|
 A
discussion of the symbol that has come to
further represent Bruce Lee’s Martial Art
must include an explanation of “Jun Fan
Jeet Kune Do” and what it means.
JUN FAN JEET KUNE DO
is the official name of Bruce Lee’s
martial art. Many are familiar with the
short form name, Jeet Kune Do, as coined by
Bruce Lee in 1967. However, since Bruce
Lee’s passing many people have attempted
to teach and capitalize on the name of Jeet
Kune Do, as well as Bruce Lee, and a lot of
incorrect information about the art has
circulated for decades leaving in its wake a
confusion about the teachings and the intent
of the art itself. And so, Bruce Lee’s art
was renamed Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do as a way of
separating it from the chaos that has ensued
since his death in 1973.
The name is made up of
two parts: “Jun Fan” (Bruce’s given
Chinese name) and “Jeet Kune Do” (the
Way of the Intercepting Fist). The
development of Bruce Lee’s art from 1959
until the end of his life was one smooth and
indivisible path. In the beginning, he
referred to his teachings simply as “Jun
Fan Gung Fu”. Later he further refined his
art as a unique gung fu all its own – Jeet
Kune Do.
And now, in an effort to
delineate it once more, we at the Bruce Lee
Foundation in accordance with the Heirs of
Bruce Lee hold out to the world the name of
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do as the guiding light
for the authentic teachings of Bruce Lee.
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do refers to the art
itself as taught by Bruce Lee and as
intended by Bruce Lee in his lifetime. The
above symbol represents the wholeness of
Bruce Lee’s art as the evolutionary
process of one man and his teachings.
Wherever you see this symbol, it refers to
the authentic teachings of Bruce Lee as
continued by his family, select students and
the Bruce Lee Foundation.
The official symbol of
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do is composed of three
elements:
1) Bruce Lee’s Core
Symbol: a yin yang with arrows and Chinese
characters
2) Bruce’s “Lee Jun Fan” stone chop
3) Bruce’s “Loong” or “dragon”
representation
 Bruce
Lee used this symbol as the representation
of his art of Jeet Kune Do, the emblem of
his school, and his personal philosophy.
Bruce Lee himself describes it best:
“In the
yin yang symbol, there is a white spot on
the black half, and a black spot on the
white half. In JKD, Yang (firmness) should
be concealed in Yin (gentleness) as Yin is
concealed within Yang. Thus, a JKD man
should be soft, yet not yielding; firm, yet
not hard. The curved arrows surrounding the
Yin Yang symbol represent not only the
harmonious interplay of Yin Yang but also
the interchangeability of opposites.”
The Chinese
characters that Bruce Lee wrote around the
Yin Yang symbol and arrows are a phrase he
authored and used to represent his
philosophy, which translated read:
“ Using no way as way, Having no
limitation as limitation”.
 The
stone chop, or name stamp, with Bruce
Lee’s given Chinese name (bottom left of
the design) was placed by him on the
certificates that he issued to his students
as well as other documents and
correspondence. The translation of the chop
reads: “By the Name of Jun Fan Lee”
 The
“Loong” character at the bottom right of
the design is Bruce Lee’s personal
artistic rendition of the Chinese character
“Dragon”. Bruce Lee was born in the year
of the Dragon and the Hour of the Dragon and
was nicknamed the “Little Dragon” from
childhood.
Finally,
the square look of the overall design for
the symbol connotes the building blocks of
the art. It is the structure upon which to
build - the foundation from which the art
lives on. The Chop and Loong positioned at
the bottom symbolize that Jun Fan Jeet Kune
Do holds as its roots the totality of Bruce
Lee’s legacy from the traditional to the
individual forms of self expression. The
unity of the three elements shows us that if
the foundation is maintained, inspiration
will be sparked within the individual to
work toward their own personal liberation. ~
WestLord.com The Symbol Meaning |
