I know that this is warmed over ground, but there are so many people
claiming to be experts in JKD, including wing chun men who could not have known Lee, that there needs to be some standard of legitimacy.
IMHO only people who studied directly with Lee should call what they teach
"Jeet Kune Do." 2nd and 3rd generation students should use another name
like jkdc, combat muay thai, american kung fu, or some such.
Lee made a huge mistake in coining the term in the first place, and he made an even bigger mistake by not copyrighting the term in the late 1960s.
There is perhaps one category of "gray area" here- people who did not know Lee but who were students of Lee students when Lee was alive.
Chris Kent (Knudds?) was certified by Inosanto. On the other hand, Gary Dill was specifically forbidden by Jimmy Lee from teaching JKD. sifu Cowles was denied a certificate and told not to teach jkd by Lee himself, so he called his art Wu Wei Quan or something. DeMIle was part of the Seattle group, but called his art 'wing chun do." THat is legit. Now a student of Leo Fong actually has belt ranks at his school- a blue belt in Jeet Kune Do.?????
That is blashphemy.
claiming to be experts in JKD, including wing chun men who could not have known Lee, that there needs to be some standard of legitimacy.
IMHO only people who studied directly with Lee should call what they teach
"Jeet Kune Do." 2nd and 3rd generation students should use another name
like jkdc, combat muay thai, american kung fu, or some such.
Lee made a huge mistake in coining the term in the first place, and he made an even bigger mistake by not copyrighting the term in the late 1960s.
There is perhaps one category of "gray area" here- people who did not know Lee but who were students of Lee students when Lee was alive.
Chris Kent (Knudds?) was certified by Inosanto. On the other hand, Gary Dill was specifically forbidden by Jimmy Lee from teaching JKD. sifu Cowles was denied a certificate and told not to teach jkd by Lee himself, so he called his art Wu Wei Quan or something. DeMIle was part of the Seattle group, but called his art 'wing chun do." THat is legit. Now a student of Leo Fong actually has belt ranks at his school- a blue belt in Jeet Kune Do.?????
That is blashphemy.
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