O'Neill JKD

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Martial training for those of us who are serious, is about self evolution. It is a way of studying ourselves and others physically, emotionally and psychologically and learning how to adapt to what happens in our lives. It's also most of all about learning how to develop ourselves in order to increase our awareness and intuitive abilities for quickly creating the most positive outcomes in all situations. We use fear as our testing ground. The fear that comes from a combat situation. This is an intense experience that helps us learn how to intuitively decide the best course of action and free ourselves, both in a literal way and as a metaphor for facing all life situations. An ancient Chinese Philosophy, Taoism, exemplifies this way of living. The guiding principle is referred to as wu-wei, or "not forcing". The principle is what is meant by rolling with a punch, going with the grain, swimming or floating with the current. Basically using non-resistance to be in the strongest position possible, with the least amount of effort. A good example is seen in the Japanese Arts of Jiu Jitsu, Judo and Aikido, and in the Russian Martial Art, Systema, whereby opponents are defeated by the redirection of the force of their own attack. Practicing this wu-wei principle then, in combat, becomes not just training for fighting, but a way to train for applying this principle literally and metaphorically to meet all challenges. It becomes a life style. It is a way of developing a form of intuitive intelligence that fine tunes ones whole organism and awakens all the wisdom of ones intuition, nervous system and inner and outer senses, so as to know in an instant, what to do with minimal thought. This then heightens ones ability to be in tune with and flow with all of life, developing a joy of inner-knowing that makes life itself,a living, breathing art.
JKD refers to the training philosophy and methods developed by the late Bruce Lee and the lineage of the Illinois branch of JKD developed and taught by Carl James and Mike Sanlin from Bruce Lee to Dan Inosanto to Carl and Mike, to Stan Brooks and myself and Norman Travis (Norm was not an instructor, but should be noted because he goes back to the 70's & now trains with my group and he was the main guy way back then, chosen by Carl & Mike, as the guy they wanted to train to fight pro with JKD in the 70's and 80's and then to Christophe Clugston in the 80's.
What we learned and trained was dramatically different in many ways from the many seminar-trained guys around now. Mike was brilliant in in Combat Psychology and Tactical thinking and to this day one of the very highest level fighters I've ever seen.
The JKD way embraces problem solving and a method of analysis whereby each student is led to create themselves and figure out what works best for them, their bodies, their strengths and weaknesses.
And again, the medium of combative training is a method not only for self defense , but also for solving challenges in life, well beyond combat.

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