Jeet Kune Do: Entering to Trapping to Grappling

210 Pages·1989·18.48 MB·English

by  Larry Hartsell

ENTERING TO TRAPPING TO GRAPPLING

BY LARRY HARTSELL
JEET KUNE DO

Entering to Trapping to Grappling

by Larry Hartsell
Acknowledgements

| wish 0 thank the following ‘or their assistance with the
photograchy: Hal Faulkner Caris Kent, Alphonso Tamez,
Magda, Burt Poe, Steve Connoley, Paul Yunas, Ernie Franko, Tim
Tackett, Jr. and Tim lackett, Sr.

DISCLAIMER
Please note thal the aublisrer of ths inst-uetional hank 4SIBLE in any

ol owing Ihe

rarmer whats ace" for any injury who
itis essenie “nat nafore tallow ng any of the activities. 2
slesoribed, the readin’ nr waco’ hauld fre: consult hi s
where’ or net ine veatter of easers should erhars on the p'ysical act describe verein
Since Ire pyeleal acty ies Gescnbed herein may be tor. =0

ial tat 2 ohysicran be constited.

netrastion

IgB\. 0 86868 0515,
Lipraty ef Cortrsox Catalog Number, 8451053

984 by Urigu:
ished 1964
visten P the Led Stamos of America

seats

Front Cove Ilustration: Walter ton
Book Dasigr: Mathenna Leurg & Ran wong

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Contents

Acknowledgements
Dedication
Foreword
Linda Lee
What is Jest Kune Do?
Dan inosanto
. Ranges of Combat
I. Stance and Footwork
Ill, Trapping Hands
IV. Entering to Trapping to Grappling
V. Grappling as a De‘ense
VI. Grappling ‘rom the Tie-Up Position
‘About the Author
To the memory of Bruce Lee, who was my sifu and my

rspiration.

To Linda Lee for ner support and introduction.

To Adrian Marsnall for Fis guidance and friendship

To Dan inosanto, my sifu, mentor, ard above all my ‘rend

To Richard Bustillo, Jerry Patest, and the rest of the old
Chinatown group with whom | was fortunate enough to train.

To my mother and father wio have susperted me through
good times and bad

To Tim Tackett, my ‘riend end JKD brother.

(peices Peteac,

AY wire
Foreword

During the ea‘ly years of Bruce's stay in the United States,
there were just a nandiul of ded cated martial artists with whom
Bruce associated, warked out, and exchanged ideas, This wes
indeed a quality group, individuals who to tris day practice and
live the highest Seals sf the martial arts and exhibil an aware-
ness of the very simple—yet highly effactive—princ ples of ject
kune do

Larry Hartsell has been a member of this group, as well as a
family friend, to this day, His cook, nighly rega-ded by his pears,
is @ straightforward example of the direcl application of jeet kune
do <6 grappling techniques. Larry's book also disclays 2 recog-
nition of the basic concept of jeet kune do, that s, the ability to —
discriminate between those techniques that ara useful to the in
divicual and those that are personally unsu table.

Bruce would have been proud of Larry's czntinued growth in
the arts and of his constant striving to reac nis fullest potential
Writing this book is one step along the way lo Larry's greater gell-
actualizaticn and ors | feel, that Bruce would heartly endorse

Mende) Kee
ee

Dan Inosanto

WHAT IS JEET KUNE DO?

Jeel kune do—tive | tera! translation is “way of the intercepting
fist'was conceived by Bruce Lee in 1967. Unlike many other
martial arts, there are neither a series of ru es nor a classification
af techniques which constitute a distinct jaet kine co (KD)
method cf fightirg. JKD is unbound: JKD is freedom, It
possesses everylning, yet in itsell is possessed by nothing
Those w70 understand JKD ara primarily interested in its powers
of liberation wher JKD 's used a3 @ mirror for self-examination.
Inthe pasl, many have tried to define JKD in terms of a distinct
style: Bruce Lee's kung-fu; Bruce Lee's karate; Bruce Lee's
kickboxing, Bruce Lee's system of strect figating. To label JKD ae
Bruce Lee's martial an” is 19 completely mistake Bruce Lee's
—and JKD's—meening, JKD's concepts sinaly carnot be con-
fined within 2 single system To understand this, 2 martial artist
must transcend the duality of "for" end "against," reaching tor

that point of unity which is beyond mere distinction. “ne under-

standing =f JKD is cha direct intuition of this oo’nt of unity.
According ts Bruce Lee, knowiedge in the ‘nevtiel arts ultimately
means self-knowledge

