ESSAY EIGHT: JKD THE APPLICATION

Heeresh Sharma , Engineer

I take this opportunity to express my happiness that I found Dr. Rao & Dr. Rao; and am thankful to them for accepting me as their student.

Around the age of 25yrs, all my physical activities, exercises & playing & walking, came to a sudden halt; and I fully blame myself for the same. At the age of 35 years I started feeling the brunt of no physical activity in the form of more flab, lowering physical flexibility, declining strength, ever present tiredness, pain here-&-there in the body, etc. This decline of physical well-being was highly frustrating. Finally, when the frustration surpassed my lethargy, after some searching I joined a gym which is quite respectable in terms of quality & results.

However, within a month I was disappointed (or may be I was unnecessarily over-demanding). The reasons for my disappointment were three –

• Each exercise in the gym was designed for a specific body part. So, in any given session, even after 1.5 hours of training, only few parts of the body were exercised while other parts of body languished in luxury/lethargy. I craved for something that may squeeze my whole body and wake it up from its slumber.

• There was nothing intellectually stimulating about it.

• Even after efforts I couldn’t feel a sense of involvement in that activity.

Though my weight reduced by 2kg in a month, my craving for something satisfying would not go.

It was at this point that I came to know of Dr. Rao & Dr. Rao and within one month of their accepting me as a student of JKD, I started feeling happy that finally I found what my body & mind had been craving for. My journey towards the satisfaction of one important facet of life/me started.

Jeet Kune Do (JKD) literally is “Art of Intercepting Fist”. To me it means defense by an attack. That is, before attacker’s attack reaches me, I will attack. For me this signifies speed, precision & power and above all this, the concentration & focus to do it.

As I now understand, JKD is basically a symbol of the concepts that it groups and embodies. All those concepts can be applied to martial arts; without any modification, the very same concepts can also be applied to life. Seems strange if looked upon superficially; seems very natural if looked upon closely.

2. Simplicity –

Simple (straightforward) thinking, simple processes/methods of doing works, only simple/basic/natural individual needs, . . . . . . . . . .

2. Directness –

Direct approach/action for anything reduces wastages in time, money, efforts & other resources (especially natural & non-replenishable).

2. Non-classical –

Don’t do anything, without understanding its need/logic, just because it has been done all along. Think/find/research the need/logic of things we do and change according to needs/logics.

2. Effectiveness (Throw out the non-essential) –

Many thousand years ago we human beings had tails; but with time its use diminished & finally it became useless. Hence, in due course, it vanished. This is just to say that even in nature the useless things do not exist/remain; so its prudent that anything which is effective/goal-oriented/necessary should only exist/remain in our lives. This is applicable to our thoughts, words, actions/reactions, tangible & intangible assets, . . . . . . . . . .

2. Add something of our own –

Nowadays we are “taught” almost everything we know; so much so, that most people have, in their unawareness, forgotten their ingenuity & creativity. Let our learning be the basis, but let our thoughts, words, actions/reactions be original (our own).

JKD in fighting & life is same; it’s just a matter of appropriately applying it.

Am thankful to JKD for strengthening my faith in the way I think & act/react. I have always been a non-conformist & non-conventional in thought & action. I found very few people of similar nature; however, my faith in myself kept me on track unwavering. Now, after coming in contact with JKD, this faith has been strengthened.

Application of JKD in personal life has enabled me to develop a “cold-bloodedly logical & result-oriented thought process”. This has immensely helped me in handling quite many tough situations in life. To name a few –

• Deciding course of action in handling my mother’s cancer

• Taking instantaneous decision about a life-saving operation of my wife

• Acting quickly & unemotionally when my father had a stroke

• Coolly handling turbulences in my career

Another amazing aspect of JKD which has immensely helped me is the extensive use of sparring in JKD for practice/training. According to me, the importance given to sparring in JKD is unmatched compared to that in any other martial arts, as JKD believes in teaching experience over skill.

Sparring has two major advantages for a student of martial art –

• It habituates & seasons the student to physical contact & fighting (hitting & getting hit).

• It provides real-life practice for student to help achieve effectiveness and finesse in the techniques learnt.

I think, most important part of seasoning that sparring develops in a student is to fight without emotions. Hence before, during or after a fight –

• Brain/clear-thinking does not get clouded by the “heat” or “adrenaline rush” of a fight scenario.

• There are no ego problems related to age, seniority or losing.

• There is no animosity related to losing or physical injury.

• Injury does not induce fear or stress thereby aiding fast recovery.

• The feeling of fellowship amongst students/exponents is always strong.

In my case sparring has helped me in more ways than these –

• I detested physical contact. Sparring has cured me of this silly feeling.

• It helped me develop a mind which is “calm” in adverse scenarios (e.g.: a fight).

• I experienced how to use my body weight (am still over-weight) to my advantage in a fight.

JKD, along with ensuring my well-being & health, has also made me more confident and humble. I cannot fully express in words how much & where all JKD has positively effected my life; suffice to say, JKD has made me complete.

Now I fully understand what revered Bruce Lee said about JKD that in ones life the spoken word “JKD” should vanish & it should become one’s very nature.