Practical Unconventionality

Tao of Jeet Kune Do

I've been hiding out the last few weeks, working on a Jeet Kune Do project, hence the lack of activity on the blogs.

Actually, this has been a year long project with an idea/goal that sprung up over two years ago and has finally come to fruition.

As you may have guessed, of all the martial arts I've studied, Jeet Kune Do has a special place for me.  Maybe it's Bruce Lee, maybe it's events surrounding my introduction into the martial art, maybe it was my parents getting me started in Tang Soo Do when I was four years old, or more than likely, a combination of everything.

My first Jeet Kune Do Sifu, Dr. Zee Lo, warned me of all the political dogma surrounding original JKD and JKD Concepts and all the JKD vigilantes.  For the most part, I stayed out of it by not teaching publicly.

In 2008 I decided to follow my passion of teaching martial arts by taking it to a public level and opened my first commercial Jeet Kune Do school.  This is when I really started to see the extent of all the bickering within the JKD world.  Of course, this was made even more evident by the occasional hate mail from some disgruntled "JKD" man who preferred that the art either disappear or change into something entirely different from what Bruce Lee was doing!

Following the example of my teachers at the Wednesday Night Group, I chose the guiding principle to preserve and promote Jeet Kune Do in it's original form as Bruce Lee taught it to his various students.

So here it is in it's ultimate expression, my Tao of Jeet Kune Do:
 

Authentic Jeet Kune Do online training available world wide.

See you in class!

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Nothing like a brisk morning hike with friends. . .

We took turns trudging up the hills using a fireman's carry for one minute intervals as part of our martial arts conditioning.

Looks like we managed a quick hike before the rain.  Fun stuff.

     

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The Psychology of a Front Flip: Desire, Fear, Faith, Courage, Triumph

I always had the childhood fantasy of developing amazing acrobatic skills, but it was something I never took the time to actually study and train . . . until now.

In general, I tend to be the cautious analytical type but I also have a dash of daring craziness that surfaces every now and again.  My latest episode of the crazies was a near spontaneous episode of experimental front flips (inspired/dared by this guy) in the sand pit of local playground.

Keep in mind I had no formal training in this whatsoever.  In fact, we only had a vague idea of the concept based on videos we had seen months ago.

In any case, after lots of trial, error, pain and a couple of practice sessions later, I'm now pretty darn close to a full front flip.

The front flip is a very basic acrobatic movement, yet so daunting.  It gives me a renewed appreciation of the process that my Jeet Kune Do students go through when learning something new.

As my development is still fresh, I vividly remember the mental-physical-spiritual process that I went through at the beginning of my front flipping adventure.

It goes something like this: the excitement, followed by intense fear, the leap of faith, the triumph and elation, the resurgence of fear, courage and persistence, and the eventual transcendence to a new level of mastery.

It reminds me of how important it is to incorporate my full self, mind-body-spirit, in all that I do.

Here is the process condensed into a single front flip attempt:

1.  Desire and excitement powering the leap of faith.

2. Regret about diving head first into a world of potential pain.

3. Past the point-of-no-return.  Acceptance and full commitment to succeed.

4. Perseverance, success, joy, excitement, triumph, confusion, doubt...

5. Resurgence of fear sparked by the memory of pain.  Yet strength is drawn from the knowledge that completion is now an inevitability.

6. Sweet completion and relief.  Retrospection, self beration for weakness and error, desire to improve, resolution to succeed, return to the moment, joy, happiness, gratitude.

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Underground MMA Conditioning: Hardcore Martial Arts Training Secrets

I've decided to reveal to the world my hardcore, underground Jeet Kune Do Martial Arts training secrets.  I guarantee you that no other Martial Arts fight team trains using the powerful, proprietary methods we use to demolish the competition.

Enjoy, and train hard!

Power Swings: gradually increasing the intensity as your body adjusts to the awesomeness.

The Extreme Rocket: perform in sets of three minute intervals with one minute breaks.  For an advanced progression try these with one hand waving in the air.  (note: if you don't have access to a rocket, any of the various zoo animals or other vehicles are acceptable, but the rocket offers the highest performance boost)

Dynamic Slide Accelerations: these are coupled with Bunny Hops back to the top of the sliding apparatus.  Be careful to maintain good posture with the overhead arm raises and contagious smiles.

Monkey Hangs: best if performed to failure.  Funny faces and monkey sounds will earn you a gold star.

Cool down with some stretches on the swings.

If you have time, you might want to jog a little . . .

. . . and maybe go for some uphill sprints.  I hear these can be pretty good.

Oh, and a little contact sparring might help :)

       

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The cookie cleanse diet

Victoria wanted to go on a cleansing diet this week, which means no processed foods, among other things.

Given that she's the Cookie Goddess with an insatiable appetite for all types of cookies and sweets, this is my attempt to accomplish the impossible.

These are raw, organic, cashew coconut fig cookie bars. Actually, they also have hemp and chia seeds but I named them after the predominant flavors. They're moist, sweet, and chewy with a tiny bit of crunchiness.

Let's see if they pass the test.

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Echo Mountain barefoot hike and Martial Arts training

I had heard about Echo Mountain during the Summer last year, but I dismissed it as more of a historical tourist attraction rather than anything I would want to hike.

Earlier this week Casey Schreiner, from Modern Hiker, recommended Echo Mountain as a good hike in the rain. Although we finally didn't make it in the rain, we were pleasantly surprised this Thursday as we visited the old resort ruins and the well named Inspiration Point.

It was a bright sunny day with that amazing, cool, crisp, post rain air.

Somewhere after mile four, we hit snow . . .

Considering I was barefoot, I thought I might be in for some trouble but it turned out to be rather refreshing.

Once at Inspiration Point, the amazing view of downtown LA, the beautiful surrounding landscape, and the inviting man made structures called for some bodyweight strength training, martial arts practice, and meditation before our rapid downhill trail run back to the Cobb Estate.

             

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It's always a good time to enjoy nature

Featuring our official Jeet Kune Do photographer, Mike Jara, this picture is from this morning's six mile barefoot hike and trail run in the rain.

We had the the trail to ourselves. There were a surprising number of animals out and about, despite the rain, so why not us too?

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What happens when 3 unorthodox guys get together to play at the park?

Don't ask . . .

I'll leave this one up to your imagination.

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Working on My Game of Death Bruce Lee Flying Side Kick

Hiked to the top of Mt Zion in the Santa Anita Canyon today.

Beautiful clear skies and yet another warm, Winter day in sunny Southern California.

After a brief video shoot with Victoria Vives and Jonathan Mead, for my upcoming Jeet Kune Do Online demo, we broke out into spontaneous flying side kicks.

Here's my Bruce Lee, Game of Death flying kick attempt. Still needs work.

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Living Breakfast

This is what I had for breakfast this morning.

Homemade kefir (using raw milk from pastured cows), raw cream, papaya cubes, a few tablespoons of wildcrafted chia seeds and a handful of raw cashews (these are Trader Joe's brand so they're not really raw, but it's what I got so there!).  The nuts and fruit will generally vary depending on what I have on hand.  Sometimes I'll add honey or dried fruit for extra sweetness, but usually not.

It gives me superpowers.

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