Jeet Kune Do, a New Era

Rating:
Summary: NOT Jeet Kune Do, and not worth your money.
Review: After browsing this book AGAIN at the local MA store, I am only further convinced that all of the good reviews of it here are by friends of the author trying to help him out. It is not about Jeet Kune Do, it is a collection of poorly presented grappling techniques that appear to come primarily from BJJ.

Like another reviewer said, the author mentions no certifications or instructorship under any recognized JKD instructor. Also, like the other reviewer said, "studying" someone is hardly the same as studying WITH someone. I challenge the author to provide proof of instructor certification in JKD. Without that, the author has no business claiming to be writing about Jeet Kune Do.

The author seems to just be using the name Jeet Kune Do to promote his book. Obviously, if it just had a title like "Ground Fighting" or "Ground Fighting Techniques and Counters" or "Practical Ground Fighting Skills for the Street", then it would not stand out among the many grappling and ground fighting books available by recognized grappling experts such as the Machados and Gracies and a true Jeet Kune Do instructor and grappling expert, Larry Hartsell.

If you're interested in learning more about Jeet Kune Do, my first recommendation is to search for a qualified instructor. There is a directory of certified instructors at Dan Inosanto's web site. For those who don't know, Dan Inosanto was Bruce Lee's long time friend and student, and one of only three people who Bruce certified to teach Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do (the others being Taky Kimura and the late James Lee). Most of the other original Chinatown school students like Larry Hartsell continued to train with Dan Inosanto after Bruce's death.

There is absolutely nothing that can take the place of learning firsthand from a qualified instructor. This is not to say that books and videos aren't helpful, as they can serve as useful study guides and sometimes help us to understand certain aspects of an art or fill in the holes in the notebooks of those of us who don't keep very good class notes (if you don't keep a training journal, start now!). Having said that, my second recommendation is to read all of the books on JKD by Chris Kent, Tim Tackett, Larry Hartsell, John Little, Ron Balicki and the excellent book on Jun Fan by Kevin R. Seaman, and if you can find them, Dan Inosanto. The book Jeet Kune Do Conversations by Jose Fraguas is also excellent.

If you are interested in grappling books, then I would recommend Larry Hartsell's JKD books and Marc MacYoung's "Floor Fighting", as well as The Fighter's Notebook.

I do not, however, recommend spending your money on this book, as it is not JKD, and it is not a very good grappling book either. If you are still considering it because of all the 5 star reviews (which I suspect were posted by friends of the author), I suggest browsing it first at your local martial arts store if they bothered to stock it. I'm glad I did, as it saved me from wasting my money on it.

Rating:
Summary: An informative book that takes fighters to the next level!
Review: After training in the arts for many years I thought that I had seen and heard it all. Boy, was I wrong! This book takes the arts and combat fighting to a higher level. Whether you are a seasoned matial artist such as myself, or just a beginner this book is for you. This valuable book takes a different and far more advanced look at ground fighting than I have seen. The author illustrates in fine detail how to take out your opponent from multitudes of different positions. The base is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but the more advanced moves the author shares in this book are all Jeet Kune Do. This book is full of incredibly potent moves that I have already used to take out my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu buddies that have been trainiing in there respective art for many years. If Bruce Lee were around today to write a groundfighting book then I venture to guess it would be similar in form and function to this book. If you want to be as successful and well rounded fighter as you possibly can then you must get this book! Or better yet don't. That way I can dominate!

Rating:
Summary: If your attacked on the street...
Review: By a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guy, then this is a great book to have. But since 99% of the time the attacker a. does not know martial arts, b. has a weapon of some sort, and c. cannot grapple at all, this book is not the most useful in my posession. I can see the pros and cons, but this book was made more for the ring, I would say, then the street. it is, however, very well written and and photos are clear, so it isn't a bad quality book, butI don't see it as useful on the street. If you want to add some kind of grappling to your JKD, I would check out any of Larry Hartsell's books or Ron Balicki's book is very good and has some useful grappling inside. Just my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: MAGNIFICENT!!!!!
Review: Excellent book on ground fighting. Who cares if there are typos and bad use of grammar, I�m not reading it to for my use of English. Alan Ground gives the reader straight forward, effective, street fighting techniques. The pictures could be of better quality And arrangement (though Mr. Ground does explain how to read the book), This is nothing Compared to what I have seen in other Martial arts Publications. True it is best to learn from a instructor, but some of us are not located near a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school. I can�t wait for his next book to come out.

