It is a way of studying ourselves and others physically, emotionally and psychologically and learning how to adapt to what happens in our lives. about learning how to develop ourselves in order to increase our awareness and intuitive abilities for quickly creating the most positive outcomes in all situations. We use the study of fear and body tension as our testing ground. The fear that comes from
a combat situation in particular. This is an intense experience that helps us learn how to intuitively decide the best course of action and free ourselves, both in a literal way and as a metaphor for facing life situations. An ancient Chinese Philosophy, Taoism, exemplifies this way of living. The guiding principle is referred to as wu-wei, or "not forcing". The principle is what is meant by rolling with a punch, swimming or floating with the current. Basically using non-resistance to be in the strongest position possible, with the least amount of effort. A good example is seen in the Japanese Arts of Jiu Jitsu, Judo and Aikido, and in the Russian Martial Art, Systema, whereby opponents are defeated by the redirection of the force of their own attack. Practicing this wu-wei principle then, in combat training, becomes not just training for self defense, but a way to train for the application of this principle literally and metaphorically to meet all challenges. It becomes a life style. It is a way of developing a form of intuitive intelligence that fine tunes ones whole organism and awakens all the wisdom of ones intuition, nervous system and inner and outer senses, so as to know in an instant, what to do with minimal thought. This then heightens ones ability to be in tune with and flow with all of life, developing a joy of inner-knowing that makes life itself,a living, breathing art. JKD. (stands for Jeet Kune Do in Cantonese) and refers to the training philosophy and methods developed by the late Bruce Lee and the lineage of the East St. Louis, Illinois branch of Combat JKD, developed and taught by Carl James and Mike Sanlin. It went from Bruce Lee to Dan Inosanto to Carl and Mike, to Stan Brooks and myself and Norman Travis and in the 1980;s, to Christophe Clugston. What we learned and trained was dramatically different in many ways from the many seminar-trained guys around now. Mike was brilliant in in Combat Psychology and Tactical thinking and to this day was one of the very highest level fighters I've ever seen. The JKD way embraces problem solving and a method of analysis whereby each student is led to create, themselves, and figure out what works best for them, their bodies, their strengths and weaknesses. And again, the medium of combative training is a method not only for self defense , but also for solving challenges in life, well beyond combat.
