Category: Philosophies

This week, our featured Instructor, Ed Monaghan, pinpoints what makes Jerry Poteet’s Jeet Kune Do so special and unique. We could also use the same superlatives for Ed, a loyal, talented, innovative teacher and martial artist! Like his Sifu, Ed is a seeker and philosopher who incorporates ancient as well as modern training techniques in his teachings. He is a certified Instructor in the UCLA Mindful Awareness Program, and a decade’s long disciple of Taoism and Buddhism. I will let him tell you what drew him to Jerry, and how it impacts his life: “Although I had several black belts and had been certified in other methods of JKD, something was always missing. What Sifu did was brilliant. Sifu Jerry told me ” I am merely a conduit for what my teacher, Bruce Lee, gave to me. It elevated my life in every way. It is this gift I wish to pass on to you.” Jerry ‘s Jeet Kune Do was much more than physical. It is a tool for growth and self-discovery. Like the philosophy of Krishnamurti and other favorite philosophers that Bruce Lee required Jerry to read, JPJKD is an art of EXPANSION. To experience this expansion directly from Sifu Jerry was to have your life changed forever. Jerry wanted to share the joy of an elevated life that he received from his teacher. ” “There were no “secret sets”, no endless techniques to clutter your awareness. Sifu Jerry was outspoken about people who had made Bruce Lee’s sublime art about them. In some hands, it became a cult, where the head figure is almost revered, and the student is not allowed to question or seek training and knowledge elsewhere. To Jerry, this defeated the purpose of the art. PHYSICAL techniques were just a method to get you to an expanded, elevated life. To dwell only on the physical was to always be what he called, “an advanced beginner in Jeet Kune Do”. Like my Sifu, my goal is to pass on the joy of the art and philosophy of JPJKD. It has enhanced my life in ways I could not have foreseen. It is a circle with no circumference, an expansion of awareness that is almost mystical. Join me, and FREE YOUR MIND.” Edward Monaghan, Ekata Martial Arts Academy Professor, UCLA

Dream On   Today we honor the visionary artist, philosopher and founder of JEET KUNE DO, BRUCE LEE. Millions know him through the medium of film, and tens of thousands through his art of JKD. In addition to the above, I am fortunate to know him through the personal memories and stories of his students, Jerry Poteet, Steve Golden and Daniel Lee. By all accounts, he was not only an extraordinary martial artist, but was also an honorable individual, and devoted friend. According to them, his goal was not fame and fortune, but rather the perfection of the human spirit via his art and philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. He did not have mere ambitions; he had DREAMS. Bruce Lee changed Jerry’s life in countless ways. In fact, Jerry always referred to that first meeting, in Oakland ,California, as “Once Upon A Time”…(Many years later, I use that phrase to describe my first meeting with Sifu Jerry!) Why is Bruce Lee’s life as compelling as ever? Because he overcame prejudice and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve his dream. Happy Birthday, Maestro Bruce Lee. Dream On… -Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph

As anyone who trained with Sifu Jerry can attest, the teaching methods and curriculum he developed are truly special.  This is for several reasons, but the most important reason is this: JERRY POTEET’S Jeet Kune Do is based on a POSITIVE and UPLIFTING METHODOLOGY for achieving greatness in martial arts and life. It’s goal is to have each individual reach “THE OPEN END.” What is, “The open end”?  Like much of what Sifu Jerry taught, it seems at first to be a contradiction in terms.  For Sifu Jerry, it meant the endless path to self-discovery.  (“Know YOURSELF and you can vanquish a thousand enemies” – Sun Tzu) This path begins on the physical level, but advances to the intellectual and spiritual.  Unlike most other martial arts methods, Jerry Poteet’s Jeet Kune Do moves beyond mere technique and into the sublime. Again and again, I experienced Sifu Jerry urging me to “make yourself disappear”! He presented me with another puzzle.  How can I get better by losing myself?  But strangely enough, the less my ego got involved, the faster, stronger, and more powerful I became.  In fact, my physical martial arts skills became such that I amazed even myself.  (And, I am not easy to impress!) Today, The JPJKD Association mission is to share and perpetuate this accelerated training method.  Those of us lucky enough to train with Sifu Jerry treasure this experience…as he treasured his time with his teacher, Bruce Lee. One such way for students to experience Sifu Jerry directly is through our ONLINE JKD eAcademy.  The JPJKD eAcademy training offers a step-by-step instruction course for students of all levels.  (www.jpjkd.com/eacademy) Under my direction and guided by the wishes of Sifu Jerry, the JPJKD Association will expand and grow, and I, along with our Certified Instructors, are committed to keeping the Flame of Jerry Poteet’s Legacy burning bright for years to come. After all, it’s the least we can do for someone who gave us something so valuable, the OPEN END. Sifu, we’ve only just begun…

