Jeet Kune Do Concepts
The Complete Curriculum
A living, breathing curriculum with Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do at its core, expanded to cover every area, every scenario, and every environment a modern martial artist must be prepared for. Jun Fan JKD · Grappling · Ground Survival · Edged Weapons · Filipino Martial ArtsResearch
Research your own experience. Test everything on the mat, under real pressure. Learn from what actually happens, not what should happen.
Absorb
Absorb what is useful. Take what works, from any art, any tradition, any source, and integrate it honestly.
Discard
Discard what is useless. If it doesn't hold up under alive, resisting pressure, it doesn't earn a place on the mat.
Add
Add what is specifically your own. The art must fit the individual, not the other way around.
What Is Jeet Kune Do Concepts?
Jeet Kune Do Concepts is the philosophical framework Bruce Lee developed in the final years of his life. It is the principle behind the principle. It is not another style. It is a way of thinking about combat that gives you the freedom, and the responsibility, to build a martial art that actually works.
Where Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do is the specific art Bruce Lee taught, JKD Concepts is the lens through which every technique, every method, and every training approach is examined. Does it work? Under pressure? Against a resisting opponent? If not, it goes.
JKD Concepts is the organising framework for our entire curriculum. Every art we train, every scenario we prepare for, is filtered through the same honest question: does it hold up when it counts?
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do at the Core
Every serious JKD Concepts curriculum has to be anchored somewhere. For us, that anchor is Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do, the specific, verified art Bruce Lee developed and taught in his lifetime, transmitted through direct lineage under Sifu Burton Richardson.
Jun Fan is our reference point. Its principles of directness, economy, interception, and alive training set the standard everything else has to meet. The expanded curriculum doesn't dilute Jun Fan. It extends it, taking the same principles into areas and scenarios Bruce Lee himself was already exploring.
The core doesn't change. Jun Fan JKD, its footwork, its striking, its trapping, its interception, remains the foundation everything else is built upon. Every art added to the curriculum has to earn its place against that standard.
The Expanded Curriculum
A complete martial artist cannot afford to be a specialist. Fights don't stay in one area. Real self-protection scenarios don't announce themselves. Our expanded curriculum, framed and organised by JKD Concepts, prepares you for the full spectrum of what you might have to face.
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do
The core. Bruce Lee's original art in full, covering striking, kicking, trapping, and interception. The standard against which everything else is measured.
Functional Grappling
Brazilian jiu-jitsu and catch wrestling, trained honestly. Live positional sparring and submission work. Grappling that actually holds up against a resisting opponent.
Ground Survival
What happens when the fight goes to the floor and there are no rules. Standing back up, controlling distance from the ground, and handling multiple attackers or hard surfaces.
Edged Weapons Survival
Honest training against the blade. Awareness, recognition, defensive framework, and the hard truth about what a knife actually does in real conflict. Nothing dressed up.
Filipino Martial Arts
The weapons and empty-hand systems of the Philippines. Stick, blade, and impact. Arts built for real-world combat with a training method that translates directly to modern self-protection.
Self-Protection Principles
Awareness, de-escalation, pre-fight indicators, and the mindset required when things go bad. The mental and tactical layer that sits over the top of the physical skills.
These aren't six separate arts taught in isolation. They're one integrated curriculum, organised by JKD Concepts, anchored in Jun Fan, and trained together the way real conflict happens.
Functional, Alive Training
The concept doesn't matter if the training method is broken. What holds this whole curriculum together, what separates it from a shopping list of techniques, is how it is trained. Alive. Under pressure. Against resistance.
Alive from Day One
Progressive resistance built into every session. Training partners who don't cooperate. Skills stress-tested from the very start.
Trained Under Pressure
Isolated sparring, positional sparring, and full application rounds. If a technique only works on a compliant partner, it doesn't stay in the curriculum.
This is the same standard applied across everything we train, from Jun Fan through grappling, ground survival, and edged weapons work. The method is what makes the curriculum coherent, not the number of arts on the syllabus.
The Eight Areas of Combat
Our curriculum is structured around the eight areas of combat, the full spectrum of distances and situations a real conflict can occupy. Most systems specialise in one or two. Ours prepares you across all of them.
