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Indigenous Jeet Kune Do by Mark Hatmaker

 


Likely we are all familiar with the following Bruce Lee quote…

 "Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is essentially your own."

It is a foundational bit of wisdom found in Mr. Lee’s posthumously published collection of combat notes titled Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

It is a more straightforward transliteration of teachings phrased more ambiguously in the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao zi.

For my taste, I prefer Mr. Lee’s iteration to the Tao Te Ching.

The JKD teaching is straight forward and allows for no wiggle room for interpretation.

But…

What if I were to tell you that more than a few Indigenous warrior tribes of the American frontier embraced that bit of JKD pragmatics centuries before the publication of that volume in 1975?

There are more than a few Warrior teachings that echo this hard-edged no-fealty to dogma, disdain for tradition, worship only at the altar of efficiency and effectiveness.

I have chosen two examples of these teachings to illustrate the point.

THE LAKOTA

The first is from Hunkpapa, of the Lakota—it demonstrates that influence was not just one way—that is, Indigenous upon Anglo culture but vice versa.

“Take the best of the white man's road, pick it up and take it with you. That which is bad leave it alone, cast it away.”

THE COMANCHE WARRIOR

I have a preference for the Comanche teaching that predates the Lakota phrasing. My bias is that it comes from my adopted tribe, a culture and language I cherish and immerse myself in on a daily basis.

The Warrior quote reflects the bare bones, stripped down ethos of the Comanche people.

We must never forget the name of the tribe, Comanche, is actually a Ute word meaning, “He Who Always Fights,” or “Always Fighting,” or “Enemy to All”, or sometimes simply “Enemy.”

The Comanche call themselves Numunuu, which is “The People” or “The Human Beings” but it is a testament to their Warrior ethos that they have adopted what was intended as a slur as an additional name.

The JKD teaching again…

 "Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is essentially your own."

We find this teaching in Comanche centuries earlier expressed as…

“T’zare t’saa, ma atap’u. Ke turu [?] aipu [?,] pethitaru.

[“If it is good it is My Way [Becomes My Way,] if it does not work, throw it down.”]

·        The bracketed [?] let us know to rise intonation on these syllables.

I find it absolutely gorgeous that these Warrior Cultures of the Americas bypassed esoterica, eschewed dogma, and chose streamlined effectiveness centuries before and in the same vein as one of the 20th century’s most influential martial artists.

A wonderful world!

The February Black Box Instructional release will introduce some fascinating aspects of Comanche “My Way” Combat rendered all the tighter from a recent Southwest research trip.

More on this topic to come, including avoiding the mistake of archeological “float” when it comes to Frontier Combat Rough n Tumble Research.

Wanna Join Me on this Path to the Original JKD, Frontier Fighting, and Bonafide Rough n Tumble?

Have a gander at the following resources, perhaps even consider joining our Subscription Service and Becoming Part of the Black Box Brotherhood.

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fTpfVp2wi232k4y5EakVv...

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