As we are about to embark on a series of Events for the JPJKD Association, I am reminded of the many times Sifu Jerry and I travelled to give Workshops and Seminars here in the US and overseas. Jerry loved sharing his art with anyone who would listen and have “an empty cup”. Differences in language were no barrier since his personalized Jeet Kune Do teaching spoke volumes. I loved watching the student’s first reaction when Jerry walked into the room and greeted each person warmly, and then, when he moved, they were stunned by his explosive speed and power. Jerry disdained what he called “filler” in a class. When students would ask him if they were going to stretch, Sifu’s eyes would light up, and he would just reply, “yes.. your imagination”. Unlike many teachers, Jerry never liked to be a “star” at seminars. Rather than be the focus of attention, he preferred to give all the energy to the participants. Like his famous teacher and creator of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee, Jerry never sought to be a cult figure as an Instructor of the art. For him, the purpose of the JPJKD Events was to make all the students better in their skills than before they arrived and also to have the time of your life while doing so! He did not need the accolades and hype that others seemed to require. In fact, it always puzzled him when people touted themselves as the “fastest this” or “most powerful that”. “Don’t watch him, watch his students.” was his comment…”The purpose of teaching is to make the OTHER person great!” The best moments in a seminar or lesson occurred for Sifu when he saw “the light come on” in a student’s eyes once described as “Ah-ha!” moments by one of my JPJKD certified instructors, Sifu Joel Ledlow. Those of us who were fortunate enough to train with Jerry Poteet recall those precious “Ah-ha’s” vividly. Jerry referred to them as “enlightenment”, and eventually that state of liberation happened for many of his students. Speaking for myself, it happened after a period of frustration. I felt that I was always just on “the brink” of breaking through. Sifu would admonish me, “Get out of your own way, you already have it”. And sure enough, I did. (Where was IT hiding all that time?) It is this gift and passion for JPJKD that we will be sharing with others in the upcoming year. Please stay tuned to our site and Facebook page for upcoming announcements of dates and locations for 2015!

For the last two decades, I have traveled all over the world, teaching Jeet Kune Do , as well as other martial arts.  More people than ever are pursuing martial arts for a variety of reasons, and most attend class working hard to be their best.  But still, something is missing… When I began my training with JKD Master Jerry Poteet, I had reached a point where I was quite proud of my martial arts abilities.  I assumed that learning from him would be “a piece of cake”.  But that cake turned out to be very hard to swallow!  Training with Sifu was both exhilarating and exhausting.  After the third lesson, he handed me a sheet of paper and said “This is yours”. When I glanced down at it, I saw  “Supplemental Training For Fran Joseph” on the top, and below, a step-by-step regimen for physical excellence.  Many of the exercises were the same ones Jerry’s teacher, Bruce Lee, had given him.  When I got to the bottom of the page and saw SPLITS BETWEEN CHAIRS, my face must have registered dread.  Jerry just chuckled and told me he had the same reaction to that exercise with Sijo Lee.  Bruce just shot him “that look” and told Jerry “something to shoot for!”.  And, try he did. Jerry immediately installed a home gym in his garage. Under his teacher’s directions, he was expected to hone his body daily.  As his famous teacher warned him, “the mind will always push the body past what it can safely endure”.  So, Jerry forged his body into a JKD fighting machine.  Those of you who have seen pictures of Jerry from that era can attest to his amazing physique.  Lean, lithe, and explosive, Sifu reached his potential. (He felt that too much muscle would bulk and slow the body, like a turtle’s armor). His gym was equipped with ‘torture” devices of all sorts.  Jerry would laugh when he recalled visitors attempting to give his REVERSE Roman Chair a try!  True to his teacher’s predictions, there was a time he did injure himself.  The bar was set so high that after Jerry hurt his shoulder using hooks on a 300-pound heavy bag, his teacher noticed something was wrong with Jerry’s strikes. Slipping up behind him, he scolded, “I told you NOT to use hooks on that heavy bag.”  Jerry wisely kept his distance the entire class, and never used hooks on that particular bag again. This tradition of intensive and unique training continued with Sifu Jerry.  Those of us lucky enough to be in that first group with him always share “war stories”.  Like Jerry, we did low line attacks without the benefit of hard shin guards.  And, we were expected to train like spartans, every day of the week, to achieve greatness. (Something to shoot for!) Sifu Jerry’s awareness was laser sharp, and he knew if we were slacking off.  It wasn’t until much later that I realized the payoff for such intense training.  In order to receive first certification from Jerry, I had to go to professional boxing and kickboxing gyms and spar the champions.  In all humility, I was amazed at how easy it was to hold my own and best them.  Was it me?  They were all much younger and stronger than myself, so how could I control them so easily?  I realized it was the TRAINING METHOD that gave me my new abilities. Of course, it was up to me to use that method, but I realized that the supplemental training Jerry developed for me was a bullet-proof formula to give Read More …