Self Defense Martial Art

The Way of The Intercepting Fist

Basic Principles of this Self Defense Martial Art
• The centerline, economy of movement, broken rhythm, and enhancing adaptability to any opponent, style, or situation, with the intent of personal freedom of expression.

• All training methods are intended to improve one's efficiency in REAL self defense situations.

• This martial art is not a sport. All applications are designed for practical self defense.

History    Testimonials    Pictures     Videos     Martial Arts Links

What is Oakland Jeet Kune Do (JKD) and does it differ from The Way of the Intercepting Fist?

JKD (Jeet Kune Do) is a powerful martial art that originated from the minds of Bruce and James Yimm Lee. Bruce was a student of the great Wing Chung Gung Fu (Kung Fu) master Yip Man. Mr. Lee's fighting prowess is probably well know to the reader and requires no elaboration here.

James Yimm Lee (no family relation to Bruce) was an original body builder and student of Sil Lum Gung Fu (Kung Fu). He also studied judo. In his youth he was an amateur boxer. Later he studied Hung Gar Gung Fu and esoteric Chinese martial arts including the iron palm. A new force was created when James and Bruce met in Oakland, California in 1962. There was a tremendous exchange of ideas between these two men, and this ultimately led to the founding of the 'Oakland School'. Some call its methods 'Oakland JKD.'

Bruce analyzed a number of fighting forms and systems and developed his own theory of the essence of each of these forms. He used the knowledge he gained in this process to develop and create a new fighting methodology based upon basic principals. Economy of movement, non telegraphic moves, simplicity and directness… He called this new Martial art  'Jeet Kune Do' (in English: 'The Way of the Intercepting Fist'). Mr. Lee's ideas and thought possesses can be glimpsed by reading 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.'

Bruce and James, though they developed knowledge and ability beyond the martial arts masters of their day, thought of themselves as lifetime students. They were always seeking new knowledge. As their knowledge and mastery increased the name of their methodology changed from Gung Fu to 'June Fan Gung Fu' and eventually to 'Jeet Kune Do' (JKD).

The two great founders of JKD believed that traditional fighting forms suffered from one of two ills:
1) by emphasizing the memorization of exact techniques the underlying 'truth' of the art was lost over time. As a result, students were learning things that had become impractical on the street.
2) by creating rules for sparing and tournaments, the forms were becoming impractical for real combat where there are no rules. JKD was designed strictly for self defense and individual unarmed combat.

Unfortunately for the martial arts world, both James and Bruce died in the early 1970s. Before his death, Bruce warned his students "Jeet Kune Do is just a name, do not fuss over it." He also said that it was like a boat, use it to cross the river and then discard it, do not carry it on your back.

After his death a great deal of  'fuss' was made over the name. A division quickly formed. One school of thought held that JKD was about exploration and constant evolution. This 'concepts' approach became the originator of mixed martial arts. It emphasizes individual exploration which institutionally has focused on Kali (a derivative of Indonesian martial arts) and Ju Jitsu. Certainly this form of the founders' teaching is a formidable art for self defense and combat. But this is not the approach of the Oakland School or the Macias family.

A second major school of thought, which some call 'original JKD' makes an attempt to stay true to the methods and techniques that Sifu Bruce himself used. This group is less organized than the 'concepts' group. One problem faced by 'original' instructors is that Bruce taught different things to different students, and at times he intentionally withheld knowledge. The result is that various branches of 'original JKD' may not have the same idea of Mr. Lee's method.

To avoid confusion, some of the 'original' instructors began calling their Gung Fu 'June Fan Jeet Kune Do', (June Fan is Sifu Bruce's Cantonese name) in order to distinguish it form 'concepts'. But now many 'concepts' schools use that name as well. Finding the 'truth' in anything has never been easy, and there are few guide posts on the pathless path.

Now to answer the question: Does JKD differ from the 'The Way of the Intercepting Fist'?

When the split occurred in the JKD world following the death of the great founders, it was largely a split between the Seattle School and the Los Angeles School . Some notable LA school students joined the 'original' JKD movement, but the split was primarily between the students of those two schools. The Macias family did not join either camp. One reason for this was the strong influence of James Yimm Lee's ideas over the Oakland School students and especially Felix Macias Sr.

A second reason was that while the Macias family practices the martial art which was developed by James and Bruce in Oakland, that martial art has been adapted to deal with contemporary self defense issues. Thus, while this system is 'original', it is not stagnant but ever evolving as the founders envisioned. It is the pathless path.

Sifu Bruce said the we should not fuss over the name Jeet Kune Do. Therefore the Macias family refers to the system of self defense that has been passed down to them through the Oakland School as simply 'The Way of the Intercepting Fist.'

The Way Of The Intercepting Fist - Our Martial Arts History
In the early 1960's Felix Macias Sr. began his rigorous martial arts training under the great Sifu, James Yimm Lee in Oakland, California. Mr. Macias, Sr. continued to train and study June Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do with James Lee in the famous 'Oakland School' until Mr. Lee's death in 1973.

The martial technology Felix Macias Sr. received from the Oakland school was 'The Way Of The Intercepting Fist', the philosophies and principles of this 'formless' form.

After James Lee's death, Mr. Macias Sr. continued to study, progress, and evolve the knowledge he received from his Sifu, Mr. (James) Lee and Bruce Lee. Mr. Macias Sr. began to pass on his martial knowledge. Operating in underground fashion, he expressed these teachings to a small group of friends, students, and eventually his sons.

The eldest son of the Macias family, Felix Macias Jr., took great interest in what he was learning from his father and trained diligently to sharpen his skills, self defense and martial knowledge. He has been committed to The Way Of The Intercepting Fist ever since.

Using the knowledge he received from James Lee and his father as blueprints, Mr. Macias Jr. has continued to work underground in the ongoing process of analysis and advancement of this powerful martial art.

We as a group humbly invite the martial art community to explore and benefit from the discoveries made in this evolutionary process.

The Macias family continues to practice, teach and further develop this original Gung Fu in Hayward California, only a few miles from James and Bruce Lee's original Oakland school.

The name Bruce Lee® is a registered trademark of Concord Moon LLP and is used here only to demonstrate historical accuracy.