Paul Bax: Founder of The JKD Brotherhood
The year was 1993. Everything appeared peaceful in the so-called JKD Family, yet beneath the seemingly calm waters of Bruce Lee's art, there was dissension among his students that threatened the very foundation of the JKD hierarchy. Enter Paul Bax, a dedicated individual in the study of the life of Bruce Lee and his art of Jeet Kune Do. For the previous nine years Bax had been compiling and accumulating information about Lee's philosophy, students and most importantly his method of fighting, "the way of the intercepting fist." Throughout his "career" as a historian on Bruce Lee and JKD, Bax was starting to uncover some great discrepancies in what some of Lee's disciples were preaching and what Bruce Lee actually professed in his own teachings.
In April of 1993, Bax wrote the article that rocked the world of Jeet Kune Do entitled, "THE RETURN OF BRUCE LEE'S JEET KUNE DO". This article set off an avalanche of criticism on one side of the JKD family and praise from the other. While such phrases had circulated before, the terms "Original Jeet Kune Do" and "Jeet Kune Do Concepts" were now on the lips of anyone with even remote interest in Lee's method of fighting. The battle lines had been drawn. Who was really following what Bruce Lee had taught and professed during his short and climactic life? Over the next three years both sides exchanged jabs at one another, with the wife of a certain student writing a harsh letter to a prominent magazine claiming no-one but her spouse had received their certification from Bruce Lee, thus making him the only qualified individual to speak on Lee's art of Jeet Kune Do. Any individual who would dare to question his authority or actions in the development of Jeet Kune Do was quite simply, wrong. Naturally, this letter served only to stir the situation up and cause even more division.
Finally, in 1996, a meeting was called among Lee's top students. In the months before the meeting, another Bruce Lee historian, John Little, was called upon to provide background as to what had been published in the magazines over the previous years regarding Lee's art by people both legitimate and "outsiders" within the realms of JKD. None other than Bruce Lee's widow, Mrs. Linda Lee Cadwell, made this request. Mr. Little, a comrade and friend of Bax's for over two years, immediately remembered his collection of articles on everything pertaining to Jeet Kune Do. After a long day in front of a copier, Bax reproduced for the "first lady of Jeet Kune Do," a mini-reproduction of my massive collection of material regarding anything to do with her late husband's art and disciples. After the meeting took place, Mrs. Cadwell wrote a wonderful letter thanking Bax for his efforts and wrote that the information "was invaluable to my 'reeducation' as to what has been happening in the world of Jeet Kune Do." Paul Bax has been involved in the martial arts since the early 1980's and holds a black belt in Okinawa-Te karate. After viewing Bruce Lee's movie, The Chinese Connection, Bax dived into his study of Bruce Lee's life and art of Jeet Kune Do. His journey has led him to speak privately to numerous students of Bruce Lee who have kept in close contact with him on a regular basis.
In 1993, Bax wrote and produced the newsletter, The Jun Fan Journal, which had a very loyal following amongst JKD practitioners and fans of the action stars movies. While publishing the newsletter, he met and became friends with John Little, the top Bruce Lee historian at the time. Little and Bax corresponded frequently about the political under currents in Bruce Lee's art of Jeet Kune Do. Little conducted two highly informative interviews with Bax that laid the groundwork to form the now extinct governing body of Lee's art, The Jun Fan Jeet Kune Nucleus. Little, per the request of Lee's widow, Linda Lee, asked Bax to put together a binder of material from his archives that outlined what has been claimed over the years in regards to what was Jeet Kune Do for the first "meeting of the minds" amongst Bruce Lee's most active and or vocal students. Bax had previously worked in a copy center where he was able to copy what he wanted, when he wanted. Kym Huie, Bax's friend and coach, passed on his vast magazine collection to the author, which he then systematically documented every article about Bruce Lee known to man. Bax kept up with the magazines himself via subscriptions and like a librarian, catalogued each article according to the author and or subject. This material laid the groundwork to reveal what many have suspected for years: not everyone is telling the truth about their training and or time with Bruce Lee. Nor were some telling the truth about Jeet Kune Do was as Lee himself taught the art.
In 1996, Bax released his book, Reflections Of Bruce Lee, a collection of his interviews with various students of Bruce Lee. Although not widely distributed, the book was a hit with fans that enjoyed having all of Bax's treasured interviews in one place. In 1997, Bax was one of only a few hundred people invited to the first Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Nucleus seminar/banquet hosted by Lee's family and students. To receive an invitation, one had to be personally invited by a member of the JFJKD board members. Both Linda Lee and LA Chinatown student, Steve Golden, invited Bax to the esteemed event. The seminar/banquet was a huge success with the hotel training area packed to the max. A dinner followed which was quite inspirational and motivational to all of the attendants. Bax proudly gave a copy of his book to Linda Lee, which she later included in recommended reading material via the Nucleus organization's website and newsletter.
After some heated battles on internet chat rooms with both practitioners who did not see eye to eye with his views and Linda Lee's second husband (Tom Bleecker) Bax decided to take a break from his study of Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do. He later returned with a vengeance when a friend summoned him to a popular JKD forum. After causing quite a stir, Bax was promptly banned from the site. Sometimes the truth hurts. He went on to start his own Internet chat forum, which is now called, The JKD Brotherhood (formerly known as, "The Paul Bax Show"). The forum, which has members from across the globe is honored by visits from such Lee students as Jesse Glover, Jim DeMile, Steve Golden, Pat Strong and probably a few others who want to remain anonymous. Participants in the forum also include well known second generation students such as William Holland, Tim Tackett, Chris Sutton, Lamar Davis II, Bill Mattuci, Tommy Carruthers, Joel "Chi Hand" Weingberg, Dr. Jerry Beasley, Rafael Figuero, Richard Torres, Bob Landers and many, many more. The site was listed in Inside Kung Fu as "dot com of the month" and has had over a million visitors.
Paul Bax can be contacted via email.