Why Dan Inosanto is the Leader

[Kickbox]

I read an article in the July 2005 issue of Black Belt magazine that makes more sense about JKD then anything I have read. The article was by Dr.Jerry Beasley. In the article he traces the 1971 "Liberate yourself from Classical Karate" article to the 1970 back injury sustained by Bruce Lee. During the last 6 months of 1970 Bruce Lee was confined to a bed. Linda says that during that time Bruce read the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti religiously. Krishnamurti asked his followers to discard all fixed knowledge because he felt that true knowledge could only be exerienced and not contained. Bruce Lee rewrote several Krishnamurti phrases for his article which fully explained the new JKD.

From 1968-1970 Bruce Lee taught an art with skills, training methods and rank and called it JKD. People like Ted Wong, Dan Inosanto, Jerry Poteet, Joe Lewis and others learned the art of Jeet Kune Do from Bruce Lee. In 1970 Bruce hurt his back, converted to the Jiddu Krishnamurti philosophy and reinvented JKD as a non-art/non-style.

In 1971 Bruce had moved to Hong Kong to make movies and only returned to the US on occassion. On one return Bruce officially closed his JKD schools and disbanned the teaching and practice of JKD. Bruce did not want his students to mistake the old JKD techniques, training methods and ranks for his new Krishnamurti-like JKD that represented no-style/no-art.

Only Dan Inosanto stayed with Bruce after 1971 enough to be taught the new JKD. Linda Lee had taken JKD lessons from her husband and was on the scene when Bruce converted to Krishnamurti so she may also know the difference. True, Guro Dan added 100% of the FMA, Indonesian martial arts BJJ and such to the new JKD but he followed Bruce's instruction in the post 1971 JKD philosophy.

So, according to the article from 1968 to 1970 JKD was an art (OJKD). In 1970 Lee converted to the Krishnamurti philosophy and reinvented his art of JKD to be"the way of no way". If you practice the JKD as taught before 1970 chances are you know the original art of Bruce Lee's jkd. If you practice the method Bruce created after 1971 chances are you are learning the new "way of no way" JKD created by Bruce lee but developed by Dan Inosanto. Both are 100% JKD.

[Hansen]

Thanks for that tidbit. I was aware of Bruce's influence by Krishnamurti, but never thought much about the specific time line when such thinking became part of his philosophy. It does help make sense of why Inosanto's thinking differs from those of the old school students.

However, I still think the so called Original JKD students miss the whole point behind what Bruce was trying to ultimately seek and accomplish. I think Bruce was basically going in the direction of the "no style as style" expression anyway. After all, prior to 1970, he had already incorporated elements from several other martial arts and went far beyond the Wing Chun model. I just think Krishnamurti articulated the concept well and being the philosopher that he was, Bruce took to it. As B.F. Skinner once put it, we tend to read the books that we already agree with. So I don't think it's right to imply that Bruce's philosophy came from Krishnamurti, as some have suggested. Bruce transplated Krishnamurti's ideas, along with the thoughts of Allan Watts and even Musashi, to martial arts but he was already moving in that direction anyway. That's why I disagree with the whole Original JKD position. I think the so called JKD Concept expresses Bruce's latest thinking (prior to his death) quite well, even if some of the specific art forms were not part of his original curriculum. And having knowledge of these concepts enable a student to understand, analyze, and learn other arts much faster if he chooses to incorporate it into his own personal expression of JKD.

[Kickbox]

I remember when Dr.Beasley basically created the "Original" JKD term in Karate International magazine back in the 90's. Everyone seemed to agree with him that there were two JKD's but why" In the article, thanks to Linda Lee, Dr.Beasley was able to put a time line on the transition that makes it all seem a little easier to understand. In some forums people complained about ted Wong and Jerry Poteet because they say those guys were "stuck" in the "old" JKD. What Dr.Beasley's article shows is that what Bruce lee taught to guys like Wong and Poteet was actually JKD ( at least as it was understood before 1970). And the 1971 "Liberate" article finally makes sense. Bruce had an art, he taught the art, he asked others to identify his art, but now in the '71 article he claims he didn't have an art. Now we know why. He was rewriting the Krishnamurti phrases to become JKD.

When people talk about the JKD "concept" they are actually addressing the highly sophisticated Krishnamurti influenced ( Watts also) JKD philosophy that has been expertly "filled-in" by Guro Dan, just the way Bruce asked him to do it. And when people identify OJKD they have the "origin" of the 1960's art hand crafted by Bruce Lee himself. Both are the same Bruce Lee inspired methods with different bodies. Nice work.

[Jbone1]

Good info. I heard Bruce said Dan was too Philippino at one time. Meaning he was so into his arts he couldn't free himself. But he was Bruces closest student and most trusted.

Dan is the man.

[italian_guy]

I fully agree with kickbox, and I add that sometimes people still use the name of Jun Fan Gong Fu, to designate JKD before the style/no style transition.

In books where this terminology (JFGF) is used you can see the original core of the style (see for example http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0953176622/ref=ord_cart_shr/102-9063844-9883332?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0953176614/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/102-9063844-9883332?v=glance&s=books) that relies on the original Wing Chun + kickboxing structure.

However the JKD I study is the one from Inosanto that has added elements taken from other MAs (kali,silat,BJJ,Muay Thay) giving a wide knoledge where the individual should create its own personal style according to the style/no-style principle

[stonecrusher69]

I wounder the poeople who take JKD think they are going to be Bruce Lee or something.To me when bruce died so did his art.

[Jay]

i think bruce less is the only person that is truly a master of JKD the same is true with all founders of the style. I belive in the fact that the student is never better than the teacher(doesnt mean he cant be as good)

[Kickbox]

Good point Jay. Some people say JKD died with Bruce lee. Most say there are two JKDs. The Bruce Lee style called OJKD and the Bruce Lee philosophy called JKDC.

[Scurvy]

I think Ted Wong was Bruce's last student. But I could be wrong.