WHAT IS JEET KUNE DO?

Jeet Kune Do (截拳道) is not a style. It is not a system. It is not a collection of techniques tied to a uniform, a belt, or a flag. It is a philosophy of combat expressed through the human body — created by the greatest martial artist who ever lived, Sijo Bruce Lee, refined through decades of research, cross-training, and real-world application, and passed forward through an unbroken chain of dedicated instructors.

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The name means "The Way of the Intercepting Fist." But as Bruce Lee himself said, the name is just a convenient handle. What matters is what it does. JKD is a living art. It doesn't conform. It absorbs, discards, and integrates — using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation.

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At Cali Combat Systems, we teach Fight Rhythm Jeet Kune Do — a comprehensive, lineage-grounded JKD program that covers the full spectrum of what Bruce Lee envisioned: Original Jeet Kune Do (Chinatown JKD), Contemporary Jeet Kune Do (Progressive Fighting Systems), Jun Fan Gung Fu, Jun Fan JKD Grappling, Rapid Assault Tactics (RAT), and Military Edged Weapons. Three branches of the same tree. One art. One lineage.

THE LINEAGE: BRUCE LEE

The authenticity of any JKD program lives or dies on its lineage. Ours is direct.

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Bruce Lee created Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s and 70s, synthesizing Wing Chun, boxing, fencing, wrestling, and dozens of other arts into a revolutionary approach to combat. His closest student, training partner, and the man he personally authorized to carry his art forward was Guro Dan Inosanto.

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Guro Inosanto carried that torch faithfully. He trained dozens of first-generation instructors — among them Sifu Paul Vunak, who took JKD into the most demanding real-world environments on earth, developing the Rapid Assault Tactics system trained by US Navy SEAL Team 6, the FBI, the CIA, and elite military units worldwide. And among those who trained extensively under Sifu Vunak is Sifu Jeramiah Giehl — the founder and head instructor of Cali Combat Systems.

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That lineage: Bruce Lee → Guro Dan Inosanto → Sifu Paul Vunak → Sifu Jeramiah Giehl.

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This is the lineage behind every class, every private session, and every IPTP we offer.​

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THE THREE LINEAGES: WHAT WE TEACH

LINEAGE ONE: ORIGINAL JEET KUNE DO (JUN FAN GUNG FU) — CHINATOWN JKD

Jun Fan Gung Fu | The Art Bruce Lee Taught in His Chinatown School

This is the root. Before JKD became a concept — before Guro Inosanto expanded it into FMA and Silat — there was the art Bruce Lee was teaching in his Chinatown school in the 1960s. Wing Chun as the foundation. Straight Blast. Finger Jab. Stop Hit. Economy of motion. The straight lead. Five Ways of Attack. Four Ranges: kicking, punching, trapping, grappling.

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At Cali Combat Systems, we teach Original Chinatown JKD as preserved by Sifu Tim Tackett and his lineage — Bob Bremer and Jim Sewell — the men who trained directly in Bruce Lee's school and have spent their lives preserving exactly what he taught, unmodified, uncontaminated, as well as foundations from the lineage of Jerry Poteet and Ted Wong. This is not a recreation. This is the original transmission.

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What you learn in Chinatown JKD:

• The straight lead — Bruce Lee's signature punch, derived from fencing, refined through thousands of hours of solo drilling

• Stop Hits and Interceptions — hitting the opponent as they commit to attack, before they can land

• Five Ways of Attack: Single Direct Attack, Attack By Drawing, Progressive Indirect Attack, Hand Immobilization Attack, Attack By Combination

• Trapping Range — the bridge between striking and grappling, drawing from Wing Chun's chi sao sensitivity training

• Economy of motion — the elimination of wasted movement; simple, direct, non-telegraphic

• Footwork from fencing — the fighting measure, the shuffle, the burst, the retreat

• The JKD On-Guard Position — the most efficient combat stance ever designed

• Bruce Lee's 8 Basic Tools of combat

 

As Sifu Tim Tackett shared during an Instructor Development Weekend: Bruce Lee himself spoke of film editing as a metaphor for technique refinement — cutting excess frames until only the essential motion remains. That is Chinatown JKD. Daily decrease. Simplify. Remove the excess.

