Jeet Kune Do is a single art, but it expresses it self in many ways. Tim Tackett and I wrote about this subject in our book, “Jeet Kune Do Kickboxing.” When you are studying JKD with someone, do not make the mistake of thinking that because your instructor may teach you slightly differently than another instructor, that you are not learning, “authentic” Jeet Kune Do, or vice versa. My objective here is not to get into a discussion as to what might or might not be deemed “authentic” when it comes to Jeet Kune Do (It would merely open another can of worms in the already tumultuous JKD world and I have neither the time nor the inclination to waste my energy engaging in such debates).

As a martial artist, your body is the “instrument” you use to communicate with in combative form. And the more finely tuned your instrument, the higher degree of efficiency and effectiveness it can express, and the greater your ability to move your body and adapt instantly and harmoniously to whatever type of opponent happens to be in front of you will be. While your entire body is the martial instrument, the various elements used in striking such as your hands, feet, elbows, knees, and even head, make up what are often referred to as the combative “tools of the trade.”  Each of these various combative tools needs to be developed, maintained and/or sharpened on a daily basis in order to be kept in perfect working order and be most efficient and effective. A proficient martial artist must possess the ability to relate their various strikes to an opponent as part of an intuitive arsenal, and develop the ability to strike from any distance, at every angle and with either arm or leg to take advantage of the moment. To help facilitate this, the continual development and refinement of the various striking tools should make up a significant portion of your training regimen.

Okay, this blog is a personal one. It’s about me. In the over 37 years I’ve been involved in Jeet Kune Do, I feel that I have been blessed in so many ways, and I want to share a few of them with you. In what ways have I been blessed? --

Let me ask you something. What would you do if:

 a) There were no training partners available for you to work out with?

 b) You didn’t have access to any type of training equipment to use?

 c) Your training time was limited to only 10 minutes per day?

It’s a well-known fact that Bruce Lee's forearms were incredibly developed. Bob Wall, who worked with Bruce in two movies stated, "Bruce had the biggest forearms proportionate to anybody's body that I've ever seen. His forearms were huge. He had incredibly powerful wrists and fingers." Taky Kimura, Bruce's first assistant instructor and oldest friend noted, "If you grabbed hold of Bruce's forearm, it was like grabbing hold of a baseball bat." My teacher Dan Inosanto told me, "Bruce had such a powerful grip that he could take you to the ground simply by grabbing one of your wrists and squeezing. The pain was so intense that even if you wanted to hit with your free hand or kick you couldn't. He would also use his forearm like a club to smash into your arms and knock them aside. "

The image which you hold in your mind about a movement greatly influences the structure of the movement. The sensations that you focus on during the performance of a movement is of crucial importance in determining the actual form of the movement. If you change the area of focus through what is known as the “ideo-motor set-up”, you will change the structure of the movement and modify the technique.

Due to recent circumstances, it has become necessary to clearly identify the requirements for posting comments to my blogs: