Tweet
FYI.... new JKD book
Excerpt from "Jeet Kune Do The Principles of a Complete Fighter" $14.95 @ http://www.ronbalicki.com/welcome1.htm
========================================
In some sense, writing a book on Jeet Kune Do is a presumptuous thing to do. Enter into a discussion about the work of the master may seem absurd when the master himself clearly said:
If people say Jeet Kune Do is different from “this” or from “that,” then let the name of Jeet Kune Do be wiped out, for that is what it is, just a name. Please don’t fuss over it. (208)
Of course, this may just be the greatest expression of modesty in the 20th century. It is more than worth fussing over Jeet Kune Do. But I don’t think that this statement should be taken as an injunction against writing a book like this. First, and foremost, this passage is really more about politics than about philosophy. Bruce Lee warns against setting up camps, creating competing schools, and fighting over who has the “true” JKD lineage. This is wise. But just as important, Bruce Lee provokes a sense of modesty in anyone who wishes to do philosophy and discuss the nature of JKD. Sure we should fuss over what we mean when we say that we are JKD players. However, we simply need to be very careful about what we are doing.
The objectives for writing a book like this are best set out by Linda Lee in the introduction to the Tao of Jeet Kune Do:
“He did not intend it to be a “how-to” book…He intended it as a record of one man’s way of thinking and as a guide, not a set of instructions.”
In that spirit I present this book. I do not presume to create the definitive interpretation of Bruce Lee’s thought. Nor do I pretend to create a “how-to” book that will show the true JKD way of fighting. This book simply represents an honest attempt at presenting some of the results of my many years of martial arts exploration in the JKD tradition. I’ve walked the JKD path for a long time and this is what I have found. If you find it helpful, if you can absorb something that is useful, then the time taken out to write this book will have been time well spent.
========================================
In some sense, writing a book on Jeet Kune Do is a presumptuous thing to do. Enter into a discussion about the work of the master may seem absurd when the master himself clearly said:
If people say Jeet Kune Do is different from “this” or from “that,” then let the name of Jeet Kune Do be wiped out, for that is what it is, just a name. Please don’t fuss over it. (208)
Of course, this may just be the greatest expression of modesty in the 20th century. It is more than worth fussing over Jeet Kune Do. But I don’t think that this statement should be taken as an injunction against writing a book like this. First, and foremost, this passage is really more about politics than about philosophy. Bruce Lee warns against setting up camps, creating competing schools, and fighting over who has the “true” JKD lineage. This is wise. But just as important, Bruce Lee provokes a sense of modesty in anyone who wishes to do philosophy and discuss the nature of JKD. Sure we should fuss over what we mean when we say that we are JKD players. However, we simply need to be very careful about what we are doing.
The objectives for writing a book like this are best set out by Linda Lee in the introduction to the Tao of Jeet Kune Do:
“He did not intend it to be a “how-to” book…He intended it as a record of one man’s way of thinking and as a guide, not a set of instructions.”
In that spirit I present this book. I do not presume to create the definitive interpretation of Bruce Lee’s thought. Nor do I pretend to create a “how-to” book that will show the true JKD way of fighting. This book simply represents an honest attempt at presenting some of the results of my many years of martial arts exploration in the JKD tradition. I’ve walked the JKD path for a long time and this is what I have found. If you find it helpful, if you can absorb something that is useful, then the time taken out to write this book will have been time well spent.
Comment