Hi Rod, I'm new to mansized and thought it would be a good time to ask an expert; next week i start studying jeet kun do with steve powell. I've had a year of tkd and two years of kyokushin karate training and a year off since. Does that mean i'm effectively a beginner again, back to stage one?
My flexibility is terrible again and I'm also worried that studying jkd will detract from the bulking/resistance work i'm doing in the gym. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    ^top

Thanks for your enquiry and welcome to the Mansized forums. We have a great selection of Martial Arts practitioners here and I always feel that its good to be in such great company.

In answer to your point about starting Jeet Kun Do - You will be starting as a beginner. You have done other Martial Arts, all of which are quite different to JKD, however you will, because of your previous experience, find that you have good co-ordination and you will probably pick up the techniques quicker and more effectively than someone who has never attempted any form of Martial Art.

Any weight training that you are doing will go to supplement your Martial Arts training, but don't forget to do plenty of stretching after any of your gym workouts. It is most important not to bulk up and lose your flexibility so don't forget to streeeeeeeetch.

Start as you say at stage one and enjoy the learning of something new. Each stage of the learning process is important so don't try to jump too far forward without understanding the fundamental and basic principles of JKD. I am sure you will enjoy the experience and gradually gain confidence from the depth of your understanding of this Martial Art.

Good Luck, and don't forget to let us know how you get on at Mansized.

    ^top

thanks for the great advice and it seems to ring true to the whole unlearning before learning jkd attitude I should foster. And thanks to will for the clean up of this post!!

    ^top

No worries Ender. It'd be good to get more martial arts chats going.

    ^top

Whenever you start a new and different Martial Art, I believe you should always start a fresh. Not only can you get away with doing things wrong, it gives you time to re-learn how to do things differently that you are already programed for.

I say embrace the white belt :)

    ^top

I'm taking up rex kwon do. Where did I put my nunchucks?

    ^top

I've started back at Taekwondo recently after a few years off and I'm not wearing a belt (effectively appearing to be a white belt) until I feel ready to wear my normal belt - so I definitely agree: embrace the white belt.

We've had guys train with us that have done other martial arts and they always and without fail start at white belt. If they got to a senior grade in a previous art (think near black belt or black belt) then they may double-grade or grade quicker, but they always start at 0, same as every body else.

Good luck with your JKD.

    ^top

I thought I;d cut and paste this from another thread...here's how yesterday's class went....

For six years I've been dying to go and study Jeet Kun Do and this eveninig I had my first class. The instructor was old, overweight, didnt know how to count (1...2...3...7....3....7...) and though no one was looking, we were all pretty sure he had a stiffy. I couldnt help but be a little disgusted. Within 20 minutes everyone was chatting, messing around and not even listening to the instructor who introduced himself with "fuck it...I burp, I swear, I fart, if you dont like it get out". (BTW this wasnt Steve Powell who apparently 'had the shits').

I couldnt help but compare to my kyokushin class where no one was allowed to talk unless given permission, the instructor beat our legs with baseball bats and punched us in the gut as we did sit ups. I know it sounds insane but our sensei was the shit. This guy was a joke - really dissapointing.

    ^top

I wonder if Bruce is looking down on these guys and thinking 'wait till your up here lads, I'll show what JKD really means'

Don't blame the art mate, blame the club!!

    ^top

I'd absolutely agree - and it might not even be the club, just a wanker stand-in instructor.

However, I'd point out that "didn't know how to count" is a surprisingly common fault and indeed one I have. If I'm concentrating on watching someone's technique and thinking how I can get them to improve it (and how to frame that instruction to them so they understand it), counting really does become a lower priority so I often confuse what number I'm up to. The students don't seem to mind though as they get good hints they can see immediate results with.

Give the club another shot when the regular instructor is back, but if it's still crap, look elsewhere immediately (I'd even make an excuse and leave part way through the lesson if it seems to be going the same way).

    ^top