an instructor let students use all of their tools in a freestyle manner.
Gear, Equipment, and Clothing
In Jeet Kune Do students do not practice kata, forms, or strikes in the air. Instead, they strike and kick resistance equipment. To improve speed and accuracy, a student punches and kicks a focus mitt held by a training partner. Focus mitts are superb pieces of equipment that can be utilized in many different ways by an experienced trainer. Students frequently wear bag gloves or open-finger gloves to protect their hands when they strike the focus mitts.
To strengthen power in kicking, trainers hold kicking shields against their bodies so that students can apply their kicks full force without fear of hurting their partner. Some schools also make use of Muay Thai pads, which are heavily reinfoced and can take punishment from hard kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes.
For sparring the equipment worn varies according to the intensity of the training. Students must wear a mouthpiece to protect their jaw from the occasional hits to the face. For more intense sparring, protective headgear should
be worn. Students also must wear boxing gloves, with or without hand wraps, both to protect their own hands and to soften any blows that they inflict on their partner. If kicking is allowed during the sparring, then shin guards are recommended. Students may also wear chest armor to protect their upper body from hard punches and kicks. Male students should wear a cup to protect the groin area.
Boxing gloves tend to be unwieldy for trapping training because students need to use their hands and fingers. Open-finger Kempo gloves are better suited for trapping because they allow the fingers to trap and grab. A slight drawback is that they do not have as much padding as boxing gloves for punching. In these situations students should also wear protective headgear, mouthpieces, and perhaps body armor to protect themselves from the punches.
Other types of equipment used for solo training include heavy bags for developing powerful kicks and punches, top and bottom bags that students can use for striking and practicing ducking and slipping, and the mook jong, or wooden dummy, employed for trapping and forearm conditioning.
Because Jeet Kune Do training is different from classical martial arts training, students do not wear gi, uniforms, or colored belts. Instead, students generally wear loose clothing such as T-shirts, tank tops, sweatpants, and shorts. Some schools will require students to wear official school clothing, but the emphasis is still on casual, comfortable clothing. Men are encouraged to wear athletic supporters, while women should wear protective bras.
UNFORTUNATELY, many individuals who take up martial arts tend to drop out within the first three months. There are many reasons why a student may quit, including lack of money, change in circumstances, unmet expectations, frustration, boredom, decline in enthusiasm, and distractions. Students initially get excited about becoming good fighters, but when they discover how much work, sweat, and effort is required, they decide the price is too high to pay.
Beginning Jeet Kune Do training is no different; in fact, it is probably harder than training in other styles. While other arts may involve having students work on just a few things during the first three months, Jeet Kune Do training requires simultaneous attention to numerous things. For instance, a taekwondo student will typically focus on learning a few kicks during the first three months. In contrast, a Jeet Kune Do student may learn basic punches, kicks, traps, and perhaps grappling during that time. In addition, while other schools primarily stress physical aspects of technique, Jeet Kune Do schools will expect students to understand not only how a technique is executed, but also why and when it is used.
Even though there is no set curriculum in Jeet Kune Do, there is a definite training progression from the basics to more advanced work. As with any other type of athletic endeavor, without strong basics, you will have difficulty understanding and doing the more sophisticated parts of the art. So it is extremely important for you, as a new student in Jeet Kune Do, to establish a firm foundation in the art that will enable you to make solid progress.
Beginners can expect conditioning to be part of their introduction to Jeet Kune Do. Most classes will introduce students to basic warmup and stretching exercises to help their muscles become more limber. This not only reduces the risk of injury, but also makes the execution of techniques less difficult. Students will skip rope or shadowbox so that they can increase their endurance.
Formal training will start with learning the bai-jong, or ready stance. This is the basis for all the footwork, punching, kicking, striking, trapping, and stand-up grappling that make up the art. It also provides the structure from which you can effectively defend yourself against an opponent’s attacks.
From the bai-jong, you will learn fundamental footwork and mobility. You must develop the ability to advance toward an opponent to land a strike and to retreat from an opponent who is attacking. Through footwork training you will begin to understand how to utilize distance against an opponent.
As mentioned, the parts of the body used for striking, primarily the hands and the feet, are known as “tools” in Jeet Kune Do. A very important aspect of initial training is developing these tools so that they can be used with proper form, speed, power, accuracy, and efficiency. Thus, you can expect to devote a great deal of time to focus mitt drills designed to bring forth these skills. You will also practice kicks on kicking shields so that you learn to kick with power. Schools equipped with heavy bags, top and bottom bags, and speed bags will encourage students to train on these, either during class or on their own time.
As a new student you will pay much attention to form and mechanics to instill the proper feeling in your neuromuscular paths. In that way you will learn to move your body correctly, without having to think about it. Understanding the reasons why the body is moved in a certain way, along with repetitive practice, will help instill the movements in your muscle memory, so that they become second nature.
Basic kicks, such as the front snap kick, lead hook kick, and lead side kick, will be introduced as staples of the lower-body tools. Basic punches, such as the lead finger jab, lead jab, lead straight punch, lead hook punch, and rear cross, will also be emphasized. Students will concentrate on executing these techniques as single strikes.
Depending upon the preference of the instructor, you may also start to learn simple traps as a beginning student. These may include the pak sao, or slapping hand; lop sao, or grabbing hand; jao sao, or running hand; and jut sao, or jerking hand. You will work with a partner and learn how to trap from a reference point, where your arms are already touching.
Finally, you may be introduced to some basic grappling techniques such as neck chokes, locks, or strangleholds.
So, as you can see, within your first few months as a Jeet Kune Do student, you will likely be exposed to many new ideas and techniques
