Month: June 2012

Jesse Glover

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An another one has now joined the master in heaven,  Rest in Peace Jesse Glover, 16/10/1934 – 27/06/2012.

Jesse Raymond Glover was Bruce Lee‘s first student and first assistant instructor in the United States. He met Lee in 1959, as they both attended Edison Technical College and was the one who first taught Lee judo. Glover was a psychology major and a champion judoka. The character based on Glover in the 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, starring Jason Scott Lee, was named Jerome Sprout.

Jesse started a Gungfu class of his own and Leroy Garcia and James DeMile came along and assisted him, which was the first ever independent Jun Fan arts related class. Jesse Glover was the first authorized martial arts instructor to be trained by Bruce Lee. He has developed his own method which he calls Non-Classical GungFu.

Article from Wikipedia.

Mikael Göransson

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As I wrote before we have a new member in our team Mikael Göransson is a swedish actor, we had only one short session with him but it definetely shows he has trained JKD before, we are happy to welcome him in our team and look forward to next session.

Here is a presentation of himself.

“In 1988, I was admitted at the Institute for the Performing Arts. I had, without really knowing what I was getting into, applied for a three months course at their theater in Pontremoli. Pontremoli is a small village in Tuscany, 8000 inhabitants and a small theater from 1700. It was the Institute for the Performing Arts to.

Before I started, I was an uncompromising pacifist. Violence was never acceptable, at any level, even in martial arts. So when I saw the schedule contained Kung Fu and Tai Chi, I was worried but figured that I could just stay away from those classes.
When I got home from Italy, I was surprised to think that Kung Fu might have been most instructive. I returned to the Institute and attended a one-year program. Among other things, I was tempted to learn more kung Fu.

Kung Fu was taught as a reference work to acting. There are numerous interesting comparisons to do. For example, to prepare for a situation that will occur later. Training the tools so they should be as sharp as possible, so once you are in the situation you should not have to think, just react as adequately as possible.
Our teacher Ingemar Lindh, often referred to Bruce Lee, not primarily as an actor, but as a martial artist. I often say that what Bruce did for martial arts, Ingemar Lindh did for acting. It is obviously not true because my teacher in no way had the same impact as Bruce Lee. My teacher had a bit of the same attitude to his art. Remove the excess, take away all superstition and all the ideas and use what actually works, investigate what actually an actor does and what his tools really are.
Back home in Sweden again, I tried to find a kung Fu class that I would feel comfortable in, but it would take until 2005 before I got the idea to investigate whether there was an opportunity to practice JKD. Then I took a summer course in Bredäng. Before that I started to see Bruce Lee’s movies, movies about Bruce and read the books I came across. The more I read the more I was able to find clues for my work as an actor. Then life occured and JKD was resting again, until now.
Again, Bruce Lee, an inspiration to find myself perhaps. Among all the books I read, one made me feel disappointed in Bruce. In retrospect, I realized that it was because he suddenly appeared as a man and it showed that even Bruce had flaws, some pages that I might not necessarily found inspiring. Nowadays, I think it was another lesson for me. Bruce Lee is an inspiration because he was not a “perfect” man. Right now he is an inspiration because he shows me that I do not need, cannot and should not try to achieve an image of a perfect human being.”

Thank you Mikael for your participation in my blog.

For more information about Mikael visit his website: http://mikaelg.se/Mikael_Goransson_Skadespelare/Valkommen.html

If you´re going…

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to San Francisco ………….

I am trying to find a flying ticket and hotel in San Francisco in september

I thought I would celebrate my birthday there but it seems it won´t be that easy.

I am looking at other dates but it won´t be the same. Anyway the first reason why I want to go to San Francisco again is to meet Allen and Annie and Jeff and Julie.

That is for sure,  this town is special for us , it will be the third time and still there are lots of things we haven´t done yet.

So right now the date is blurry but we´ll get there, no doubt about that !

25/6 Michael Jackson

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25/6 Michael Jackson

The reason why I am bringing Michael in my JKD Blog is because together with Bruce, Michael Jackson is my preferred artist of all times. As for Bruce I have been a fan more or less since I was born and I never stopped.

There are few sensitive subjects that have me involved in heated discussions; Bruce and Michael are definitely some of them 🙂

Either than being a great dancer ( the Best ! ) and song writer, Michael to me was a human being that had a big heart, he loved the planet and respected life in all kinds. I still am amazed when I listen to his music and look at the videos. To that day I have never seen any equal , I feel this kind of talent cannot be found elsewhere.

