The Old WAY JKD GARY DILL

By Professor Gary Dill

Dictums Of Combat

Since the early 1970’s, the Oakland Jeet Kune Do school was known as the “fighting school of JKD. This was a description given by Sifu Ted Wong from the LA group.

Bruce had three schools, Seattle, LA, and Oakland. But why was Oakland known as the fighting school?

When Bruce Lee went to Hong Kong to make those gung fu movies in 1971, he turned the Oakland school over to his close friend and assistant instructor, James Lee. James was totally dedicated and loyal to Bruce and taught ONLY the JKD techniques as developed by Bruce. But James had a reputation as being a fighter. He worked in the rough environment of bay area shipyards, he was no stranger to confrontations. James was a nice guy but he took no crap from anyone.

James did not have a fancy kwoon, instead he taught out of what used to be the garage of his house (3039 Monticello in Oakland.) When I was training there,

I witnessed him expelling several guys from his class. He taught with a stern hand. He expected each student to give him 100% in class. He told us one evening that you must have the “killer instinct” in order to be good in JKD. I understood exactly what he was saying. In 1971 he accepted me as one of his personal students in his small JKD class. I had just returned from Vietnam just a week before and already had seven years of military experience and was still in the military during the entire time that I trained with him.

“Killer Instinct”, based on my experience, is defined as “the mindset needed to eliminate your enemy without hesitation, or remorse, using whatever means available to eliminate the threat of your adversary in order to survive.

I began my martial arts career in the ’60s during the time known as the blood and guts days of karate, which was the forerunner of full contact karate of the ’70s. There was no “safety equipment” used, just bare fist fighting. It was tough, but you learned how to fight. In other words, it was an organized form of street fighting. The Oakland JKD class was my new home of combat.

During my 60 years in martial arts, I have interfaced with other martial artists who also had the “killer instinct”.

I respected these men regardless of their rank or system. It’s a brotherhood. But on the other hand, I have seen instructors and students who couldn’t fight out of a paper sack. They would never survive a real street fight or battlefield combat. They do not have the “killer instinct.” I divide martial artists into two categories: technicians and fighters.

Technicians can show the techniques but cannot apply them in combat. Fighters/instructors teach students how to use techniques in real combat by instilling the “killer instinct.” Just because a JKD practitioner can throw an eye gouge, a front kick, or use a sloppy version of trapping hands, this doesn’t make him a fighter.

These guys live in a fantasy world and would not survive a real fight. The original JKD works very well in a real fight, but it is all about learning the proper techniques and how to use them in combat.

Most JKD instructors that I know have never been in a real fight, they work from theory. But this observation also applies to other martial arts also. Many of you guys out there know what I’m talking about. Success in combat is not about the system, it about the man.

I was in the military for ten years and I spent ten years in law enforcement (working primarily homicides, narcotics and dealing with some bad boys.) I have used my martial arts / JKD in several street confrontations and it has never failed me. But my success stems back to proper training and a fighter mindset, aka “killer instinct.”

Bruce Lee developed Jeet Kune Do for only one purpose, which is what he referred to as “the actual reality of combat,” not for sport or aesthetics. Bruce referred to his JKD as “scientific street-fighting.”

Over the years, I have seen several different versions of JKD stemming from the core. But as for me, I am a proponent of and a conservator of the ORIGINAL JEET KUNE DO because from my experiences in the street, it works for me. Regardless, a martial artist must have the “killer instinct” in order to survive a street fight or battlefield co

I am now sharing with you some of my “Dictums of Combat” (principles) which can help develop the proper warrior mindset and enhance your survival in actual combat.

Dill’s “Dictums of Combat”

1. Your mindset will make or break you in combat. Mental aspects are just as important as physical skills and techniques.

2. If you don’t have confidence in yourself and your skills, you will lose.

3. Do not think about what your adversary may do to you but instead think about what YOU ARE going to do to him.

4. Do not hesitate to attack in a fight. Hesitation kills.

5. Do not fight “fair.” Fight to win and survive regardless of what it takes.

6. React! Don’t threaten, bluff, or talk.

7. Watch his hands. He may be reaching for a weapon.

8. Develop muscle memory. My three rules of JKD are “repetition, repetition, repetition.” When you’re in combat, you don’t have time to think; you only have to react. You won’t have time to think about steps #1 and #2.

In combat, you have to depend on your muscle memory. Just do it.

9. Develop a small group of techniques that work well for you. Develop those to use in combat instead of trying to perfect a hundred different ways. Again, remember you don’t have time to think in combat; you only have to react. Don’t clutter your brain. This is where the JKD concept of “individuality” comes into play. Perfect what works the best for you.

10. Visualize what you are going to do to your adversary. Already defeat him in your mind.

11. Work out your moral issues long before any altercation happens. It would be best to resolve this issue before you go into combat. Remember, you will probably have to injure your adversary or, in battlefield combat seriously, you may have to terminate him. Amid combat is not the time to weigh out moral issues. It is either you or him, you decide. Do you want to go home or go to the hospital or morgue?

12. Expect to be hit or kicked. It’s combat. It doesn’t hurt that much if you learn how to roll with it.

13. Work out. Don’t just go to class; that’s it. You must train and work out on your own time. You must keep your techniques, reflexes, and speed up to par, or your combat experience may be bad.

14. Attack vital areas. Eyes, throat, groin, bladder plexus, nerves, broken bones, dislocated joints. Street fighting is not a boxing match in the ring.

15. Be aggressive, be offensive. Being defensive only brings on defeat.

16. Keep it simple. Don’t get fancy. Keep your techniques simple, direct, and powerful.

17. Be quick. You can always work on your speed. A slow fighter is no fighter.

18. Keep your kicks below the belt in a street fight. If you’re not Bill Wallace or Bruce Lee, then kick low. They are quicker, more deceptive, and more difficult for your opponent to see or block.

Dill’s law: “Never kick an adversary in the head unless he is on the ground.”

19. Use combinations when attacking.

20. Maintain forward energy. Keep opponent off balance.

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