Tae Kwon Do is Jeet Kune Do

Tae Kwon Do is Jeet Kune Do

Tae Kwon Do is Jeet Kune Do.  They even sound similar.  They both end in “Do”, Kwon and Kune both start with the letter K, and both are four letter words.  The pronunciation of Kwon and Kune sound very similar.  Tae Kwon Do means “The Way of the Fist and Foot.”  Jeet Kune Do means “The Way of the Intercepting Fist.”  The meaning is very similar, now if there was another label named “The Way of the Intercepting Fist and Foot”, that would even have greater significance than both labels. 

Bruce’s original idea was to open up a chain of Jeet Kune Do schools across the nation, like how McDonald’s is found all over the world.  Essentially what Bruce planned to achieve, Tae Kwon Do has achieved.  Tae Kwon Do has schools throughout the nation, everybody in America knows of Tae Kwon Do.  Tae Kwon Do was able to achieve in America what Bruce was unable to achieve during his lifetime.  Bruce opened up 3 schools but then his plans changed and he shut down all 3 of his schools and went into acting. 

Now why did Bruce shut down all of his 3 schools and trash the idea of creating chains of Jeet Kune Do schools across the nation?  Well if you look into Tae Kwon Do and it’s reputation in the Martial Arts world in America, it will tell you why.  The problems associated with Tae Kwon Do in America is that it is extremely watered down and corrupted in regards to living up to its original integrity and standards of which you may find in some of the real Tae Kwon Do schools in Korea.  If you see the real Tae Kwon Do schools in Korea, you will see Black Belts that are really Black Belts.  They are the real deal, right before your eyes, they are performing demonstrations that will put you in awe, they are like armies of Bruce Lee’s.  Like the Shaolin Monks in the Shaolin Temple.  But that type of intense training in the Martial Arts, does not exist in America. 

Come to America and one Bruce Lee is a big deal.  Go to China or Korea and some other countries where they practice the real Martial Arts, there are hundreds of Bruce Lee’s that are just as capable or even more capable but only difference is they don’t have the name, the reputation, the individuality, that America brings.  They are just seen as a nameless “Chinese” or “Korean” guys that are super talented.  The name “Bruce Lee” sells tickets, the random Chinese guy in China that is super talented does not sell tickets because people don’t know who he is. 

Mike Tyson used to sell tickets, but now no longer.  Mayweather sells tickets.  America knows how to build on a name to sell tickets.  But America doesn’t know how to build real talent and skill.  Real talent and skill comes from real genuine hard work.  Not like the American Lance Armstrong who wants to cheat his way to fame.   No, real Kung Fu is somebody who works extremely hard everyday till death for little to no pay, like these Chinese factory workers who are making 50 cents per hour making the products of which we enjoy. 

America has little to no talent, that is why Bruce gave up on teaching Jeet Kune Do to Americans and decided to go into acting.  Bruce knew that if he continued on with opening more and more Jeet Kune Do schools, the less and less quality of each school would be the result and ultimately it would lead into the fate of what Tae Kwon Do has become in America.  Which is pretty much a style of Martial Art that has become a joke compared to the real Tae Kwon Do schools in Korea.  Selling Black Belts for profit, not because the student has earned it but because he has paid his dues on time.  Giving somebody a Black Belt and over inflating his ego when he has only trained for 1 year!  I can understand if a person gets a Black Belt in 20 years, but in 1 year, no way! 

Imagine if you had a Brain surgeon who only went to medical school for one year.  Imagine if you can become a lawyer in just one year of being in law school.  Imagine a couple who has only been together for one year.  Even if they spend every single day together, how well do they really know one another?  How strong is their relationship really?  There is a big difference between a couple who has been together for 1 year and a couple who has been together for 20 years. 

Imagine if all it took to raise your own child is just a 1 year commitment!  No, in order to raise a child the proper way, it is a life time commitment!  True Martial Arts is a lifetime commitment.  To replicate another Bruce Lee, it will take at least 32 years of training because Bruce Lee died at 32 years.  If Bruce Lee died at 65, then it would take 65 years of training to replicate Bruce Lee.  As a Martial Artist, every day you are living, you are learning or unlearning.  There is no end to your training, only death is the end. 

Bruce knew that if he continued to teach Jeet Kune Do in America, it would end up being poorly represented just as how these American Tae Kwon Do schools are poorly representing the real Tae Kwon Do in Korea.  You think Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James,   Mohammed Ali, and Floyd Mayweather can be duplicated in just one year of training!?  No way, it takes close to 30 years or more training to get to their level of perfection. 

America doesn’t have the patience to train in real Kung Fu or real Martial Arts.  The American mindset is too corrupted.  As a whole America will never be ready to develop into real Martial Artists, it goes completely against all the values of which they stand for. 

You tell American’s not to compete, but they are born and raised to compete.  You tell American’s to be patient, but they are born and raised to be impatient.  You tell American’s to not strive towards any goals but to just be in the present moment, but they are born and raised to strive towards endless goals.  You tell American’s not to fight even though you are training them how to fight, but they are born and raised to be violent. 

When you train an American to become a Martial Artist, you are essentially teaching the American to not be American.  Now this is something that will never happen on a mass scale, this goes against patriotism.  You are teaching the American to value the Chinese or Korean cultures and ways of life above the corrupted ways of America.  If the American does not realize that his own ways are corrupt , then he will not be open to learning.  If he is not open to learning, there is no hope.  And that is why, real Martial Arts will never exist on a mass scale in America, it will always stay underground as long as America is America.