A letter from Mark Lonsdale, student of the arts.
For many years I have been interested in Bruce Lee’s Theories regarding Martial Arts Cross Training and I have taken Bruce’s ideas and have applied those ideas to my own Martial Arts practice. Unfortunately, much as I try, I am never going to have Bruce’s Skill level.
I Boxed at amateur level as a School boy and I spent roughly Seven years training part time in Judo from December 1994 to just before Christmas in 2001and gained a 1st Dan, and in addition to this I gained a 3 KYU (Blue Belt) in Jujitsu in 1997 and a Certificate for Chen Style Tai Chi 9 form in 2008, and from 2011 to 2020 I Studied Yang Style Tai Chi Part time until the Club shut because of the Pandemic and sadly the Club hasn’t come back. From 2018 to 2019 I trained in Wing Chun part time and recently I have gained my Blue Sash in Shaolin Kung FU. At the Shaolin Kung Fu club, I am learning traditional Shaolin Kung Fu alongside Shaolin Kick Boxing and I have recently taken up Aikido and I am finding the unarmed side of the Art very difficult to learn and yet I am not struggling with the weapons side of the art. For me I find it very humbling to start off as a complete beginner as a white belt being at the back of the class as appose to being at the front of the class with a Black Belt and this, I find is very good for the Soul as I am stepping out of my comfort zone.
Hope you find what I have written below interesting.
Bruce Lee’s concepts were very different to the Classical Approach. JKD is a concept not a Style which is about taking the essence from both Oriental and Western arts and putting it all together. At the time when Bruce Lee was alive the unarmed JKD techniques were derived from Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Western Wrestling, Japanese Jujitsu, Judo, Boxing, Thai Boxing and Savate. Original JKD in some ways looked similar to MMA the main differences are that most of the Vertical Grappling techniques in original JKD are derived from Western Wrestling and most of the Kicking techniques are derived from Kung Fu and he also included sticking hands and trapping and close-range techniques that are commonly found in Chinese arts like Tai Chi and Wing Chun and in addition to this he included sticking legs which is used in Wing Chun Kung Fu.
How did original Jeet-Kune-Do look in a combat Situation. Well, if a person was too far a way to use Western boxing against their opponent they would use kicking blocking and parrying techniques mainly derived from Kung Fu. If they were close enough to use Western Boxing they would use Western Boxing and if they were in close quarter Sticking hands distance they would use (Chi Sau) Wing Chun Kung Fu Sticking hands and some Downing the Enemy (Shuai Jiao) techniques derived from Tai Chi Push Hands Contest e.g. trips, takedowns, throws and pushes as well as the locking techniques of Jujitsu, and the trapping and close quarter striking techniques of Wing Chun Kung Fu and the Sticking Legs of Wing Chun Kung Fu. If the fight went any closer than that they would use techniques mainly derived from Western Wrestling and if a person was on the floor with the enemy, they took most of their ground holds from Judo with the rest of the ground holds being derived from Western Wrestling and they took most of their Chokes, Strangles and locking techniques for ground fighting from Japanese Jujitsu. At the time Brazillian Jujitsu (the Worlds most effective ground fighting art) was not widely known. That is why a modern-day Jeet-Kune-Do practicsioner should take their ground fighting from Brazillian Jujitsu.
Bruce Lee’s concept of Jeet-Kune-Do was heavily influenced by Western Fencing and he taught his students to use a Western Fencers Stance as well as the foot work of Western Fencing. Bruce was introduced to Western Fencing from his brother Peter who was a British and Commonwealth Champion.
In Jun-Fan Jeet Kune Do Simply to Simplify a Free Finger Pointing Special from Martial Arts Illustrated Dave Carnell says.” In Western Fencing, the distance maintained between two fencers during a bout was known as the fencing measure. By discarding the sword Bruce adopted the distance whereby the opponent could not reach him with a hit without first taking a step forward. This became known as the “fighting measure.” Bruce Lee believed in using the fighting measure pre-fight in a street situation. What Mo Teague refers to as the Invisible Fence is very similar to the Fighting Measure. The Fighting Measure stands a good chance of working if a person can spot a street situation at its early stages, but it will not work in a crowded bar for obvious reasons.
In fencing the feeling of the opponent's movement through your blade is called “Sentiment-du-Fer.” This same idea is also used in Wing Chun Kung Fu in a sticking hand situation and in Tai Chi Push Hands Contest because you can feel what the other person is going to do because of the sensitivity. If Bruce was in a sticking hands situation and the other person tried to hit Bruce he would either trap and hit, or trap hit and lock, or trap and throw with a Tai Chi Shuai Jiao technique, or just down the enemy with a Tai Chi Shuai Jiao technique if the momentum of the opponent was used against them, or he would trap and hit and apply a Jujitsu locking technique followed by a Tai Chi Downing the enemy (Shuai Jiao) technique, or he would trap hit lock and move in close to the opponent so he is out of close quarter sticking hands distance into what Bruce called Grappling Range and throw the opponent to the ground with a Judo sweep.
