|
By Christopher John S. Minoza, Special
to The Manila Times
Bruce Lee—the mere mention of
the name conjures up high-flying kicks, lightning quick punches and
death-defying stunts in one’s mind. These feats were forever
immortalized in such movies as The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and Enter
the Dragon. But beyond the action flicks and beneath the actor was
an exemplary martial artist. Lee had developed his own brand of
martial art, which he christened Jeet Kune Do (JKD)—literally
translated as “the way of the intercepting fist.”
Lee was not just an actor.
Despite choreographed fights on screen where he as the protagonist
had to win, Lee constant received challenges and threats off camera.
As noted by Jack Vaughn, author
of The Legendary Bruce Lee, and John Little, author of Words of the
Dragon: Interviews, Bob Wall, a karate champion and co-star in Enter
the Dragon, recalled a Chinese extra taunting Lee that he was “a
movie star, not a martial artist.” Wall attests, “This kid was
good. He was strong and fast, “ but “Bruce kept moving so well,
this kid couldn’t touch him. Then all of a sudden, Bruce got him
and rammed his ass into the wall and swept him, he proceeded to drop
his knee into his opponent’s chest, locked his arm out straight,
and nailed him in the face repeatedly.”
JKD is a modern and practical
street fighting technique that reflects Lee’s own life. Having
been trained by Sifu Yip Man in Wing Chun ( a close-quarter style of
kung fu), Lee’s fighting technique later incorporated elements of
boxing, jujitsu and arnis/eskrima/kali as he absorbed Western
influences in America as well as those from his protégés and
sparring partners Taky Kimura, James Yimm Lee and Filipino Dan
Inosanto. In his brief lifetime (he died in 1973 at age 33), Lee
certified only these three for JKD. All other Jeet Kune Do
instructors since his passing have been certified directly by
Inosanto, who incidentally suggested the name Jeet Kune Do to Lee.
Lee’s book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do was published posthumously.
Jeet Kune Do Peacemakers, an
international group of JKD practitioners, chose the 10 most credible
veteran instructors of JKD from around the world aims to unite all
practitioners and quash division among the JKD community. Aside from
Lee’s original students such as Inosanto, and Ted Wong, the
Peacemakers also named Caesar Jose Perico, head of the Jeet Kune Do
association of the Philippines with more than 20 years of experience
teaching JKD.
Perico distinguishes lee’s
fighting technique, developed in 1965, from centuries-old martial
art traditions: “He taught us to be limited by none. Most
practitioners follow ancient rules or art. The more ancient, the
more famous these arts are. But in reality, any ancient founder
could not adapt to the street violence we have now.”
Perico also differentiates JDK
from sports-oriented martial arts. Sports have rules while the
streets sadly have none. In JKD, you are trained to hit the vital
parts of an opponent instead of avoiding them. JKD encourages the
use of tactics which are considered foul in sports such as jabbing
fingers to the eyes, kicking the knees in, and hitting the groin.
But by no means should JKD be
misconstrued as a promotion of violence. “JKD doesn’t promote
violence but stops violence,” says Perico. He attests, “Fights
can be avoided. I never want to hurt people. I usually walk away. If
there is a threat in front of me I change course. Several times if
the situation is inevitable and I need to fight back, I give a
warning shot by delivering a fast kick in front of his face, and
that’s it. They walk back.”
Widely considered as the first
mixed-martial art, JKD is eclectic, borrowing freely from all forms
and styles of each has its own inherent strengths. This can be
attributed to Lee’s insistence to “research your own experience
for the truth. Absorb what is useful. Reject what is useless. And
add what is specifically your own” as he’d written in his book,
The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. “Using no way as a way and having no
limit as limitation” was Bruce Lee’s motto.
Caesar Jose Perico is currently
sharing his Jeet Kune Do knowledge in Dubai leaving the reins of JKD
Association of the Philippines to his skilled protégé’s Kenneth
Pua and Ariel Lagansua. For details, visit jkdpeacemakers.com or
jkdarabia.multiply.com.
|
