Customer Reviews

Tao of Jeet Kune Do

5 star:		(165)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Once I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. Bruce Lee's philosophy and method of training is one of the best. The book helps you understand the art of Jeet Kune Do and the martial artist philosophy as well. Bruce explains how important it is to control your opponent and explains the techniques on how to do it, by proper timing, speed and technique. It is a must have in any martial artist's personal library.

I picked this book up from the local bookstore after sustaining a severe injury to my knee. I previously had not taken any real formal martial arts training or done any reading on the subject, however I always liked all of the funky stuff that these guys like Jackie Chan have done on the big screen. Anyways, while recovering I studied this book intensely and within the week I was so inspired to start training with what I had learned that I tossed the crutches aside and began walking. Well, pretty soon I was working to perfection all of the techniques and skills that I had learned plus accumulated several other martial arts books on other styles and I even started training like Bruce Lee!

To this day I wake up at 5:00 am every morning and work on flexiblity and abdominals before I go to school and I feel great! I recently purchased a punching bag to work on applying power to all my techniques as well!

In closing I would say that by reading this book it started a whole revolution in my life, and changed the way that I look at any situation in life. So I can only hope that it does for everyone else what it did for me.

I had the opportunity to see Bruce Lee in action at an East Coast karate tournament in 1969. He wasn't competing but was there as a celebrity guest.

I stood with others at the back of the tournament hall and listened in awe as he talked about having just finished filming Marlow and his plans to leave soon for Hong Kong to begin filming a movie.

Later, I watched him warm-up a great tournament fighter named Luis Delgado. Lee's speed was absolutely incredible. His backfist was nearly imperceptible and his footwork for closing the gap was a blur.

What a loss to the martial arts world that he left us so soon. But we still have this book of his notes. It a wonderful bible, if you will, that will make any martial artist look at his own training to see how some of Lee's ideas can fit.

There will always be the Jackie Chans and Jet Lis who will come along and dazzle us with their screen antics. But Bruce Lee was a seeker of knowledge, a true master of the fighting arts and philosophy. Some of it is in this wonderful book.

As an author of 13 books on the martial arts, I highly recommend this book for every MA library.

I have had my copy of this book for many years. I often refer to sections of it for advice and inspiration.

While Lee's views on the arts may be controversial, I think that anyone who has studied the arts seriously [ this excludes the black belt factories ) can appreciate the philosophical tone of the work. Too many of us get too into dictated technique and form as well as tradition to appreciate Lee's theories.

Jeet Kune Do is the style that is not a style. One that is infinitely flexible and adaptable to the individual and the situation.

I have been a Bruce Lee fan for 30 years and while I have never had the honor of meeting him or personally seeing him in form, I have been inspired and awed by him.

The Tao of Jeet Kune Do is an inspired and original work and to me embodies the essense of the true martial artist.

They are called the "arts" for a reason. How poor would other arts be if all of the artists merely copied others - I don't mean inspired by others but COPIED others. By and large that is what the so-called kwoons teach these days.One way and one way only, for $$$$$ we guarantee a black belt in 14 months.

Arts by definition are intensly personal and open for interpretation. How rich would the world of culture be today if Michealangelo merely copied Davinci or Monet was discouraged to explore impressionism saying it was not "true art"?

Lee breaks new ground and we who study him are the richer for it.

I recommend this book to any one with a serious interest in the martial arts. Those of you unfortunates stuck in black belt factories please study this book; it will open a new world for you.

If you are a Bruce Lee fan, interested in Martial Arts, A Jeet Kune Do student or be that a student of any Martial Art then this book is essential to you. This represents the inner workings and theories of Bruce Lee as he was developing Jeet Kune Do. Sure you can not learn an art form from a book but a book can inspire a prospective student, help guide a beginner and add to the knowledge of someone more experienced. If you are a serious student then read this book. It covers all areas of Bruce's personal training including warm-up techniques and fitness training.The journey then continues onto notes about combat strategies (tools, preparations, mobility and attacks). As I have previously said buy this book! If you like Martial Arts, Bruce Lee or just serious training then buy this Book!

Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do is a testament to both Bruce Lee's open mindedness as a martial artist, and his wisdom, in forging such a concept of Jeet Kune Do is a time when few Westerners had ever heard of, much less knew, anything about the martial arts in any serious form. Tao of Jeet Kune Do is essentially the Bible of the contemporary martial artist, and will live on as being truly on of the greatest martial arts philosophies of all time.

