I read some where that Bruce Lee’s Jun Fan Kung Fu in the early days of Seattle (and perhaps also, many elements of Original JKD’s curriculum) is a simplified version of his Wing Chun journey that he mainly learned from Wong Shun-leung or perhaps his uncle Fook Yueng who is reported as his other kung fu master. Nevertheless, the purpose of this article is to explore the very patchy and various hearsay of the idea of Bruce Lee’s simplified Wing Chun. I have been studying JKD on and off for around twenty years and if I was to identify his so-called simplified Wing Chun I would include these:
- The vertical fist (Wing Chun’s sun character fist)
- The Straight-blast (or his modified expression of Wing Chun’s chain-punching)
- Pak Da from reference point
- Lap Da from reference point
- The finger jab (or Wing Chun’s biu sau)
- Trapping (or a portion of Wing Chun’s chi sao)
- Bong Lap drills (pretty much the same Wing Chun drill except the punch is a backfist)
- The Push Shuffle (a modified version of Wing Chun’s forward footwork)
- The Straight Kick (Somewhat similar to Wing Chun’s front kick)
- The Side Kick (Bruce Lee’s side kick is more explosive and telegraphic when compared to Wing Chun’s side kick)
Most of this curriculum can be found by Jerry Poteet’s foundational videos. What did I get right, what did I get wrong, and what did I forget to include? Please help me figure this out and comment below, thanks!
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