Jeet Kune Do and the Vietnamese Mindset

Practicing Jeet Kune Do requires the disciple’s consistency and the practice of their mind and morality. Jeet Kune Do is a fighting style which uses experience, examination and enlightenment. Practitioners must have already experienced a lot of styles along with numerous tactics and strategies originating from many different martial arts schools and sects as Jeet Kune Do has no limitation on the systems, forms or patterns. Winning or losing, using hard or soft techniques also do not matter in Jeet Kune Do. This is the reason why Jeet Kune Do is known as a martial art of no boundary. It is referred to as “a style without style” or “the art of fighting without fighting” as said by Bruce Lee himself.

The greeting rite of Vietnamese Jeet Kune Do’s practitioners. Martial artist Bui Trong Quoc Quan performs a popular Jeet Kune Do fighting style.

Martial artist Quan believes that practice should be taken as seriously as real fights.

Martial artist Quan has modified Jeet Kune Do’s grappling techniques to fit with Vietnamese.

Jeet Kune Do’s obstacle-overcoming technique.

A Jeet Kune Do’s specific punching technique.

Nunchakus (chainsticks) are of great importance in fighting.

Martial artist Quan guides his students on parrying techniques.

Jeet Kune Do students practice combat techniques.

Jeet Kune Do attracts not only men but also women.

As a pioneer who studies and teaches Jeet Kune Do in Vietnam, martial artist Bui Trong Quoc Quan acknowledged that Jeet Kune Do is not mysterious. It includes normal kicking or punching but with gracefully smooth movements. Those movements provide practitioners with good balance, enabling them to avoid their opponents’ attacks. He also shared that Jeet Kune Do is suitable for everyone but when applied in Vietnam, it has been modified to fit Vietnamese shapes and health. An 80-kg person cannot practice the same training course as a 50-kg one. Vietnam’s Jeet Kune Do has its own unique characteristics that other branches do not have. It is a combination of original Jeet Kune Do and Vietnamese traditional schools.

Jeet Kune Do was introduced to Vietnam in 2003 and now there are about 10 material arts clubs in Hanoi, attracting hundreds of students. Beginners wear black belts and change to blue ones after six months. After 5 years, they can wear brown belts then the yellow ones and the final red belts require about 10 years of practice.

Story: Quynh Anh – Photos: Thong Hai

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