In Western Fencing a simultaneous parry and hit is used, and Bruce added this to his unarmed fighting techniques and referred to it as the Stop Hit. For example, if the opponent was to lunge for would and attack Bruce Lee with a hay maker style punch Bruce would use a block from Western Boxing and would hit the opponent under the chin with a Western Boxing Uppercut if the Opponent was too far away for close quarter Sticking Hands, and he would also use Simultaneous attack and defence if he was in a Sticking hands situation.
Here is a quote from Bruce Thomas’s book Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit.” The first time Bruce put on boxing gloves as a teenager, he became an interschool champion, beating the three-year title holder. He had fenced with his brother (a Commonwealth Games Champion) and done some Tai Chi with his Father. He had trained intensively in Wing Chun while being involved in almost daily street fights in Hong Kong. Before coming to America, he learned forms from other styles of Kung Fu, such as the “Praying Mantis,” Choy Li Fut, “Eagle Claw,” and Hung Gar. In the States he had practised Judo with Taky Kimura. “Fred” Sato, and Jesse Glover. He had trained in Filipino Martial Arts with Dan Inosanto and travelled to meet instructors from other styles. The champion Wrestler Gene LaBelle played Bruce’s patsy in many episodes of The Green Hornet, and the two had become close friends and had traded techniques. Bruce had met with Wally Jay, a Judo and Jujitsu exponent who was responsible for many innovations in those fields. He worked with Karate champions Bob Wall, Chuck Norris, Mike Stone, and Joe Lewis. He tried Thai Boxing, Western Boxing, Savate (French Foot fighting), and learned a few dirty tricks for good measure. From this potent cocktail of diverse influences emerged his modern unorthodox fighting method.”
Here is another quote from Bruce Thomas’s book Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit from Bruce Lee’s friend and Student Dan Inosanto.” But Bruce kept a lot of things to himself… He was into Chi development. The first thing on his schedule was Meditation. What I’m trying to say is that he sort of pointed his students in one direction and pointed himself in another.”
Best Wishes Mark Lonsdale
Thank you Mark for your contribution. Richard
For many years I have been interested in Bruce Lee’s Theories regarding Martial Arts Cross Training and I have taken Bruce’s ideas and have applied those ideas to my own Martial Arts practice. Unfortunately, much as I try, I am never going to have Bruce’s Skill level.
I Boxed at amateur level as a School boy and I spent roughly Seven years training part time in Judo from December 1994 to just before Christmas in 2001and gained a 1st Dan, and in addition to this I gained a 3 KYU (Blue Belt) in Jujitsu in 1997 and a Certificate for Chen Style Tai Chi 9 form in 2008, and from 2011 to 2020 I Studied Yang Style Tai Chi Part time until the Club shut because of the Pandemic and sadly the Club hasn’t come back. From 2018 to 2019 I trained in Wing Chun part time and recently I have gained my Blue Sash in Shaolin Kung FU. At the Shaolin Kung Fu club, I am learning traditional Shaolin Kung Fu alongside Shaolin Kick Boxing and I have recently taken up Aikido and I am finding the unarmed side of the Art very difficult to learn and yet I am not struggling with the weapons side of the art. For me I find it very humbling to start off as a complete beginner as a white belt being at the back of the class as appose to being at the front of the class with a Black Belt and this, I find is very good for the Soul as I am stepping out of my comfort zone.
Hope you find what I have written below interesting.
Bruce Lee’s concepts were very different to the Classical Approach. JKD is a concept not a Style which is about taking the essence from both Oriental and Western arts and putting it all together. At the time when Bruce Lee was alive the unarmed JKD techniques were derived from Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Western Wrestling, Japanese Jujitsu, Judo, Boxing, Thai Boxing and Savate. Original JKD in some ways looked similar to MMA the main differences are that most of the Vertical Grappling techniques in original JKD are derived from Western Wrestling and most of the Kicking techniques are derived from Kung Fu and he also included sticking hands and trapping and close-range techniques that are commonly found in Chinese arts like Tai Chi and Wing Chun and in addition to this he included sticking legs which is used in Wing Chun Kung Fu.
