spook mma,
This guy is well known for JKD and BJJ, its good reading and might answer your question.
http://www.royharris.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=41
"What is JKD?
Someone recently asked me to define JKD to them. So I gave them this brief explanation of the training process. I hope this brings some enlightenment to you.
The first aspect of training in JKD is self-preservation. This is where you learn how to preserve yourself during physical confrontations. There are four phases of self-preservation training:
Phase One - A general conditioning and general awareness phase. 70% of the training is Jun Fan Kick boxing (Bruce' kick boxing methods). The other 30% is divided up between close quarter fighting, trapping, standing grappling, ground grappling, single stick training, single knife training, basic self-defense, mass attack training (2 on 1, 3 on 1) and environmental training. The goal during this phase of training is to develop each of the student's overall awareness of street fighting, with a major focus on Bruce's kick boxing methods. There is a lot of sparring in this phase. Students spar every class for 30 minutes. This phase of training should last 12 to 18 months.
Phase Two - This phase of training focuses specifically on Jun Fan trapping methods and close quarter fighting. Numerous drills from Wing Chun, Kali, Eskrima, Silat and various forms of Kung fu are incorporated into numerous trapping combinations. Students learn specific trapping methods for boxers and kick boxers, and specific trapping methods for karate and kung fu practitioners. Eventually, the training session lead up to a point where students will spar in the trapping range with gloves on . The students will still practice Jun Fan kick boxing, but instead of doing focus gloves drills, thai pad drills and heavy bag work, the students spar more intensively. Plus, the students will learn how to set up their kick and punches through the use of strategy (What Bruce Lee called the five methods of attack). This phase of training should last 18 months to 24 months (two years). The trapping phase of training is the heart and soul of JKD. It is a range at which most trained and untrained people feel uncomfortable. They either want to push away and go back to kickboxing, or close the gap and go to the grappling range. Trapping range is HOME for the JKD practitioner!!!
Phase Three - This phase of training focuses on the stick and knife fighting methods of the Philippine Islands. The training involves single and double stick training, single and double knife training, espada y daga training, long pole training and the use of the olisi palad and balisong knife. Students will still practice Jun Fan kick boxing and trapping, however they will do a lot more full contact sparring with a lot of protective gear. Student still practice Jun Fan trapping methods, yet now it is all sparring (no drills or technique) in trapping range with a lot of protective equipment. Plus, there will be a lot of weapons sparring with the stick and knives. This phase of training should last 12 to 18 months.
Phase four - This phase of training focuses on standing grappling and ground grappling, as well as the integration of all ranges. Once proficiency is achieved in each range, the student must now pit kicking against boxing, boxing against trapping, trapping against grappling, grappling against stick fighting, stick fighting against knife fighting, knife fighting against kick boxing, kina mutai (pinching, biting, slapping, spitting, poking gouging, jerking, etc..) against grappling, so on and so forth. This phase of training should last 18 months to 24 months (two years). This is the phase where all of the previous training is put together. The students now know how to flow from one range to another. They now know which range to fight in with the different types of opponent's. And, they know all this from experience. No one has to tell them what works for them and what doesn't!!!
By the end of the four phases of training, each student has hundreds of hours sparring in the kicking range, hundreds of hours sparring in the boxing range, hundreds of hours sparring in the trapping range, hundreds of hours sparring in the grappling range, hundreds of hours sparring with a stick and a knife. And, they have done these hundreds of hour of sparring against partners who were bigger, stronger, faster, more explosive, weaker, slower, some who had awkward timing and rhythm, some who were uncoordinated, some who were more experienced and some who were less experienced. Now they have this broad base of experience upon which they can confidently say, "I NOW KNOW, BY EXPERIENCE, WHAT WORKS FOR ME AND WHAT DOESN'T. Because of my experience, I can now apply what Bruce said by 'Absorbing what is useful, rejecting what is useless and taking what is specifically' mine".
Too many people want to apply the above saying from the beginning. They want to take the easy way out. They are too lazy and undisciplined to go out there and experience this for themselves. They think they have the education to determine what works for them and what doesn't, but in reality they don't. They lack the real time experience to make an informed decision. It is physically much easier for this person to study Wing Chun for a couple of months, move onto to Muay Thai for a couple of months, do a little bit of Jiu Jitsu for a year because they like it, and then cap off their training with 3 or 4 months of Kali training. What these people end up being is a jack of a few trades and master of none. They think they're doing JKD, but they're just doing their own thing. They have no clue what JKD is about.
