Jeet Kune Do [JKD] is a philosophy, and blended combat system developed by the late Bruce Lee in 1967 and taught to his students Taky Kimura, James Lee and Dan Inosanto.  These were the first and only three people Bruce Lee certified to teach Jeet Kune Do.  Unlike more traditional arts, which are formulaic in approach, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned.  Instead, it is a philosophy of guiding principles centered around core concepts taken from a multitude of Martial Arts and systems.

The underlying philosophy behind Jeet Kune Do is summed up in its motto, “Having no way, as way. Having no limitation, as limitation.” However, just because it is a philosophy it is also an intensely practical and efficient self-defense system developed for real-life situations. Designed for self-defense, Jeet Kune Do focuses on instinctive movements, aggressive counterattacks, and quick neutralization of threats.

When Jeet Kune Do was developed, in the 1960’s and 1970’s, there existed an understanding of separation and segregation of most other fighting styles or Martial Arts. Bruce Lee saw learning only one style as narrow-minded and limiting.  So he sought to change the whole approach to learning how to express oneself through the martial arts. 

He stressed that all martial arts have something valuable to offer. However Bruce thought they were also limited, because they excluded many strengths from other martial arts. So, Bruce Lee sought to create a philosophy that encompassed all forms of martial art.  He adopted a philosophy of… “take from each art that which is useful, and discard that with is useless,” and Jeet Kune Do was the result.

Jeet Kune Do is a blend, of techniques from all Martial Arts.  The stance is largely formed from fencing/wing chun and boxing, the punches from western boxing/wing chun/karate, the kicks are taken from Thai Boxing / Karate / Tae Kwon Do / etc., the trapping is from Wing Chun / Kali / etc., joint locks from Aikido / Jiu-Jitsu / Kempo / etc., ground fighting from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Catch Wrestling / Sambo / Greco-Roman Wrestling / etc., and weapons training largely from Kali / Indonesian arts / etc. All of these are modified slightly to blend together seamlessly. JKD emphasizes concepts in footwork and agility, economy of motion, countering ability and practical self-defense. This realistic, modern training approach cultivates strong physical, mental, and emotional development in the student in all the ranges of combat. 

Jun Fan Gung Fu / Jeet Kune Do is a well-rounded system addressing conceivably all ranges of combat and defense but primarily focused on four ranges.  The goal is to be able to flow efficiently between all Ranges.

At Synthesis Martial Arts we teach a core of techniques and fundamentals; at the higher levels, the student is encouraged to show their own expression of the art!