if JKD is all you have, is it worth it?

[munson]

okay guys, i live in a relatively small town. the only martial art school here that isn't a TKD school is run by a guy named Jack McVicker. he teaches BJJ and JKD. from what i've read, he's pretty good at BJJ, so that's covered. my question is, if jeet kun do is the only stand up art i have access to, would it be worth learning?

i understand that JKD, in theory, is an MMA of it's own. at least that's the idea behind it, isn't it? please correct me if i'm wrong. i would love to train in muay thai, but the closest school is in indianapolis. i just can't travel 140 miles everytime i want to train. so how much effective stand up has made it's way into JKD? and please forgive my ignorance, but is there anything like kata in JKD? i ask because, frankly, i just wouldn't dig that too much.

any info y'all could give would be appreciated. thanks.

[CHH]

ugh.....I know how those JDK/MMA guys are. IF and only if it's all you have, try him out. But remember he's a nobody in the fighting world for a reason so just take it as your first step and try not to get overconfident in your abilities.

[Clann]

Well, there is a big debate on how effective JKD can be. Before I got into MMA, I was learning about JKD. I think there are some good training principles of JKD that could help you, and the philosophies of it are pretty good. JKD is a martial art that is about the individual and how you can improve yourself as a martial artist and a fighter..and there is sparring in JKD most of the time, from what I could remember.

Also, if your instructer has trained in BJJ, then you definitely are going to learn some ground work, which is what I think JKD is the most limited in. JKD is not supposed to be based on a sport martial art though. It's primarily supposed to be for the "street".

[Alfuh]

I say if its all you have then go for it. Worse that can happen is you realize it kinda blows and leave.

Also, nice av :)

[CHH]

I say if its all you have then go for it. Worse that can happen is you realize it kinda blows and leave.

Also, nice av :)That's the problem, most JKD guys don't realize that it blows, especially if they have no prior experience. JKD is sometimes like a cult. You don't realize how retarded it is because everyone else around you is doing it to.

There's a JKD/MMA school around me. My buddy started going there literally only after about 6 lessons from me and HS wrestling. He killed everyone there at his level. He took the instructors back and stayed there for the entire round, THEN the fucking INSTRUCTOR refused to roll with him after that. It's at that point they should have realized they were doing all the same stuff, they just suck at it.

[Clann]

That's the problem, most JKD guys don't realize that it blows, especially if they have no prior experience.

Alot of JKD guys see Bruce Lee as some kind of God and they think JKD is the ultimate martial art. They think "hey, if I train like Bruce Lee and do exactly what he does, I will be a great fighter!".

I'm not saying all JKD guys are like this because there are some good fighters out there that have taken JKD but a sad majority of them are.

[munson]

thanks for the replies. so, JKD doesn't sound terribly promising. i do believe that there's a boxing gym here in town, though i can't imagine it amounts to much. if you knew terre haute, you'd understand. i might look into it, though that would leave an obvious deficiency pertaining to MMA. perhaps i could just check out the BJJ class, though it's not no-gi, which makes me a sad panda.

CHH, what do you mean about him being a nobody? do you know of him? upon googling, it seems that he's rather accomplished in BJJ. granted, BJJ isn't the same as MMA.

[CHH]

thanks for the replies. so, JKD doesn't sound terribly promising. i do believe that there's a boxing gym here in town, though i can't imagine it amounts to much. if you knew terre haute, you'd understand. i might look into it, though that would leave an obvious deficiency pertaining to MMA. perhaps i could just check out the BJJ class, though it's not no-gi, which makes me a sad panda.

CHH, what do you mean about him being a nobody? do you know of him? upon googling, it seems that he's rather accomplished in BJJ. granted, BJJ isn't the same as MMA.Is he? I was just guessing he was a nobody. What's his name?

[Clann]

thanks for the replies. so, JKD doesn't sound terribly promising. i do believe that there's a boxing gym here in town, though i can't imagine it amounts to much. if you knew terre haute, you'd understand. i might look into it, though that would leave an obvious deficiency pertaining to MMA. perhaps i could just check out the BJJ class, though it's not no-gi, which makes me a sad panda.

CHH, what do you mean about him being a nobody? do you know of him? upon googling, it seems that he's rather accomplished in BJJ. granted, BJJ isn't the same as MMA.

I would definitely go there and check it out. At least go to one training session and if it seems legit, do it.

[remy]

uhm...

http://www.bjj.org/a/people/mcvicker-jack.html

training with a BB probably isnt a bad idea.

[munson]

Also, nice av :)

thanks chief. gotta love Mackie!

here's his website, if anyone's interested. http://www.jackmcvicker.com/

[CHH]

Dude........he's a black belt under Megaton.......

God damnit, yes, go train with him.

[Cheney]

Definitely go train, and then post what you thought of the JKD.

[Chan Ho Nam]

Also, nice av :)

Is that Detective Scrotes?


http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/841/familyguydetectivescrotes7yh.gif

[kcb]

In 2 posts this thread worked itself out.

Also, you never really posted what your goals were. Do you plan on fighting? If so, then JKD isn't the way to go, but it looks like you really lucked out because your JKD instructor happens to be a BB in BJJ. If you're training for self or street defense, then I don't see anything wrong with JKD per se. After training in anything, including TKD (well, maybe not) for more than a month, you'll be able to beat the average Joe 80% of the time.

[babygetoboy]

After training in anything, including TKD (well, maybe not) for more than a month, you'll be able to beat the average Joe 80% of the time.


