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I am not a JKD Practitioner either. 

I think in most arts and methods people move from a more Base Level to a more feeling level, or the ability to move as Adam says above less from the Attribute maybe talked about in Paul Vunak's excellent book and more from the Old Age and Treachery Branch.

Congratulations Lamar!

  Coming from a teacher like you, I am flatter.

Congrats Sifu Lamar , Please keep me posted when the previews are coming out !

Hi shad2k,

   I am not a teacher of  JKD but the following is my opinion on the attributes of
speed , timing and reflex that you've mention in regards to the difficulty of maintaining it as one age.

    1    Minimizes the need for speed:
           a strike move with natural fast weapons  - snappy tools , fingers etc
           b work with ways to overcome inertia ( ie , working with gravity, relaxation, circles etc)
           c manage the pre engage part of the conflict in such a way that you are very close to the  
              target
           d  learn to read when the guy is not present
           e learn to stretch the moment when he's not present
           d learn attack when hes not present without reloading , now u dont need to be fast
           e once engage ,  learn to take away all the slack in your moves and make it smaller
           f learn to put your moves together without merely relying on pre set moves
           g add circles and changes of acceleration in between your stuff  
           h off balance him on EVERY beat, now u dont need to be fast at all 

2   timing , refex -  rather you are touching or not , "reacting" after seeing = "reflex" is not necessary the only way to fight. You can learn to connect. When you are touching its generally call sticking and when you are not touching , some call it feeling intent, extending ki,  connecting etc etc  . either way its no longer a young man's game. Jesse once said that Bruce can read you and respond (relating to what you are going to do) before you even move - this is during the face-off before any physical contact . Once touching he also did sticking. Just because he no longer like to teach it as some say, doesn't mean he didn't have it in "HIS" jkd .

   These attributes are also all over many arts , the no touch feeling intent stuff is seen in kendo , hsing i's san ti   , tai chi, ba kau  etc  etc etc . Steve smith on here is very very skilled in feeling, reading ,leading etc .I suggest that you write Steve about this area . A major problem is that alot of people get in their own way by translating all this into a "i believe or i dont believe"  conceptual exercise which is a waste of time. In my opinion its about the direct experience of it if you are interested in it. And like anything in MA, once you experience it for real, you have to go away ,practice alot to make it work.

    this is just a few ideas it would take a book to really get into this , historically , quite a few founders have spent their entire lives figuring out how to function without relying mainly on visual reflex , speed , raw strength etc. its a interesting question.        

To my understanding JKD is a attribute based martial art. Attributes such as speed and timing seem to

be more essential in JKD then other arts; however these particular attributes are hard to maintain

especially with age. What does a JKD practitioner rely on when his or her lighting fast reflexes leave

with age?  I'm not a JKD practitioner so forgive me if I sound ignorant.

I just received my copy of the DVD Series Core Self Defense with Adam Chan.  I must say that this series is Excellent, it is completely no non sense work from start to finish and is exhaustive in it's approach Covering everything from Power Punching to the Bonus Material on Multiple Opponents and Defending against an Ambush.  If you are looking for intricate material that will take years to master you will need to look deep into what Adam is teaching it is there hidden under sudden effective concepts and techniques that anyone can put into effect very quickly.  On further study and practice you will begin to see subtlety that will not be right on the surface.

This is a series that I will recommend to students and friends.  Thanks Adam for making this series it fills an important space in available material on Self Defense and will make many martial artists rethink some of their paradigms.

Good Afternoon/Evening everyone.

My friend gave me a 9 section chain whip for my bday when he came back from china. I just started learning the basics (on my own) though i haven't hurt myself yet, im afraid when i start doing more complex techniques i may not get so lucky. Is there a substitute weapon i can use like the chain whip to practice the movements? I hear tennis ball and cord, but i only have a jump rope.


and any advice is well appreciated

I would like to remind everyone that there is a Hardcore Jeet Kune Do seminar this Saturday (August 28th) from 1:00 to 5:00 at the Sports Medicine & Fitness Institute in Vestavia, AL! The fee is $50.00 for members and $60.00 for non-members. Dinner at The Dragon Chinese Restaurant afterwards! Hope to see some of you there!

I wouldnt say that they teach us as much as they force us to evaluate what we take for granted. They test us in many ways...from patience on to our communication skills. I was recently teaching one of my teachers students and well lets say she had alot of motivation which is great but she prolly has the worst cordination I have ever seen. She challenged me and tested my skills  and in truth I got out of it prolly more than her..lol.. But she did improve dramically over my time with her which she was really stoked about which made us both feel good.