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NO
RULES - ANYTHING GOES, ARE YOU READY
By
Morné Swanepoel
President JKD Unlimited South Africa
www.jkd.co.za
'Knowledge is not
power, the ability to apply your knowledge is true
power.' - Burton Richardson
 I
am often surprised by how much the word 'practical' or
'effective' is used to describe a certain Martial Art
system. While I agree that many fighting skills are
practical and effective within realm of fighting, I
question how practical these skills are within modern
society and against an aggressive, skillful opponent.
People study Martial
Arts for various reasons. The most prominent being for
self defence purposes. Now if you are studying the
Martial Arts to stand a better chance to defend yourself
in the street try and answer the following questions to
see if you think along the same lines as we do at Jeet
Kune Do Unlimited. Remember that when answering these
questions there will never be a definitive 'Yes' or 'No'
but try and answer them in a way that makes the most
sense to you.
Is the Martial Arts
primary purpose for impressiveness or effectiveness?
Do you think that
Martial Arts is primarily derived as a sport or a self
defence system?
For Self Defence
should we only stick to the techniques that have been
passed down through time, or should we just use whatever
techniques work for the given situation?
If you want to know
the effectiveness of a technique should you just take
your instructors word or test it for yourself?
If you decide to
test a technique, should the test be in a controlled,
passive environment? Or should the test be in an
environment that resembles a real, all out street fight?
The amount of
possible techniques in Martial Arts is it limited or
virtually unlimited?
The amount of time
you have to train each week is it unlimited or limited?
If the time is
limited should we prioritise which techniques and
training methods we use? Shouldn't we prioritise
training the most probable scenarios along with the most
useful techniques?
I have found that most
people answer these questions in the same way.
They conclude that
most Martial Arts is supposed to be designed for
effectiveness in the street using whatever techniques
that will work regardless of their origin. You should
test the techniques yourself in an environment close to
a street confrontation. There is unlimited amount of
Martial Arts techniques & combinations, but we have
limited amount of time to practice them in and therefore
we need to prioritise our training. In a real street
fight or limited rules sporting event your opponent will
resist your efforts 100%. The only way you can deal with
that resistance is to parasite against a resisting
opponent. We make choices about which road we will take
long before we take the step. Sometimes we make
unconscious decisions and leave the rest up to fate. I
hope that after answering the above questions sincerely
you would make sure you are taking the right direction
with your training to make sure you reach your goal.
Just remember that 'What is spectacular is not always
practical. What is practical is not always spectacular',
and 'If you want to learn how to fight make sure you
train against somebody who is fighting back'
 No
Rules-Anything goes-Are you ready? is a guideline we
use in all our gyms. The Martial Arts circuit has been
taken by storm with all the no rules tournaments such as
the likes of the Ultimate fighting challenges (UFC's).
These tournaments are great to see which techniques are
effective when full resistance is applied but it is
still just a tournament. These tournaments will most
probably be the closest thing to a street fight but
people must not misjudge it with a all out street fight.
Let's compare the two,
Street fight vs. Tournament:
Ambushes vs. ready- time to prepare
No pre-fight posture vs. pre fight posture
No Rules vs. rules
All attacks & targets allowed vs. tournaments allow
limited or no striking to eyes, throat & groin as well
as pinching & biting
Unfavorable variables i.e. multiple opponents,
assault, broken glass etc. vs. single opponent, agreed
to allow attacks, arranged environment
Always be ready with no stretching or warming up vs.
the luxury of warming up before your match.
No referee vs. Referee
No time limit vs. time limit
No divisions vs. divisions i.e. rank, weight etc.
Any time vs. tournament date
 These
are just a few differences, but I am sure you get the
picture. So again make sure you monitor your training to
ensure that you are training correctly for your goals
that you have set. It doesn't help training pre-arranged
forms the whole time if you want to defend yourself in a
violent street situation.
All our members at
Jeet Kune Do Unlimited train techniques that have a high
chance of success in a real, all-out situation where
life and limb are at stake. My aim and that of all the
members of Jeet Kune Do Unlimited is to continue the
work that Bruce Lee started and continue investigating
the Martial Arts realm for those techniques, training
methods and strategies that work in the environment of a
street attack. A fight is full of resistance and you
must practise against real resistance if you want to be
able to protect yourself. Life is full of resistance
too, so the lessons you learn training should translate
directly to making you a more successful person. Enjoy
the process, and apply what you have learned to all
aspects of your life!
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