In 1964, Bruce Lee was introduced to the martial arts community at Ed Parker’s inaugural international tournament.
In his debut appearance, Lee demonstrated famous feats like his signature One Inch Punch and 2 finger push ups. His true impact would be made 3 years later at the 1967 event with displays of speed such as jabs to the eye that couldn’t be blocked, heightened sensitivity with Wing Chun chi sao drills, and most notably sparring exhibitions with training partners James Lee (no relation) and Dan Inosanto where Jeet Kune Do principles would be on full display. In the allotted exhibition times, Bruce would utilize his dominant hand in the lead jab position as a way to measure distance as well as keeping his opponent at bay by threatening powerful straight punches. Lee would also skirt a perimeter just outside of reach, prioritizing timing and accuracy to land successful blows.
On that fateful day, the martial arts world would be exposed to an idea formerly considered disrespectful and even treasonous: cross-training. Masters of traditional styles, many of whom had dedicated decades to the study of their craft, would clutch their pearls at such heresy. In an era of staunch loyalty to one’s style and instructor, BruceLee would promote an ideal of freethinking and open practice of martial arts with the pursuit of sifting through the “classical mess” until what remained was simple economic movement with a singular purpose: victory. Never one to shackle himself with traditional practices that he didn’t feel directly contributed to applicable martial prowess, Bruce would thumb his nose at coordinated and choreographed katas and self-defense techniques in favor of groin shots, eye pokes, biting, and strikes to vulnerable areas like an opponent’s exposed knee. Inspiration for these adaptations can be credited to Lee’s exposure, study, and cross-training of styles including but not limited to Boxing, Savage, Eskrima, Judo, and Fencing. Although he maintained a reputation as a kinetic genius, it can be assumed that his inquisitive and studious nature guided Bruce to a realization hidden in plain sight: it’s all just movement.
Lee would unfortunately be fated to a terribly untimely demise in 1973, leaving behind family, friends, fans, and followers to cherish the impact left on their lives by arguably the most influential martial artist of the last century. In the years immediately following his passing, impersonators and outright charlatans would come out of the woodwork seeking to capitalize on the success of the dearly departed. However ironically, Bruce’s Jeet Kune Do would have an inverse effect on some of his more passionate followers, culminating in a concrete belief that the JKD developed up to Bruce’s death was the end-all-be-all of necessary combat training.
What needs to be understood before continuing to read these writings is that these thoughts carry no disdain for the accomplishment and legacy of Bruce Lee. However, it is my belief that what is espoused, taught, and practiced as JKD is incomplete and primarily adhered to due to its connection to Lee. The man passed away at the, all things considered, young age of 32; what we call Jeet Kune Do is simply where he was in his martial journey at the time of his passing. Had he been blessed with a full life, what he would’ve ended up developing is really anyone’s guess. It is absolutely appropriate to say that he was ahead of his time, but it must also be recognized that his time was over 50 years ago. Allow me to reiterate that no disrespect toward Bruce Lee is intended in these musings.
20 years after Lee’s death, the greatest combat sport commercial ever would take place in the form of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where a family of battled tested Brazilian grappler sought to prove the superiority of their expression of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Championed by the non-imposing Royce Gracie, the brutal efficiency of this grappling art would allow Royce to breeze through unprepared strikers by contorting them into unnatural positions until the only remaining options were to snap, nap, or tap. It became painfully clear that grappling was an area of combat that could not be neglected if one desired to be a well rounded fighter. With that revelation, future UFC events would become level playing fields as martial artists pursued cross training to cover more ranges of combat. It wouldn’t be long before grapplers would find value in prioritizing takedowns and strikers would strive for effective takedown defense, both with the goal of keeping the fight in their respective areas of expertise. Later years would see an influx of world-class wrestlers that would dominate a fight by dictating where it took place, standing or on the ground. It quickly became necessary for strikers and grapplers to train in striking, clinch, and grappling ranges just to keep up.
With the explosive popularity of the UFC inspiring millions to begin training in some form of combat sports, it has also indirectly changed the landscape of— self defense because one must now assume that everyone knows something — be it BJJ, Muay Thai, Shotokan, Boxing, or Wrestling - and one’s training should reflect that. It’s widely beneficial to cross-train in multiple forms of martial arts for self defense because I believe one must understand the mechanics and methodologies of a style to be able to defend against it. For an example of my point, I’d like to shed light on the darker side of society within prison walls, where Survival of the Fittest is law. A prevalent strategy in prison brawls consists of firing off barages of punches to the face to force an adversary to raise their guard, thus creating an opening to go for a double leg takedown — a fundamental wrestling technique. Human nature has us acting against force applied to us, which a double leg capitalizes on. An untrained individual does not possess the honed reaction of sprawling in response to an attempted takedown; it must be learned and practiced.
To provide a more extreme example, weapons or “force multipliers” are a common occurrence in instances of violent crime. In eskrima, a weapon-oriented Filipino martial art, a foundational concept to understand is that of the “zero pressure” principle, in which we identify how a weapon is being utilized and recognize opportunities to engage or disengage the conflict. Zero Pressure applies on 2 scales: one reflecting the arching motion of an attack being swung with a melee weapon like a baseball bat, and thrusting attacks such as stabbing with a knife. In both instances the attack begins from a point of deployment and generates power until met with the point of contact at maximum velocity. Zero pressure teaches you to identify the deployment of the force multiplier and intercept it before maximum velocity can be attained.
These examples simply serve to reinforce the necessity of gaining comprehension of different methods of combat through diligent practice and study, eventually gaining enough insight to be able to recognize common denominators within the principles of application that make a technique effective.
