A Martial Arts Business Dilemma

Many years ago, I sat in the office of a large UK martial arts billing company. Full of excitement, I was about to open my first school and embark on making a living teaching full-time. I was being asked about the art I was teaching, how I wanted to teach it, and my overheads—all sensible questions, and I was receiving some great advice.

However, the advisor told me to do something I was not comfortable with, something that felt morally and (for lack of a better term) artistically wrong. He told me to drop the name “JKD” (Jeet Kune Do) and use the more generic “Karate” in all adverts and marketing, even referring to my school as a karate school to prospective students.

I’m sure he meant well and wanted to maximise his firm’s revenue through my school, and I have no issues with that. Business is business. However, I was not happy and refused. I was not willing to trade something I had worked hard for and swap it for something I had not, let alone deceive people into believing they were training in one art when they would be training in another. I still wanted to look people in the eye with integrity.

Name Changing, Not Game Changing

Fast-forward a few years, or perhaps ten (did I mention I’m getting older?), and the generic “Karate” title has been dropped by many schools. Now, the term “MMA” (Mixed Martial Arts) is often used. While I still could not bring myself to tell people I teach MMA and give them false hope of getting into the Octagon, I understand why some people do. It’s a great bandwagon to jump on and enjoy the associated press coverage.

However, Jeet Kune Do is not MMA. While some JKD practitioners have fought and fought well, they were applying JKD principles within the confines of a sport, obeying rules—which, to me, is not the essence of JKD. Do not kid yourself; physics and mathematics always win! In a bare-knuckle, no-rules street fight, I would put my money on Brian Shaw over Floyd Mayweather. The only way Mayweather wins is by “cheating,” and that, to me, is JKD. If a combat art has weight classes and rules, it’s a sport—a fantastic sport, but a sport nonetheless.

JKD: What’s in a Name?

Jeet Kune Do means “Way of the Intercepting Fist.” Not trading blows, not simply blocking and countering—intercepting! I once heard Chris Kent say, “A good JKD practitioner should never make the first move; however, they should always land the first punch.” Again, if you start trading hits, physics wins!

The Way You Train Jeet Kune Do Matters

As I tell all my students at www.Teamvunak.uk, learning to punch hard without protection is vital. If Mike Tyson can break his hand/wrist in a street fight, anyone reading this could too. Boxers, no matter how great they are, hit with protection, which protects them as much as their opponent. So, learning to trade blows with boxing gloves is not the best game plan for a street fight. This is where intercepting and target acquisition training come into play, not throwing preset combinations that could strike the top of someone’s head and do you more damage.

 

How many JKD practitioners grapple? All of them, I hope. That said, rolling around on mats, no matter your level, is not street fighting. In a street fight, it’s no good going for a complex armbar while you’re being stabbed by another attacker or stamped on by their mates. Your only thought while on the ground should be, “How do I get back up and get away?”

I make no apology for not being a “great” grappler. My grappling focuses on basic positions, escapes, a couple of submissions, ground and pound (GNP), and Kino Muti. That’s all. My grappling philosophy is about getting back up and being able to escape or aid the person I am trying to protect, not rolling around for 30 minutes in a stalemate.

Enter the Rapid Assault Tactics (RAT)

As a full instructor under Paul Vunak and Kuya Ricky, it is my job to spread the word on real self-protection, not theory and not something pretending to be something it is not. The RAT has been used by special forces and elite law enforcement worldwide, so you know it works. However, this is not an advert for the RAT; it’s about training the RAT.

How many people spar it properly? Not many, as it often turns into MMA, and I understand why. You have to wear protection. I want to intercept with an eye jab, but the protection gives the receiver a false sense of confidence, and they ignore it and start trading, turning it into MMA. The same applies to groin guards and shin pads when training destructions.

How do you get around this and spar JKD/The RAT?

This comes from many years of sparring and drilling the RAT, and I’m giving you the shortcut:

My Top Points for JKD/RAT Sparring:

• Do not get overconfident with your protection. If your training partner got you with that eye jab, but your goggles stopped you from losing an eye, be honest. Do not walk through it and carry on punching. This only indicates an ego issue.
• One of you has to be the “bad guy.” Choose whatever art, hit, or takedown you want while sparring, but if you get intercepted, well, then get blasted (refer to the point above). Of course, if they do not intercept/destroy you, hit them and keep them honest too.
• This goes for mass attacks as well. To be honest, this is where I see ego the worst. One of the attackers gets a good kick to the groin but shrugs it off and carries on hitting, or even worse, “walks off” a slash from a training knife like they are the Terminator.
  So, What Is JKD… In My Opinion?

The Jeet Kune Do taught at Team Vunak UK (www.Teamvunak.uk) is about surviving a street fight, and that’s it. I tell all enquirers this, and I do not pretend I can get them in the ring. It’s not my focus, and I won’t do it.

JKD is about “cheating.” It’s fighting outside of any weight class or rules that a combat sport would impose, and sometimes, it’s not even about winning; it’s about surviving and getting home to your family.

The best thing about teaching females is that they get this. They understand hitting and running. Most males I know want to land the first shot and then turn into Jason Bourne, which they are not, and they will learn that the hard way one day if they persist in thinking so.

Jeet Kune Do is not MMA, and if your instructor tells you differently or teaches you to trade blows without dedicating time to interceptions or destructions, you are not doing Jeet Kune Do!

“If you’re not intercepting, you’re not doing JKD,” – Paul Vunak.

 

Thank you for reading this, for more like this and the latest news on our instructor training programmes Join our mailing list here