Bruce Lee felt that martial arts suffered by the development of specific, exclusionary disciplines. He felt that limiting one's style to a particular discipline was not the best way to defend oneself against the infinite number of potential forms or weapons utilized by would-be attackers. For example, he felt that Judo was extremely useful in grappling situations, but weaker than kung-fu for close range attacks of the arms or legs.
So instead, Mr. Lee focused on learning the best aspects of each particular style and applying those into an overall form, which would be a sort-of-conglomeration of the most effective tactics in martial art. Mr. Lee's style was a non-style. It was constantly updating itself, adapting according to changes in history, environment, weaponry or opponent. Bruce Lee's art was an extension of his life - constantly evolving and progressing with time and age.
Mr. Lee explains his martial art form in this way:
"A Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again, let me remind you, Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back."
Bruce Lee was not afraid to reject his own ideals if he knew adapting another would provide him with better results in a more effective manner. Current politicians and pundits should do the same, but they can't. They are stuck in their partisan discipline, constrained by the very "pattern" Mr. Lee so aptly disregards. These partisan ideologues have neither the experience nor the awareness to escape their self-installed blinders.
Fortunately, this organization possesses such adaptive awareness, and thus can aptly be called the Bruce Lee of think tanks. Our form is no form.
