JKD is more a philosophy than a martial art. You are thinking of Jun Fan Gungfu. Jun Fan is the martial vehicle used to express JKD in a martial way. It is a set of principles that illustrate JKD. It is not the totallity of JKD. JKD has no such limitations. JKD is a way of thinking about and approaching life. Any set of principles whose final purpose is self-perfection/expression/growth is a vehicle for JKD. This is one reason why Lee finally wished he hadn't named his art. People would think (as you do, apparently), that it could only apply to the martial arts. It is larger than that.
Notice, I didn't say basketball was JKD. I said Michael Jordan practiced JKD. By this, I don't mean that following the rules of basketball are JKD; I mean that excelling at basketball, despite obsticles, is the performance of JKD. Not allowing defeat to overcome your drive to grow and achieve is part of JKD. As Jordan has said, he's lost many times. This didn't stop him from becoming possibly the best athlete of his generation, as Lee was possibly the best martial artist of his generation.
It is not what is performed, but how and why it is performed that makes JKD what it is. Not the game but the goal and execution of the game.
A man who learns the set motions of Jun Fan and refuses to go further is not practicing JKD. The baseball player who continually pushes his abilities and endurance in order to grow is practicing JKD.
JKD is just a name. It is the doing that makes it valuable, not the saying.
Notice, I didn't say basketball was JKD. I said Michael Jordan practiced JKD. By this, I don't mean that following the rules of basketball are JKD; I mean that excelling at basketball, despite obsticles, is the performance of JKD. Not allowing defeat to overcome your drive to grow and achieve is part of JKD. As Jordan has said, he's lost many times. This didn't stop him from becoming possibly the best athlete of his generation, as Lee was possibly the best martial artist of his generation.
It is not what is performed, but how and why it is performed that makes JKD what it is. Not the game but the goal and execution of the game.
A man who learns the set motions of Jun Fan and refuses to go further is not practicing JKD. The baseball player who continually pushes his abilities and endurance in order to grow is practicing JKD.
JKD is just a name. It is the doing that makes it valuable, not the saying.
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