What's happened to JKD?

[brokenelbow]

What's happened to JKD? I remember seeing Bruce Lee talk about it on the old TV show Longstreet and I was won over. I always thought that guys doing JKD were open minded, questioned everything, were innovators, were advanced students of other arts, and used their own experience as a guide for what worked for them.
The reality is that many JKD players are followers who accept whatever their chosen guru says without question. The reality is that many JKD players are closed minded and rarely if ever try anything new, or retry anything old. Instead of innovating JKD let's others do the leg work but then claims the effort of others as their own. The reality is that many JKD players let the experiences of others dictate what they do.
So what's the state of JKD? Is it progressing in the way Bruce Lee would have brought it along, or is it just becoming a non-classical mess?

[Thai Bri]

But didn't you know? Anyone winning a MMA event is actually a JKD practitioner......

Yeah, right.

[Hunter P]

brokenelbow. You are just plain wrong! I've been studying Keysi Fighting Method an extention of JKD and when my instructor shows me a move, I think. How can I change this so I can use it in a street fight. When your learning the art your given total freedom to develop and learn what you want. There are some trapping techniques that are too hard for me to use... so I don't use them. I've been to Karate and stuff like that, and it's "Stand like this" "attack like this" but with JKD your given freedom to fight and express yourself how you want. That's why my fighting technique looks different from my other class mates.

Yes JKD is progressing. Learn Keysi Fighting Method then get back to me.

[cocoy]

"The reality is that many JKD players are followers who accept whatever their chosen guru says without question. The reality is that many JKD players are closed minded and rarely if ever try anything new, or retry anything old. "


Many but not all, look at the Dog brothers, Matt Thornton, and Eric Paulson. And the fact that Muay thai under Ajarn chai is taught at many JKD places. Some evolve and some become evolutionary backwaters. Make it functional, make it fun, come and play.