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LINEAGE TWO: CONTEMPORARY JEET KUNE DO — PROGRESSIVE FIGHTING SYSTEMS

The Evolution | JKD Concepts | Guro Dan Inosanto's Gift to the World

If Chinatown JKD is the root, Contemporary JKD — as developed by Guro Dan Inosanto and carried forward by Sifu Paul Vunak and Progressive Fighting Systems — is the full canopy of the tree. It integrates the original art with the Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Silat, Panantukan), Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and the pressure-tested real-world application of combat that Vunak spent decades refining.

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As Guro Dan Inosanto has said: "There isn't any difference between Jeet Kune Do, Original Jeet Kune Do, and Jeet Kune Do Concepts. Whatever you want to call it, it's the same. To understand the JKD Concept, you have to be trained in the original JKD or Jeet Kune Do that Bruce Lee trained."

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Contemporary JKD at Cali Combat Systems includes:

Jun Fan Gung Fu (JKD Kickboxing): The stand-up striking foundation of JKD — refined and expanded through the lens of multiple striking arts. You will train punching combinations from boxing, kicks from savate and muay thai, the JKD interceptions and destructions from the original art, and footwork that creates angles while denying them to the opponent. High-energy focus mitt drills build timing, speed, coordination, and endurance while ingraining the tools that matter in a real fight.

Wing Chun Integration: Bruce Lee's primary martial foundation before he created JKD. We teach Wing Chun's core sensitivity principle — chi sao — as the bridge into trapping range. The centerline theory, simultaneous block-and-strike, the concept of forward pressure, and the structure of Wing Chun's guard inform our understanding of how JKD's close-range game works.

Panantukan — Filipino Dirty Boxing:  Originating from knife-fighting principles, Panantukan uses every part of the upper body as a weapon: punches, elbows, hammer fists, forearm strikes, shoulder bumps, head butts, bicep destructions, eye rakes. Combined with Silat's lower body sweeping and off-balancing, Panantukan is what happens when Filipino warriors took boxing and made it honest. This is a core part of the JKD kickboxing curriculum at CCS.

Savate and Muay Thai: Both arts contribute essential tools to the JKD kicking game. Savate's low-line kicks and ballistic side kicks integrate with JKD's footwork and interception timing. Muay Thai's shin conditioning, devastating round kicks, knees, and clinch work form the stand-up grappling entry points that transition into the RAT.

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Rapid Assault Tactics and Military Edged Weapons

The Combat Proven System — As Taught to SEAL Team 6

This is where JKD meets the most demanding real-world applications on earth. Rapid Assault Tactics was developed by Sifu Paul Vunak specifically for US Navy SEAL Team 6 in the 1980s. It has since been adopted by the FBI, CIA, DEA, and military special operations units worldwide. It is the distillation of JKD into its most essential, most brutal, most immediately effective form.

 

Sifu Jeramiah Giehl is a PFS/DOM Full Instructor — certified directly by Sifu Paul Vunak — and one of a small number of instructors in the world authorized to teach the full RAT curriculum including the updated RAT Clinch and Ground programs. He spent years training directly beside Vunak and teaching his IPTPs. What he offers is the real thing, not a copy.

 

The Three Phases of RAT:

1. Entry: Bruce Lee's core insight: do not trade blows. Intercept. The RAT entry is a simultaneous attack on the opponent's primary weapons — eyes, throat — while closing distance with explosive forward pressure. Destructions from Kali (attacking the opponent's attacking limbs at nerve points and joints) are incorporated to weaken the incoming offense as you bridge the gap. Entry is the moment the fight is decided.

2. Forward Pressure — The Straight Blast: Drawing from Wing Chun's Jik Chun Choy and adapted by Bruce Lee into JKD, the Straight Blast is a rapid-fire chain of punches that drives forward relentlessly — destroying the opponent's base, weight, and balance. When your weight is driven backward onto your heels, your ability to generate power evaporates. The Straight Blast moves the fight onto your terms. It is the engine of forward pressure: relentless, committed, overwhelming.

