I don't think it is a cop out, because Bruce Lee seemed opposed to using a weapon. I recall reading an example he made about a man with a knife versus an unarmed man. He says the man with the knife becomes fixated on only using the knife whereas the unarmed man has more tools available to him. I believe this ties into his belief that more than just the fundamentals of JKD, he emphasizes the need to honestly express ourselves totally and completely through the use of our body. I believe in that sense, using a chair, or any other kind of weapon is counter intuitive to Lee's philosophy of discovering ourselves through understanding our bodies as a total unit. One could argue that a weapon can become an extension of one's body, but personally I'd like to think Bruce Lee was more fixated on how to bring out the full potential of the human body without the use of weapons. I could be wrong, and maybe I'm misrepresenting the JKD philosophy, but I believe Bruce Lee intended JKD to be more of an individual journey rather a holistic one.So the history, names, and direction Lee's students are taking JKD in is rather moot in my eyes.