At a seminar not too long ago, I was asked by one of the participants if I had ever had to use my JKD. When I answered him that I use it everyday, he looked at me quizzically. Of course I understood that what he meant was had I ever had used JKD for self-defense purposes. But when it comes to the term “self-defense,” we need to look beyond simply a combative situation. We need to look at it as it relates to the big picture which is LIFE.

This is an open letter to all concerning certain issues that have come up recently. Let me start by saying that I am amazed that one article written by me has generated such venomous responses and physical threats from certain individuals within one group. Especially since the onslaught came all at once and almost 13 weeks after the article appeared. When Shannon Lee posted the article on the brucelee.com website on May 18th, 2011, she purposely stated that she thought it would be good to get some discussion going about the subject of the article. Out of the many responses she received concerning the blog, the majority of them were extremely positive and only one or two was negative. Even individuals who disagreed with certain things I wrote engaged in meaningful dialogue about it on the site. (Please Note -- I have included a transcript of Shannon’s video prologue concerning the article at the end of this letter, so that those individuals who are sincerely interested in seeing what she had to say may read it)

Now, I wish to personally address several issues which were posted on public forums as part of this onslaught --

One of Bruce Lee’s oft-repeated quotes relating to JKD is, “I have no technique; my opponent decides my technique. I have no design; opportunity is my design.” This statement has been echoed by numerous other elite-level martial artists such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie, who says that he doesn’t go into a fight looking to use a specific technique or expecting certain things from an opponent. Rather, he adapts himself to whatever situation he finds himself in and what the opponent gives him, and takes advantage of his opponent’s mistakes.

The other day, one of my newer students told me that he had a copy of the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, but that he found the book a little bit obscure, and all over the place, which made it difficult to read. I understood his comments because I have heard the same type of comments numerous times over my years of involvement in JKD, and thought it was a good idea for a blog.