3. Termination — Head, Knees, Elbows & KinaMutai: The fight ends here. Termination uses the most catastrophic close-range tools available — head butts, knee strikes, elbow strikes on all three levels (high, medium, low) — combined with KinaMutai: the asymmetrical grappling system that incorporates biting, eye gouges, finger locks, and pressure point attacks that have no answer in sport martial arts. These are not dirty tricks. These are the tools that work when size, strength, and sport training fail. This is what ends threats decisively.

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The Pain-Pressure-Terminate Formula
The genius of RAT is that it gives you a plan. Most people engage in a street confrontation without a strategy. They react. They struggle. They leave the outcome to luck. RAT gives you a formula: Entry (Pain), Forward Pressure, Termination. Three phases, executed with committed aggression and practiced precision. The winner of a street fight, as Sifu Vunak says, "is not the person with the most beautiful techniques, but the person with the best attributes" — and RAT develops those attributes systematically.

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Military Edged Weapons
The MEW program addresses the reality that in the modern world, edged weapons are the most common threat in violent confrontations. Knife offense and defense, weapon retention, defanging the snake (destroying the opponent's weapon hand), knife grappling, ground survival with a knife in play — these are trained with the same systematic progression as the RAT. Certified under Sifu Paul Vunak and supplemented by training under Tuhon Apolo Ladra, Guro Burton Richardson, and Guro David Seiwert, the MEW program at CCS is one of the most comprehensive available anywhere.

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LINEAGE THREE: JUN FAN JKD GRAPPLING ASSOCIATION — INTEGRATED GROUND FIGHTING SYSTEMS

The ground game in JKD traces directly to Sifu Larry Hartsell — one of Bruce Lee's original students, bodyguard to the stars, and the man who built the Jun Fan JKD Grappling Association. Hartsell spent decades integrating Judo, Russian Sambo, BJJ, Greco-Roman wrestling, Catch-as-Catch-Can, Japanese Shooto, Filipino Dumog, Indonesian Silat, and Catch Wrestling into a comprehensive no-holds-barred ground fighting system.

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Sifu Jeramiah is an Associate Level Instructor in the JFJKDGA under Sifu John Doty. He holds Black Belts in Combat JuJitsu and Shorinji Ryu JuJitsu, is a Level 5 Professional Grappler, hold a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under professor Barry Jenkins Sr and was on the Wrestling team in High School.

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The IGFS curriculum covers: takedowns and throws, reversals, positions, transitions, escapes, submissions and submission counters, the use of strikes, elbows, knees, headbutts and pressure point attacks from the ground, Filipino Dumog off-balancing, KinaMutai asymmetrical grappling, and the crucial question of when NOT to go to the ground — because in a street fight involving weapons and multiple opponents, the ground is a dangerous place to be.

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THE FIGHT RHYTHM JKD PHASE METHOD

The CCS Phase Method is the teaching framework through which all JKD content is delivered. It is based on Guro Dan Inosanto's Phase Method approach and organized around Bruce Lee's three stages of cultivation from the Tao of Gung Fu: the Primitive Stage, the Stage of Art, and the Stage of Artlessness.

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Phase 1 — Alpha Training Group: Sticking to the Nucleus
Synchronization with Self | Basic Training

The Primitive Stage. A punch is a punch. You come in raw, unformed, with primal instincts and no muscle memory. Perfect. The best starting point is an empty cup. Phase 1 builds your body mechanics, basic tools, cardio conditioning, and foundational self-defense awareness. You train Jun Fan Kickboxing, Inosanto-LaCoste Kali, Panantukan, Silat, Submission Grappling, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Israeli Krav Maga, and Mobility. Each Level is approximately six months of material.