Rating:
Summary: SURPRISE!
Review: Finally an original point of view! Learned lots of new moves. I'm from a JJ, boxing & Muay Thai background. From taking so many classes, you tend to feel very safe within a "system." This book did me a great service, it opened my mind up! With everyone doing JJ, i wanted an advantage over opponents--especially on the street--where you can't tap. I really enjoyed the destroy moves from the guard. The only advantage the "guy on the street" has over a trained fighter is his unpredictability. This person isn't bound by any rules or discernable techniques--which makes him hard to read and sometimes dangerous. This book gave me a new perspective on groundfighting and inspired me to think of my own counters, locks, and reversals. After reading this book, I know I have a lot of surprises for the trained JJ fighter and a renewed sense of readiness for anything in the street. If you want secret weapons in your arsenal, GET THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: POORLY WRITTEN, SELF PROMOTING....SKIP IT
Review: Having studied martial arts for over thirty years, I've collected a large library of books. There are few I've regretted buying, but this is one of them. To begin, it is horribly written. I have to believe it is a vanity press, as no editor or proofreader would have let this get by...and doesn't the author at least have a few literate friends to review it ("detur", "vulnurablity", "sacraficed", "Now your in the mount")? Commas apparently are placed at random. Terrible.

Secondly, the author slyly mentions a lot of "big names" in martial arts, but if you read carefully he "studied them", not studied WITH them...a big difference. He mentions NO certifications, instructorships, belts, accomplishments (oh wait, he does have his Arizona Property Managers Certification, and played college basketball)...but still proclaims HIMSELF "one of the premier true combat artists, of our time" [quoted exactly, errors and all]. None of the people he states he did train WITH are quoted or seem to acknowledge him in any way.

While the techniques themselves are adequate (at best), they are poorly photographed, and to paraphrase a famous critic "what is good isn't original, and what is original isn't good". For this gentleman to promote himself as creating a "new era" in JKD groundfighting is a slap in the face of Larry Hartsell and Dan Inosanto. There are books that are much better, but I've seen few more irritating. If only on principle alone, you should not buy this book. I wish I hadn't.....

Rating:
Summary: Good book, but a jujitsu background might help.
Review: I noticed this book in my local martial arts store. I'm not sure what the last reviewer was talking about??? The pictures were fine. It looks like the last reviewer has an ax to grind. The last reviewer mentioned personal things he didn't like about the author?? I can't figure out why this guy has a chip on his shoulder? I suggest you take all reviews into account and use your own mind to judge. I noticed this book at the Musashi Martial Arts store located in stanton. The book was good enough for me to order online. If I had money with me I would have purchased it right then! From another bad boy at Huntington Beach LA Boxing!.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: I studied Jeet Kune Do and Jun Fan under Sifu Floyd Jackson, an instructor under Dan Inosanto, and have attended seminars by Dan Inosanto, so I have firsthand experience, and this book is crap. I usually buy every Jeet Kune Do related book I find, but after going through it at our local martial arts supply store I decided it would be an embarrasment to have on my bookshelf.

Rating:
Summary: Grappler definitely recommends it
Review: Seitdem das brazilianische Jiu-Jitsu in der amerikanischen Kampfsportszene für enormes Aufsehen sorgte, wird heute die Wichtigkeit des Bodenkampfes von keinem ernstzunehmenden Kampfsportler mehr geleugnet. Alan Ground hat hier eine Vielzahl von Techniken für den Bodenkampf zusammengestellt, die zum Teil aus dem brazilianischen Jiu-Jitsu entnommen sind, dieses aber nach seinen Worten teilweise sogar kontern und übertreffen können.

Rating:
Summary: 15 Years and I'm still learning
Review: This guy really knows his stuff. I liked the book and noticed some of the moves are from different arts. He shows you how to lock a man with a chin grab. It's different from anything I've learned in a BJJ class. Any good martial artists should know if you control the head you control the opponent. There were also moves where you instantly put someone out of position. This sets you up for a submission. My favorite move in this book comes when he shows how to grab the clavical and force an opponent any direction you want(pretty devistating move). I also like the pressure points he shows in the book. We don't learn that in BJJ. Some moves are great, and others are so-so. Just like BJJ you must know basics along with the advanced techniques. Overall it's a good book.