Jeet kune do is not a new style of kung-fu or karate, Bruse Lee
did not invent e new or compasile ety
0 set it apart from any existing method. His concept was to free
nis followers trom clinging to any style, pattern, or mold,

It must be emphasized that jea: kuna do is merely a name, @
mirror reflecting ourselves. There is a sort of progressive ap-
proach to JKD training, but es Lee observed. “To create a
vnethad of fignting is like putting a pound of water into wrapping
paper and shapi'y il,’ Structura ly, many oeople mistake JKD as
a composite s:yle of martial art hecause of i's aificiency. At any
given time jeet kune do can resemble Thai boxing or wing chun
or wrestling or karate, Its weaponty resembles Filipino escrima
anc kali; in long-range application it can resemble Northen
Chinese kung-fu 5° savate.

Accord ng to Les. the efficiency af any style depends upon cir-
cumstances and tne fighting range of distance: the soldier
employs a hend grenade a* 50 yards, but he chooses a dagger
for close-quarters combat, 4 s:aff, to take another example, '3
the wrong weapon te take to a fight in a telephone booth; a knife
would again ba the most aporopriate weapon.

Jee! kure co is neither opposed or unoppases to the concept
of style. We can say that it is autsicle as wall as inside of al par-
ticular structures. Because JKD maxes no claim to existing as a

ee
style, some irdiviuals conclude that it is neutral or indifferent to
the question. Again, this is not the case, for JKD is at once “this”
and “nol this."

A good JAD practitioner resis his actions on direct intuition.
According to Lea, a style should never be like the Bible in which
the principles and laws can never be violated. There will always
be differences between individuals in regard to the qualily of
training, ohysical make-up, level of understanding, environmen-
tal concitioning, and likes arc dislikes, According to Bruce, truth
is a‘ pathless road’; thus JKD is rot an arganization or an institu-
tion of which one can be a member. "“E thar you unders:and or
you don't—and that is that,” he said,

Wher Bruce taught a Cninese system of kiing-fu (it was shortly

after his arr val in the Uritec States), he dd operate an institute
of learning; but after that early period he abarcsned his belief in
any particular sysiem or s-yle, Ch nese or otverwise. Lee did say
that to reach the masses one should probably form some type of
organ zat on; for his own part, ne dismissed te notion as un-
necessary to his own teaching. Still, lo reach che ever grow ng
numbers sf students, some sort =# preconceived sels had lo be
established. And as a result of such 2 move by martial ars
organizations. many of their members woul be corcitionec to a
prescribed system; many of thei: members would end us as
prisoners of systerratic oril ing.

This is why Lee celieves in teaching only a faw students at any
time. Such a methos ot ins:ructicn required tne teacher to main-
tain an alert observation of each student in order to establish the
Necessary stuce tt leacher relat orship. As Lee so atten abse-ved
“A good instructor functions as a pointer of the :ruth, exposing
the student's vulnerability, forcing him :o explore himself bath in-
tarnally ard externally, and finally integrating himsef with his
being.’

Martial arts—like life itself—is in flux, in constant arhythmic
movements, in constant change, = owing with this change is very
importenl Ard finally, any .KD man wao says tat JKD is ex-
slusively JKD is simply not with il, He s slill hung up an his own
sell-enc osing “esistance, still anchored to react onary patterns
still trapped wishin limbetion, Such a person has not digested the
simple fact that truth exists outside of all molds or patterns
Awareness is never exclusive. To quote Bruce: “Jeet kun do is
just a name, a boat used tc get ore across ther ver. Once across
tis discarded ang not to be carried on one's back.”

