Nitin Jumle is probably the only trainer in Mumbai to teach people Jeet Kune Do , a rare art of Kung Fu founded by Bruce Lee. Here Jumle shares his pursuit of this rare art and what inspired him to take up Jeet Kune Do (JKD). "The Kung Fu Way" is the name under which Nitin conducts training at various venues in Mumbai.

Tell us what inspired you to learn Jeet Kune Do?
When I was a small boy in school in my home town Nagpur, there was a group of youngsters or rather local gangsters who used to bully me and my friends on our way to school. At times they would bully us forcing us to consume liquor and even bash us up. Unfortunately, we had to pass through this road which was primarily a slum area in our town. There these boys used to grab us by our collar and demand money. These village bullies used to rag us every time on our way to school. They had created a fear psychosis in us. 

I didn't want to be bullied and on the other hand I couldn't complaint to my parents as my dad was in Indian Air Force and he would probably laugh at me for being such a coward unable to defend myself. So, we used to take a longer route to school to avoid them. At the back of my mind, I used to always wonder how we could get away from this ragging as these boys would continue harassing us and extort money. 

One day, one of my friend asked me to accompany him to see a movie called Enter the Dragon which had Bruce Lee in it . Seeing Bruce Lee, one man fighting so many that too all alone, I said: “If Bruce Lee can do it , so can I” and from that moment I was on the look out for some one who could teach me to fight like Bruce Lee. At that time I was hardly 14 years of age and I told myself, if I learn this style of fighting I would have to fear nobody in the future. Thus, it was “Enter the Dragon” and “Bruce Lee” that changed my life and my way of thinking and inspired me to find someone who could teach me to fight like Bruce Lee. 

I requested him to help me in learning Karate. He obliged me. One day, I tried to use what I had learnt, but it did not help. Thereafter I decided that I should learn something more powerful which could help me in such adverse situations.

During those days in Nagpur, I happened to read an interesting piece of news. One of the foreign students in VRC College in Nagpur was bullied by a mob and he single handedly defended himself. This incident occurred when some of the students tried to rag him as he was new in college and he assaulted them so badly that they had to be hospitalized. I told myself, this is probably “the one” I should meet to learn his style of self defense. I contacted him and I got to know that he was an exchange student by the name of Haitham Assad who had come all the way from Palestine to do his Engineering studies in Nagpur. He had learnt and specialized in Kung Fu during his guerilla training in the Palestine side of Israel. In that part of the world guerilla training was mandatory and he perfected the art of Kung Fu. 

He agreed to teach us but on his terms. His style of training was extremely ruthless. He told us that in order to perfect this art we have to first tone our body to make it immune to injuries. So he used to bash us up till we were bleeding, after that he would ask us to run 8 to 10 kilometres. It was extremely tortuous and several students ran away from his style of training even on the first day itself.
We were treated like kit bags where we had to just stand and take a bashing from him every day. I thought of giving up but I thought that it is better to condition our body through this ruthless person rather than being hammered by a group of bullies. Atleast I would learn to take a beating without having the fear of being hammered. These were probably the toughest days of my life. However my pursuit helped me to cope up with my tough training from this tough “Guru”. Later I realized that this "tough way" of learning indirectly helped us to develop a strong resistance.

One day my trainer got to know that I was privately training and he gave me the bashing of my life. Then he explained to me that though this is an art of Self Defense, if one does not train the people in the right way with the right technique, it could seriously injure someone. Seeing my devotion he encouraged me to learn with utmost discipline so that I could master the art to be an effective trainer. 

My guru completed his studies and left Nagpur and by that time most of the students had started accepting me as a trainer of Kung Fu. I and one of my friends Vilas were so good at Kung Fu that we were invited by several schools to judge even Karate contests and demonstrate Kung Fu as well. We also got media coverage and our popularity started gaining momentum. 

How did you come to Mumbai?
Our family was running a sewing machine shop. So I didn't want to neglect that as it was our business since three generations. So my priorities shifted and I used to devote most of my time in the tailoring business. However, due to my passion that I had developed for Kung Fu I continued to bunk from my responsibility of running the ancestral business and leave by four o'clock in the evening to practice Kung Fu. One day my dad sat down and told me not to neglect my main activity as this was our main source of income and without that we would not survive. So either I would have to give up Kung Fu or the tailoring business. Later on thanks to the encouragement from my parents, I could train four hours every day. had several ministers' children who used to come to me and one of them offered me to stay in MLA Hostel in Mumbai at no cost so that I could be in Mumbai and pursue my desire to practise Kung Fu. At the same time, I got the news that I had passed my banking exam and I was inducted by Bank of India. I was engrossed with my job as earning money in a city like Mumbai was extremely essential. For some time I started neglecting my Kung Fu. I could not practice at the MLA hostel. So I started looking for a place. 

Spencer also recommended my name in the bank to be a Fitness Trainer and thereafter after my work at the bank I used to train the cricketers and make them go through the rigorous exercises to help them improve their fitness. 

Mac Spencer was captain of the cricket team at Parsee Gymkhana and at Dena Bank. In 1985, he started learning Kung Fu and it transformed him totally. After learning and practicing Kung Fu, his stamina increased phenomenally, so much so that he could bowl 25 to 30 overs every day and score big centuries. Later, due to the improvement in his cricketing skills he was also given a promotion at Dena Bank. 

