JEET KUNE DO  

Jeet Kune Do is a martial arts form that was founded in 1967 by the infamous Bruce Lee. The name of this martial art, translated into English, means: "way of the intercepting fist." (Special note - In 2004, the Bruce Lee Foundation decided to rename it to "Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do" to refer to Lee's Chinese given name - Jun Fan. So technically now the literal translation is "Bruce Lee's Way of the Intercepting Fist." ) This is quite an appropriate description as most of the techniques associated with this martial art utilize "on guard" positions.

One cannot know or understand "Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do" without first studying Bruce Lee and his philosophies about martial arts. Those philosophies can best be illustrated by the following story:

Bruce Lee believed that his new martial arts form should be looked upon as a "pathway", and NOT the ultimate "goal" of any practitioner. Meaning simply, that students are expected to modify, add, and delete any aspects of Jeet Kune Do until they develop something that is uniquely their own. Any technique, from any martial art, can be studied and incorporated into any student's "unique style". Thereby, the "individual" becomes, through his own process of self-discovery, his "teacher".

Needless to say that when Jeet Kune Do was first introduced in 1967, these ideas and concepts were quiet revolutionary and soundly rejected by some of the Masters and Grand Masters of the more established martial arts. Because many of these traditional arts are based in religious or deeply philosophic beliefs it was accepted that they "require" complete understanding of, and "adherence" to, certain rituals, rules, training methods, and forms. The idea that a martial arts student could "do and study whatever he wants" was ludicrous.