In 1981, the JXD concept was luughil in only Inree places: the
Filipino Kali Acaclemy in Torrance, California, 1» Charlotte, North
Carolina (where ~arry Hartsell taught a few select students); and
1 Seattle, Washington (under the directior of Taki Kimura). The
Sulk of che JKD concept is taught in Torrance, where the school is

vii
under the direction of nyse f and Richard Bustilic. Itis organizes

in accordance with the premise that a JKM man must undergo
different experiences. For example, in Phase 1 and Phase 2
classes al Ihe Filigino Kali Academy, students ave taugtt
Western boxing and Bruce Lea's mathod of kick Soxing—un fan,

| deeply fee thal students should be taught experiences as

opposed to tochniques. Ir other words, a karate practitioner who
has never boxed before needs to excerience sparring with a
boxer. What ne learns from that experience is up to him. Accord-
ing ta Bruce, a teacher is not a giver of truth; ne is merely a guide
to the truth each student must fins.

The tota picture Lee wanted to aresent to hs pupils was that
above everything else, tte pucls musi find their ow7 way to
truth, He never hesilaled co Sey. "Your truth is not my truth; my
truth is not yours.”

Bruce dic rot nave a blueprint, cut ratner a series of guide-
lines to ead one to proficicney. In using training equipment,
tnere was @ systematic approach in which one could develop
speed, distance, power. timing, coordination, endurance and
footwork <

But jeet Kune do was not an end in itself for Bruce—nor was ita
mere by-product of his martial studies, it was a mans to selt
discavery. JKD was a prescription for personal growth; twas an
investigation of freedom—treedom not only to act naturally and
effectively in combat, but in lifa. in Ite, we abscrb what is useful
and reject what is useless, ard add lc experienc what is
specifically our own, Bruce Lee always wanted his students to
experience judo, jujutsu, akido, Western coxing; he wanted his
students to exp o’e Chinese systems of sersitivity like wing chun,
to exalore the elements of kali, eserima, amis; to explore the
elements of pentjek silat, Thai boxing, savate. He wanted his
students to come to ar understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of each method.

No all is sugerior or inferior to any other Thats the objec:
lesson of jest <une do, to be unbound, to be ‘ree! in comba! to
use no sty'e a slyle, to use ne way as the way, to rave no limita-
tion as the only limitation, Neitha’ be for or against a carticular
styl. In other words, jeet kune So ' just is."

(Or to use the words of a Zen maxim to cescrine jeet Kure co,
“In the landscape of spring there is neither better nor worse, Tne
flowering branches grow, some short, some ong

Ai)
K Lane Spataete

AEE EEE EEE
I. RANGES OF COMBAT

As we can see from Dan |nosanto’s introduction, jeet xune do
s hard to define. The important thing to remember is that uKD is
2 oF system, There is ro specal list of jeet kune do
techniques. While there is a structure, JAD students are not
cound by il, What Bruce Lee was trying to achieve was his
students" ultimate liberation from style. Bruce was always wor
‘ied that if he were no longer around, his students would freaze
set kune do — which should always be growing, changing, and =
adapting into a ‘iqid styla. In.a phone call <0 Der iol Loc a few
montns belore his death, Bruce said that an organ zed jeet kune
do school was a poor idea because “students tend to take the
agende. for the way and the program for the truth.”

ltis extremely cifficult to write a book about jeet kune do, since
the reader may |cok at tne book and say, ‘This is jeet kune do;
or he may turn the idzas ir this bock into "igid laws: or he may
look at soma of the techniques through the eyes of his own par-
ticular sy 2. In writing this book, | simply want to share some of
the things that Bruce taught his sluden's. Take whet ig use‘Ll, re-
ject what is sseless, add whatis specifically your own. In the {nal
analysis, JKD musi be felt, not written about. Bruce would have
agreed wita Chuang Tzu, the fourh century B,C, Taoist phileso-
pher, who said, “If it could be selkad about. everyone would nave
told his brother."