Always land mines to steer clear of huh.
The point of Bruce not paying much attention to seinority isn't quite true. First Bruce valued tradition very much and even told Dan that regardles of his level of skill he needed to remember that Taky was still his seinor. This being the case Taky still holds a higher rank than Dan not because of skill, but seinority. Next: Bruce closed his school, not because of any politics regarding infighting but because of people coming in mistaking his methods as the way. He never believed in large classes and in truth believed martial arts could really only be taught privately or semi privately. Most small classes.
For one Bruce Lee himself was never certified in anything. What made him great was what he could do, not because someone gave him a piece of paper. Also just because James Lee never bothered certifying anyone doesn't mean that the guys under him weren't any good. I also think that one of the reasons Bruce closed his school what to try to avoid all of the political infighting. Bruce wasn't about "senority" as much as he was about "ability".
JKD is much more than intercepts as well. I know of only one Instructor certifying others after one seminar and this should be put into perspective. He does not certify them to teach anything but what they got in the seminar and they have no right to pass themselves off as an Instructor. Just the ability to teach that which they were given. This because as a seminar Instructor he knows that in teaching it forces the student to understand what they are doing in more depth. In short they get better faster. The problem is that their certificate does say "Apprentice Instructor" It admittingly is misleading. I do believe that seminars are not a way to teach but to expose someone to an art.
JUST MY OPINION>>>>>:soapbox: I don't believe anyone not certified by someone legitimately...ie. (Bruce himself, Dan, James, or Taky) can say they are able to teach JKD. Sorry but this attitude is part of the problem. There are more than enough JKD people out there to accomplish this through. Yes some are not as good as others but this is the real world in every system or style. If you don't have this certification, STOP stating that you are teaching JKD. What you are teaching is martial arts and maybe even your own style but NOT JKD. Bruce never said he taught anything that he wasn't certified in because he DID respect and believe in tradition. He also said that
"people believe more in what they copy or duplicate than that which they create"
Dan is still the ONLY person certified to teach in all three arts Bruce taught in his lifetime. All his own creation. None stating something that wasn't.
As far as Dan's students starting theirwon orginizations, yeah they still trace back to Dan and Bruce.
You have to keep in mind that most people refer to Dan because of obvious reasons. He has been the most productive, active and credible. His skill speaks for itself and yes so do his Full Instructors. Name one Full Instructor that can't.
I agree that it is about doing and not about saying or paper. To that end this whole idea of "apprentice Instructors after one seminar is a joke and I have said as much to him as well. There, to his credit is more to it but it does mislead the general public. I do think that is a lapse in appropriateness but it doen't give someone the right to say because of that persons inability I can say I teach JKD and it's legitimate.
I have to walk careful here because there are people out there who have been very public who should not be teaching and do not have the right to say they are teaching JKD. They may teach MA and "want" to teach JKD but they can't. At least they can't legitimately. These people are part of the problem and not the solutioin. Because of their dedication, effort and time they may feel as if they are justified and/or can't turn back now. This just clouds truth.
The reality is that we train more hours and years in the study of how to harm someone, beat someone and defend our selves and our families than most surgeons, and lawyers do. You would rarely find someoen claiming to be a lawyer or doctor even though they may have studied hard and for years, if they did get to the bottom line. That "legitimate" credential from the right authority. Why do we treat our profession with less diginity then they do. We work harder and if we are smart we do this with the right people.
I guess my main two points are this. 1) There are other students of Bruce Lee's besides the 3 you named that have a lot to offer and 2) even with a certificate that can be traced back to one of the 3 you named there is no guarantee that the instructor actually knows anything. The problem is that there is no real overarching quality control in the JKD world. Other arts have tournaments, review boards, ect. It's probably fair to say that someone who is fully certified under Dan Inosanto knows his stuff. But some of Dan's students have started their own organizations. Are the people who get full instructorship under them reviewed by Sifu Inosanto? If one of these instructors starts his own organization are the instructors he certifies reviewed? Probably the only way to know for sure if someone knows there stuff is to observe a class. Unfortunately sometimes it takes longer to figure out that the instructor has little to offer.
