Program · Level 2 Instructor Certified
Jeet
Kune Do.
Bruce Lee’s actual contribution wasn’t a set of techniques — it was a way of thinking about combat that refuses to be boxed in by style. Jeet Kune Do is taught here as what it is: a method for reading a situation and adapting to it. If Krav Maga is the Cliff’s Notes of self-defense, JKD uses the entire library, carefully curated.
2003
Teaching JKD Since
2011
Level 2 Instructor Cert.
20+
Arts Studied Behind It
8
Arts Credentialed to Teach
1:1
Instruction Format
Why JKD
Not an art. A process.
Jeet Kune Do is widely misunderstood in both directions. Some schools treat it as a fixed catalogue of Bruce Lee’s 1970s techniques, which is exactly the thing he was arguing against. Others use the name as license to teach anything at all with no standard.
The real thing sits in between and is more demanding than either: JKD is a disciplined process for examining what works, discarding what doesn’t, and building a personal approach that fits your body, your attributes, and your actual life. It takes structure and it takes an instructor with breadth, because you cannot curate a library you’ve never read.
That’s why the credential behind it matters here. Level 2 Jeet Kune Do Instructor, certified in 2011 under Professor Roy Harris after eight years of training — a teacher whose reputation rests specifically on conceptual clarity and instructional precision rather than on collecting material.
And it’s why this program sits inside a school that teaches Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Filipino Martial Arts separately and at depth. The library is on the premises.
Who tends to fall in love with JKD
- Experienced martial artists who’ve hit the ceiling of one style’s assumptions and want out of the box.
- Analytical people who need to understand the mechanism before they’ll trust the technique.
- Instructors and coaches who want better frameworks for their own teaching.
- Long-haul students who aren’t after a quick skill built but a practice that keeps generating insight for decades.
“Not an art by itself but a training method that teaches students to adapt to any situation.”
Modern Self-Defense Center
Curriculum
What we actually train.
JKD is conceptual, but it isn’t vague. There is a great deal of concrete, physical, sweaty work here.
Range & distance
The four ranges
Kicking, punching, trapping, and grappling range — how to recognize which one you’re in, what’s available there, and how to move between them on your terms rather than your opponent’s.
Striking
Interception & timing
The literal meaning of Jeet Kune Do is “way of the intercepting fist.” Stop-hits, broken rhythm, economy of motion, the straight lead, and the non-telegraphic attack — drawn from Western boxing, fencing, and Wing Chun.
Hands
Trapping & energy work
Chinese and Filipino trapping methods for clearing obstructions and controlling the limbs. Sensitivity drills that teach you to feel pressure and direction rather than react to what you see.
Legs
Kicking & footwork
Low-line kicks, stop-kicks, and mobility drawn from Savate, Muay Thai, and Filipino kicking — plus the footwork that makes them safe to throw.
Grappling
Clinch & ground
The range Bruce Lee was still exploring when he died, and where JKD at MSDC has an unusual advantage: your instructor is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Standing grappling, takedowns, and ground survival integrated properly rather than bolted on.
Attributes
Building the engine
Speed, timing, sensitivity, coordination, and endurance, developed with specific drills. JKD’s premise is that attributes matter more than technique collections — so we train them on purpose, with Functional Movement Screen-informed programming.
Why here
JKD needs an instructor with genuine breadth. That’s rare.
Curating a library means having read it. Our head instructor has trained in more than twenty martial arts, holds black belts in four, and holds teaching credentials in eight — across striking, grappling, weapons, and traditional systems.
So when a JKD session touches Filipino trapping, he holds a Modern Arnis Lakan awarded by Grandmaster Remy Presas in 2001. When it touches grappling, he’s a BJJ black belt under Roy Harris (2012). When it touches kicking, he holds a Green Glove in Boxe Française Savate (2008). When it touches traditional forms, he’s a 4th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate (2001) and a black belt in Budoshin Ju-Jitsu (2011).
Nothing in a JKD lesson here is being relayed secondhand. That is the difference between a JKD program and a JKD-flavored one.
Add to this: a degree in how people learn
Chris Martell holds an MS.Ed in Curriculum & Instruction with a specialization in Learning Design and Technology from Purdue University. For a conceptual art like Jeet Kune Do — where the entire point is that the student ends up thinking differently, not just moving differently — that turns out to matter enormously.
He also trains directly with Professor Roy Harris, who has taught seminars at MSDC repeatedly since the early 2000s. The lineage is live, not historical.
JKD questions
Common ones.
Can a complete beginner start with Jeet Kune Do?
You can, and some do — but be honest with yourself about what you want. JKD rewards people who enjoy examining things. If your goal is the shortest path to practical capability, Krav Maga will get you there faster and you can come to JKD later with more to work with. Tell us your goal on the application and we’ll give you a straight recommendation, including recommending against ourselves.
Is this “original” JKD or “concepts” JKD?
We teach it as a method rather than as a fixed historical curriculum, which puts us closer to the concepts side — but with a structured progression and a real instructor certification behind it (Level 2 under Professor Roy Harris) rather than a free-for-all. If you’re familiar enough with the JKD world to be asking this question, come train once and you’ll know within an hour whether it’s your thing.
Is there rank in Jeet Kune Do?
JKD uses instructor-level progressions rather than belts. Our head instructor holds Level 2. Progression here is about demonstrated understanding and skill, assessed continuously in private instruction.
I already train something else. Will JKD conflict with it?
Almost never — in our experience it does the opposite. JKD gives you a framework for making sense of what you already do, which usually improves it. Cross-training students are among our most satisfied JKD clients.
Stop collecting techniques.
Start understanding them.
One private hour is enough to know whether this is how you want to think about training.