Jeet Kune Do | Unit of Measurement | Perfect Efficiency Principle

How do we know what makes for an effective technique? Seems like a simple and reasonable enough question, and yet against what standard are we to measure and practice our Jeet Kune Do? We cannot simply measure our Jeet Kune Do techniques by their popularity or even heritage. The fact that many people practice a technique or that it is old or new has no impact on its effectiveness.

Jeet Kune Do offers us an obvious standard of measure for determining effectiveness

Yet Jeet Kune Do offers us an obvious standard of measure for determining the effectiveness of a given technique. It’s a simple question: First and foremost “Does it work?” Does it function in the context for which it is designed? Although Jeet Kune Do was developed with the intent of self defense, Sijo Bruce Lee trained individuals in Jeet Kune Do principles who were seeking an edge in competitive fighting.

So the question remains (“does it work?”). Competitive fighting techniques, for example, might not be suitable for street fighting, but do the techniques work in reference to their desired goals? In the context of self defense, does a technique work in a given self-defense scenario, against a skilled, stronger, and faster opponent who will resist at every available opportunity and in every conceivable manner?

When we analyze our Jeet Kune Do technique the first question that must be answered is (“does it work?”). It would be foolish to apply the logic of “does it not work?” Yet in addition to the “does it work?” filter we have to measure it from the angle of principles.

Perfect Efficiency as a unit of measure does not wavier.

Perfect Efficiency as a unit of measure does not wavier. It does not change from one person to another or one situation to the next. It is a constant. All principles are equally constant. Thus, they permit us the perfect unit of measure. As Jeet Kune Do practitioners we are not afforded the luxury in reveling in the fact we defeated a given opponent or even all opponents, for such victories do not bring us any closer to the ideal of fulfilling principles.

In gauging progress we must evaluate ourselves between two points. When progressing from point A (our current level) to point B (Perfect Efficiency) and we do not truly understanding its meaning, we may find that point B leads us right back to point A. In Physics this is known as having 0 Displacement. Although we have obviously added techniques to our toolbox, this can be looked at as Distance in Physics. Without a sense of what direction point B is we may simply made a full circle right back to our starting point. Distance is simply a measure of how much ground an object has covered; it is in fact unaware of direction. When looking at our training or application Distance can be viewed as the number of techniques in our approach. Where as directness and simplicity can be viewed as our Displacement.

Distance and Displacement are often seen as the same thing when in fact they are not. This holds equally true in our training. Simply because we have trained or utilized numerous techniques does not mean we have moved any closer to being efficient.

So how do we improve then? It is not a matter of using those around us as a measure of our own improvement nor is it a matter of adding more techniques. Rather, it means evaluating ourselves between point A and point B where point B is utilizing perfect efficiency.

We should not strive to be better than our peers or predecessors. Instead we should seek to always strive to be better than ourselves. This is a statement my students often hear from me. Always seek to find refinements in ourselves.  By understanding what it means to be efficient we will see what direction we should be heading and thus avoid the dreaded 0 Displacement effect.

Tagged as: Jeet Kune Do, Principles, Tom Harvey