Jeet Kune Do is a Chinese martial art which was founded in 1967 and developed by the infamous Bruce Lee. The name of this martial art, translated into English, means “way of the intercepting fist.” This is quite an appropriate description as most of the techniques associated with this martial art utilize many “on guard” positions.

Bruce Lee believed that real combat had to be animated and energetic. The various patterns and techniques associated with Jeet Kune Do are very fluid and lively. Practitioners of Jeet Kune Do are trained to be infinitely flexible “like water.” Many techniques consist of stop hits, stop kicks, parrying and punching, trapping, and grappling.

Practitioners of Jeet Kune Do believe that their techniques should follow three effective properties including efficiency, directness, and simplicity. In order for Jeet Kune Do to be efficient, an attack must reach its mark. Directness implies that a martial arts technique must come naturally and are innate for the practitioner. A practitioner’s thoughts should be clear in order to achieve simplicity because only then will he achieve success. 

The five different ways of attack in this martial art are: single angular attacks (SIA), hand immobilization attacks (HIA), Progressive Indirect Attacks (PIA), Attack by Combinations (ABC), and Attack by Drawing (ABD). The latter creates an opening with positioning which results in counter attacking.

Bruce Lee's philosophy has been particularly influential and valid in the field of Mixed Martial Arts. Lee's goal was to divide what he claimed were preventive factors in the teaching of the traditional styles and search for a fighting theory which he thought could only be established within the event of a fight.  In other words, a fighter will defend himself with techniques that he knows and it does not matter where these techniques come from. Modern Jeet Kune Do is based on a philosophy that rejects excess and harnesses bare combat essentials.