The Builder's Jeet Kune Do

I didn't learn my philosophy in a dojo.

I learned it standing next to my father, Barney, on half-finished job sites, a kid with more questions than answers.

We often showed up with little more than what was in our heads.

Sometimes the right tool wasn't in the truck.

Sometimes the right material hadn't been delivered.

Yet somehow, my father always found a way. A piece of scrap became a jig. A bent nail turned into a solution. Ingenuity filled the gap where preparation had failed.

That was my first taste of Jeet Kune Do, not the martial art itself, but the method.

The way of absorbing what is useful,

discarding what is not,

and adding what is your own.

From my father, I absorbed creativity and resourcefulness. I learned that building isn't about perfect conditions, it's about adaptability. But I also discarded what didn't serve me: the habit of planning only in the mind, of trusting improvisation over preparation. Ingenuity is powerful, but it needs structure to grow.

Over the years, I shaped my own way.

I plan deeply, not just in my head but on paper, in systems, in schedules.

Yet I hold that plan lightly, knowing the field will demand creativity and that the unexpected will always arrive.

That balance structure and improvisation, clarity, and adaptability is my Jeet Kune Do.

It's how I learn,

How I build,

and how I live.

Because life rarely hands you the perfect tool. More often, it hands you what's in the truck that day. The art is knowing how to use it, and when to let it go.

Field Note: 

Take what works. Leave what doesn't. Add what is yours. That is the builder's way and the only way to truly live.