Bruce Lee and Filipino Martial Arts

[ShawnJKD]

[QUOTE=sahilh;339832]thanks for listing us as well (Trinity group). I was going to do a less detailed reply...ie JKD Family / Trinity / Kombat. There's also the Brian Zarnet's group that comes through Burton Richardson's JKD Unlimited and Vunak's PFS.

Sahilh post above is a random cut and paste from a post I made in the Forum awhile ago (on Looking For Instruction in Toronto post), and it has nothing to do with this thread. Sahilh seems to be just trying to get links to his/her cleaning company posted.

[fb5900]

Inosanto was more than a beginner in FMA even when he met Bruce.

There is evidence that Bruce had some respect for the Filipino gunting.

From the Tao- if you cannot reach his head or body, jab at his bicep.

Also, the official JKD dictionary defines "rim shots" as attacks to the limbs.

Now as far as the weapons are concerned, Lee uses a knife in BIG BOSs.
Bruce Lee's double stick work in ETD is a version of Largo Mano.
So I would say there is some truth.

I am skeptical of the silat stories, but I am open to seeing physical proof!

[TopCrusader]

fb5900, thanks for the info. Your quote from the Tao of JKD is interesting. Cant believe I havent seen others bring that point up yet. As far as "rim shots" , what official JKD dictionary are you referring to? From one of Sifu Inosanto's books?

As far as Silat, interviews with Inosanto over the years confirm it was Bruce who introduced Inosanto to Silat, not the other way around which I think many assume. Several books were published containing information on Silat in the early 1970s including The Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia and Pentjak-Silat: Indonesian Fighting Art (published in 1970 I believe). Both of these books Bruce owned and is was his introduction to Silat. Lee showed Inosanto these books and basically told Inosanto to research Silat further.

[fb5900]

The web story about Bruce Lee and Willem Reeders smacks of being apocryphal. I would not rule it out, but I do not believe it either.
I know that Dan started pursuing silat with some interest after lee's death. When I was around Dan, he mentioned silat and kuntao, but not in the context of Bruce or jun fan. The dictionary I refered to is in the back of some JKD book I had very long ago.
Most of my jkd material fell apart from use or did not survive my "big move." As far as I am concerned, the Little books should be a good source for everything, since the estate gave John Little access to Bruce's personal notes and library. Did Bruce rate silat higher than savate? Since the internet has become the main source, some really wild stories about Bruce have surfaced.
I do not know what to believe anymore. But in any case, most of Bruce's direct students have either passed on or retired from active teaching. The younger people have to direct the art. I like Paulson, Dan's student and the ultimate leglock guru.
I also like Dan's student Burt, who has researched African arts and who now helps Chris Leben in Hawaii.

[TopCrusader]

From the famous "Paula letter" from years ago:
"I have also enclosed an excerpt from Si Gung lee's notes, "The Martial Way", from his original "Tao of Jeet Kune Do". Please note that this excerpt on Pentjak Silat is in Si Gung Lee's own hand writing. This passage on Pentjak Silat clearly shows that he did in fact investigate this art, as he did every art that he came across..."

I bring this quote up only to ask does anybody know the specific BL note she is referencing? I looked through "Tao of JKD" and the JKD Commentaries of the martial way by John Little but didnt see anything like what she is describing. If anybody has a scan of this BL note or knows where its printed, let me know!!

[Lua50]

Dan and Bruce


This answers some questions

[John McNabney]

So what are we trying to say here?

[TopCrusader]

The video "Bruce Lee stick training" is of Dan Inosanto and Wu Ngan practicing scenes for Game of Death. It is not Bruce Lee who others have claimed. Bruce Lee is holding the camera! It is only 12 seconds long...apparently the full footage is over 20 minutes. And why nobody has bothered sharing that puzzles me.
Regardless, I appreciate the video. I am not denying Lee investigated Filipino or SouthEast Asian arts. In fact I believe it completely. My above question (Post #20) was referring to a document Paula references of Lee's own notes on Silat. I am greatly interested in seeing this note. If anybody out there has a scan or whatever of it, please contact me!

[bensonfrancis90]

Lee and Inosanto trained with filipino arts. The filipino influence was on display in ETD and in the
original plan for G.O.D. Lee did not have in-depth knowledge of the subsystems and the history, but he had considerable skill.
Acc. to Inosanto, Lee improvised a style of fma called "largo mano" with no previous exposure.

[John McNabney]

But he did it for a movie, right? Did he continue to train in Filipino arts?

[Demi Barbito]

This... Basically.


"""Guro Inosanto exposed Bruce Lee to the Filipino Martial Arts to a certain extent, but by his own admission it was not an extensive study. Mr Lee's primary interest, at that time period, was the asthetic and theatrical qualities of the arts due to the primary focus on his film career. To that extent, according to Mr Inosanto, Mr Lee enjoyed the Double Stick and the Tabak-Toyok (nunchaku). The use of both, and other weapory, can be clearly see in latter films. However, as a focussed endeavour in the practical application of the martial arts, Mr Lee did not engage in any extensive study. This is not a reflection on FMA, more a result of Mr Lee's focus at that time, which was on his film career. The progression of Jeet Kune Do had been left with Mr Lee's respective instructors at the three branches."""