Finding parallels between Koryu Uchinadi and Jeet Kune Do, part 1
I’ve just finished reading Bruce Thomas’ 2002 revised edition of Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit for the third time (well, second time – I read the 1994 first edition back in ’97 when I was 15 and discovered the revised edition a year or two after it was published and have read that twice, so that makes it three times I’ve read through the publication in general 🙂 ), and in combination with our club’s recent move to Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu, my brain has been contemplating a few things.
I won’t delve into book review territory here, but Thomas’ biography was a great study into this legendary figure in the martial arts world, but also happened to be reasonably balanced in avoiding the gloss on some of the less appealing aspects of his personality/history. However, having studied some of the precepts of Koryu Uchinadi, either through formal class, seminars or through principles Sensei has passed along during class, I’m finding that “true” (and I use that term quite loosely) classical martial arts actually called on a lot of the precepts that Jeet Kune Do was so infamous for.
Now that’s a pretty controversial statement that I’m sure some commentators will take me to task over – and hey, that’s fine. I’m no expert, I’m just putting some thoughts out there that I’ve had in my mind, and by all means, even the foundations of those thoughts could be argued. But this is the internet, this is my blog, and sometimes it helps to thrash these ideas out loud.
This ends the first part of this lengthy discussion – I originally had this as one entry, but it got pretty wordy so I’ve split it up. Keep checking throughout the week to keep up with the latest, or simply check it using the Koryu Uchinadi/Jeet Kune Do comparison tag.
