphrasing). Also note how Bruce phoned his top student Taky Kimura shortly before Bruce died, to say Sticky Hands doesn’t work so well against someone so big as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Game Of Death co-star) so the focus of JKD training should be more on conclusive sniper action from long range.
To this day, I’m a fan of various martial arts, including some that I have minimal experience with, because I’ve reached a level in Kung Fu where I can observe & appreciate the qualities of these arts even if I can’t find a great local expert to train with. This also means I’m able to watch Bruce’s movies and share insights that other martial artists might not clock on to. Please check out this website to see what I mean, and if you like what you find and wish to take your training to the next level, join me in Swanage, UK for hands-on private lessons in my own version of Chinese Kung Fu that incorporates everything I’ve gained from Tai Chi, Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do plus other complementary martial arts.