In the early 1992, the art of Jeet Kune Do was nothing like it as it should have been. It was promoted very badly because the instructors weren’t getting along due to political issues. Since there was no governing body to put an end to this chaos, this form of martial arts was almost entirely neglected.
Master JKD Instructor Carter Hargrave decided then to do something that was never attempted before. In 1992 he founded the World Jeet Kune Do Federation. This stayed away from the political problems of the time and followed the purpose in which it was created. Its main goal was to bring teachers and students together in order to spread the teachings of Bruce Lee.
Carter Hargrave considers these teachings as life changing and feels that everyone should have the opportunity to learn about them. No one ever attempted before him to bring Jeet Kune Do to the masses. Not only that he tried, but he also succeeded in doing so.
In the same year, 1992, he also founded a new martial art style. He named it American Combat Kempo. Many schools all over the world now recognize this and the US marines are using some of its techniques. In what concerns the style, Carter Hargrave has the title of Grandmaster. He is also Grandmaster in Kung Fu and Ju Jitsu.
This new style was born because at the time Carter Hargrave was training in four styles and was also experiencing others. Keeping them separately turn out to be difficult, but he managed to meet the expectations of his teachers from back them. He then noticed that people were interested in self-defense and in learning self-defense skills in order to protect themselves at work, at school and even on the street.
Today the Jeet Kune Do Federation under Hargrave’s stewardship has solidified it leadership and is known as the Official Organization of Jeet Kune Do. The Jeet Kune Do website Worldjkd.com is also the Official Website of Jeet Kune Do.
Under Hargrave’s leadership the Federation is the first to offer Jeet Kune Do video streaming allowing training anywhere there is internet for the first very time.
Hargrave is currently teaching both American Combat Kempo and Jeet Kune Do at his private school in Tulsa Oklahoma, Hargrave Martial Arts, as well as teaching worldwide seminars, and defense combat training programs to business and government entities. Before opening this school he also had several other schools but he wasn’t satisfied on how students were chosen in todays martial arts schools. If you have a credit card or a check book you are typically accepted at all martial arts and karate shoals in the U.S.
He wanted to open a private one in order to be able to select those who join and to make sure that the arts he is teaching are only used in defense purposes. Hargrave Martial Arts is still the only school that does background checks on its student applicants before they even are allowed to walk in the door at the Tulsa Martial Arts location.