Although Bruce Lee officially closed his martial arts schools two years before his death, he allowed his instructors to teach privately. Since his death, Jeet Kune Do has split into different groups. There are two major branches:
- The Original (or Jun Fan) JKD
branch, whose main proponents are Taky
Kimura, James Lee, Jerry Poteet, and Ted
Wong; these groups principally teach
just what Bruce Lee taught, and
encourage the student to further develop
his or her abilities according to Bruce
Lee's teachings.
- The JKD Concepts branch, whose
main proponents are Dan Inosanto, and
Larry Hartsell; these groups have
continued to modify Jeet Kune Do, under
the philosophy that it was never meant
to be a static art but rather an ongoing
evolution, and have incorporated
elements from many other martial arts
into the main fold of its teachings
(most notably, grappling and Kali /
Escrima material).
To understand the branches of JKD it is
important to understand the difference
between the two "types" of Jeet
Kune Do:
- A. JKD framework This type of
JKD provides the guiding principles.
Bruce Lee experimented with many styles
and techniques to reach these
conclusions. To Lee these principles
were truisms. The JKD framework is not
bound or confined by any styles or
systems. This type of JKD is a process.
- B. JKD Personal Systems This
type of JKD utilizes the JKD framework
along with any techniques from any other
style or system to construct a
"personal system". This
approach utilizes a "building
blocks" manner in which to
construct a personalized system that is
especially tailored to an individual.
Lee believed that only an individual
could determine for themselves what the
usefulness of any technique should be.
This type of JKD is thus a product.
Lee believed that this freedom of
adoption was a distinguishing property from
traditional martial arts.
There are many who confuse the JKD
Framework with a JKD Personal System (IE.
Bruce Lee's personal JKD) thinking them to
be one and the same. The system that Bruce
Lee personally expressed was his own
personal JKD; tailored for himself. Before
he could do this, however, he needed to
first develop the "JKD Framework"
process. Many of the systems that Bruce Lee
studied were not to develop his
"Personal JKD" but rather was used
to gather the "principles" for
incorporation in the JKD Framework approach.
The uniqueness of JKD to Lee is that it was
a "process" not a
"product" and thus not a
"style" but a system, concept, or
approach. Traditional martial arts styles
are essentially a product that is given to a
student with little provision for change.
These traditional styles are usually fixed
and not tailored for individuals. Bruce Lee
claimed there were inherent problems with
this approach and established a
"Process" based system rather than
a fixed style which a student could then
utilize to make a "tailored" or
"Personal" product of their own.
The two branches of JKD differ in what
should be incorporated or offered within the
"JKD Framework". The Original (or
Jun Fan) JKD branch believes that the
original principles before Bruce Lee died
are all that is needed for the construction
of personalized systems. The JKD Concepts
branch believe that there are further
principles that can be added to construct
personalized systems. The value of each
Branch can be determined by individual
practitioners based on whatever merits they
deem important. |