Kicking
Long-range leg attacks
Punching
Boxing & hand strikes
Trapping
Close-range hand control
Clinch
Standing grappling & control
Takedown
Throws, trips & sprawls
Ground
Positional grappling & submissions
Weapons
Stick, blade & edged weapon defence
Multiple / Environment
More than one attacker & real-world settings
A specialist wins in one area. A JKD Concepts practitioner is functional across all of them. Not world-class in any single one, but capable, honest, and adaptable across the whole spectrum.
Why This Approach
Real Conflict Doesn't Split Into Neat Areas
A confrontation doesn't stay standing. It doesn't stay unarmed. It doesn't stay one-on-one. Any curriculum that only prepares you for one area or one scenario has left gaps, and gaps are where people get hurt.
JKD Concepts as a framework demands we look honestly at all of it, and train across all of it.
Concepts Without a Core Is Just a Buffet
Some schools use "JKD Concepts" as a label for teaching a bit of everything with no depth in anything. That isn't what Bruce Lee meant, and it isn't what we do. The concepts framework demands a core, a reference point rigorous enough to hold everything else together.
For us, that core is Jun Fan JKD, taught in full, from verified lineage. Everything else builds outward from there.
The Method Is the Message
Alive training isn't a marketing phrase. It's the entire point. A concept only becomes a skill when it's tested under honest pressure against a partner who isn't cooperating. Without that, JKD Concepts is just philosophy.
Every art in our curriculum is trained the same way: progressive resistance, honest sparring, and the willingness to throw out anything that doesn't hold up.
What Sets Our Curriculum Apart
Plenty of schools claim JKD Concepts. Very few teach it with a real core, honest lineage, and alive training as the non-negotiable standard.
What We Offer
- Verified Jun Fan CoreAnchored in Bruce Lee's original art, taught from direct lineage
- Complete Eight-Area CurriculumStriking, grappling, ground, weapons, all covered honestly
- Ground SurvivalPractical floor work for real-world scenarios, not just sport
- Edged Weapons AwarenessHonest training against the blade, no fantasy defences
- Alive Training as StandardProgressive resistance across every art we teach
What You Won't Find Here
- "Concepts" Without a CoreNo shallow buffet of unconnected techniques
- Compliant Weapons DrillsNo fantasy knife defences that only work in the air
- Area Specialists OnlyNo pretending grappling doesn't exist because striking is easier
- Choreography or FormsNo kata. Every drill has to hold up under resistance
Who Is This For?
The JKD Concepts curriculum at Applied Martial Arts is open to all levels, complete beginners and experienced martial artists alike. Beginners get a genuine, honest introduction to a complete martial art. Experienced practitioners get the chance to fill gaps and test what they think they know against alive resistance.
You'll Thrive Here If
- ✓You want a complete curriculum, not another single-area specialty
- ✓You take real-world self-protection seriously, including weapons and the ground
- ✓You want your training tested honestly, not confirmed by compliance
- ✓You're a complete beginner ready to learn from the ground up
This Isn't For You If
- ✕You want a shallow overview of many arts without any real depth
- ✕You're looking for fantasy weapon defences that fall apart under pressure
- ✕You want to stay comfortably in one area and avoid the others
- ✕You're not prepared to train with honesty and full commitment
Training Details
| Framework | JKD Concepts, the organising principle for the whole curriculum |
| Core Art | Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's original art, taught in full |
| Also Covered | Functional grappling, ground survival, edged weapons survival, Filipino martial arts, self-protection principles |
| Areas | All eight areas of combat, from kicking through to multiple attacker |
| Method | Alive training, progressive resistance across every discipline |
| Level | All levels welcome, complete beginners to experienced practitioners |
| Instruction | Instructor Jeff Hollows, certified JKD instructor under Sifu Burton Richardson |
| Format | Small group sessions with maximum individual attention |
| Location | Applied Martial Arts, CitySpace, Sunderland, SR1 3SD |
| Classes | Monday & Wednesday. Contact us for current schedule |
One curriculum. Jun Fan at the core. JKD Concepts as the framework. Alive training as the standard. Complete beginners are welcome. No experience required, only the willingness to train honestly.