In my opinion JKD is more of a concept then a style.

ABSORB WHAT IS USEFUL
REJECT WHAT IS USELESS
ADD WHAT IS ESSENTIAL YOUR OWN

Also another advice my Sifu gave me was its not the art or concept that makes the person its the person that makes the art,concept or whatever you want to call it.

yes i agree. but i don't really call things concepts because it shouldn't be a concept it's how people are natural in their life anyway people absorb what they feel is useful to them and reject what they don't think is useful to them so it's just saying to do what people have always naturally done anyway it just applies it to martial arts which it's already how you are in life so just be your self in martial arts the same as you are in life, i mean if someone watched tv or read a book explaining how to do something the person would naturally absord the useful and reject what is useless to them it's just saying to be how you natural are anyway.

A concept is like a abstract idea or theory. The reason why Bruce Lee stresses this alot is because other styles tend to make there art or style become law like the gospel truth in which you cannot change that technique because its been passed down from generation to generation. Alot of students in different arts or styles will believe this as truth and not have the knowledge or confidence to challege there masters beliefs in what works for them and doesnt work for them and will absorb both the good with the bad and not be willing to challenge that concept or theory.

yes i know i just don't call it a concept. if i were alive when tai chi was made up i would have called that an concept because it's not natural or instinctive, i don't call jkd a concept because it's about being natural and instinctive and adaptive which is how people are by nature. i'm not saying that it's wrong to call it a concept because it's not but to me it's just not a word i would use to explain jkd.

I think i would like to add more to this topic of jkd. To me jeet kuen do was bruce lee's expression of himself. And also maybe he closed his school's because he saw that people were not expressing their self but only doing what lee did. Also he was showing people that traditional martial arts should not be the end all be all. He was not only shareing the chinese culture with people in his own way he was also showing people that martial arts should be about the process not the product. people now days have become the product of those who sell pretty movements that may have worked well at one time but now are complex and stale. for something to work well it must be simple. for example a knife is not pretty and is not complex it does what it was made for, and it does it very well. for example the pulley one of the greatest inventions ever and yet look how simple it is, the simplicity of it's design is why it works so well and will always be used until the end of this world. martial arts are the same, i'm not saying that it is wrong to learn martial forms all i'm saying is only use what is basic and simple from the art the rest is just a waste of energy. In other words i'm not saying not to learn some forms i'm just saying only keep from those forms that which will work for you in real life fights. that is if your training for self defence reasons. anyway i hope my opinons do not offend because they shouldn't everyone does not think the same and you should not be offended if someone does not agree with you. peace

I think the concept of finding one´s own way and not following Buddha, or Krishnamurti or Bruce Lee is as outworn as the very thing it warns against. It sounds cool but ultimately we all need help getting there, which is why we seek their teaching. I am learning JKD and so far it´s all drill and repetitive practice. Without it I think if I were unleashed on an opponent it would be the combative equivalent of my personal life without the benefits of spirituality: I may not be a perfect human being but I´d be a damned sight worse without it. In other words left to my own devices I´d get my arse kicked 9 times out of 10.

Katas and "dissolving the principle". Surely that is a good illustration. Of course you aint gonna start doing a kata in a biker bar (why is it always the poor bikers who have to get tested) but you'll find, on reflection, that you used part of a kata (technique,focus, speed etc) in your application. You probably weren't aware of it at the time.
You'd absorbed the principal through ages of training and dissolved it so it spread through you and appeared when you needed it, almost instinctively.

If your trad art doesn't have a technique you feel you need then find it and incorporate it into your arsenal... this is what wise MAists have always done. JKD is just a philosophy of what has always been done by those who are aware of what they need.

Incidentally, review your ideas of kata. What is a phase 4 if it isn't kata? What is shadow boxing if it isn't free-form kata.

well i'm not going to go in to a chat about people's path and all that but for the records i believe in and let jesus guide me in life. i let bruce lee's words guide me own how to make myself more effective in a fight.

I wonder if biker forums have quotes like, "Huh, try riding your Harley in a karate school and see where it gets you..."