Jeet Kune Do and Kali
"There is no debate Bruce Lee is the Father of Mixed Martial Arts."
- Dana White UFC President
Bruce Lee developed Jeet Kune Do (JKD) after a life of studying 26 different disciplines of martial arts, ranging from western boxing to Kali knife fighting. Combining the useful portions of each art, Lee produced an ever-evolving system that teaches the student to use every aspect of his or her body in a fight. Once a person is trained to use the head, elbows, hands, knees and feet, the person can cope with whatever situation is presented, using only the tools necessary to win and walk away. Legendary instructor Paul Vunak sums it up as follows: "A JKD man or woman does not concern him or herself with meeting the average ‘street fighter' or ‘black belt'. Rather, one pictures fighting a crazed guy high on PCP."
In short, JKD Concepts are taught to students not only for the deep discipline it takes to learn them, but to train the student for what we all hope never happens: An attack or physical altercation ("fight") on the street.
This is probably a good point to address the word "fight", and what is meant by the term. You may be thinking, "Well, I won't have any problem, because I don't get in street fights, and I don't go into areas of town where I could run into problems." If you are a parent, you have no doubt spent hours with your children telling them to stop "fighting" (if they have a brother or sister) or else you have lectured your child on why it is bad to fight. Those are not the type of fights you train to "win". Winning an altercation on the street means being able to safely return home. Hopefully, you will never be faced with a situation where your life, or the life of a family member, is in danger. But, bad things happen to good people all the time - we see news reports about it almost daily.
No matter what part of town you live in, or where you work, you have undoubtedly heard reports of robberies, rapes, and gang violence in your city. Not one person who was mugged or assaulted woke up that morning, got ready for school or work, and just knew he or she was going to be physically assaulted later that day. It just doesn't happen that way. Problem is, one never knows what will happen or when it will happen. In this respect, the skills of JKD are like the spare tire in your car, or the lock on your front door - you may never have a flat tire, or burglar-test your door, but if you do you are prepared for the situation.
