JKD Grappling

[iggyrip]

Hello,

I was looking into studying JKD and would like to know how much grappling is involved. It seems to me, just about all of them work on striking like boxing, kali, muay thai, etc., but I was wondering what the grappling aspect covers.

For those who are studying/practicing JKD, I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanx, Iggyrip

[tallgeese]

It will depend on the school and their focus as well as how broad your defintion of grappling is.

JKD will do a lot of work inside the punching range that involves trapping and such. This can be considered a form of grappling.

If you're speaking of extened, on the floor stuff, lots of JKD places won't do "lots" of it. However, there are certain sects that are involved heavily. Best to ask and see where the individual school and/ or instructor fall on the subject.

[Jay]

The JKD grappling wasn't really developed to a high standard. Bruce had about 36 different moves but never taught anyone. He had Judo experience from Gene LeBell.

There are some grappling moves however its very limited compared to say Brazillian Jiu Jitsu.

[joesteph]

When I took classes in JKD, my instructor explained to me that Lee really focused on the individual, not a "one size fits all" (or "one way for everybody") approach.

The examples he gave were of Ted Wong and Bob Bremer, certainly much different men in size. While Wong's size allowed him to perform certain locks and takedowns with dexterity, Bremer was such a large man that he'd have to work at getting his opponent into those positions, and if it's a true adversary, that training just wouldn't be used.

JKD tries to be as practical as possible regarding the practitioner, and I was introduced to it as a striking-oriented art.

[iggyrip]

Good info. Thanx for the replies. I will inquire at the school I am considering.

Iggyrip

[glockmeister]

In our classes, we do quite a bit of grappling, and we are allowed to grab/strike the groin, bite, use pressure points and many other things not allowed in normal BJJ. It adds a whole new element to the game

[Toptomcat]

The thing you have to realize when you're talking about Jeet Kune Do is that there are two major branches of it today. There's the 'Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do' branch, which mostly tries to practice Jeet Kune Do as taught and practiced by Bruce Lee at one point or another in his life, without much modification. They view Jeet Kune do as a codified martial art. Then there are the 'Jeet Kune Do Concepts' people, who pay more attention to Bruce's advice about integrating the useful parts from whatever martial arts they may come across than his specific notes on how to throw a hook kick. They view Jeet Kune Do as a set of principles that help in the training and development of martial arts, but not as a codified martial art in itself.

I'm not sure about the names- one or both of them may be proprietary monikers for schools/orgs at one side or another of the split- but the split is real.

Anyway, the answer to your question depends on which group you run into. The first group is unlikely to do much grappling beyond limited work at trapping range. The second is highly likely to incorporate much more extensive grappling training, with an extensive component of submission ground grappling- because the state of the art has moved to include such things since Bruce's day.

[baronbvp]

My JKD dojo did the second. The instructor incorporated MMA grappling, mostly BJJ but not exclusively, into the curriculum. It was just too effective not to acknowledge, and a logical transition from trapping to ground fighting. However, some chose not to participate on ground fighting night. I found it harder to stay injury-free at an older age.