While I was regularly practicing at the Parsee Gymkhana, one of the persons learning Karate came to me and told me that there is not much difference between the two styles of Martial Art but seeing my demo he was inspired to learn Kung Fu. Eventually I had 22 people learning under me. However since I had my regular income from the bank, I did not charge any fee from any of the trainees. This resulted in a sense of complacency and the people used to come as per their convenience. So at that moment I realized that till I do not charge for the training, the importance of training would not be valued at all. 

What were the difficulties you encountered and how did you overcome them?
It was quite hectic to do a bank job and impart training. So my day was divided into two parts a job at the Bank and later in the evening practicing Kung Fu. At the same time I got married and I shifted to Thane. With the stress of a fast paced city life, I started smoking to counter stress but it affected my health. I joined Brahma Vidya sessions in 1998 conducted by High Court Judge Dudhat which helped me to overcome my weakness of smoking and helped me to have a renewed vigour. It helped me to develop a positive attitude towards life and improved my concentration through breathing exercises. Thus it helped me to encounter various problems and once again I decided to pursue my passion for Kung Fu.

Later, I shifted to Thane and intentionally took a place close to forest area so that I could practice my Kung Fu in the open. Once again people started approaching me and I started training for free as my benefit was that by training others I would practice as well. Thereafter, as I had developed a good rapport with Mr Dudhat and his family, I taught his daughter Radhika and learning Kung Fu benefited her to such an extent that she suggested why don't I start teaching people and share my expertise.

My dilemma was that I didn't have place nor resources to publicize. However, Radhika recommended some of her corporate friends. I got a further boost from Mr Vinod Sethi, the person behind Mount Everest Mineral Water that owns the brand Himalayan Mineral Water. Kung Fu helped him to be more alert, agile and active and through good words and recommendation of people like Vinod and Radhika, they started recognizing this fine art . I also got introduced to Mrs Hansa & Mr Manoj Tirodkar and with their help soon I started training people at Scholar's High School, Colaba. Mr and Mrs Tirodkar encouraged me to conduct training at the place and time of convenience at their school premises.

Tell us about the different types of students who learn Kung Fu and at which places do you teach.
Today, there are corporates from Taj, students from all walks of life - from an air hostess, to a 58 year old housewife to working professionals. My youngest students start as early as 5 years of age as any one can learn this art. Even some famous personalities like singer Anuradha Paudhwal's daughter, cine star cum model Anu Agarwal, cinestar late Sushant Ray and people from all walks of life include sports personalities such as Babu Pednekar, Sanjay Bhangar and several other Ranji players as well. In fact one of my students had a knee problem and I recommended her to learn Kung Fu to get rid of the problem and she was amazed that in a short span of time she was free from any pain by learning the various exercises which form the foundation to learning Kung Fu. I used to teach at Exert Gym and also gave a demo at QiGym, Mumbai .

Currently I conduct classes in Vashi, Dadar and Colaba and I have also conducted camps in Mahableshwar. I intend to start classes at Bandra & Chembur shortly.

How long have you been teaching Kung Fu?
From the time first I started in Nagpur it is now almost 24 years since I have been teaching Kung Fu. Though originally I wanted to learn the art of self defence but later on I realized that I was fortunate to have learnt the art of Jeet Kune Do which was introduced first by Bruce Lee. I was indeed fortunate to learn this fine art of Kung Fu which is full of grace, rhythm and I would say it is one of the most effective forms of Martial Arts. When I was learning in Nagpur, Mr Haitham Assad told us that this art of Kung Fu that we were learning is so special and unique that very few people in the world practice it. Later, I realized that he was right and this special style that I learnt was Jeet Kune Do. 

What are the advantages of doing Kung Fu? 
Half the battle is lost due to fear psychosis. In most cases fear is self created and becomes a part of your psyche. When I was teaching a young boy in Nagpur, I asked him to take a round of the colony to warm up before the exercises and he was reluctant. On asking him he told me that in case I run round the colony, won't someone take objection. Like this there are many instances where you create a fear psychosis on your own, whether going for an interview or appearing for an exam or for that matter anything. The advantage of Kung Fu is that it creates higher energy levels due to the various exercises that you do. It improves your blood circulation and that in turn changes the way you think. You start having positive flow of energy and sub consciously it helps to get rid of the self created fear psychosis within you. It helps you to feel more confident and after the exercise there is that extra glow on your face which makes you feel rejuvenated and extremely energetic. 

What is the major distinction between Kung Fu and other forms of Martial Arts?
Every Martial Art technique is special in its own way. Karate and Judo are from the Japanese school, Taekwondo is from Korea, Wing Chun and Tai Chi forms of Kung Fu are from China. Bruce Lee combined all salient features from Taekwondo, Tai Chi and even American Kick Boxing to introduce his own special style which was known as Jeet Kune Do. The interesting part is until I didn't do indepth reading and study, I wasn't aware that I had learnt Jeet Kune Do. Through research, practice and development, many variations to Jeet Kune Do style have been introduced. 

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