I am i being conned

[Sphinx]

I have never studied jkd before. I have just started jun fan jkd . I would just like to know,

In tkd there are names given to a set of moves a pattern that u must complete in order to attain a higher belt. I s there anything like this in jkd.

Do all instructors teach the same things to all beginners.

My instructor says that HE does not use uniformsso how do i no when i have achieved a certain grade(new belt).

He taught a combination of an elbow then arm pull/twist two knees and a throw to the ground. Then two more knees when they are on the ground.

He has a pyramid of stages that we have to go through including tactics and stratergies and weapons training is this normal.

[Brokenmace]

It doesn't really sound like you're being conned. But I'd have to see the class to know for sure. You can usually tell when a man is a good martial artist. Is he fluid? Does he possess a certain kind of grace? Flow is one of the most important physical attributes in Jun Fan.

Also, there is a form in Jun Fan, but not every instructor teaches this form. It is called Sil Lum Dao. It is directly from Wing Chun and is meant to teach groundedness, coordination, and fluidity. Even Inosanto doesn't teach it anymore, so I hear.

As for rank marks, you will know when you've reached a certain level of proficiency. Belt tests usually serve one of three purposes: 1) to inflate one's ego 2) to bilk you out of money 3) as a public mark of something already attained, usually for the purpose of helping others below you.

For these reason, most JKD schools aren't very hungup on belts. In fact, Bruce Lee called them "levels" and at one point did away with them, especially for instructor ranks.

My own school uses differently colored shirts to signify various ranges of levels. This is to help lower students with technique, form, etc. A lot of schools could care less about any rank marker.

Hope that helped.

P.S. Don't expect a quick reply for your answer: I'll be away for a week.

[sikal]

Yup ... what Mace said.

I'd add another valid reason for the use of ranks ... when I was coming up under my instructor in Kali and Silat, we didn't use ranks. He knew where we all were in the curriculum. But there weren't many of us and he was the only teacher.

Now, though, I'm one of 3 instructors under him. None of us lives in his area anymore ... we're all out doing our own things. When we visit, though, we often teach classes for him so he can take a break (when we're not there, he does all the teaching).

So ... since I'm not at his school all that frequently, I can't really keep track of who is where in the curriculum. The use of belts (or, in this case, sashes) has helped with that since my instructor started using them. When I go in to substitute teach, I can have a general idea of where each student is from the rank they're wearing.

But aside from the reasons Mace metioned and this one ... there's really no need for ranks. You know the material or you don't.

I'm only peripherally involved with JKD circles ... but a lot of people that I know don't really use any ranks.

As far as the material he's teaching ... sounds like he's teaching valid material. Aside from the Jun Fan elements, there's not really a standard curriculum from one JKD school to another ... and not all JKD schools teach the Jun Fan curriculum.

You'll have a lot of trouble comparing the JKD training to your TKD training. It's like apples and oranges.

Mike