Bruce Lee is a name requiring no introduction. This legend of the martial arts world is often noted for his roles in well known martial arts movies but he is among the world’s most elite martial artists for his study of numerous systems and great accomplishments in competitive martial arts. Though he is probably best known for his starring role in the classic film, Enter The Dragon, his masterpiece was Jeet Kune Do, The Way of the Intercepting Fist. Following a fight in 1965 that Lee felt ran on for too long, he reconsidered his approach to martial arts and developed a system that was the antithesis of the many systems that Lee had been formally trained in. His goal was to develop a new philosophy and approach to fighting that did away with rigid forms and exercises. His new way of martial arts would be highly adaptive to any situation. In interviews Lee has been noted saying,
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
Jun Fan Gung-Fu = Bruce Lee Gung Fu was the first version of Bruce Lee martial art form in the early 1960′s which changed over a course of 13 years into a what is known as Jeet Kune Do. Lee blended several systems to become one. Savate kicks favored from his dynamic explosive kicking and footwork ability. Western boxing, fencing, judo, wrestling thaiboxing and filipino martial arts was also incorporated into his studies and system known commonly as JKD. This concept of using all tools as one tool is nothing new, but in a time when many martial arts partitioner were being separated by culture or traditional dojos, Bruce Lee saw a dynamic common thread through all martial arts forms. When utilize properly, trained and mastered it became an ultimate tool in a defense and offensive martial art form and philosophy that surpassed many.
