There used to be a JKD instructor in Alexandria who also worked with the Gold's Gym here. I believe they were called Iron Dragon but not 100% certain about that. A google search found them, then a rename to the JKD institiute of N. VA after that the trail goes cold. Anyone know if they still exist or what happened or if there is still an instructor for JKD in Alexandria, VA?
There is yeah. I know the teacher's wife. I'm pretty sure I have a flier at home somewhere. Lemme see if I can dig it up. Stuart
I haven't been able to find the flier yet, no. Sorry. I'll let you know as soon as I turn it up. (I recently moved, so things are still in disarray.) I was born in Northamptonshire. Brackley to be precise. Lived in Winnersh and Sandhurst before moving to the US in the early 80s. You been here long? Stuart
Cold in what sense? Their web page appears to be a bit out of date, listing 2004 stuff, but it does have an "Email us" link that initiates an email to two addresses (a third email address is listed on the page itself). I would try sending a message to those two or three email addresses and see if you get a response.
Stuart, Sandhurst eh? I can only think of a couple of reasons why you might need to go to Sandhurst? Moved here a couple of years ago from CA, in SPain before that.... the trail goes on. Drop me an email when you have a moment. Gungfujoe: Thanks for that however, i have emailed all of those addresses. One of them bounces and no response from the other two. Plan B: Any reccomendations/referrals for a JKD place in the Alexandria, VA area?
If you're not bound by public transportation, you may want to look at the Trident Academy in Woodbridge. I understand them to be well-regarded. I'm not aware of any JKD clubs that are closer, though in fairness, I haven't looked for JKD clubs.
Hey Tuscan, Sorry I haven't been able to turn up that information. As I said, we moved recently. And a lot of stuff either hasn't turned up yet or was discarded in the packing frenzy. But if I come across it, I'll let you know. There was actually a street sign for the class on the median for the Glebe Rd exit off of 395 for a while. Maybe I'll take that road home and see if it's still there. I'll drop you a line when I get a chance mate. As for other suggestions, what flavour of JKD are you looking for? Trident Academy is a good suggestion. But they're a JKD Concepts school (Inosanto lineage), versus an "original JKD" school. I don't know your preference. But if it's concepts, then you've also got the option of seeking out instruction in some of the styles that "inform" concepts JKD. Filipino martial arts, silat, muay thai, etc. And, if you were interested, I could give you recommendations for teachers in those areas. Starting with two people from right here on MAP. One of whom you're already chatting with. Gungfujoe is a silat teacher. And Khun Kao is a muay thai teacher in Alexandria. Both come with the highly coveted [ <--sarcasm] ap Oweyn stamp of approval. Stuart
Isn't "original JKD" kind of an oxymoron given that JKD is a concept, and not a system? Tuscan, you're certainly welcome in my class. I didn't offer simply because I've never considered my training to be much of anything like JKD, despite JKD having taken a handful of things from DeThoars' silat (I teach a combined gungfu/silat system from Willem Reeders. Largely unrelated, but with similar Javanese influence). Yes! I got the stamp!
Dude, if anyone ever agreed on what JKD actually is, I'm fairly convinced that the world would spin off its axis and go tumbling into the nearest black hole. That was my thought too. Though I've certainly known JKD teachers (all in the DC metro area) whose "personal interpretation" of JKD featured a lot of silat. But I think it's probably the process of reconciling silat, FMA, and muay thai that results in any resemblance to concepts JKD (for better or worse). Collect them all! Trade them with your friends!! Stuart
Usually some western boxing, and obviously Wing Chun, given that it was the/a basis for Jun Fan. Despite the fact that the JKD guys have folded in a good deal of Silat, I find that a lot of the other systems included in the mix are so different from what I do as to be incompatible. That may sound odd given that the JKD guys mix them, but there's a difference between taking techniques from another system and folding them into your base than adapting that system itself. I find the foundations of the arts to be different enough that they don't blend well in a systematic manner. Not everyone agrees, of course. I've had students who really loved cross-training in Wing Chun, who found parallels that I thought were frankly superficial and misleading (i.e. where the differences were more important than the similarities). I've found it to be an exercise in futility. It wouldn't be if I were looking to separately pursue multiple arts and partition them in my mind, but, aside from simply gaining exposure to other stuff and a broader perspective, I cross train for the purpose of learning more about my own art and to give me insight into training methods that will help me there. Then the art is so fundamentally different from mine, it's harder to do that. It's nothing against other arts - I just feel that pursuing multiple arts would spread me too thin, and that I've got more than enough to work on (another significant point on which most JKD adherents disagree with me on). Incidentally, I also find that the JKD guys are often the most reluctant to "empty their cup" when learning something new (another byproduct of the JKD mindset, IMO, where one is always looking for ways to incorporate new material into the existing base), making them a lot harder to teach. For those who might be inclined to get offended at what I've said, keep in mind that "different" doesn't mean "worse."
TuscanR1, I finally located that flyer. It's out in the car. I'll go and grab it shortly. I'll email you with it. Just wanted to give you a heads up, in case you're still watching this forum. Stuart
Gungfujoe & AP Oweyn, thank you for all of your opinions and advice. It's nice to converse with people who know what they are talking about or who at least do a good job of faking it Gungfujoe. Where do you train? Please post if you are allowed or even better send me details on email. I am in the Fort Hunt/Collingwood area of Alexandria to give you an idea of where I'd most likely be coming from! Thanks again!
Well, you're very welcome. As for knowing what I'm talking about... I know I found that flyer in the bottom of a satchel in my closet. Whether that qualifies me as an expert in anything remains doubtful. But I'll be interested in hearing your experiences.
My Tue/Sat classes are in Lee District RECenter, off Telegraph Rd, at the end of Rose Hill Drive. You'd probably take Rte 1 North, cut across to S. Kings Highway somewhere (e.g. Lockheed/Harrison), head back South, and cut across to Telegraph someplace (e.g. The Parkway, or take S. Kings all the way to Telegraph itself). My Thur class is in my back yard, which is slightly closer to you. See the link in my signature for details on the classes themselves. Since I teach at the RECenter, they handle enrollment, and decree that It Shall Be quarterly, and a new quarter begins in about three weeks. If you decided to join my class, you could do so at any time, but the beginning of the quarter is the best time to do it (they don't prorate the class fees for late enrollees). Actually, right now is technically the best time, because they try to entice people to sign up ahead of time, with a $10 discount for the first eleven days of enrollment (Aug 7-17), but I would not expect you to sign up for any class sight unseen. You're welcome to drop by any time, but note that I'll be out of town for the coming Saturday (18th) and Tuesday (21st) classes (the first for a martial arts seminar, the second for the second-degree black sash test of one of my training partners). Class will go on as scheduled, but will be run by some of my intermediate students (that normally isn't done, but I have no advanced students here yet, and I figure that leaving them with instructions for running a fairly basic class is much better than canceling classes). If you'd like to drop by tomorrow's back yard class, you'll need to contact me privately ASAP so I can get you directions, as I'll only be getting home 30-60 minutes before class, and can't access my email from work. Feel free to contact me privately for more information. Given that I don't teach JKD, this is a bit off-topic for the thread. Note - I'd reply to this privately, but since you only have five posts, I don't think you can send or receive PMs. You can email me through my club website.
