OAKLAND JEET KUNE DO for SELF DEFENSE

What is the martial art of Oakland Jeet Kune Do (JKD)?

JKD (Jeet Kune Do) is a powerful self defense martial art that originated in Northern California from the minds of Bruce Lee and James Yimm Lee. Bruce was a student of the great Wing Chung Kung Fu master Yip Man.

James Yimm Lee (no family relation to Bruce Lee) was an acomplished student of Sil Lum Kung Fu and Judo. In his youth he was an amateur boxer. Later he studied Hung Gar Kung Fu and esoteric Chinese martial arts including the iron palm.

A new force was created when James Lee and Bruce Lee meet in Oakland, California in 1962. There was a tremendous exchange of ideas between these two men, and this ultimately led to the founding of the “Oakland School” for self defnse and martial arts. Some call its methods “Oakland JKD.”

Bruce analyzed a number of fighting forms and systems and developed his own theory of the essence of each. He used the knowledge he gained to develop and create a new self defense program. Economy of movement, non telegraphic moves, simplicity and directness… He called this new martial art “Jeet Kune Do.” In English: “The Way of the Intercepting Fist.” Mr. Lee's ideas and thought possesses can be glimpsed by reading “The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.”

Bruce Lee and James Lee, though they developed knowledge and ability beyond the martial arts masters of their day, thought of themselves as lifetime students. They were always seeking new self defense and marttial arts knowledge. As their knowledge and mastery increased the name of their methodology changed from Kung Fu to “June Fan Kung Fu” and eventually to “Jeet Kune Do” (JKD).

The two great founders of JKD believed that traditional martial arts suffered from one of two ills: 1) by emphasizing the memorization of exact techniques the underlying “truth” of the art was lost over time. As a result, students were learning things that had become impractical for self defnse on the street; 2) by creating rules for sparing and tournaments, the forms were becoming impractical for real life self defense situations where there are no rules. JKD was designed strictly for self defense and individual unarmed combat.

Unfortunately for the martial arts world, both James Lee and Bruce Lee died in the early 1970s. Before his death, Bruce warned his students that “Jeet Kune Do is just a name, do not fuss over it.” He also said that it was like a boat, use it to cross the river and then discard it, do not carry it on your back.

After his death a great deal of “fuss” was made over the name JKD. A division quickly formed. One school of thought held that JKD was about exploration and constant evolution. This “concepts” approach became the originator of mixed martial arts. It emphasizes individual exploration which institutionally has focused on Kali (a derivative of Indonesian martial arts) and Ju Jitsu. Certainly this form of the founders' teaching is a formidable art for self defense and combat. But this is not the approach of the Oakland School or the Macias family.

A second major school of thought, which some call “Original JKD,” or OJKD, makes an attempt to stay true to the methods and techniques that Sifu Bruce Lee himself used. This group is less organized than the “concepts” group. One problem faced by “Original JKD” instructors is that Bruce taught different things to different students, and at times he intentionally withheld knowledge. The result is that various branches of “Original JKD” may not have the same idea of Mr. Lee's method.

Finding the “truth” in anything has never been easy, and there are few guide posts on the pathless path.

Now to answer the question: Does JKD differ from the “The Way of the Intercepting Fist”?

When the split occurred in the JKD world following the death of the great founders, it was largely a split between the Seattle School and the Los Angeles School . Some notable LA school students, however, joined the “original” JKD movement. The Macias family did not join either camp. One reason for this was the strong influence of James Yimm Lee's ideas over the Oakland School students and especially Felix Macias Sr.

A second reason was that while the Macias family teaches and practices the martial art of Jeet Kune Do which was developed by James Lee and Bruce Lee, that martial art has been adapted to deal with contemporary self defense issues. Thus, while this system is "Original", it is not stagnant but ever evolving as the founders envisioned. It is the pathless path.

Sifu Bruce said the we should not fuss over the name Jeet Kune Do. Therefore the Macias family refers to the system of self defense that has been passed down to them through the Oakland School as simply “ The Way of the Intercepting Fist.”

The Macias family continues to practice, teach and further develop this original Kung Fu in Hayward California, only a few miles from James and Bruce Lee's original Oakland school.

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The name Bruce Lee® is a registered trademark of Concord Moon LLP and is used here only to demonstrate historical accuracy.