With the death of Bruce Lee more than 37 years ago many thought that the untimely death of martial arts Icon and film actor Bruce Lee, would mean the end to his legacy and the martial art that he founded, ‘Jeet Kune Do.’ Not so, says Carter Hargrave, the head of the World Jeet Kune Do Federation and the official website of Jeet Kune Do, http://Jeetkunedo.org.
“After Bruce Lee’s death in 1973, personal notes and papers were published as the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, the best selling martial arts book of all time. It is like the martial artist bible so to speak,” says Hargrave, a second generation Bruce Lee School Instructor and author of the best selling ‘Original Jeet Kune Do Training Manual,’ the second best selling Jeet Kune Do book after Lee’s publications.
Jeet Kune Do is a Cantonese Chinese name that translates into ‘Way of the Intercepting Fist’, which is based upon many of the signature moves that intercept an attack while striking at the same time. Bruce Lee founded his martial art style after a sparring demonstration took him almost two minutes to subdue his opponent. Lee then incorporated and modified to his own needs, American Boxing, Kung Fu, and Fencing, making his new system streamlined, efficient, and almost impossible to defend. Bringing multiple styles together has made some call him the father of MMA or today’s Mixed Martial Arts.
The World Jeet Kune Do Federation supports the style of Jeet Kune Do by training students and instructors in over 30 countries, and was the pioneer in video and DVD training for the martial arts style when there were only fifty instructors worldwide. Jeet Kune Do or JKD has encountered a surge in popularity with the economic downturn and corresponding rising crime rate nationwide.
Carter Hargrave says, “Through concerted efforts of the Federation,Hargrave Martial Arts and the Bruce Lee Foundation, we’ve keptBruce Lee’s art alive, weeded out the frauds, and many people’s dream of being able to practice the real Bruce Lee system a reality — regardless of economic background. (Although, the more affluent tend to practice JKD, with celebrities such as Tom Cruise being an avid student
– Posted from my iPad
