JKD SUMMIT NOT A JOURNEY, AN ADVENTURE

THE START: JKD NEWSLETTER

Stating that there is a divide within the JKD community is not new news. I have been guilty of taking sides and arguing points of view for numerous reasons. After listening to these sides and personalities go back and forth for years, I’ve realized that there has been little or no growth from it.

If you’re a fan of Bruce Lee, or a student formally or informally of JKD, you’ll have your own opinions of the myths, lessons and even specific topics such as what part Wing Chun plays in JKD. I knew that this was going to be the case when I started to interview people about Jeet Kune Do so I could increase my knowledge of the philosophy. Therefore, before each interview I clearly stated that I wanted to keep politics and personalities out of it. I was amazed by the result.

Since then, over the last handful of years, I’ve conducted dozens of interviews with JKD instructors through my JKDnewsletter.com site. It then evoloved where I was able to meet with several of them in person to get some of their training on video tape, while also expanding on their stories, lessons and tips.

The goal of the JKD Newsletter was made up of three parts. First it is mainly to offer a resource to my martial arts students. I’ve always told my students, that if their instructor ever says that they know it all, run the other way. These interviews humbled me time and time again, reminding myself I have a long way to go and so much more to learn. Therefore, after my original goal of keeping this just to my students, I thought, “Why not make this information open to those outside my student base?”. This led to the online version of the newsletter.

My second goal was and still is to educate myself. There is a lot I don’t know, and I’m motivated by the fact that many of these great instructors are getting up there in age, as shown by the recent passing of some incredible people. I trained privately for a short time with Sifu Hartsell and when he passed, I was like – “Damn – I wish I would have asked him this or that…”. I know many other practitioners have recently felt that with Ted Wong and Jerry Poteet.

Thirdly, I have two young sons, and I would love to have a resource for them too. Just like my students, I want them to hear the stories, lessons, and tips right from the “horse’s mouth”, so to speak.

TRUE BI PARTISANSHIP

During the interviews, whether in person or over the phone, the instructors stayed away from the rumors, opinions, and the taking sides that has divided this incredible philosophy of such a great man. They focused on their insightful lessons, personal stories and if this were politics, “bi partisan” views of growth. Although many were hesitant to schedule a phone interview with me, and many leary of taking the time out of their day to meet me in person, everyone was relieved when I stated that I didn’t want to hear about “JKD politics”.

When I list some of the names I have interviewed, most note that I have a very, very wide spectrum of JKD Instructors and related Experts in these issues. Some would fight to the death defending JKD, and others have left the JKD circles for various reasons. If you’re a hardcore JKD follower, I doubt you’ll agree with everything every instructor says… and that is ok. It is actually what I wanted. Not to create tension or infighting, but to create a simple resource where people can explore, and make their mind up for themselves. I know… what a concept.

There is sometimes a fine line between truly seeking the truth and being judgmental. It is important we all respect each other’s point of view and experiences. One of my “sub goals” was to provoke thought. Within this beautiful gift of martial arts, find what works well for you, in your own arena. The challenge is to still respectfully ask the important questions, and get integrity based answers. Everyone’s viewpoint has merit, however “incorrect” you think it is, and I leave that up to the reader to make that decision for themselves.

EVENT IDEA AND CHALLENGE

After I logged in around 30 interviews, I started thinking to myself how great it would be to get some of these people in the same room, sharing what they have to share. I’m not talking about personal anecdotes or funny stories, but specific techniques of JKD. Immediately, a voice in my head shot back with, “Are you serious?”. Some of these people have said some pretty bad things about each other, why and how could I get them all in one room to teach?

Personally, I love a challenge, even if it means putting up with that little voice in the back of my head. I ended up selecting 17 out of the library of JKD Instructors I had, based on offering an eclectic span of ages, experiences, influences and instructional focus. Out of the 17, 15 responded positively, and said they would love to teach at such an event. The other two simply did not get back to me, and I found out one had a bad email address.
The problem was that I never expected 15 to say yes, so now I had to attempt to coordinate a mixture of people who represented a vast spectrum. Some of the 15 could not make the date, while I tried not to duplicate others who might have had similar pasts or present focuses within their training and teaching. I also took into account how fast people responded, almost like a first come first serve.

I ended up choosing five, consisting of Jim McCann, Tim Tackett, Daniel Lonero, Rick Tucci and Dwight Woods. These gentlemen had an age range from their 20’s to 70’s, some owned 300+ student schools while others taught out of their garage, some have produced DVDs while others do not, some have international seminar schedules while others seem to have the international world come to them at their place of instruction. The date was on, and the instructors were set.

LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE – WORLDWIDE
more to come… part 2 posted soon…

Lee, Love and Life,

Matt

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