Can you learn Jeet Kune Do by Yourself?
As an introvert wanting to learn martial arts, I dream of learning martial arts such as Jeet Kune Do by myself. Maybe you are here because you’re an introvert like me or you are just having some trouble finding JKD schools out there. Whatever the case, I’ve made this article to help you decide if you want to learn Jeet Kune Do by yourself.
You can learn Jeet Kune Do by yourself since there are numerous courses online that teach the basics of Jeet Kune Do. However, mastering Jeet Kune Do is quite hard to do by yourself since it is one of the martial arts that require you to learn some forms or movements with a partner.
In this article, I am going to explain if it is really hard to learn Jeet Kune Do. I will go on to give you what makes it easy and what makes it hard. Furthermore, I will discuss if it is possible for you to attain a black belt in Jeet Kune Do at home. If possible, what can we do in order to achieve this?
Is it hard to learn Jeet Kune Do?
Jeet Kune Do is not hard to learn because their moves are efficient. This means is that it is quite rare to see flashy moves in Jeet Kune Do since it is focused on delivering results while saving energy. The simplicity of moves makes it easy to learn. However, mastering JKD is hard because it is a mix of multiple martial arts.
Let me start by explaining why Jeet Kune Do’s moves are easy.
As I said, Jeet Kune Do is focused on delivering results. It is based on efficiency.
Those flashy martial art moves you will see on TV that look good are somewhat rare in Jeet Kune Do.
The reason is that most of those flashy moves leave a person open to be attacked or their moves are very predictable.
In Jeet Kune Do, one of the core fundamentals is that you should not let your enemies know what you’re going to do.
You need to be unpredictable and instead, predict your enemy’s moves.
For example, doing a flashy flying kick will leave a person vulnerable to strikes while in the air. Furthermore, the enemy can easily predict where the kick will fly through since the person can’t change their course while on air.
These types of moves are not seen in Jeet Kune Do because of that reason.
That’s why most would see JKD as boring since their moves are simple but really effective.
But the truth is, those are the moves that are actually effective when defending yourself.
That is also why Jeet Kune Do is famous for teaching moves on how to predict and control your enemy movements such as feints.
Their basis on effectivity makes it a good martial art for self-defense. Plus, it is easy to learn since you will not learn useless or flashy moves in Jeet Kune Do.
However, it is worth noting that there are things that make Jeet Kune Do hard to learn.
The ultimate reason why is that Jeet Kune Do is a martial art made by combining multiple martial arts.
In fact, it is a combination of Wing Chun, Boxing, Fencing, and many more martial arts.
That’s why you’ll learn the best moves on each of these martial ars with Jeet Kune Do which makes it quite hard to learn.
However, it is also worth noting that you will only learn the effective moves in each of these martial arts. So if you worry that you will learn all the moves in all those martial arts, then that is not really the case.
There is also another reason why Jeet Kune Do is hard which we will discuss in the next section.
Can you learn Martial arts yourself?
You can learn martial arts by yourself. However, take note that some martial arts need you to learn with a partner. The reason is that predicting enemy movements is hard to learn all by yourself. That’s why almost all martial arts include sparring in their lessons.
Now, we will discuss the other thing I am talking about.
You can learn almost any martial art by yourself.
For example, learning how to strike is simply mimicking the moves of someone you’re watching on the internet.
That’s why you can learn some basic martial arts by yourself. But not all.
For example, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you need to learn how to grapple, and in grappling, you need to learn this with a partner.
Thus, it is quite impossible to learn BJJ by yourself.
Now, let’s go back to Jeet Kune Do.
Another thing that makes Jeet Kune Do hard is that it is like a mind game.
I said earlier that in Jeet Kune Do, you will learn how to predict and control enemies to do what you want them to do.
That’s why you’re going to learn feints in order to trick your enemies.
However, it is quite close to impossible to master this integral part of Jeet Kune Do by yourself.
You can’t be good at feints if you don’t have anyone to practice it with.
Sure, you can learn basic moves and strikes by yourself but feints are different.
Furthermore, it is one thing to learn the moves, but learning how to control others is especially hard.
This is why a lot of people are saying that Jeet Kune Do is a mind game since you’ll learn how to predict what the other person is doing.
But that just makes Jeet Kune Do harder.
Can you become a JKD blackbelt at home?
You can become a JKD blackbelt while studying at home but remember that it is hard especially if you don’t practice with a partner or trainer. It takes multiple sparring lessons to learn how to apply the moves in Jeet Kune Do. That’s why it is also important if you study at home to have some trainer visiting you from time to time.
As I said earlier, learning Jeet Kune Do requires you to practice with others.
While they have some drills to learn the basics, there are just things that require another person to learn.
An example of that is doing feints.
That’s why if you plan to learn and master JKD at home, make sure to have some training partners. It doesn’t have to be an expert in JKD but at least someone who you can practice with.
I would also like to note that Jeet Kune Do’s difficulty is in the medium category.
In Jeet Kune Do, a determined student willing to push their limits and practice the art rigorously can progress from a beginner with a white belt to the highest ranked black belt in five to six years.
Some harder martial arts can even take 10-12 years just to become a black belt.
So I can say that mastering Jeet Kune Do at home is possible.
If you need information regarding the belt progression in Jeet Kune Do, feel free to check this blog post I’ve made. Here is the link: Does Jeet Kune Do have belts?
