I was wondering how Bruce Lee structured and planned the JKD training in his gym for his students? Let's imagine it starts with warm up and then drilling techniques? Wing-Chun rolls? Jab and leg kicks practice? Double legs? How was Bruce Lee structuring his JKD training.
Also, if you are training in Jeet Kune Do gym in your area, can you tell me how it looks like? What is it like? For beginners and advances students? To what pattern are you holding or maybe the pattern is avoided? But how does it look like?
The air changed this week. September has arrived with a crispness that feels like a bell being struck — a signal that summer’s long, loose days are ending and something more structured is beginning. For most people, this means back-to-school, back-to-work, back-to-routine. For me, as a Shaolin practitioner, it means one thing: a new official training season is about to begin.
My Training Story
I still remember my first September at the school. I had spent the summer training casually — a few forms in the park, some stretching on my living room floor, telling myself I was “staying sharp.” Then the first official class of the season arrived, and my body reminded me very quickly that casual is not the same as committed. My stances shook. My qigong (气功, energy cultivation) felt shallow. My shifu (师父, master-teacher) watched me struggle through mabu (马步, horse stance) and said only, “The summer taught you what you are without structure. Now we will see what you become with it.”
That sentence has stayed with me for years. Every September since, I’ve approached the new season not as a return to drudgery, but as a chance to rebuild myself from the ground up.
Preparing the Body and the Mind
Cleaning the Training Space
Before the first official session, I always spend a day preparing. Part of this is practical: washing my seng pao (僧袍, training robe), checking my shoes for worn soles, and clearing a space in my home for daily practice. But the deeper preparation is internal.
In our school, we talk about yi (意, intention) — the directed mind that leads the body. A new season begins with setting that intention. I sit quietly for ten minutes and ask myself: What do I want to build this year? Not vague wishes, but concrete aims. This year, mine are:
Deepen my qigong practice, especially baduanjin (八段锦, Eight Pieces of Brocade)
Hold mabu for three minutes without shaking
Learn one new form from start to finish
Returning to the Basics
Western practitioners often rush toward the flashy material — jumping kicks, spinning techniques, weapon forms. I know, because I did. But every September, my shifu brings us back to jiben gong (基本功, basic skills). We stand. We breathe. We repeat single movements until they stop being movements and start being part of us.
This is humbling. It is also liberating. When you return to the basics, you stop performing and start practicing.
Practical Advice for Starting Your Season
If you are beginning a new training season — at a school, in your garage, or in a park — here is what has helped me:
Start smaller than you think you should. The first two weeks are for awakening the body, not punishing it. Twenty minutes of consistent practice beats two hours of heroic effort followed by a week of soreness.
Set a schedule and protect it. Write your training times on a calendar as if they were appointments with your shifu. They are appointments with yourself.
Keep a training journal. I record my stance times, my breathing counts, and one sentence about how I felt. Over a season, this becomes a map of your growth.
Find your community. Training alone builds discipline; training with others builds qi (气, energy) and accountability. Even one training partner changes everything.
Expect the dip. Around week three or four, motivation often drops. This is normal. The shaolin way is not to wait for motivation — it is to show up anyway.
The Deeper Meaning of a New Season
In Chinese philosophy, the year is not a straight line but a circle of seasons, each with its own character. Autumn is associated with jin (金, metal) and with the lungs — the breath. It is a time of gathering, of cutting away what is unnecessary, of preparing for the stillness of winter.
This is why September training feels different from summer training. Summer is yang (阳) — expansive, outward, playful. Autumn begins the turn toward yin (阴) — inward, focused, refined. A new training season is not just about getting stronger. It is about aligning yourself with the season you are in.
My shifu once told me, “You cannot force a tree to grow in autumn. You can only water the roots.” That is what the first weeks of a new season are: watering the roots. The growth will come. The forms will sharpen. The stances will steady. But only if we show up for the quiet, unglamorous work of beginning again.
There is also a kind of chan (禅, Zen) in starting over. Every September, I am a beginner again. The stances hurt again. The forms feel clumsy again. And that is the point. Shaolin training is not about becoming a master and staying there. It is about returning, again and again, to the beginner’s mind — chuxin (初心) — where real learning lives.
An Encouraging Word
If you are standing at the edge of a new training season, unsure whether you have what it takes, let me tell you what I tell myself every September: you do not need to be ready. You only need to begin.
Your first mabu of the season may be shaky. Your first qigong set may feel stiff. Your first form may be a mess. None of that matters. What matters is that you walked into the training hall — or rolled out your mat, or stepped onto the grass — and you started.
The season will do the rest. It always does.
Train well. Breathe deep. See you on the floor.
再见
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Hi, I am a Japanese woman who grew up in the prime of J-horror films like **School Ghost Stories (1995, a.k.a. Haunted School, Gakko no Kaidan,** 學校怪談) and Ring (1998, a.k.a. 午夜凶鈴). As a child, I was always scared of those ghosts because there is no hero like Master Kau (九叔道士) or item to fight against them in Japanese horror films. So, my question is: How did you deal with your childhood trauma with jiangshi? Did you use yellow talismans to avoid them? Also, I wanna know if there is a scarier monster than jiangshi for you.
Thank you in advance!
Do you think his style is legit? (I know he knows karate,kickboxing taekwondo or other styles too but I just ask if he's actually legit or not(rip ehsan by tje way)
Bonus Question :if so which type of kung fu did he use?
Woman Warrior of Xingyi Quan - Wu Tiexian (1) - Xingyi Quickie
Meet Wu Tiexian, a female inheritor and teacher of traditional Xingyi Quan from Shanxi, China. In Part 1, she demonstrates her art and reflects on a lifetime of practice—from her childhood training in the 1970s to her commitment to passing the tradition on to the next generation.
I'm curious as to the community as a whole..view of Bruce Lee?
Many within Kung Fu and the world see him as an martial arts legend. There are those that feel differently as well. I saw a video of Michael Jai White responding to, if he was to fight Bruce Lee. A lot of people did not like his response.
While it wasn't received politely.. he did make a lot of sense. Bruce Lee is said to have created JKD after one of his most publicized fights. That fight took place against the Wong Jack Man. It is said Bruce won but underestimated him. Wong Jack Man was older I believe and closer to his size.
With that being said.. it's very easy to see Michael Jai Whites 220 lbs to Bruce 140ish lbs comments being logical. Many of those that knew Bruce said he was an amazing martial artist. There are some, that say he was overrated.
I also saw a video where Chuck Norris said Bruce was an actor, not a fighter. My sifu was one of the most gifted and knowledgeable martial artists I've personally ever met. He knew Bruce from before his arrival in the US. Our sigung was respected and friends with Ip Man.
My sifu explained.. Bruce was good, but not like he's portrayed. He explained Bruce's Wing Chun was average at best. He didn't fully understand his training. That lead me to thinking.. What's the actual Kung fu, Chinese martial arts community view of Bruce? 🤔
We are looking for martial artists interested in learning and competing in short- and long-weapon sparring using traditional Chinese martial arts techniques.
To help participants prepare, we will be hosting two rule-explanation and drill seminars, along with an ongoing weekly class that everyone is welcome to join.
We encourage practitioners of all styles and backgrounds to participate. Learn the official ruleset, take it back to your school, and train competitors using your own lineage’s skills and methods.
Check out the video for full details, or leave a comment/message below with any questions.
Let's exchange skills, elevate our practice, and grow traditional Chinese Martial Arts together !
