Is Jeet Kune Do good for self defense?

Jeet Kune Do is a martial art that was developed by Bruce Lee in the late 1960s. Here, Lee’s goal was to expand on his Wing Chun knowledge and develop a broader system that could incorporate all sorts of martial arts ideas from elsewhere.

This ties in with Bruce Lee’s philosophy that a true martial artist shouldn’t have one style and combining bits of everything would lead to a superior fighting system.

It’s now been years since Bruce Lee’s death and we thought we’d look at whether his creation Jeet Kune Do was good for self-defense. Remember, Jeet Kune Do was originally made for the street – so you would expect it to be legit. Of course, in martial arts, it’s never that simple and reality is often different from practice!

Good Jeet Kune Do is effective for street fighting

When it comes to Jeet Kune Do in the modern day, there are actually a few styles that can be taught. As JKD has a lot of influences (as Bruce Lee wished), it means its curriculum can differ massively from dojo to dojo. It’s safe to say that Jeet Kune Do doesn’t really have a unified system these days like boxing or Judo does. Instead, it’s often down to the teacher’s interpretation. Here we shall go through the good versions of JKD that work on the streets.

MMA-style Jeet Kune Do

You could argue that many modern JKD schools teach a system that is very similar to MMA. This blends styles that include grappling and striking, such as boxing, wrestling, submission grappling, and kicks. Overall, it’s fair to say that MMA is great for self-defense – so in this sense so is the MMA style Jeet Kune Do.

What may differ is that JKD will also teach dirtier moves such as eye gouges, groin strikes, and headbutts. Obviously, these are too brutal to use in MMA but could be done in a street fight. As these were taught by Bruce Lee, it makes sense that they would be taught in a JKD school even if it has a big MMA influence.

To summarize, this fighting system would be ideal for self-defense as it combines fundamentally proven fighting techniques with dirty street moves.

Wing Chun-style Jeet Kune Do

Another style of JKD that is commonly taught is the system that was closer to Wing Chun. As you would expect, this style has a lot in common with Wing Chun with a few alterations. These alterations include strikes from distance and more athletic, explosive techniques that Wing Chun didn’t emphasize.

As Bruce Lee was incredibly athletic, it’s not surprising that he added these attacks into his own system. He once famously said that Jeet Kune Do starts with a straight fist. The very term also translates to Way of the intercepting fist which also has a lot in common with Wing Chun trapping.

Arguably, this system would be useful for self-defense but not as good as other versions. The issue is that Wing Chun can be quite one-dimensional and doesn’t account for certain fighting styles such as grappling. Therefore, the Wing Chun JKD style is still effective but not perfect either.

Kali-style Jeet Kune Do

At one point in life, Bruce Lee was taught by Kali expert Dan Inosanto. Here, Inosanto taught him how to fight with small blades which would also translate to using nunchucks. After Bruce Lee’s passing, Inosanto taught his own form of JKD which had a big emphasis on Kali. Therefore, Inosanto successfully blended the hand-to-hand elements of JKD with his own twist, knife fighting, and other weapons.

Arguably, Bruce Lee would have been pleased with Inosanto’s creation as he was very open-minded when it came to mixing up styles. As street fighting often involves using or defending with weapons, you could argue that Inosanto’s take on JKD is the most effective. Here, you can learn how to punch and block with your fists, or to use weapons at the same time.

Bad Jeet Kune Do is not effective for self-defense

So far, we’ve established that training Jeet Kune Do can be great for self-defense. Any style that mixes proven techniques is clearly effective. The problem is, sometimes JKD can be taught in an ineffective format. This is not an exclusive JKD problem either, other martial arts such as Hapkido also struggle with this issue too.

Basically, there are some JKD gyms around that follow Bruce Lee’s philosophy a little too rigorously. For instance, some JKD gyms can feel more akin to a philosophy class based on Bruce Lee’s words – rather than somewhere that actually teaches self-defense.

As well, some of these gyms may have no outside influences and teach a very rigid system. Ironically, this is not what Bruce Lee preached as he often promoted openness. Furthermore, some JKD places will barely do any sparring. If you cannot pressure test your system, then how do you know if it works in reality?

These are all red flags when looking at Jeet Kune Do dojos. Sadly, there are quite a few places like this that have tarnished the good name of Jeet Kune Do and are more than happy to teach a watered-down, ineffective curriculum. Ironically, this is the complete opposite of what JKD was originally based on.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s fair to say that Jeet Kune Do is good for self-defense…depending on how it is taught. As is often the case in martial arts, it’s never really to do with the actual syllabus but is instead more down to the way it is taught that counts.

This is very much the case for JKD. If you train at a legit gym then undoubtedly it will make you more than equipped enough to deal with a street fight. However, if you train at a McDojo then you may be wasting your time. As ever with martial arts, the answer remains a grey area and common sense is often required.

If you’re interested in learning the Jeet Kune Do system then check out this JKD book by Bruce Lee.