Customer Reviews

JEET KUNE DO: THE SYSTEM WITHOUT A SYSTEM®

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First I should probably say a little bit about myself, so you'll know where I'm coming from. I am an instructor of kali, escrima, JKD, and kung fu chin na, and also hold black belts in karate, tae kwon do, and iai-jitsu (samurai sword). I am a professional martial arts instructor, and have been teaching for over 30 years, and have been studying martial arts for over 40 years. But despite my diverse martial arts background, I consider myself primarily a JKD/Kali/Escrima pracitioner.

Except for the cover, this is an excellent book. :-) JKD doesn't normally kick high, prefering to keep the kicks low (Bruce Lee's movies notwithstanding, which don't really represent typical JKD). You can kick high in practice, though. But I understand Hajnasr probably had to do that for the advertising flacks at the publishing house so that he would have a dramatic looking cover.

Overall, though, this is a well written, detailed, informative, and high quality book on JKD. The photos are excellent and show the techiques clearly. It's one of the longer books and most complete books I've seen on JKD. Although the book isn't cheap, you get a lot for your money.

The author has a good chapter on the trapping techniques, which is a controversial area. Many JKD instructors don't teach much trapping anymore, and Lee during his last years even dropped it from his original "China Town" curriculum. Wing Chun still maintains this as an important skill set, and as I have Wing Chun influences I still teach some trapping myself. But it's pretty much up to the instructor how to handle that issue now. But Hajnasr presents that topic if you're interested.

These days, because everyone carries these little combat folder knives, I do more knife training and teaching. It would be nice if someone would show the connection between JKD and the knife techniques, because many of the JKD techniques and concepts are applicable to knife fighting, such as the footwork (it is said that there are no great knife fighters without great footwork) but there are videos available for that if you're interested in following up on that.

As a big Bruce Lee fan, I have purchased over 20 books on his art, Jeet Kune Do. I have learned many techniques, principles and theories but I have never owned a book that demonstrated and explained in such detailed instruction allowing an individual to follow along step by step as is found in this book. I highly recommend this book for both beginners and advanced students alike.

Well, where do i start.. I have trained in JKD for over five years now, not only with a very skilled and intense instructor, but have had numerous occasions to train personally with some of the original nucleus members of JKD. I have read this book in great detail and feel by far that it is the best tool I have found to further my fighting skills and JKD in general.

The detail and passion George Hajnasr puts into creating and developing this book is very apparent even from the first chapter. The handtrapping section of the book is my favorite. These traps are the bread and butter of JKD and George has skillfully created more than 20+ additional hand traps to the original 4 that Bruce Lee himself invented. The breath and depth to which George has applied himself in expressing his personal knowledge of pure JKD has been very helpful to assist me in understanding the philosophy and art of my JKD.

I can't put this book down, and I am def. anxiously waiting for the DVD set.

Only complaint I have is that I don't live in Massachusetts so i could train with him personally.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Big MIKEY D.

FINALLY A NO NAME INSTRUCTOR THAT I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF, BUT DECIDED TO GIVE HIM A CHANCE BY PURCHASING HIS BOOK. DAMN THIS GUY GETS RIGHT TO THE POINT. HE COVERS EVERY ASPECT OF JEET KUNE DO, LIKE WING CHUN FIRST FORM, EXTENSIVE EXPLANATION OF THE BASIC TECHNIQUES AND THOROUGH EXPLANTION OF THE TERMINOLOGY. HE ALSO COVERS THE COMPLETE WOODEN DUMMY FORM, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART HE COVERS, SCIENTIFIC STREET FIGHTING AND HAND TRAPS S0 WELL,AND HE EVEN COVERS NUNCHAKU! I PRAISE HIM ON HOW MANY PHOTOS ARE IN THIS BOOK. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE BOOK THAT HAS THAT MANY PHOTOS AND DEMONSTRATIONS. ITS LIKE FIVE BOOKS IN ONE,GOOD JOB!
HIGHLY RECCOMMEND. NOW I SEE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE FAMOUS AND HAVE A RECOGNIZED NAME TO PUT OUT A GREAT PRODUCT AND HAVE THAT MUCH KNOWLEDGE. THIS GUY KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT!

Don't get me wrong, this is by far the most complete,up to date, accurate and full of photographs JKD book in the market ! Everything, and I mean really everything of this art is covered with an astonishing amount of pictures. I have never seen a book so loaded with pictures, describing every angle and each and every movement in JKD.
So I will not repeat the positive qualities of this book, already very much described in other reviews.
On the negative side: complement this book with a more streetfighting oriented book. This book is also very much focused on trapping, tunneling, and related drills which have limited use in real world experience (unless you spend years daily training with them).
So, for the phisical preparation, and training, all of these drills are veru useful, but, I would use it only for training purposes.

I have an exceptional amount of books on Bruce Lee and his art of Jeet Kune Do, and this is by far the most extensive teaching tool I own. The author gives every aspect of fighting from something as simple and fundamental as how to strech, to complex techniques used against an assailant unarmed or armed with a knife, gun, club, etc... this book even covers ground fighting which is very rare to see in literiture. From watching Bruce and his videos I can pick up some method of JKD, but this book helps alot due to the different angles of pictures and thorough explaination of a move. The amount of pictures to show certain moves and proper form help and really can teach you how to perform them correctly.

Again I am sure you will not be dissapointed with this book. It is an amaizing teaching tool.

to the author: Thank you.

AC

If you are looking to learn the art of Jeet Kune Do, wait until you read this book! The photos actually bring the art alive! The author has used arrows and pictures so that you can practice on your own and learn the proper techniques without frustration. The technical information is broken down into an exciting and easily understandable format. A MUST READ!

Sifu Hajnasr impressed me with this book. I would agree with the other reviews that it is like five books in one,well worth the money.I really like the angles of photo. shows techs. that other books lack. With over 400 pages,there is as much information as there are pictures.

This is by far the best and most detailed book I have ever seen on Jeet Kune Do! The author's details, step-by-step instructions and many pictures helped me as a beginner grasp and understand the art of Jeet Kune Do!

I bought this book and have finished about 3 quarters of it.I think with a lot of practice and with the help of the dvd a person could train themselves to use this style of Jeet Kune Do and succesfully defend themselves in a street confrontation.Everything is explained thoroughly and there are tons of pics ,with some being closeups or alternate angles.I would recomend this book to anyone interested in learning Jeet Kune Do.