Dan Inosanto was one of Bruce Lee’s best friends and most important students. He appeared alongside Lee on stage, film, and tv. After Lee’s passing Inosanto became one of the most influential teachers of Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do.
Early Life
Dan Inosanto was born in 1936 and learned Karate from his uncle at age 11. He later went on to learn Judo and Jujitsu. In 1959 he joined the army and served as a paratrooper until 1961 (Wikipedia, Inosanto).
Close Friendship
Inosanto met Bruce Lee in the summer of 1964 when Lee gave a demonstration at the Long Beach International Karate Championship. Inosanto was assigned to be Lee’s guide by organizer Ed Parker. “Mr. Parker gave me $75 and said, ‘Make sure he eats properly, and show him the area.’” (Life, page 146).
When they met, Lee asked Inosanto to hit him as hard as possible.
“In the hotel room [Lee] says you can choose everything, you can side kick, you can front kick and I’ll just use my jab. He used a little bit more than a jab because when he knocked me out it was little more like a hook. It sort of came off the side like that so. The ease in which he did it and explaining while he was doing it to me. That was mind boggling for me. He was just really uniquely different from everybody else. (I Am).
“I was completely flabbergasted! He controlled me like a baby. I couldn’t sleep that night. It seemed as though everything I’d done in the past was obsolete (Life, page 146).
They became close friends and began to train together. Inosanto appeared on stage with Lee for demonstrations and eventually became Lee’s assistant instructor at his L.A. martial arts school (Words, page 76 and Life, pages 149-150, 199). Inosanto also began teaching physical education at Malaga Cove Intermediate School in Palos Verdes Estate, California (Wikipedia, Inosanto).
Green Hornet TV Series
In 1966 Lee asked Inosanto to be a body double in his series The Green Hornet. Inosanto played the villain Low Sing in the episode The Praying Mantis (Words, page 77, Life page 189).
“I introduced nunchakus to Bruce Lee and at the time he thought this was the worthless piece of junk. When he moved into the L.A. area I taught him how to use it and the he said I’m going to use this on the Green Hornet. Then the short time I think almost every child is using this you know. It became like a household product. Then it is outlawed in California.” (I Am).
Jeet Kune Do Evolution
Inosanto saw firsthand the development of Jeet Kune Do. It started as a practical fighting method with a foundation in Wing Chun Kung Fu, boxing, and fencing.
“Bruce’s style was made for street survival. It’s made cause he grew up fighting fights in Hong Kong on the rooftops.” (I Am).
However, it began to change over time. Lee emphasized simplicity, directness, and discarding what didn’t work. He also believed it should be adapted to the student.
“He once told me that Jeet Kune Do in 1968 will be different in 1969 and 1969 Jeet Kune Do will be different than 1970 (Life, page 203).
By 1972 Lee became so concerned that Jeet Kune Do would become a style that he closed down his schools and made Inosanto promise not to teach it commercially. Lee allowed him to still informally train a small number of students (Life, page 488).
Game of Death
In 1972 Inosanto costarred in Lee’s film The Game of Death. He took leave from his teaching job to play an Eskrima expert defending the third level of a Padoga. “And on the third level there was supposed to be a person who is trained in weaponry and so he chose me to do the part.” (Life, page 383, I Am, Game).
Bruce Lee’s Passing
Bruce Lee’s passing was a massive blow to Inosanto and left him in a state of shock. He served as a pallbearer at Lee’s funeral (Life, page 6).
“How he could…pass away at that age? But it does happen so I have learned to cope with it and deal with it, but it always puzzled me. I’m now 74 but there really has not ever been a day that I haven’t thought about him. At least once, maybe twice, or three times, or four times, or five times to the day.” (I Am).
Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts
Inosanto stopped teaching physical education in 1975 and started to teach martial arts full time. In 1976 he certified his training partner Richard Bustillo as Senior Instructor in Jeet Kune Do (Wikipedia, Bustillo). In 1977 he taught players on the Dallas Cowboys how incorporate martial arts (Wikipedia, Inosanto).
Inosanto became upset that so called experts were making money by teaching Jeet Kune Do. Inosanto fought against this by starting the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts teaching JKD “Concepts” along with a blend of Filipino martial arts such as Kali, Eskrima, Kuntao, and Silat. He felt this was the direction Lee was headed and continued to stress the importance of individualized training (Life, page 487, Academy).
He taught many famous students including Diana Lee Inosanto (his daughter and actress), Brandon Lee (actor and son of Bruce Lee), Jerry Poteet, and Paul Vunak (Life page 484). He also released a series of training videos on mixed martial arts, Silat, Thai boxing, sticks, Kali, Jeet Kune Do, MMA, boxing, and weapons disarms (Academy).
Legacy
On January 10, 1996 Linda Lee formed the “nucleus” inviting former students to preserve Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. Inosanto came to the first meeting but declined to join. This created a division between nucleus members who strictly followed Lee’s originally techniques and “Concept” members like Inosanto who wanted to evolve Jeet Kune Do (Life, page 489).
In 1996 Inosanto was named the Black Belt Magazine “Man of the Year” and in 2012 he was interviewed for the documentary I am Bruce Lee.
He has been instrumental in spreading Filipino Martial Arts including Silat which may have otherwise disappeared. He became vice-president of Lameco International which promotes the Filipino martial art of Eskrima.
He became an authority on Jeet Kune Do and spread its teaching throughout the world and at the same time evolved it to incorporate Filipino martial arts (I Am, Wikipedia).
Resources:
Game of Death. A movie star fakes his death to investigate who is trying to kill him. Includes only 11 minutes of original footage from 1972 Game of Deathfootage. Uses a stand in actor, bandage coverings, and a cardboard cutout to represent Bruce Lee. I suggest you watch one of the other versions instead! 1h 40m (IMDB).
Wikipedia, Inosanto. Retrieved 6/26/24.
Wikipedia, Bustillo. Retrieved 4/18/24.
Words of the Dragon: Interviews, 1958-1973, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1997, 2017. Volume 1 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Interview transcripts of Bruce Lee on a variety of topics including philosophy, martial arts, and his personal life. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.
Letters of the Dragon: The Original 1958-1973 Correspondence, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1998, 2016. Volume 5 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Letters to friends, family, and business associates. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.
Bruce Lee: A Life, Matthew Polly, Author, Simon & Schuster Publishing, 2019. Highly rated biography of Bruce Lee.
I Am Bruce Lee. Excellent Bruce Lee documentary including his family, friends, and training partners. Includes much footage of Bruce Lee talking in interviews. 1h 34m (IMDB).
Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts.
Inosanto nunchaku image from I Am Bruce Lee documentary.
Inosanto image from The Game of Death.
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io.
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