Principles
The following are principles that Lee incorporated into his Jeet Kune Do. He felt these were universal combat truths that were self-evident, and would lead to combat success if followed. Familiarity with each of the "Four ranges of combat", in particular, is thought to be instrumental in becoming a "total" martial artist.
JKD teaches that the best defense is a strong offense, hence the principle of an "intercepting fist". For a person to attack another hand-to-hand, the attacker must approach the target. This provides an opportunity for the attacked person to "intercept" the attacking movement. The principle of interception may be applied to more than intercepting physical attacks. Non-verbal cues (subtle movements that an opponent may be unaware of) may be perceived or "intercepted", and thus be used to one's advantage.
The "Five ways of attack", categories which help JKD practitioners organize their fighting repertoire, comprise the offensive teachings of JKD. The concepts of "Stop hits & stop kicks", and "Simultaneous parrying & punching", borrowed from épée fencing's and Wing Chun's concepts of single fluid motions which attack while defending, comprise the defensive teachings of JKD. These concepts were modified for unarmed combat and implemented into the JKD framework by Lee, to complement the principle of interception.
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Famous quotes containing the word principles:
“Ah, I fancy it is just the same with most of what you call your “emancipation.” You have read yourself into a number of new ideas and opinions. You have got a sort of smattering of recent discoveries in various fields—discoveries that seem to overthrow certain principles which have hitherto been held impregnable and unassailable. But all this has only been a matter of intellect, Miss West—superficial acquisition. It has not passed into your blood.”
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)
“That, upon the whole, we may conclude that the Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“Custom is our nature.... What are our natural principles but principles of custom?”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)