JKD is about gathering a **** load of experience and learning from it. JKD gives a person a broad base of experience to learn from, grow and reach their full potential. JKD also gives a person the ability to express themselves. Additionally, it gives a person the ability to mix and match the different training methods, a chance to contrast and compare the differences and similarities. For example, what happens when a person mixes knife fighting and kick boxing? Well, you get a new form of kick boxing that will scare the crap out of most people. What happens when a person mixes Kina Mutai with Greco-Roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? You get a new form of grappling that very few have seen or experienced. You can now do the unthinkable fight. In a way it would be like combining the moves of basketball, with a jab from boxing and tackle from football. You'd have a new sport that would blow people's mind. I suppose you could call it baskefootboxball. Anyway, you get the idea.
Before I let you go, you must understand a few more concepts in the JKD training methodology. First, there are three components to fighting: technique, physical and mental attribute development, and strategy. Technical training involves learning the correct timing and placement of your body for each of the specific movements. (Unfortunately, this is all most people learn) The next level of training involves developing physical and mental attributes to fuel these newly learned techniques. Physical attributes, like timing, speed, power, endurance, accuracy, sensitivity, body mechanics, flow, explosiveness and flexibility, are the qualities that fuel your techniques. Techniques without physical attributes are useless!!! Mental attributes, like focus, concentration, determination, pain tolerance and the will to survive, are equally important to develop. They will fuel your physical attributes, which fuel your techniques.
Secondly, JKD training also involves an emotional aspect to the training regiment. Students learn how to control their negative emotions so that they may be able to think clearly during a physical confrontation. The instructor must surreptitiously introduce emotions into the training session so that the student can feel what it's like to fight while the emotions fear and anger run rampant through their body. Students must learn how to control their emotions during confrontations.
Finally, JKD training involves environmental considerations. For example, how does one kick box on a stairwell? How does one fight two people in close quarters like a bathroom stall or crowded nightclub? How does one fight a person from the driver's seat of their car? What does it feel like to grapple on hot pavement, or a dirty, dusty, pebble infested parking lot? You can theorize all you want about what you would do. But unless you've been there in training, you really don't know. It is one thing to spar in a sterile environment like a dojo or training hall. It is quite another thing to spar on wet grass in your neighborhood park. It is quite another thing to spar on a stairwell with five people.
I know I have go on and on, but do you see how JKD is a lengthy process designed to give each student a vast array of experiences? Experiences that will help them make informed choices in the future. Experiences that will one day create their own personal identity when it comes to their personal response to physical violence. Once a student finishes the self-preservation aspect of the training, he/she can move onto the self-perfection aspect of training. The self-perfection aspect of training is where a person places their personal signature on JKD. Based upon each person's body type and personality, each student will gravitate towards a specific area of fighting. Some may gravitate towards kick boxing, some may gravitate towards grappling and some may gravitate towards knife fighting. It doesn't matter though! Why? Because they are functional in all ranges because of their experience in previous phase training and all they are doing is adding what is specifically their own. That is why you have Bruce Lee student Dan Inosanto focusing his training on Southeast Asian martial arts (Kali, Eskrima, Silat, Muay Thai, Bando, etc..), That's why you have Bruce Lee student Larry Hartsell focusing on grappling. After learning the self-preservation aspect of JKD, you are encouraged to express yourself.
Getting through all of this stuff is like getting two Ph.D's. It is a lengthy process, but well worth the effort. Many people know of Bruce Lee and want to associate themselves with him, but when they find out about this lengthy process, they take the easy way out. They get themselves an A.A. Degree and proclaim themselves as Ph.D. JKD people. And then they poorly represent JKD because they just don't have the experience to back up what they say.
I have just scratched surface of JKD, but I hope this gives you a better understanding of it. Roy Harris"
Hope it's good reading for you.
i know find my self in that awkward position where i understand more, but at the same time a lil bit more confused as well 
if anyone else has more to add, i think it could be rather enlightening.