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Phase 2 — DEVGRU: Liberation from the Nucleus
Synchronization with Opponent | Sensitivity Training

The Stage of Art. Your technique begins to take form — and it starts to feel unfamiliar, awkward, strange. This is where you move toward fluidity. The RAT, the Five Ways of Attack, full contact sparring, weapon defense, hand and foot trapping, destructions, wrenches — all from Kali, Silat, Wing Chun Chi Sao, and JKD. You develop sensitivity: the ability to read and respond to your opponent's energy without thinking.

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Phase 3 — Delta Training Group: Returning to the Original Freedom
Synchronization with Tools | Functional Training

The Stage of Artlessness. Integration. Your arts begin to speak to each other. You adapt in real time, flow through ranges, use the environment as a weapon, handle multiple opponents. Bruce Lee's axiom becomes real: "use no way as way, have no limitation as limitation." This is where the complete martial spectrum reveals itself.

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Phase 4 — Omega Training Group: Becoming Jeet Kune Do
Expert Training | The Black Belt Level

You no longer do JKD. You are JKD. This phase is non-stop, cross-spectrum flow through all ranges and all arts. The goal is achieved: "To me, ultimately, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself." At Phase 4, that honest self-expression is natural, reflexive, and uniquely yours. Phase 4 is also the Apprentice Instructor Level — requiring a minimum of 5-6 years of training under Sifu Jeramiah Giehl.

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REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE: THE STREET CREDENTIALS BEHIND THE CURRICULUM

Sifu Jeramiah does not teach from theory alone. He has tested these skills in conditions most people never experience and never want to.

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He has worked as a Bouncer and Security professional for over ten years — nightclubs, hotels, corporate environments. The de-escalation. The crowd control. The moments that escalate in seconds. The reality of managing violence, aggression, and unpredictable human behavior in real time, without mats, without referees, without rules.

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He survived a six-on-one attempted robbery, injured, outnumbered, fighting through chronic pain — and walked away the last man standing.

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He has participated in Midnight Fight Clubs — unsanctioned, bare-knuckle, unregulated events where the rules of sport do not apply and the consequences of losing are not a tap-out.

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He has competed as a full contact stick fighter — putting his Kali training on the line in live sparring environments where the sticks are real and the contact is real.

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These experiences are not trophies. They are credentials. They are the difference between an instructor who has memorized techniques and one who has tested them under stress, against real resistance, with real stakes.

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When Sifu Jeramiah teaches the RAT entry, he teaches it knowing what happens when you hesitate. When he teaches KinaMutai, he teaches it knowing what happens when someone jumps in while you're finishing a fight. When he teaches mass attack tactics, he teaches them from the perspective of someone who has stood alone against multiple opponents and made it home.

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That is the difference. And that is what you train when you train at Cali Combat Systems.

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IPTP — INTENSIVE PERSONAL TRAINING PROGRAM

Get Trained in the Same System Used by Navy SEAL Team 6 — In Just Two Days.

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The IPTP is the signature program of Progressive Fighting Systems and the primary vehicle through which Sifu Paul Vunak has certified instructors worldwide. Sifu Jeramiah Giehl not only completed his own IPTP under Vunak — he taught Vunak's IPTPs as his assistant instructor from 2018 through 2022, stepping in regularly as Vunak's health required it.

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This means when you attend an IPTP at Cali Combat Systems, you are receiving curriculum that was developed in direct collaboration with Sifu Paul Vunak, taught by a man who stood beside him and delivered it in his name for years.

What You Get in a CCS IPTP:

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The IPTP is a 10-hour, two-day immersive training program. Upon successful completion, participants receive an official certificate. Options exist for group training (up to six people) to share costs.

