Originally Posted by frankenbeans

If you looked on the link that I posted on the last message, Beasley actually gives a time and date when he was officially certified as a JKD instructor under Joe Lewis.

Originally Posted by frankenbeans

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After 1983 I do not remember Dan teaching JKD. He taught kali/silat in his seminars. He told me he had promised Bruce that he would not teach Jeet Kune Do. Bruce asked all of his students to not teach JKD.

Originally Posted by frankenbeans

I choose to pursue my certification with Joe Lewis."

Originally Posted by frankenbeans

Also, because Beasley was more advanced (5th dan) than most upon learning JKD and attending seminars, he was much more likely to accelerate through the system very rapidly. I can attest that if you stay in one martial art long enough, a lot of others will start to make sense. For example, I studied ITF TKD as a child for about a year and then switched to a more fluid, modern TKD style with elements of TSD and kwon bup (Korean kenpo) for years. I studied martial arts like Choi Kwang Do, Kajukenpo, and various others like jiu-jitsu, aikido, hapkido, judo, and shuri-ryu karate. By the time I started WTF TKD 2 years ago, I was already a 3rd dan getting ready for my 4th, had 16 years under my belt, and though I started at white belt in WTF (I don't know why I had to start at this level, but the instructor insisted), it was a piece of cake. I had little problems picking up the forms and techniques and I already had so much power from previous experience that I had no problem doing the board breaks. The concepts became very familiar and easy to pick up once I started taking classes.

A lot of times a black belt is a black belt any way you look at it, and previous training helps a great deal. Here, I'll use myself as an example of how previous experience gives a much-needed boost to learning. I sparred in Kajukenpo tournaments using my black belt from my previous art and still got 2nd place in the black belt division, even though I was at the bottom rung in rank when I started Kajukenpo. It would have been unfair for me to spar below that level because I was actually sparring the instructors in class at times. The lower ranks had trouble keeping up with me. The problem is, it's really hard to hide the kind of skill I already had developed for years. I could have totally lied and told them nothing about my previous experience and try to fight like a lower belt in sparring, but it's harder to hide the body reflexes, as opposed to what my brain might be able to do. The instincts you develop from so many years are difficult to hide because your muscle memory will still react a lot of times when you are put under pressure; I couldn't help it, but since I really didn't want to get smacked in the face too often, my body went into autopilot and kept reacting anyway and moving pretty quickly when I was fighting. Sure, I could still work with lower belts and take it easy, but sometimes my body would be excited and want to move fast when the black belts starting throwing a bunch of stuff at me like crazy and I wanted to defense myself. I'm just saying that the prior experience when starting a new art shows a lot when you see people do another martial art because all the knowledge starts to make sense and come together. Beasley describes his training experience here, which supplemented his application to picking up concepts from JKD:

Originally Posted by frankenbeans

"(In reference to AIKIA.net, his website) I have included various certificates from Dan Inosanto, who by the way encouraged me to teach kali to my students. Dan took the time to sit down with me and outline a course including numerous kali drills for me to follow.

Originally Posted by frankenbeans

At that time, I was already a 5th degree master instructor. I had no interest in receiving certification as an apprentice beginner instructor. By the way, I was always invited as a guest to the 12 or so seminars/camps that I attended between 1983 and 1988. I did not have to pay for any of the classes."