Bruce Lee Doing Kali

[Liberty]

Though I'm "neither for nor against," either side, I believe "Concepts" guys are going to roll on the floor on this one - enjoy!

YouTube - Bruce Lee Stick Training

[jeff5]

I believe I read this in one of Guru Dan's books, but it's no secrect that Dan showed Bruce Lee some Kali. I believe it was Bruce who encouraged Dan to explore his cultural martial arts, yet cautioned he shouldn't be limited by them. If I remember correctly, I read that Bruce disliked most of the Kali Dan showed him, except for some of the largo mano techniques.

Cool video though!

[Michael Wright]

It was actually Ed Parker who encouraged Guro Dan to explore his Filipino martial roots.

My understanding from Guro Dan is that during the time frame when he exposed Bruce Lee to the weapons of the FMA, Bruce was very much focussed on what would work in a theatrical sense, for his TV and Movie work. Some of the Kali he liked and some he didn’t, he was quite partial to the Double Stick.

Many people don’t appreciate that the person who introduced Bruce Lee to the Nunchaku was Guro Dan. There is a video on You Tube of Guro Inosanto in Bruce Lee’s backyard in LA working the Nunchaku against a range of weapons. You can see that some of the scenarios Guro Inosanto works through in this footage forms the basis of the scenes in Way of the Dragon, if you’re into that kind of thing.…..

[Tim McFatridge]

Greetings guys... good video to Michael. I have heard Guro Dan talk about Bruce and Kali... and Bruce encouraged Guro Dan to seek out and explore the FMA but warned him not to be bound by the FMA's simply because Guro Dan was Filippino. That he must still remain open to other arts and systems in order to find his own way.

I know this is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things... it is only an argueing point. I was just commenting.

[Michael Wright]

Hey Tim.

Credit for the vid goes to Liberty. The history, as I understand it, is that Ed Parker originally encouraged Guro Dan to study FMA when he was a black belt under him, before he met Bruce Lee. Guro arranged, through his father Sebastian Inosanto, to begin his study under some of the old masters in Stockton California.

By the time Guro Dan was training seriously with Bruce Lee he was already very involved in FMA. My understanding is that Bruce Lee encouraged Dan to pursue his own culture, but not allow the masters to restrict him to "their way", as Kali teachers can often be very territorial.

So I'm not meaning to split hairs, but many people give Bruce Lee credit for introducing Guro Dan to FMA, but thats not true. Guro credits Ed Parker and his father Sebastian Inosanto for introducing him to FMA before he met Bruce Lee, but that Bruce encouraged this study and was fond of certain elements of the art.

[lionleo]

Very nice and informative....

[Mike Brewer]

Lib, as the resident JKD historian, maybe you can check up on this. I believe the clip you posted was part of the experimentation that Bruce and Dan were doing in the time period when Game of Death was shooting. The camera angle is reminiscent of some of Bruce's other "fight scene" experiments, and since Dan was the stick guy in that movie, it may well be that you're looking at movie rehearsals - or at least ideas for fight scenes - rather than "martial training."

[HERQ454]

I dont think the person opposite Dan inosanto was Bruce.In the You Tube comments for this vid,someone drops the name Wu Ngan and suggest that this was the person.Apparently Wu Ngan was an (unofficial) adopted brother of Bruce.

[Mike Brewer]

It looks pretty similar to Bruce's 8mm home movies of that time, though.

[Tant01]

A lot of folks don't keep Bruce's film (movie) carreer in mind when they think of him as an "artist".

He may have been on the cutting edge of fighting but it was his ACTING and fight coreography for films that made him a star!

[Liberty]

Originally Posted by Tant01

A lot of folks don't keep Bruce's film (movie) carreer in mind when they think of him as an "artist".

He may have been on the cutting edge of fighting but it was his ACTING and fight coreography for films that made him a star!

Nonsense, the guy was not much of an actor. He was the best in martial arts films (still is), and an absolute master at presenting his abilities, to be sure. While, outside his film career he was a star, before, during, and after; he left a trail of martial arts competitors, instructors, legends in their own right, who were taken back by his martial skills - including the likes of Hayward Nishioka and Gene Lebelle, who supposedly bested him!

Lee was a guy who was making a name for himself in the world of martial arts and was not pursuing a film career at the time he was approached about possibly playing Kato (an after thought on the part of the Green Hornet's producers). It was during his Kato role that his bug to act resurrected itself. He'd been so committed to his training and developed so far beyond even most today that, prior to Kato, the world of martial arts was slowly growing abuzz with, "You've got to go down to Chinatown and see this young Chinese kid, he's amazing!," without the aid of any Bruce Lee movie...

Nuthugger, I mean, Liberty!

[Liberty]

Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

Lib, as the resident JKD historian, maybe you can check up on this. I believe the clip you posted was part of the experimentation that Bruce and Dan were doing in the time period when Game of Death was shooting. The camera angle is reminiscent of some of Bruce's other "fight scene" experiments, and since Dan was the stick guy in that movie, it may well be that you're looking at movie rehearsals - or at least ideas for fight scenes - rather than "martial training."

Good points, Mike. Actually, the persons that released that clip also claim it is Wu Ngan and not Bruce Lee. Also, that it is from a backyard rehearsal of "Game of Death." Me, I'd say that it times it appears to be Lee, while at others it does not. Also, that it is from G.O.D. rehearsals. Got some of you - LOL!