I took Krav Maga years`ago and was awarded a yellow belt in it which meant very little, everyone who took the eight week course took the test one after the other and everyone passed. My proficiency was not good enough to pass but I passed anyway, I found it ridiculous quite frankly. I needed a couple more weeks to be honest before I was ready. It depends upon what Krav Maga your talking about to, some Krav Maga does look a lot like the World War II combatives I've been told by a founder of a World War II system, others, like the one I took, looked a lot more like aerobic kickboxing quite frankly, although I did learn some very nice elbow striking techniques and a forward foot leading kick to the testicles, both of which I practice several times a day. I may end up giving Krav Maga another try, theres a couple schools within driving distance of where I live, one of which came highly recommended by a poster in this forum, but I really prefer open hand strikes for the most part, the Krav that I took used clenched fists, low kicks, and there are some high kicks in Krav, and prefer to face an opponent sideways to give him less room to hit you, and the Krav I took had you facing your opponent with your entire body exposed. But I may give it another try, thanks for the suggestion.
Any info regarding the JKD schools would be appreciated.
Joab, I'm going to be rather blunt here. I think the reason you're having trouble finding a school is simply you.
You describe yourself in your profile under Arts with the following phrase "dabbled in four, very much still a beginner". Then you come along and say you can't find what you're looking for because you are showing no flexibility to see another person's point of view or approach. After an eight week course you decided that Krav Maga (or at least the form you "dabbled" in) doesn't fit your personal preferences so that's out. There are no schools there that have WWII Combatives, more open hand than closed, low and high kicks, ground work, Fairbairn-descended, more side on than front on, etc etc etc, in your backyard? Really? Are you surprised? This is kind of like complaining that the local restaurant doesn't have every dish you like, and even goes so far as to have some that you don't like, or haven't tried yet...
Seriously, spend some actual time under an instructor. Just pick one and stick it out for longer than an eight week course, or a couple of months, or anything else. When it comes to martial arts, you are arguing your conscious desires over the experience of people who have done this longer, and been there many times before, than you. Empty that cup. You're doing yourself no favours by looking for things you don't agree with in various systems, as you do not have the experience from your posts here to be able to decide what the value of the various approaches is.
For example, I teach an art that includes old-style weaponry, including things like sword. Now, every now and then a student may ask what the point of that is, as they are not exactly going to be carrying one around with them as they wander the streets. Occasionally one will leap to what they think is the logical conclusion, which is that the length of a sword is common enough that they can "adapt" the techniques and use, say, a broom handle to fight with. Now, that makes sense. But it's wrong. For one thing, we teach staff weaponry of various lengths, so no adaptation is needed. For another, the properties of a sword are very different to a staff or stick, so adaptation is not really advised either.
So if common sense doesn't fit, why do I teach it? Why do I insist that students work on it, and why do I spend so much time correcting their swordwork? Simply put, sword has a number of attributes that cannot be easily accessed without swordwork, including a greater understanding of distance and timing, and less-tangible aspects of attitude (or spirit), as well as many more. But a less-experienced student won't see this, even if I spell it out for them. That doesn't mean it has no reason or benefit, just that the inexperienced cannot judge what is valuable and what is not. To a great degree, choose a teacher and trust them to guide you with what is of value. And if you make sure you choose a teacher with similar values to you, you will be getting what you are after, even if the technical aspects are something you (currently) think you disagree with.
But your laundry list is unrealistic. I recommend dropping it. Or you won't do anything or get anywhere.
