Guru Dan Inosanto delves into Bruce Lee's thoughts and practices of grappling.
Black Belt: A lot of people think that Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do was only about kickboxing and trapping, but that’s not the whole picture, is it?
Dan Inosanto: Absolutely not. While sifu Bruce was alive, he personally researched grappling arts like Chinese chin-na, Wally Jay’s jujitsu and Japanese judo, and he trained with Gene LeBell. Even in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, he clearly illustrated grappling techniques—throws, locks and submissions. And if you watch the opening scene of Enter the Dragon where he’s fighting Sammo Hung, how does he finish the fight? With a submission.
Black Belt: Why do you think that so many people can’t see past Lee’s kickboxing, trapping and nunchaku work?
Dan Inosanto: Sifu Bruce knew what looked good on camera. [Most] of the techniques in his movies are striking oriented, not because he couldn’t do other things but because he clearly knew that the subtleties of grappling are very hard, if not impossible, for the camera to capture.
Black Belt: Are there different ranges within grappling range?
Dan Inosanto: Certainly. There’s what’s referred to in Tao of Jeet Kune Do as the tie-up range, which is essentially the standing clinch range. This is like what wrestlers do now with pummeling. They have the collar hold. They grab the biceps, triceps, wrist, neck, forearm, etc. These clinch tactics are highly useful for strikers because they allow them to tie up their opponents and gain some time to recover from a solid hit or to catch their breath. Grapplers must learn this range, or else they’ll be unable to bridge the gap and dominate their opponents on the ground. So they have techniques like overhooks, underhooks and the two-on-one to help them achieve the takedown. That’s a different game than the ground game, but they’re both part of the totality of grappling.
Black Belt: What are your thoughts on the grappling legacy of Lee?
Dan Inosanto: My personal thought is that sifu Bruce would think that it’s OK to research other grappling arts, like shooto and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I think that if he’d had information on those systems, he’d have researched them to find out what was valuable.
Street fighting is evolving. Back in the 1960s, nobody knew how to kick like the average street fighter does now. And nowadays, because of media exposure, the average untrained assailant is more familiar with grappling. War, conflict, combat, fighting—however you want to put it—it’s in constant evolution. If your combative technology and strategies don’t evolve, you risk extinction.
For the complete interview on Black Belt magazine, here.
Black Belt: A lot of people think that Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do was only about kickboxing and trapping, but that’s not the whole picture, is it?
Dan Inosanto: Absolutely not. While sifu Bruce was alive, he personally researched grappling arts like Chinese chin-na, Wally Jay’s jujitsu and Japanese judo, and he trained with Gene LeBell. Even in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, he clearly illustrated grappling techniques—throws, locks and submissions. And if you watch the opening scene of Enter the Dragon where he’s fighting Sammo Hung, how does he finish the fight? With a submission.
Black Belt: Why do you think that so many people can’t see past Lee’s kickboxing, trapping and nunchaku work?
Dan Inosanto: Sifu Bruce knew what looked good on camera. [Most] of the techniques in his movies are striking oriented, not because he couldn’t do other things but because he clearly knew that the subtleties of grappling are very hard, if not impossible, for the camera to capture.
Black Belt: Are there different ranges within grappling range?
Dan Inosanto: Certainly. There’s what’s referred to in Tao of Jeet Kune Do as the tie-up range, which is essentially the standing clinch range. This is like what wrestlers do now with pummeling. They have the collar hold. They grab the biceps, triceps, wrist, neck, forearm, etc. These clinch tactics are highly useful for strikers because they allow them to tie up their opponents and gain some time to recover from a solid hit or to catch their breath. Grapplers must learn this range, or else they’ll be unable to bridge the gap and dominate their opponents on the ground. So they have techniques like overhooks, underhooks and the two-on-one to help them achieve the takedown. That’s a different game than the ground game, but they’re both part of the totality of grappling.
Black Belt: What are your thoughts on the grappling legacy of Lee?
Dan Inosanto: My personal thought is that sifu Bruce would think that it’s OK to research other grappling arts, like shooto and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I think that if he’d had information on those systems, he’d have researched them to find out what was valuable.
Street fighting is evolving. Back in the 1960s, nobody knew how to kick like the average street fighter does now. And nowadays, because of media exposure, the average untrained assailant is more familiar with grappling. War, conflict, combat, fighting—however you want to put it—it’s in constant evolution. If your combative technology and strategies don’t evolve, you risk extinction.
For the complete interview on Black Belt magazine, here.
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