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Thread: Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and the philosophies of Dook Goo Kau Bai?

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    Default Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and the philosophies of Dook Goo Kau Bai?

    Bruce Lee famously taught, "be like water, my friend." Indeed, the underlying philosophy of his Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist) was a kind of formless martial art...based not on set stances, but read-and-react, departing from traditional, orthodox kung fu systems.

    That sounds a *lot* like Dook Goo Kau Bai's formless sword theories. I don't know if Bruce was a Jin Yong fan or read any of his wuxia novels, but it seems that some philosophical affinity exists between Jeet Kune Do and the formless sword theories of Dook Goo Kau Bai.

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    Watching footage of Bruce Lee and a karate master taking turns at punching someone, Lee was considerably better at putting his entire weight into the punch.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng View Post
    Bruce Lee famously taught, "be like water, my friend." Indeed, the underlying philosophy of his Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist) was a kind of formless martial art...based not on set stances, but read-and-react, departing from traditional, orthodox kung fu systems.

    That sounds a *lot* like Dook Goo Kau Bai's formless sword theories. I don't know if Bruce was a Jin Yong fan or read any of his wuxia novels, but it seems that some philosophical affinity exists between Jeet Kune Do and the formless sword theories of Dook Goo Kau Bai.
    I think Dugu qiubai and Bruce Lee's martial art philosophies have similarities in which they both utilize what is whatever necessary to defeat your opponent, without bound to a set of techniques, and result in quick, powerful, and suddent, unpredictable moves that would incapacitate your opponent.

    ===> Source:
    Wikipedia

    Not wanting to create another style that would share the limitations that all styles had, he instead described the process which he used to create it:

    I have not invented a "new style," composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from "this" method or "that" method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see "ourselves". . . Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don't, and that is that. There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back.

    — Bruce Lee

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    Joe Lewis (karate champion) and Bruce Lee

    Differing results, based AFAICS on the stability of their platform; Lewis was walking into the punch with little stability, Lee was firmly set with a stable platform. Set piece with little indication of how a genuine fight would go. For this reason Krav Maga (the Israeli martial art) is supposed to be the best practical art, based on dirty fighting and incapacitating the opponent ASAP by any means possible.

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