In case you wanna know:-

1. what JKD is, or to be precise, is not;

2. the philosophy behind JKD, which is very taoism and zen based;

3. fighting skills with strong element of Wing Chun;

4. combat tactics now commonly adopted by SDUs, SEALs;

5. drawings and handwriting of Bruce himself;

then this book will satisfy you well. If you are just a fan of Bruce's movies, you will be bored by those very philosophical messages and absence of handsome photos.

To give you a slight idea of how sophisticated this book is, below please find the opening sentence for individual chapters.

(I strongly suggest you to take a look of the content page here in Amazon to have a better grasp of what this book is all about)

Preliminaries: To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are. Pg 26

Qualities: It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away the unessentials! Pg 42

Tools: Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just a punch, a kick was just a kick. After I'd studied the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kicker no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch, a kick is just a kick. Pg 70

Preparations: Intelligence is sometimes defined as the capacity of the individual to adjust himself successfully to his environment - or to adjust the environment to his needs. Pg 124

Mobility: Attain stillness while moving, like thy moon beneath the waves that ever go on rolling and rocking. Pg 138

Attack: There is nothing much in this art. Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch; kick when you have to kick. Pg 160

And, the final sentence of the book: If people say JKD is different from this or from that, then let the name of JKD be wiped out, for that is what it is, just a name. Please dont fuss over it. Pg 208

Bruce Lee's commentaries on the Martial Arts is indispensable. Realizing that this book was complied from his notes after his untimely death, I can forgive the hodge-podge fashion the book is formatted in. He never intended for this to be published. That said, one cannot ignore the level of mastery he had attained, or ignore his advice. Bruce was an accomplished screen fighter, yes, but what is often overlooked is his level of street-fighting competency. EVERY martial artist he EVER sparred with, trained with, or associated with label him as the greatest ever (even with his bad back) for a reason. If you cannot grasp the level of expertise portrayed in this book, read some others, keep practicing, and re-read it often. Eventually, it will transform the way that you think, feel, and fight. Quite simply the BEST book ever written. Not simply because of his knowledge. Even in spite of the haphazard fashion the information is conveyed in. Bruce Lee KNEW what worked and what didn't FOR HIM, and points "The finger to the moon" for you to find your own truth, using no-nonsense, real world information. Pass up this book, and I guarantee, you will lose to someone who did not.

One thing that struck me right away about Lee's approach in this book (as well as most of his others) is how he spends as much or maybe even more time discussing strategy and other advanced principles rather than specific techniques. This is because Lee expected those who read his books to at least have mastered the basics of blocking, punching, and kicking before trying to learn the more advanced technical and strategy principles.

For example, although the chapter on "Tools," in which he discusses the techniques, is 40 pages long, the chapter on "Qualities" is 38 pages, in which he discusses various principles like speed, power, timing, and so on, and the "Attack" chapter is 36 pages, which is 74 pages right there, and doesn't include the other similar chapters in the book.

There is so much material here that it's hard to summarize, but I enjoyed many things about it, such as the little technical tips like, "The essence of any hook is that the striker raises his elbow at the last possible moment when swinging, to attack strategies, such as "Do not hurl yourself at your oponent, but gain and maintain distance in a calm and precise manner." And also "Nothing bothers an adversary more than variety in both attack and defense."

The cover says that the book has sold over 750,000 copies in 9 languages, an interesting statistic. (I'm surprised it's not over a million). In addition to Lee's thoughts and notes on technique and advanced strategy, there is even an extensive illustration of grappling and ground techniques and holds and locks, an interesting technique area by itself that has gotten more attention in recent years. Bruce shows that he was ahead of his time in integrating this with JDK decades ago.

Lee also makes the important point that in JKD there is almost no, if any, direct attack--they are all indirect after a feint or as a counter-punch or technique--but that requires the ability to draw out an opponent, out-maneuver him, and a scientific approach.

Another nice technical point he makes is, "In all hand techniques, the hand moves first, proceding the foot. Keep this in mind--hand before foot--always."

I find this interesting in that in tai chi and some kung fu, the foot is expected to be just as fast as the hand and to move in synchrony with it--as difficult or as impossible as that may seem.

Bruce Lee only wrote six books, but if there's a bible of JDK this is it, and is probably essential reading for any JKD or any other martial artist interested in Lee and his ideas and what made him so great.

The book is the mental bible of martial arts with a lot of technique added. For the people that are commenting about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and JKD you truly don't understand the book. I suggest you read it again. TO FIND WHAT IS USEFUL! Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is great however there is now JEET KUNE DO GROUNDFIGHTING. So Jeet Kune Do students will be well equipped on the ground. Whatever you find useful, whether it is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or any technique from any art. This book is the pathway to success. The Book Jeet Kune Do, A New Era, Ground fighting and counters to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is also available on Amazon.com