No matter how much some evil people tried to break him,  Michael has succeeded in making an impact, I am so happy I have been able to experience and grow with his music. Not only the music was good but I hope the messages he sent were received, it most certainly had an impact on me.

It´s been three years today,  there will never be another one no matter how hard they try and  this can never be taken away from you, Rest in Peace Michael.

Private Session!

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I missed a couple of posts in between but they will come soon.

I asked Mikael for a private session this Wednesday, it was more than needed!

We went through basics, on the heavy bag, then punches on mitts, kicks and footwork.

Mikael filmed and did not say anything to me, I had to take look at the footage by myself at home and make an analysis.

I could see immediately what was wrong and what looked OK. More wrong than right unfortunately but in my “self “critique,  I also could tell my overall form and technique have improved. Now there are a lot of small mistakes that I still do, bad habits such as the weight is too much on the rear foot, the body is not enough aligned in kicks, too much leaning forward and the arm is dropping. Surprisingly the position of the body is good when I kick on the left side, my kick is horrible but the position is better.

I was happy with my hook kicks and straight leads, more extension would have been even better in this last one.

The session on the heavy bag was OK first but Mikael said to relax and when I tried, the whole technique just fell apart. The difference between the two footages was just unbelievable I was so horrified I deleted it ! Don´t want to see that one again! 👿

We worked on reaction with mitts first and boxing gloves with focus. I had to try punching one and avoid being hit by the other. I just hate boxing gloves this is why Mikael did this one. At some points I ended up in a corner and found myself hit in the head and almost everywhere, I had to block and try to hit, the exercise was to stay there,  to stand, try to protect myself and hit . At the end the reaction starts to kick in and it not that scary anymore, I really want to do that again.

I have no doubt that the more you get used to be hit the more you can handle it, training martial arts is kind of the point !

The footwork is also better, I travelled in the room for a while and added punches and kicks and I guaranty footwork is NOT boring, this is a real workout when done the right way.

Private Sessions are something else, the focus is totally different and the intensity is 100%.

JKD NORWAY – Håkon Didriksen

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This is a new category, I wanted to have statements and information about our JKD friends in a separate place.

This is the first testimony, Håkon thought it would be better to make an interview,  here it goes :

– Who is Håkon Didriksen?

Håkon is a 38-year-old man who is a training junkie and musician in the band Susperia, I am married and have 3 children all are going to school .I am an energetic and restless person who needs new impulses almost all the time in order to not be bored Therefore is the training a good way to get my energy out.

 – When did you start with Martial arts?

I started Martial Arts when I was about 18-19 years and Shitoryu Sports Karate, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, kickboxing, Juijitsu Ninjutsu, and then eventually JKD, before this,  I did street fighting, both voluntary and involuntary… I was probably a troubled kid and ended up in a lot of fights as a young man, I learnt fighting the hard way by being beaten by people in the street.

– Why JKD?

JKD is like a self-defense style with no compromise which is so intricate it does not get boring + that it is simple enough that it actually works at a street level.. This is simply why I chose it.


– What is your inspiration and motivation ?

Min inspiration comes mostly from music, I use music as a way to escape from everyday life, I often write music when I’m in a base spirit, (the lone wolf mood) I’m enjoying my own company and is therefore I am considered by some people to be a bit of a lone wolf, but to go for a walk alone in the woods gives me lots of inspiration…

– You are also in a hard rock band, tell us about Susperia

Susperia has been part of my life since 1999 and still is.  Susperia is a band playing aggressive music. Susperia was once black metal, but now we are more melodic trash metal,  we are the same five guys in the band as we were when we started in 99, we have experienced everything from bone fractures to heart attack and addiction, but we are still alive and kicking . Standing on stage gives me the same kick as a good free sparring, I’m probably a person who also needs a kick so music and live performance fits my personality perfectly.

– Family, work, JKD and Music , how do you combine all this ?

It can be difficult to combine everything together, but I have a great patient lady who gives me a lot of room for my “needs” and that’s a good thing for me. As I said I am a terribly restless person, so it is not wise to hold me back… 🙂

 

Thank you Håkon 🙂

For more information about Susperia please visit their website:  http://www.susperia.net

For More information about Håkon´s JKD Group: Kviteseid Jeet Kune Do , Official Ted Wong Training Group  

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kviteseid-Jeet-Kune-Doofficial-Ted-Wong-training-group/270214259698392#!/pages/Kviteseid-Jeet-Kune-Doofficial-Ted-Wong-training-group/270214259698392