The modern martial arts owe a lot to Bruce Lee. He pioneered the use of the training equipment seen in every martial arts gym in America. He researched and tested ideas from martial arts from all over the world. He even fought - literally - for the right to teach non-Chinese people martial arts.
What few outside the martial arts understand is that beside him throughout all of this was a man named Dan Inosanto. A college athlete with a degree in education, Dan was the perfect man to make Bruce Lee's innovations accessible to the world. It was Dan who actually taught most of the classes at Bruce Lee's school. When Bruce wanted to try a new technique, training method, or strategy, it was Dan he experimented with (even experimented on!).
Without Dan, it is doubtful that Bruce would have even been able to keep a school open. It is certain that 90% of his discoveries and conclusions would have died with him. Bruce and Dan worked for several years together developing many training methods that simply never got into the classes Dan taught. Bruce apparently felt that the students had not sufficiently mastered the material already presented. In some cases, Bruce himself did not feel the ideas were sufficiently refined to introduce into a class.
When Bruce died, Dan Inosanto was the only man who knew everything that Bruce had developed. Only Dan knew what Bruce was still working on, and what his goals were. It is our good fortune that Dan was there to record Bruce's work, continue it, and pass it on to future generations.
If Bruce is the father of Mixed Martial Arts, Dan Inosanto is the man who delivered the baby and gave it the nourishment it needed to survive.
Without Dan, it is doubtful that Bruce would have even been able to keep a school open. It is certain that 90% of his discoveries and conclusions would have died with him. Bruce and Dan worked for several years together developing many training methods that simply never got into the classes Dan taught. Bruce apparently felt that the students had not sufficiently mastered the material already presented. In some cases, Bruce himself did not feel the ideas were sufficiently refined to introduce into a class.
When Bruce died, Dan Inosanto was the only man who knew everything that Bruce had developed. Only Dan knew what Bruce was still working on, and what his goals were. It is our good fortune that Dan was there to record Bruce's work, continue it, and pass it on to future generations.
If Bruce is the father of Mixed Martial Arts, Dan Inosanto is the man who delivered the baby and gave it the nourishment it needed to survive.
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