How did original Jeet-Kune-Do look in a combat Situation. Well, if a person was too far a way to use Western boxing against their opponent they would use kicking blocking and parrying techniques mainly derived from Kung Fu. If they were close enough to use Western Boxing they would use Western Boxing and if they were in close quarter Sticking hands distance they would use (Chi Sau) Wing Chun Kung Fu Sticking hands and some Downing the Enemy (Shuai Jiao) techniques derived from Tai Chi Push Hands Contest e.g. trips, takedowns, throws and pushes as well as the locking techniques of Jujitsu, and the trapping and close quarter striking techniques of Wing Chun Kung Fu and the Sticking Legs of Wing Chun Kung Fu. If the fight went any closer than that they would use techniques mainly derived from Western Wrestling and if a person was on the floor with the enemy, they took most of their ground holds from Judo with the rest of the ground holds being derived from Western Wrestling and they took most of their Chokes, Strangles and locking techniques for ground fighting from Japanese Jujitsu. At the time Brazillian Jujitsu (the Worlds most effective ground fighting art) was not widely known. That is why a modern-day Jeet-Kune-Do practicsioner should take their ground fighting from Brazillian Jujitsu.
Bruce Lee’s concept of Jeet-Kune-Do was heavily influenced by Western Fencing and he taught his students to use a Western Fencers Stance as well as the foot work of Western Fencing. Bruce was introduced to Western Fencing from his brother Peter who was a British and Commonwealth Champion.
In Jun-Fan Jeet Kune Do Simply to Simplify a Free Finger Pointing Special from Martial Arts Illustrated Dave Carnell says.” In Western Fencing, the distance maintained between two fencers during a bout was known as the fencing measure. By discarding the sword Bruce adopted the distance whereby the opponent could not reach him with a hit without first taking a step forward. This became known as the “fighting measure.” Bruce Lee believed in using the fighting measure pre-fight in a street situation. What Mo Teague refers to as the Invisible Fence is very similar to the Fighting Measure. The Fighting Measure stands a good chance of working if a person can spot a street situation at its early stages, but it will not work in a crowded bar for obvious reasons.
In fencing the feeling of the opponent's movement through your blade is called “Sentiment-du-Fer.” This same idea is also used in Wing Chun Kung Fu in a sticking hand situation and in Tai Chi Push Hands Contest because you can feel what the other person is going to do because of the sensitivity. If Bruce was in a sticking hands situation and the other person tried to hit Bruce he would either trap and hit, or trap hit and lock, or trap and throw with a Tai Chi Shuai Jiao technique, or just down the enemy with a Tai Chi Shuai Jiao technique if the momentum of the opponent was used against them, or he would trap and hit and apply a Jujitsu locking technique followed by a Tai Chi Downing the enemy (Shuai Jiao) technique, or he would trap hit lock and move in close to the opponent so he is out of close quarter sticking hands distance into what Bruce called Grappling Range and throw the opponent to the ground with a Judo sweep.
In Western Fencing a simultaneous parry and hit is used, and Bruce added this to his unarmed fighting techniques and referred to it as the Stop Hit. For example, if the opponent was to lunge for would and attack Bruce Lee with a hay maker style punch Bruce would use a block from Western Boxing and would hit the opponent under the chin with a Western Boxing Uppercut if the Opponent was too far away for close quarter Sticking Hands, and he would also use Simultaneous attack and defence if he was in a Sticking hands situation.
Here is a quote from Bruce Thomas’s book Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit.” The first time Bruce put on boxing gloves as a teenager, he became an interschool champion, beating the three-year title holder. He had fenced with his brother (a Commonwealth Games Champion) and done some Tai Chi with his Father. He had trained intensively in Wing Chun while being involved in almost daily street fights in Hong Kong. Before coming to America, he learned forms from other styles of Kung Fu, such as the “Praying Mantis,” Choy Li Fut, “Eagle Claw,” and Hung Gar. In the States he had practised Judo with Taky Kimura. “Fred” Sato, and Jesse Glover. He had trained in Filipino Martial Arts with Dan Inosanto and travelled to meet instructors from other styles. The champion Wrestler Gene LaBelle played Bruce’s patsy in many episodes of The Green Hornet, and the two had become close friends and had traded techniques. Bruce had met with Wally Jay, a Judo and Jujitsu exponent who was responsible for many innovations in those fields. He worked with Karate champions Bob Wall, Chuck Norris, Mike Stone, and Joe Lewis. He tried Thai Boxing, Western Boxing, Savate (French Foot fighting), and learned a few dirty tricks for good measure. From this potent cocktail of diverse influences emerged his modern unorthodox fighting method.”
Here is another quote from Bruce Thomas’s book Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit from Bruce Lee’s friend and Student Dan Inosanto.” But Bruce kept a lot of things to himself… He was into Chi development. The first thing on his schedule was Meditation. What I’m trying to say is that he sort of pointed his students in one direction and pointed himself in another.”
Best Wishes Mark Lonsdale
Thank you Mark for your contribution. Richard