Unless it's a Kata fight!!!!

[munson]

In 2 posts this thread worked itself out.

Also, you never really posted what your goals were. Do you plan on fighting? If so, then JKD isn't the way to go, but it looks like you really lucked out because your JKD instructor happens to be a BB in BJJ. If you're training for self or street defense, then I don't see anything wrong with JKD per se. After training in anything, including TKD (well, maybe not) for more than a month, you'll be able to beat the average Joe 80% of the time.

well, it's like any other sport. i mean, if some dude likes basketball or whatever, he and his boys will put a game together. but it aint like i can go down to the park and ask some ol' boy if he wants to throw. so i have to go somewhere to train. that's were i'm coming from. i love MMA, so i'd like to participate. sure, i'd like to fight on an amateur/local level. i certainly don't have pro aspirations. on the other hand, i wouldn't turn anything down either. but that's putting the cart way before the horse.

thanks to y'all for the information. i appreciate it.

[SnjoNegri]

I never really read the thread but JKD is as follows.

MMA. Thats right, you have it.

JKD now adays simply copy bruce lees style which is stupid, he has that style because he was small and fast and accurate.

The elite JKD schools get past copying bruce lee, but instead of focusing on what works and drilling on it, they check out everything from every exotic location.... still with the outlook that odd, crazy elaborate moves will work in a real fight.


JKD guy does inverted spinning back kick, gets kicked to the ground and stomped by MMA'er.

[Anton Chigurh]

okay guys, i live in a relatively small town. the only martial art school here that isn't a TKD school is run by a guy named Jack McVicker. he teaches BJJ and JKD. from what i've read, he's pretty good at BJJ, so that's covered. my question is, if jeet kun do is the only stand up art i have access to, would it be worth learning?

i understand that JKD, in theory, is an MMA of it's own. at least that's the idea behind it, isn't it? please correct me if i'm wrong. i would love to train in muay thai, but the closest school is in indianapolis. i just can't travel 140 miles everytime i want to train. so how much effective stand up has made it's way into JKD? and please forgive my ignorance, but is there anything like kata in JKD? i ask because, frankly, i just wouldn't dig that too much.

any info y'all could give would be appreciated. thanks.


This thread is TL/DR (and you all know I'm going to just advocate ZHOOOO ZHITZUUUUUUU anyway), but I have one thing to say:

This guys AV is absolutely tits. Best I've ever seen.

Also, try going to a local high school and training with the wrestling team there. You'll learn some good takedowns, get some good conditioning, and have a good base/foundation for submission grappling. If 95% of fights end on the ground, the answer to your question is "no, JKD is not enough."

In my opinion, JKD is just as useless as TKD, Kempo, and any of the other martial arts that disregard the fact that almost every fight will go to the ground.

[Fenix]

Am I the only one who thinks that that 90% of fights going to the ground statistic is a load of shit?

[Clann]

In my opinion, JKD is just as useless as TKD, Kempo, and any of the other martial arts that disregard the fact that almost every fight will go to the ground.

This is true about most TMA and sometimes JKD because they do teach groundfighting (which is limited) but he won't have to worry about the grappling because his teacher is an accomplished black belt. And I'm sure he incorporates his BJJ and his JKD together.

Anyways Munson, come back to us with what happened.

[DaPunisher]

at first i thought the guy was suspect since alot of martial arts instructors get blue or purple belts in bjj and end up teaching it at there school.

But a black belt under megaton speaks for itself.

In addition to bjj i would recommend doing some boxing, there''s got to be a boxing gym within drivable distance.

[MyAssIsFartsy]

Maybe the place is like the anti-McDojo. It advertises JKD to attract all the clueless tards, and once in, teaches them the real "Way" with BJJ....

[Doktor Sharpness]

First thing I did was look up McVicker in BJJ.org... I think it really should be anyone's first step in picking a school or checking someone out... It's not always 100% accurate (sometimes people's promotions are a year or so behind), but if you see a guy listed as black under Megaton Dias, you're in the clear. Whatever else they're teaching there, they should be able to make it work for you, or at least aim you in the right direction.

Go for it. A BJJ black belt isn't going to be showing you much bullshit standing, because he knows his ass will just get taken down and subbed.

Fenix: 90% might be pushing it if we were really trying to be accurate, but I'd say it's easily between 80-90%. Closer to 100% if we consider the fact that even in 100% stand up fights, someone winds up on the ground if it's not broken up. I mean, what's the point of boxing and K-1? To knock one guy down... Whether you knock the guy down, take him down, or you get one or the other done to you, it's going to the ground. The only way it's not is a flash KO with someone walking away, or the fight getting stopped by someone else.

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

I think you should just go to it, try a lesson, and see how it goes. Ask some questions, too.

You never know what you could learn, I got into boxing through my freaking Karate instructor.

[DaPunisher]

do it do it do it.

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

JKD sucks dick though, I'll say that. It's like a gay cocktail of BJJ, Wing Tsung, and Kali even though they are the "style-less" style. Though, try it out, you never know, 9/10 times a Karate dojo sucks but I lucked out and met an instructor who was really into fitness, boxed/kickboxed competitively, and had been out that style for 14 years, even though the quality of the ryu declined dramatically in that period he did not, he was sort of frozen in time so speak. So you can get an awesome instructor in a crappy style.

[DaPunisher]

So you can get an awesome instructor in a crappy style.


i agree