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Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee's Commentaries on the Martial Way

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Compiled from Bruce Lee's notes and writings, Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do is the seminal book presenting the martial art created by Bruce Lee himself.

Jeet Kune Do was a revolutionary new approach to the martial arts in its time and is the principal reason why Bruce Lee is revered as a pioneer by martial artists today, many decades after his death. The development of his unique martial art form—its principles, core techniques, and lesson plans—are all presented in this book in Bruce Lee's own words and notes. This book is the complete and official version of Jeet Kune Do which was originally published by Tuttle Publishing in cooperation with the Lee family in 1997. It is still the most comprehensive presentation of Jeet Kune Do available.

This Jeet Kune Do book features Lee's illustrative sketches and his remarkable notes and commentaries on the nature of combat and achieving success in life through the martial arts, as well as the importance of a positive mental attitude during training. Also, there is a series of "Questions Every Martial Artist Must Ask Himself" that Lee posed to himself and intended to explore as part of his development, but never lived to complete. Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do is the book every Bruce Lee fan must have in his collection.

This Bruce Lee Book is part of the Bruce Lee Library which also

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1997

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About the author

Bruce Lee

177 books1,157 followers
Bruce Lee was an American-born martial artist, philosopher, instructor, martial arts actor and the founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts system, widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century and a cultural icon. He was the father of actor Brandon Lee and of actress Shannon Lee.

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5 stars
474 (54%)
4 stars
248 (28%)
3 stars
115 (13%)
2 stars
16 (1%)
1 star
10 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Leslie D. Soule.
Author 11 books157 followers
April 19, 2014
This was an excellent volume, though I must admit, it was not quite what I was expecting. It's 400 pages, but I got through it in a day - mostly because it's filled with pages that look pretty similar to my own notes from countless martial arts classes (lists of variations on moves, etc.) This book shows that Bruce Lee was ultimately an outstanding fighter and martial artist, who thoroughly understood the spirit of his art and the various other martial arts styles that he incorporated into Jeet Kune Do.
47 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2018
It is a collection of notes that Bruce Lee wrote while healing from an injury. It is not a book, or even cohesive. There are lists and repetitive thoughts, collections of Bruce Lee's favorite aphorisms and a lot of definitions. It may have made sense if someone curated/edited the notes, or framed his ideas in a context.
Profile Image for Michael K..
Author 1 book18 followers
July 20, 2019
This book did touch on much of his own beliefs and ideas on Jeet Kune Do (JKD). Although it was written in such a fashion that it was much like his TAO OF JEET KUNE DO, which is not a problem to me. It was a quick read and there were many things one could pick up on within the text of this book. If you are a Bruce Lee fan or a martial arts fan, you will like what this book has to offer!
1 review
November 22, 2008
For anyone trying to learn martial arts not to be strong or to defend yourself but to find who you are this book is one to read. This book helps you find freedom through physical expression.
21 reviews
October 3, 2017
Some really great gems of wisdom in here, but also quite a lot of repetition and long bullet point lists without any explanation or elaboration to them.
Profile Image for Dustin.
91 reviews
Want to read
June 26, 2020
I read these books over and over for a reason. WORTH IT.
8 reviews
March 7, 2008
This book is really deep, explains everything about the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do to the techniques and training.
Profile Image for Ken  Yeon.
17 reviews
February 27, 2018
This book is for people who want to free themself, and not for those who want to be "strong" or try to defend themself. Altough it's not too much about how to fight, it's an excellent book to study before learning to fight. To understand what you really want
3 reviews
March 2, 2023
The Master Dragon

So happy to read these notes and advice on fighting. First bought the kindle version, then bought the paper back for my collection. Extremely valuable information here.

Was delighted to read the preface by Sifu Ted Wong, just inspiring.
Profile Image for Rob.
11 reviews
April 4, 2023
I liked diving into the mind and the way of taoism, helped me grow fs
Skimmed through, read what was very important to me
Learned a kick or two and his philosophical stance towards bodymovement/ body mechanics
Profile Image for Jason Mack.
1 review
January 9, 2026
Overall enjoyable to read. The book contains many lists which are impractical to the reader, but nice to have Bruce’s complete thoughts on various techniques. Mostly enjoyed the philosophical sections of JKD.
Profile Image for Jordan Mcculloch.
123 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2021
The sections I understood were very insightful. But that was 20% of the book maybe. Granted I stopped after 100 Page’s.
1 review
October 26, 2017
In the beginning of this book it tells you how Bruce pee became Brice lee the awesome matcail artist that he is and about his friends that helped him on the way there and it's great.tward the end it talks about techniques uses for Bruce lee's meet kune do. Then it ends with some pictures that he used to draw for training of corse he drew those before ho had died.
57 reviews
February 29, 2016
Bruce Lee was a martial arts superstar of television and movies starting back in the late 1960's. He was an actor that had an amazing on-screen charisma and seemed destined for a long, successful career. Unfortunately, he died tragically at 32 years old from a cerebral edema, or brain swelling. He was also an expert martial artist and teacher that left behind writings included in this book about his martial art Jeet Kune Do and combat techniques.

I only had a very superficial knowledge of Bruce Lee from some of his movies. I feel like I learned a lot about him through these writings. This book is definitely worth your time. It is a great way to learn more about Bruce Lee, his combat techniques and his philosophies for success. Even if you are not a serious martial arts student, there are self-defense ideas here that anyone can use. In short, this was an interesting and educational book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Sejong.
51 reviews
November 9, 2021
As a martial arts enthusiast, I found this book incredibly disappointing. I dived in expecting to enjoy nugget after nugget of wisdom from the late, great Bruce Lee but the nuggets are few and far between, weighed down by pages of repetitive notes on sequences and stances.

If you're a hardcore Bruce Lee fanatic you might enjoy working your way through even Lee's most mundane notes, but the minutiae was hard for me to trudge through and I gave up.
Profile Image for Koziołek.
48 reviews1 follower
July 31, 2015
Great book, great mind. Twenty-something who thought like a wiseman, this is quite rare nowadays. There're not only things Bruce learned but also - and more importantly first of all - things he thought through very carefully and experienced by himself. He had a great ability of fathoming the most important things out and his notes are now in this book.
Profile Image for Minh Ho.
7 reviews
May 21, 2013
This book makes a lot more sense to me now than when I first read it as a teenager. Very insightful.
Profile Image for Janelle.
703 reviews3 followers
February 19, 2016
I liked this book. It's mostly commentary and notes by Bruce Lee, so if you're looking for an autobiography or book on jeet kune do, this isn't for you. It's a good read for Lee fans, though.
Profile Image for Klewkoort.
1 review8 followers
January 28, 2016
from the book itself, it was copyrighted under Linda Lee Caldwell, edited and compiled by John Little. Bruce Lee was not alive in 1997.
Profile Image for Dennis Bauder.
14 reviews2 followers
August 7, 2012
What can I say it's Bruce lee great book on wisdom and the art of fighting must read for anyone fan
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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