CHRIS KENT ​JEET KUNE DO

Training is the preparation of a martial artist for the highest levels of performance. In order to reach those levels you need to develop and establish your own pattern(s) for training. I say your own because there is no “one-size-fits-all” formulaic approach that will work for everyone. How you do this is up to you. You may develop your own training regimen or choose to follow an established program developed by someone else, such as a professional martial arts teacher or co

My late brother was a phenomenal guitar player, and completely self-taught. It was his instrument. Each time he took his guitar out to play it, before using it he first spent time it, checking it out the guitar body and neck, listening to the sound each string made as he struck it, and tuning it if necessary. As I wrote in my book, The Jeet Kune Do Guide to Equipment Training, “As a martial artist, your body is the ‘instrument’ you use to communicate in combative form. And th

When I used to travel with my teacher, Sifu Dan Inosanto, and assist him on seminars, on numerous occasions he would demonstrate a particular wristlock or armlock on me and ask the participants, “Where does this lock come from? Who owns it?” Dependent upon the martial art background, one person might answer that it was a ju jitsu lock, while another might say that it came from Kenpo. And so on and so forth. Then Dan would make the point that the fact is that it doesn’t matt

Jeet Kune Do is, as has been written many times, about complete freedom of expression for the individual practitioner. However, when it comes to training and developing ourselves, the use of what I call constructive constraints at times can offer us the opportunity to develop into creative martial artists. When you use constraints you limit what can be done during the training. For example, instead of saying “You can use anything to deal with it,” sometimes I will limit what

I’m sure we’ve all experienced it at one time or another during our training. You’re working hard but you don’t seem to be making any progress. You’re stalled for some reason; or that you feel like you’re stuck on a plateau. Perhaps you start to feel apprehensive or anxious about it. So you work harder, and then even harder. But nothing changes. Then perhaps you get pissed off about it and upset with yourself, which in turn inhibits your progress even more. It sucks. What can

Many of us know the value and importance of having mentors in our life. The dictionary defines ‘mentor’ as “a trusted counselor or advisor.” A mentor is someone you have direct or indirect contact with; that you meet with or talk on a regular (or even irregular) basis, and go to at times for advice or counsel on certain things pertaining to yourself or your life. While a mentor may not instruct you or provide on-the-spot teaching or coaching, they will challenge you to think

For a number of years now there’s been on-going debate from various JKD people and groups concerning the principle of placing one’s strong side forward. When it came to adopting the strong side forward principle, part of Bruce’s thinking grew from his study of Western Fencing and using his lead hand like a sword, especially when using such things as the lead straight punch or finger jab. And think about it for a moment. While most people choose to fight out of a left lead whe

Sometimes in training you may find yourself partnered with a lesser-skilled person, and other times you may have a partner whose skill level is higher than yours. What can you when you are training with or sparring against partners whose level of capability is different than yours? How can you create optimal learning experiences in these types of situations? The thing to understand is that the beginning student defines a challenge differently than an intermediate or advanced

“A teacher functions as a pointer to truth, not a giver of truth…” Bruce Lee What then is the role of a JKD teacher? Personally, I feel that the best answer to the above question was penned by Bruce Lee himself— “A good teacher is a guide, not a guard. He studies each student individually and helps to awaken the student to explore himself, both internally and externally, and ultimately integrate him with his being…” My primary goal as a JKD teacher is not only to instruct, b

Take two individuals who are both training in Jeet Kune Do (or any martial art for that matter). Person A goes to class twice a week for an hour or so but does nothing the rest of the time. Person B takes attends the same classes for the same amount of time, but then also spends 10-15 minutes each day shadow boxing or working out on equipment, going over what they learned in the lesson and experimenting on their own. Putting aside individual differences and all things being