Kelly S. Worden

Kelly S. Worden got his introduction to the realities of street violence at an early age, growing up in some of the toughest neighborhoods of Tacoma, Washington. By the time he was a teenager, his older brother had become a leading force in some of the most notorious biker gangs in the Northwest, and Kelly found himself surrounded by a world of crime, street justice, and extreme violence. To survive in that environment, Kelly’s only choice was to adopt its methods and excel at them. His dojo was the blood-stained floor of a biker bar, and his sensei was every street punk, junkie, and badass with a chip on his shoulder.

After countless street fights, bar brawls, ambushes, and retributions, Kelly realized that it was time to change or die in the world that had created him. To escape that cycle of violence, he directed his energy toward the study of the martial arts. There, he says, he found the strength and fighting skills he valued, but he also discovered the discipline and respect necessary to master those skills responsibly. Kelly’s tireless devotion to the arts enabled him to quickly advance through their ranks, earning numerous black belts and becoming one of only three men to receive the coveted title of datu (warrior chief) from Professor Remy Presas, father of the Filipino art of modern arnis.

Despite his achievements in the arts, Kelly could not forget the brutal lessons of his streetfighting days. Drawing from his many real-world fighting experiences, he began modifying his techniques to make them more practical and realistic. He also began his own analysis of the world’s martial arts, focusing on the common elements that link them and form the real roots of their combat effectiveness. The result was a revolutionary approach to the martial arts and self-defense that he calls Natural Spirit.

Natural Spirit, says Kelly, is not a martial art. It is not even a philosophy. It is an attitude--one based on valuing your own life and safety enough to master the skills necessary to defend them. Natural Spirit stresses exploring the potential of all combat systems and techniques as they apply to one’s individual defensive needs and learning through action and experimentation rather than tradition and imitation. It is firmly rooted in its commitment to the belief that efficiency is anything that scores.

Since developing Natural Spirit, Datu Kelly Worden has become one of the most sought-after instructors in the world. High-ranking martial artists have come from as far away as Europe and Australia to attend his training camps and receive private instruction. Law enforcement officers and security professionals frustrated with inadequate defensive tactics programs have also benefited from Datu Worden’s unique teaching methods.

Although many self-styled masters have claimed to have founded their own martial arts systems, Kelly Worden’s sincere commitment to the arts and his unquestioned ability to back his words with explosive action have earned him the respect and trust of some of the true modern legends in the field. Kelly is a close associate of Taky Kimura (pictured at left), the only other person beside Dan Inosanto authorized by Bruce Lee to teach jeet kune do. He has studied and co-instructed with Jesse Glover, Bruce Lee’s first American student and inheritor of Lee’s hybrid form of wing chun gung fu known as Jun Fan. Kelly was also a close friend of the late jeet kune do and Filipino escrima master Ted Lucaylucay. And perhaps most significantly, Datu Worden was one of the few martial artists not affiliated with the instruction or practice of jeet kune do to be invited to the first jeet kune do “Nucleus Meeting” organized by Lee’s former students. He was also honored to be an attendee of the Bruce Lee memorial dinner (see photos at left and right) held recently in Seattle.

Kelly Worden believes his Natural Spirit is what Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do was meant to be. Rather than being about style, ego, or politics, he says, it’s about about helping students learn how to defend themselves in a way that takes full advantage of their individual skills, strength, attributes, and potential.