Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do - C.A.A.M./ARTICLES 2001

SIFU TED WONG'S ITALIAN STAGE, GENOA NOVEMBER 17-18 2001

This important seminar is a regular meeting that occurs every six months.
The atmosphere was friendly, as always, thanks to people attending.
Ted Wong himself underlined his appreciation for the warm welcome that he receives when he comes to Italy.
Besides the people from Genoa, representatives came from Savona, Imperia, Bergamo, Trecate (Novara), Novi Ligure, Vicenza, Carrara and from Puglia.
There were also practioners of Wing Chun, Tai Chi Chuan, Tae Kwon Do and Kick Boxing, who came from all over Italy.
On both days the class was five hours long, from 2 to 7, with a short break at 5 which allowed people to take a rest without cooling down the muscles.
Although everyone kept moving for almost five hours, the effort was not felt, since the training was so satisfying.
Sifu Ted Wong showed some interesting exercises to improve the Speed of Raction.
He talked about the most used techniques: Leading Right Straight, Corkscrew Hook, Shovel Hook, Hook Kick.
Afterwards he explained how and when using either the back hand or the back leg during a fight.
On Sunday the class concerned the "Five Ways of Attack".
Ted Wong is living proof of the results which can be obtained by investing one's energy in a long and constant practice.
He moves with incredible grace and lightness, striking fast and precise blows. The secret of his physical shape is the constant exercise in Footwork.
Footwork and the correct positioning of the body, two elements that are strictly related to one another, are the heart of Bruce Lee's Art.
They allow to move in a perfect balance, avoiding the opponent's attacks and maintaining the chance to hit in every moment with the strongest structure.
Efficiency in footwork gives the chance to control the distance, to break the rhythm, to introduce attacks in an economical way, without "telegraphing" the technique. In Jeet Kune Do everything is footwork.
Even parries are not useful anymore, if one is able to move one's body in the correct way.
At higher levels Jeet Kune Do is very simple, but it is very difficult to achieve the real simplicity .
Years of intense and serious training are required, the same devotion and passion for martial Arts of Bruce Lee and Ted Wong.
Movements shown by Sifu Ted Wong during the class were simple and economical, but nobody was able to do them in the right way.
Only thanks to his help and his explanations people attending started to understand the mechanics. While people were exercising, they were constantly followed and corrected, with a particular attention to the ones who have come in contact with JFJKD for the first time.
Both days closed with questions. The interest shown gave rise to Sifu Ted Wong to clear many common doubts about Jeet Kune Do.
Following there are some of the answers given.
One day Bruce Lee was challenged by the chinese community. When he faced their representative, he kept very distant and the match became a chase. He was able to subdue his opponent only when he tripped and fell. Although he had won, Bruce Lee was really upset not to have been able to put to use at least one of the techniques that he had learnt. This was the turning point that led to the developing of Jeet Kune Do.
Bruce Lee questioned his technique and his way of training and he started to value the other Martial Arts. He soon understood that, although the majority of styles were spoken of as scientific, weren't at all.
Moreover, he was never interested in Chi Kung, which he found more useful for power demonstrations than during a fight, where there's no time to prepare yourself and you 're the one who decides where, how and when to be hit.
Bruce Lee believed in physics and in in scientific training. So he found out that Boxing and Western Fencing were really constructed on these criteria.
The two methods are the ones that had the biggest influence on Jeet Kune Do.
Anyway, the biggest mistake that is made about Jeet Kune Do is thinking of it as a mixture of 26 different Martial Arts.
Another matter concerns the importance of trapping in Jeet Kune Do.
The majority of Bruce Lee's students teach a lot of trapping techniques because they studied in his schools in Seattle and Oakland, when his teachings were especially based on Wing Chun.
However, even in his school in Los Angeles the training consisted of many routine exercises.
What Bruce Lee had taught in schools was different from what he taught at home during private lessons.
It is known that Bruce Lee decided to close down schools and teach only privately.
Sifu Ted Wong displays Trapping to hand down Bruce Lee's evolution as a Martial Artist, but he also explains that the more complicated combinations can be made only by cooperating with the partner.
A simplified Trapping technique can work if there's an adequate contact, but this seldom happens, when the opponent not cooperating.
Many people think that Bruce Lee was looking for the close contact. This was true at the beginning, when he was basing his way of fighting on Wing Chun, but then he changed his advances: "the only necessary contact was the one between his punches and kicks and the opponent's body".
It can be useful to learn Grappling, but one must keep in mind that, following the criteria of simplicity and economy of movement, it is better to avoid the ground fighting.
Grappling wastes a great amount of energy, especially if the opponent is heavier than us, and in Jeet Kune Do the aim is to obtain the maximum with a minimum effort.
So "...try not to fall to the ground and if you do try to get up as soon as possible".

DAVIDE GARDELLA