Had a great conversation about martial arts with host Dominick Izzo on Them’s Fightin’ Words! Podcast We talk traditional vs. modern and even express our love of martial arts cinema. This is an episode you don’t want to miss! While you’re at it, subscribe to his channel!
Sifu Kevin Seaman has done it again with Jun Fan Gun Fu: Seeking the path of Jeet Kune Do 2. Like the first volume, Sifu Kevin presents a cornucopia of techniques, concepts and drills, which will be useful to practitioners of all martial arts disciplines.
I purchased this book directly from the author and have an inscribed and signed copy. I’ve been fortunate to attend seminars by and with Sifu Kevin, and with some instructors teaching under him. Although I’ve been practicing martial arts nearly 30 years, I’m just beginning to walk down the JKD path. I feel Sifu Kevin’s books are incredible travel guides for anyone’s journey into the art, science, and philosophy espoused by the incomparable Bruce Lee.
Although you can’t learn from a book alone, you can use this text, along with the first volume, to increase your knowledge, and guide your journey. This book can be used as a mnemonic for those who have been initiated. If you’ve had training in JKD, Sifu Kevin’s books can be used as a memory aid (I’m sure his books are much more organized than your notebook) where you can grab a technique, principle or drill, allowing you to work what you already know, getting expert coaching from the text as you do.
For those who go to seminars or have a teacher, you’ll be able to pull out things you’d like to work on and ask about the material, or to ask them to demonstrate. You can’t hunt down information that you don’t know exists.
The book can be used as an introduction to the principles of JKD, lighting a fire within you, pushing you to seek qualified instruction. And finally, for those who study fighting systems, and other styles of martial arts, you’ll be able to pull out drills and concepts that you can work into your respective martial art’s structure, enhancing your training.
This second volume not only builds on the physical foundations of the first, with topics like advanced footwork, defensive structure, and physical development, but also expounds on the principles, psychology, and philosophy of the well-rounded fighter and martial artist.
Sifu Kevin Seaman’s Jun Fan Gun Fu: Seeking the Path of Jeet Kune Do 2 is a worthy sequel to the first volume, a compressive reference guide, and highly recommended for all fighters and martial artists. You’ll find it a welcome addition to your martial arts library, and a working reference that won’t gather dust.
Solo Training 3 50 And Older is chock-full of information, drills, and exercise for the aging martial artist. Don’t let the title fool you; this book is great for any aging martial artist. I’m just hitting my mid-40s and I found the information in this book very helpful. I had the opportunity to borrow this book for free using my Prime Membership, and I’m glad that I did. If you find just one idea that you can put into use in your own training, then the time it took to read the book was worth it. I found plenty, and I was reminded of some drills and concepts that I had forgotten.
Christensen covers a wide range of subjects. He spends a good deal of time on resistance training—a very important aspect of solo training for any aging martial artist. He also covers proper diet, training your core, and speed training, among other topics.
This book is subtitled Karate, Kung Fu, and Taekwondo. That’s an important distinction. Christensen wrote the book with the traditional stand-up martial artist in mind. But even if you practice non-classical or reality based self-defense styles, I think you’ll get something out of it. Kata training is also covered. I’ve always felt that kata was best practiced at home anyway, leaving the time in class for drills and sparing that requires partners.
Chapter 14 gives you a fairly thorough look at “fight enders.” Just make sure you understand use of force laws before you employ them. But as we age, we don’t have time to mess around. If you’ve mostly focused on sports with rules, this is good information to know.
At the end of the book Christensen provides tons of drills that you can implement or modify to your liking. Inevitably a few reviewers will comment that anyone with an intermediate or advanced level of training could come up with the same or similar workouts. While that might be true, I just don’t see why anyone would want to reinvent the wheel. Christensen has done all the work for you in this volume, providing a template that you can modify to your heart’s desire. Since Christensen uses these workouts himself, you know they work. And that will save you time, and the trial and error of putting together your own workouts.
If you’re a student, you know you can’t improve enough by just training during class time. If you’re an instructor, you have to put in the time before or after class for your own improvement. This is a book that will help you to improve while reducing injury. It’s a welcome edition to any martial artist’s library. I know I’ll be adding a physical copy to mine.
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