 

The program covers:

• Rapid Assault Tactics — the complete RAT formula: Entry, Forward Pressure, Termination

• The 8 Simple Tools of JKD combat

• Straight Blast and forward pressure mechanics

• Head butts, knees, elbows — HKE on three levels

• KinaMutai: asymmetrical grappling, biting, eye attacks, pressure points

• Ground RAT: surviving and finishing from the ground

• Clinch RAT: transitioning from stand-up to clinch and dominating that range

• Weapons RAT: integrating weapon defense and offense into the RAT formula

• Military Edged Weapons: knife offense, defense, defanging, ground survival

• Mass attack: managing multiple opponents using JKD principles

 

The IPTP is ideal for:

• Civilians who want maximum self-defense capability in minimum time

• Security professionals, bouncers, and personal protection operators

• Law enforcement and military personnel seeking tactical hand-to-hand skills

• Martial artists wanting to test and sharpen their foundation

• Stunt performers and action actors needing realistic combat training

• Those seeking an instructor certification pathway under the PFS curriculum

 

"Give me two days, and I can turn you into a fully competent street fighter with the same system taught to the Navy SEALs." — Sifu Paul Vunak

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WHAT SETS FIGHT RHYTHM JKD APART

Most JKD schools teach one branch. We teach all three.

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Most JKD instructors have attended seminars. Sifu Jeramiah trained directly under Sifu Vunak for years and taught his programs alongside him.

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Most self-defense instructors have never been tested. Sifu Jeramiah has.

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Most curricula separate striking, grappling, weapons, and tactics into different programs. The CCS Phase Method integrates all of them from day one, in every class, teaching you to flow between ranges the way a real fight actually unfolds — not in isolated modules but in Combat Flow.

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Our curriculum covers all five areas of empty-hand self-defense:

1. Striking — Kickboxing, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Panantukan, Muay Thai, Savate

2. Hand Trapping — Wing Chun, Silat, Kali sensitivity drills

3. Joint Manipulation — Kali, JuJitsu, Silat

4. Clinching — Stand-Up Grappling, Pummeling, Plum, Thai Clinch

5. Grappling — Ground Fighting, Combat JuJitsu, BJJ, Dumog, KinaMutai

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And it integrates weapons from the first class: sticks, knives, gun defense, improvised weapons, mass attack scenarios.

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WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR

Fight Rhythm JKD at Cali Combat Systems is for:

The Serious Martial Artist who wants authentic lineage, honest instruction, and a curriculum that spans the full spectrum of combat — not a watered-down commercial product.

The Self-Defense Student who needs simple, direct, proven tools that work under real pressure against real violence — not choreography.

The Security Professional who needs hands-on tools for access control, crowd management, de-escalation, weapon retention, and force continuum application.

The Law Enforcement Officer or Military Professional who needs battle-tested combatives that integrate with the realities of their operating environment.

The Stunt Performer or Action Actor who needs authentic, camera-ready combat knowledge grounded in functional systems.

The Person Who Has Never Trained who wants to learn from the beginning in a structured, welcoming, no-weirdness environment where the only requirement is showing up ready to work.

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READY TO TRAIN?

If you are reading this and you feel it — the pull toward authentic training, toward a lineage that goes back to Bruce Lee himself, toward a system that has been pressure-tested on the street and in the most elite military environments on earth — then you are in the right place.

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Sifu Jeramiah Giehl has been teaching martial arts since 1996. He has trained under the best in the world. He has fought, not just drilled. He has bounced, not just shadowboxed. He has stood against multiple opponents with no rules and no referee. And he is here, in San Diego, teaching — in group classes, private sessions, and IPTPs — to students at every level from first-timers to seasoned fighters.

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You can train the same system used by SEAL Team 6. You can learn from a direct lineage holder of Bruce Lee's art. You can get tested, challenged, and transformed.

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The intro class is $15. That is the only barrier between you and the most authentic JKD program in San Diego.

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Schedule your intro class now. The art is waiting.

 

"Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful. Reject what is useless. Add what is specifically your own." — Bruce Lee

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Cali Combat Systems is a Progressive Fighting Systems affiliate school and an Official Chinatown JKD Training Group under the lineage of Sifu Tim Tackett. Sifu Jeramiah Giehl is a PFS/DOM Full Instructor certified under Sifu Paul Vunak, a Senior 2nd Level Coach in Jun Fan Gung Fu (Chinatown JKD) under Sifu Tim Tackett, and an Associate Instructor in the Jun Fan JKD Grappling Association under Sifu John Doty.