The Future of JKD
Jeet Kune Do is the modern martial art that adapts to change, fitting in with contexts of time and space. This incomplete and unfinished martial framework stirred up controversy from the start and it still does today. It's basically all the same (martial arts) but different, and people don't like that, but Bruce Lee wasn't the first to lean into a scientific approach for the individual. Yet people still cling onto the past or tradition in face of the future as if there's a magical martial vacuum preserving the integrity of their art.
To start, JKD isn't some magical stand alone thing, but it is the vehicle which drove me to understanding myself and how I interact with the universe around me. I was looking for the thing to dedicate myself to, the thing that would help my self preservation and to help my loved ones stay safe, ideally empowered to protect themselves. JKD was top of the list after studying it seemed like it was meant for me, I never understood how people had favorites or picked only one art for life. But there was this way prioritizing the individual utilizing a scientific thru-line with poetic philosophical consideration.
The framework of Jeet Kune Do is only that, a work in progress martial process of an individual who died before completing his art, leaving behind fruits of his labor that have changed the world. This incomplete sort of thesis works in the way of science because we're always working together, apart, and across generations. That path forward isn't always to trash or disregard the past, but we must learn from and adapt - the same way we do not use disproven science or flawed ways of the past.
Even the scientific community can't all agree, there's politics, and even cases where we have flawed excuses of science contaminating the world as propaganda. Corporations lobby with political agendas to pollute science and the well-being of life forms for their own greed. If we have a martial art of healthy wellbeing and one martial art that is traditionally an art of aggression while constantly drunk- there's an obvious disconnect if one chooses not to live or adapt with new evidence. We must learn and grow.
We must be honest with ourselves, and the first part is understanding why we seek to gain martial proficiency with the reality of our psyche. Basically, know and understand what you're willing to do and what you're willing to do to get there, this is your internal reality. This must be considered with your physical reality of time/space or capable positioning in a given environment. Use this to fall in line with who you are in essence and who it is you're aiming to become, or change, evolve and refine yourself into.
Looking to the future, can you afford NOT to adapt, or to ignore new evidence? In short, be ready to pay the price if stubborn and unmoving. Biomechanical integration has already begun, clutching phones and burying noses in screens is on the surface as wide spread accepted normality. We have improved prosthetics being influenced with direct brain commands and even wireless capabilities of controlling limbs while detached from body. Does your martial art consider fighting opponents with biomechanical limbs?
The controversy of JKD goes deeper than traditionalism and racism - it's about the cost of standing up for what is right and true. What pushed Bruce Lee to train so hard? Can you comprehend the amount of dedication that goes into the work put in? The immense underlying fear that might drive one to persevere and to stand alone in the face of adversity.
Consider that he was an individual that was an outlier, never Asian enough nor American enough, pushed out by all of “his own people”. Trouble in Hong Kong and adversity (racism) in America, he was forced to forge his own path. Never being good enough to others, let alone himself, he continued to push. His pregnant friend, Sharon Tate, was murdered while he’s got at least one baby at home and another on the way. The year after he is injured and expected to never do martial art again. Yet, he recovered and even used that recovery time to learn while fortifying his mind to help recover his physical capabilities.
Bruce Lee was obsessive and intentional, I’m not sure he’d look to the future and choose to stay in the past. That kind of determination and focus is highlighted and applauded in today’s world with characters like John Wick or Batman, not impossible, but not easy, not superhuman but a shining example. Today people argue about JKD lineage, this way or that way, or even if it’s complete or not, when we could all be working together towards the future of JKD.
Humans have historical experience with armor but we’re changing entire dynamics with mechanical limbs, wireless capabilities, and combat mods. These can be paired with processing (mind/brain) enhancements too. Without adaptation, there is death, in death there is entropy. So, we may aim to preserve life and learn as we adapt progressing alongside the universe.
Are you prepared to adapt in a way to survive an attack from individuals with mechanical limbs? How would you combat processing speed enhancements? What do you think you’d need to survive facing robotic threats?
The question isn't whether change is coming - it's whether we'll evolve with it or be left behind. Are you ready?
