Diocletian Posted March 13, 2003 Posted March 13, 2003 Hi all, I've got a general question for some of you forum-goers who are familiar with Jeet Kune Do. While I've never seriously studied it myself, I have picked up a copy of the Tao and have spent some time reading through it while sitting around bored at work. I started taking Wing Chun a few months ago, which was the martial art that Bruce Lee trained in while he was growing up in China. Thus far, the classes seem to place a great deal of emphasis on "trapping," which involves immobilizing an opponent's arms to facilitate striking. Aside from the obvious differences is punching form, trapping is where Wing Chun really differentiates itself from Western boxing--it relies more on parries and trapping techniques for defense and preparation for hitting, whereas Western boxing relies almost entirely on slips, bobs, and weaves to get around punches and counter-attack. Considering his roots, I kind of expected Bruce's Tao to include some more in-depth discussion of trapping techniques; somewhat to my surprise, he instead focuses a great deal on Western boxing (in fact, he probably wrote more about boxing than anything else) and hardly mentions Wing Chun's immobilizations at all. So, with that said, I guess my question is... do your JKD classes touch on trapping techniques? Wing Chun's sensitivity drills are, at least to me, a lot of fun and entirely practicle in a fight. As a sport, boxing doesn't allow competitors to trap or pin an opponent's arms, but in a brawl, it's one of the best ways to disable his/her guard and land some good punches. I'm looking into taking some JKD classes, and I'd like to know as much about what it entails as possible before commiting to the commute (no local trainers, unfortunately). So what do you guys think?
Kirves Posted March 24, 2003 Posted March 24, 2003 One of the main tenets of JKD is to focus equally on all fighting ranges, instead of specializing on one or two of them. So, percent wise, there's less trapping and more other stuff in JKD than in Wing Chun. But as said, JKD trains for all the ranges, so trapping is involved, but the trap techniques are from several arts, including but not confined to Wing Chun, Kali/Escrima and Muay Thai. Thus JKD trapping has lots of differences when compared to pure Wing Chun trapping, but also similarities.
Kaju_influenced Posted March 26, 2003 Posted March 26, 2003 I would very much agree wit kerves however the essence of JKD is not based on a style such as wing chun or western boxing, ranging,appreciation for speed, timing and energy is of essence in any training i would think as bruce said him self to take from a style what is usefull and discard what is useless and adapt it to what is originaly ur own, not in those exact words but u get the point! Another thing a real life situation is very diiferent from training in the dojo so i think along side wit JDK try to go for something only combat oriented such as Muay Thai, Vale Tudo, ect... but i do admit training with Sifu Dan inosanto in JDK is an unforgetable experience, JKD will definiately give u that edge u need on the street and in competition. GOOD LUCK KEEP TRAINING AND ALWAYS WORK HARD AT IT! "Sweat more in the dojo,bleed less in the street"Kajukenbo fighters axiom.
wcnavstar Posted March 27, 2003 Posted March 27, 2003 A point to remember for all of you is that Bruce Lee never completed the Wing Chun Stlye. In fact he never came close. Thus his knowlege of the martial arts was very limited to what he knew of Wing Chun. Thus his inclusion of many of the techniques from Western Boxing and other style such as Muay Thai, Savate, and Western Wrestling. Also a good Wing Chun sifu does not teach traps, by learning the form and doing the drills. The trapping comes as a result of the nutural motions employed in Wing Chun fighting. As well when you reach the Bui Jee level of Wing Chun you learn to Bob and Weave as well as extremely close range fighting. It is mainly to teach you emergency techniques; hence, the bobbing and weaving. Very Respectfully wcnavstar "We work with being, but non-being is what we use" Tao Te Ching
WCBWD Posted June 5, 2003 Posted June 5, 2003 Just a quick questions regarding Kirves post. As I am new to Wing Chun .. Can you please illustrate to me the different ranges ?? From my understanding I though all confrontations were at one range only, which would be close range. How does one fight at long range? Thank you
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