This sunday will be a sad day and  we could not make it there.

I am thinking about what we can do from here to honour our Sifu´s memory even if we cannot be present in L.A

I requested all members of the Group to be present for training this sunday.

We will have our own memorial right here in stockholm, I will come up with some ideas and discuss them with Micke.

I was preparing myself to write about San Francisco but this morning I received a phone call from Micke which I would have liked not to have. He announced me the passing of Ted, this happenned while we were in SF and no one knew about it. I was very sad to hear this and did not believe it at first, I did not want to.

I will need some time to come up with something to write on my blog about this tragedy, right now I am only writing what I feel in the moment and this is sadness.

I met Ted two times in the past, the first time in 2005. This was the day my life changed, this was the day my JKD journey started, I felt I was given a unique opportunity when I met him, that same day I met Micke and the rest is well known. That day Ted  told me about a few stories as we sat in the lounge of the hotel in Nynäshamn Sweden, I remember looking at him and thinking: ” my God I am talking to Ted Wong , I can´t believe it “. After the training he told me a few words and comments which I will not share here, because this is something I will keep as my own special moment with Ted. Again in 2009, Ted told me something as I was leaving, these words are the last words he told me and I will never forget them. I was hoping for more words but they will never be heard , instead I will keep the last ones  in my heart as my special memory and unforgettable experience.

Ted was and will ever be the inspiration for us all in the Ted Wong JKD Authorized Training Group in Sweden, we have a deep and endless respect for him.

I always say and wrote it a couple of times, I am training first of all for myself but it is thanks to Ted who made it possible for us to go on with the real JKD of Bruce Lee.

I really hope the JKD family will stay and grow strong and be ONE as he wished. It is up to us now.

Dear Ted,

I will always remember the words you told me and will go on my journey in respect of your teachings. You gave me and all of us the opportunity to train and we will go on and honor your legacy.

You  always had and will forever have our deepest respect ,  as Bruce did, you left us too soon but you have done so much for the JKD world and you will always be remembered for this and for the great Man  you are.

I feel very sad today and I wish I would not have to write this but now we will have to be strong, we owe that to you.  I always have in mind what you told us last year : ” I don´t do that for me , I do that for you because you are the next generation. ” Training JKD according to your teachings has not only changed my life, it made me a better person and brought me peace. I always thought there was something special with that day in 2005 when we first met,  something that showed me the way.

I am sure you have now met Bruce again and both of you are watching us, we will not disappoint you.

May you rest in peace, Sifu Ted.

This Sunday the whole group went down to Nynäshamn for a training session with Stefan at his school.

It was a very intense session and the heavy air in the room made it even harder, AC Stefan 🙂

We started with drills on pads

Simple Direct Attack, Progressive indirect Attack , 1/2 beat , Attack by combination… ( We left out attack by drawing and hand immobilization.)

After that we practised combinations on pads:

Kicks -Punches- Elbows – Knees – push the pad holder and kick when he backs up

Then  same thing on Stefan / Red Man

Michel and Remy hit hard and don´t back up , I have to work on speed, first kick and punch should be one, when I got that right it will be good.

Stefan says it is easier when you have a great footwork like Micke, yeah  Well ! we all wish we had ! 🙂

Then Some brief kicking and punching on pads when attached to a belt with rubberband attached to a wall, I liked this one !

Then it is sparring time. Stefan wants us to focus on attacking with all we got and using most combination possible. NO STOPPING AFTER ONE – TWO !!! Go on until the opponent is down .

Micke starts with Michel and very fast I see he´s increasing the level a bit, harder kicks and punches made Michel end up  down against the wall , were he got ” finished ”  🙂

Remy and Markus , it went fast over to the ground and I wish the trainers had stopped the fight to force them up ! Markus is more comfortable on the ground, he told me he does not have the opportunity to practise real sparring , if I can make a comment here, you should force yourself to stand on your feet to practise sparring, grappling is no JKD.

I sparred with Michel .

I have to say it is  very easy to loose all form and go for it like this made me be more agressive and less clean in the style. It felt like I was punching for my life,  this is how the real fight would probably happen in real situation, But I must admit I was not happy with the feeling I had.

I was not able  to keep it clean. I don´t know how the film will turn out but I did not feel it right and I should be able to not loose it all in this situation , keep control and know what I am doing.

But as Stefan says this is part of learning process, you do wrong once, so what? you do wrong twice , so what ? Go on until you get it right,  use this as an experience and go on .

I have some more learning to do, Micke gave me 3 years , I agree,  it will take me at least 3 years to get those things right.

Motivation and detrmination are at the highest right now

Growing up with sports like football, ice hockey, track and field, I felt like it was not for me, I needed something else. Growing up in a messy neighbourhood I finally found the martial art Judo, I was home! Man I loved it, the hard training, the battle, the spirit, this was it! I was just a young kid, but this experience changed the way I looked at sports. Years passed and I left Judo. In the following years I practiced boxing, pole jumping and strength training. My next experience with martial arts was Kung Fu in the form of Shaolin Kung Fu. This became a passion for many years, I really put my soul into it, trained as often I could in the club, and all the time at home. In the end of my Kung Fu training I felt that I wanted some more realistic training, more for self defense. I went to a Wing Chun and a Wing Tsun school and tested it for some time, nothing for me, just too stiff and unnatural for me.  

Bruce Lee has always been an inspiration in my life, not only the martial artist but also the man Bruce Lee. I started to look into Jeet Kune Do more closely, and found out that this was what I had been looking for, simple, direct and natural. The JKD form was like second nature for me, I had always fought and sparred with my right (strong) side just like in JKD. JKD is all I need in my martial art.

Turning 40 soon and still going strong in JKD, one of the reasons for this is a great man, a great inspiration, and this man is Ted Wong. Ted Wong is Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee left us a long time ago, and the art of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do lives through Ted Wong, and of course all of us that keep the legacy alive. I like to say that I practice Jeet Kune Do in the heritage of Bruce Lee and Ted Wong.

Thank you Micke for your participation in my blog.

While we are waiting for the man to write something I thought I would share a little part of his art, Micke is very creative, he used to write, draw and paint. Here are the Bruce Lee paintings that he made.

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this last one is hanging in my training room, I am so jealous about the ones that are actually in Stefan´s possession..  and he told me he has some more at home. But I can say I have a big  one that no one has ever seen just because it is not finished, the outline is done and some shadow and coulour need to be added,  it is the full size Bruce Lee  figure and it is GREAT … I  will actually finish it someday.

Micke and Stefan are training partners and also close friends. Please check earlier post under “the team members” for more info about Micke.

I asked him to write something here , his comments are coming soon..

As I explained in an earlier post I started training JKD in 2004 at Stefan´s School in Stockholm. Stefan Nikander is the Head instructor for Ted wong JKD in Scandinavia, one of only four people certified by Ted Wong  JKd in Europe. After he read my blog I asked him if he would like to write something and here is what he sent to me:

check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Q2PNm8EUI

with a little ” surprise” at the end …

Thank you Stefan 🙂