Jeet Kune Do: Is it Effective?
When we talk about Jeet Kune Do, many would start thinking Bruce Lee. That’s true because he is the founder of Martial Art. However, since it is really popular, there are actually people asking if it is really effective and practical. Thus, I’ve decided to write this article.
Jeet Kune Do is effective because it has been developed with street fighting in mind. That’s why it is quite rare to see flashy moves in Jeet Kune Do because their focus is only based on the effectiveness of moves. This makes their martial art very realistic compared to others.
But here is the thing. While it is effective, what specific things make it effective? Furthermore, is it still effective even around modern martial art? We are going to answer those things in this article. Let’s start by discussing the effectiveness of Jeet Kune Do.
Is Jeet Kune Do effective?
To know more about the effectiveness of Jeet Kune Do, it’s probably best to start with a part of Jeet Kune Do history.
For starters, Jeet Kune Do (JKD) was created by Bruce Lee. So when it comes to martial arts, it’s still pretty modern and not traditional.
Much of Jeet Kune Do was created by Bruce Lee because of his fascination with Wing Chun.
This means that he has many techniques and crosses with Wing Chun. However, there are some important differences that make JKD unique.
More than anything, JKD is more of a philosophy and a way of life than a particular set of movements.
Bruce Lee was one of the first martial artists that have been training in different styles.
His aim was to search which is the best in each martial art.
Upon searching, he discarded the useless and included the best ones he has learned.
Because of this, Bruce Lee improved and developed Jeet Kune Do.
Jeet Kune Do is actually very effective for fighting in the street. But they also have lots of techniques that have been shown to look pretty efficient in MMA.
Do you know why it is rare to find Chinese Martial Arts in MMA? You can find out the reason in the article I wrote here: Why are Chinese Martial Arts not in MMA?
It took time for him to establish Jeet Kune do but when he did, it was very effective.
Bruce Lee’s moves pursue Lee’s specialty of fighting even against opponents where he is at a disadvantage and primarily works for long-range martial artists such as Conor-McGregor who loves to attack outside, inside, and at a distance.
Slant shot has only been known in recent years and is used by Jon Jones when fighters stop and wear out their legs. This punch was of course basic, Lee’s precious old French kickboxing style.
Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is not just a style of martial arts, but a philosophy of the legendary Bruce Lee.
In 1971, Bruce Lee wrote an essay titled, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. There he described his martial arts and his philosophy.
Jeet Kune Do’s effectiveness lies in breaking the rules of traditional martial arts, using what is effective and useful, rather than fighting according to the prescribed rules.
The goal is to predict, capture, and counter your abilities without hesitation.
Jeet Kune Do is more than a fighting style, and that’s what Bruce Lee wanted in its founder’s philosophy.
He recognized the value of many fighting style techniques and incorporated them into his fighting style and adapted them to be effective without having to fight by the rules.
This style, or rather the philosophy behind the style, has led many to name Bruce Lee the father of MMA today.
Bruce Lee made an effort to call his statement the art of martial arts, which he said would limit the philosophy of martial arts. which directly contradicted the essence of philosophy.
He traveled under various names in 1967 before settling on Jeet Kune Do.
The translation of Jeet Kune Do is Way Of The Intercepting Fist, Where the name keyword is Intercepting. The philosophy of “interception” applied not only to the fighting style but also to mental, physical, and spiritual.
Is Jeet Kune Do Still Effective Today?
Jeet Kune Do is still effective even today because it was developed with street fighting in mind. Its techniques came from the fighting experiences of Bruce Lee and taking good moves from other martial arts then compiling them into one solid martial art.
I can say that Bruce Lee Jeet designed Kune Do with self-defense in mind.
Bruce Lee has a lot of street fighting experience, not only in theory but in actual life.
Another important point was that Bruce Lee’s fight was just as effective as western boxing because he incorporated the elements of boxing into Jeet Kune Do.
Time has tested Jeet Kune Do against western boxing that has become known for its effective use of self-defense.
Jeet Kune Do’s fighting style is effective, as the basis of the style is the moves that Bruce Lee took from other styles and added to his philosophy, rather than maintaining a better execution.
Most of the techniques developed for JKD were to make the style effective for real fighting situations.
This means that instead of learning fighting styles, you can adapt your style to the situation and use different movements and techniques prescribed by the situation.
As JKD was developed for street fighting, techniques taught are still relevant and effective today.
It is important to adhere to the philosophy, but it comes down to developing your own customizations and building modern MMA.
Is Jeet Kune Do the best fighting style?
Jeet Kune do is one of the best fighting styles because it is very practical. It is a collection of moves taken from other martial arts that Bruce Lee compiled into the new one. This means that each move of Jeet Kune Do is very strategic with methods to catch opponents and feint attacks.
Here are some reasons why Jeet Kune Do can be considered as one of the best fighting styles.
Jeet Kune Do is Scientific
The problem with most traditional martial arts is that they make it too difficult.
They usually use all of these great techniques that don’t work in self-defense or combat.
Even with MMA up to a point. JKD cuts shiny things and makes fights easier.
It chooses only the simplest, most direct, and effective technique.
You will also master the techniques that you will actually use in combat and don’t waste time learning tricks.
Jeet Kune Do is Very Strategic
JKD is very strategic.
Its techniques are good to catch the opponent, fake attacks, fake openings, broken pace, the list goes on.
The thing here is that because Jeet Kune Do is a mix of multiple martial arts, it learned to combine all of those despite the differences.
It is actually hard to combine and mix different martial arts since they have different philosophies and goals when fighting.
But actually, due to JKD being more strategic, it was able to combine all of those into a strong mixed martial art.
This is the advantage that JKD has over other martial arts.
Jeet Kune Do is focused on Tactics
Jeet Kune Do is focused on tactics which means that it will only use effective moves.
The reason is that JKD is made for street fights. Thus, it doesn’t really have many rules aside from finding the best forms.
They use what works in a fight even if it is not allowed in other martial arts.
Thus, some JKD moves are actually banned because they are very effective.
However, I would like to note that JKD is not a pure martial art. It involves Philosophy as we will talk about later.
Jeet Kune Do give you Freedom
The advantage that JKD has over other martial arts is its focus on evolving.
Unlike traditional martial arts which always focus on relying on tradition, Jeet Kune Do is focused on finding the most effective moves.
That’s why it is one of the martial arts that teach freedom to its students.
In short, they allow the martial art to change depending on if there is a more efficient move available.
Jeet Kune Do Teaches Discipline and Respect
This is actually what I like about Jeet Kune Do.
They not only teach martial art but also respect and discipline.
When learning JKD, they teach that you should respect others which is what I am always looking for in any martial art.
It is one thing that your martial art is strong and effective, the other is that teaching respect to others and discipline is what matters most.
In fact, I made this website, not because of the strength of each martial art. While that is a part of every martial art, what made me like studying about them is their focus on philosophy and discipline.
This focus on philosophy makes JKD a good choice.
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