The ORIGIN of the NAME Jeet kune do

[The Willow Sword]

A fellow martial arts enthusiast was talking to me today and HE brought up an interesting question;"When did Bruce Lee actually start calling his art Jeet june do?" we pondered and finally my fellow enthusiast said " Now he made a movie in thailand called fists of fury(formerly titled "The big Boss) My friend and i both speak and understand a little thai and he made this rather interesting discovery: Jeet in the thai language (pronounced "Yeet") Means F^CK! and "KUNE" in the thai language (pronounced kun) Means "YOU" and of course "DO" is japanese for "way" so could it be that Bruce was joking around knowng that back then and still today there are very few westerners that know thai? his art loosely translated means
The "WAY" to "f^CK "YOU". or a more formal translation the "Way to f^ck you up".

Any Comments on this rather astounding discovery?


TWS

[SifuLMDII]

Hello TWS!

Although there has been evidence to suggest an even earlier date, Bruce Lee's art was referred to as Jeet Kune Do as early as 1967. What you are talking about has absolutely NOTHING to do with the name of the art! Jeet Kune Do is Cantonese for "way of the intercepting fist". Bruce Lee himself explains this in an early episode of the TV show "Longstreet" which was titled "The Way of The Intercepting Fist". This was well before he made "The Big Boss" which was called "Fist of Fury" over here! I hope this clears the air on this subject!

[WinterPalm]

Willow Sword, that name is so much better. The way to fu ck you up! Great and probably true considering what jeet kune do is all about; fu cking people up!!

[The Willow Sword]

sifumdII was a little perturbed at my finding. well no offense intended BUT. i have heard say that Bruce WAS a prankster and given the nature of his "STYLE" it would seem probable that he would adopt a name like that to give to westerners so that they could associate the "Style". which bruce claimed he had no real "Style". i know it seems a bit hard to believe but I think it is right on that he would play a joke on the westerners that apparently hounded him about his "style".

i think its funny,,but i can see where others would not think so..and THAT in it of itself is even funnier

[BeiKongHui]

Do=Way in Japanese
Tao/Dao =Way in Cantonese

[TenTigers]

I like it..I LIKE it!!!! you may be right. Cantonese people are notorious for their puns. Many words and phrases in Southern Gung-Fu have double entendre. Speaking of puns in other laguages, the American GI's during Nam used to write 'Doom on You!" on their helmets and on bombs. It sounds like F*** You in Vietnamese. Also, in Southern Gung-Fu, one of the names for cat stance is diu mah, which when pronounced with the improper tone is "F*** your mother", which is why I say Ding Ji Ma (T-shaped stance) rather than diu ma. A former Gwailo Sifu of mine once was correcting his students, and kept saying,(while somewhat perturbed) "diu-mah, DIU-MAH!" Well, there was a Chinese mom inthe waiting room, and she came in and yanked her kid out of class never to return again. Ding-Ji Mah works for me.

[Vash]

Because it makes so much sense.

[bonetone]

Jeet kuen is the name of a fist form common in some northern styles such as eagle claw. Lee learned this form and a few other northern forms before coming to the states. I read that he wanted to have some fancier moves to show to westerners. I think he borrowed the name from the fist form because the name discribed his fighting strategy.

[Phil Redmond]

bone tone hit the nail on the head. The Jeet Kune form was one of the 10 rows/roads developed for the Jing Wu Association as a way of uniting different CMA systems. Bruce Lee learned the Jeet Kune form from a Sifu in exchange for Cha Cha lessons.

[Phil Redmond]

.

Do=Way in Japanese - Yup
Tao/Dao =Way in Cantonese - nope

Do=Way in Cantonese which has 7 tones.
Tao/Dao is Mandarin

[Vash]

I like TWS's definition.