Question to all jkd'ers

How many of you guys trained in some other martial art before JKD? what did you train in?
I ask this because bruce lee based his jkd mainly on wing chun and i was wondering how effective it is based on either a different art or none at all

I trained in Isshin-ryu karate, TKD, and kempo before I ever began studying JKD.

Now I realize that I had been doing JKD all along.

To me, JKD is not a style, it is a training philosophy. It accentuated and complimented my existing skills and helped me to become a better martial artist. It is all about mindset, not technique.

But, to answer your question, yes, I was already a black belt in karate and a black sash in kempo before I began studying JKD.

Isshin-ryu, JJJ, Shoalin Kempo Karate (Freddie V rules baby ;) ), JJJ, MT, WC, FMA, JKD, BJJ, JKD, JKD (three JKD schools three flavors) now settled in with both TKD and Karate. Traditional became my path once I stopped looking at what was supposedly wrong with them, and started realizing how rich they are.


Rogue, you're an @ss!! Watchman

Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.
Louis L'Amour

BTW, did I mention that Rogue was an @ss? Watchman

Well I look at JKD more as the philosophy and guideline than as a specific style. When you take this viewpoint, then it really doesn't matter what art you were studying before. I had a year and a half of San Soo training (but that was when I was pretty young) as well as four and a half yrs of Hung Ga Kung fu before I became JKD oriented. My brother had also shown me a little bit wing chun while using me as a training dummy. Currently, my training consists of muay thai and MMA grappling, although I still practice some Jun Fan. I feel that my methods of training and outlook on the arts is still very much in accordance with the principles of JKD. But I do believe that if one really wanted to get a great understanding of Bruce's ideas on fighting then Jun Fan would be the best place to start.