jkdberlin
28-02-2005, 11:39
Artikel von Rick Young:
Dan Inosanto - Keeping The Flame Alive
In the last few years there seems to have been some confusion as to whether students under Sifu Dan Inosanto and indeed Sifu Inosanto himself have held true to Bruce Lee’s original teachings.
The root of a lot of this misunderstanding seems to lie in people who attend maybe one or two seminars given by Sifu Inosanto and take it for granted that the material he demonstrates there is the curriculum he is currently teaching. I’ve even been to seminars where students have said "he didn’t show any JKD" or "He didn’t mention Bruce."
One of the most frequent criticisms levelled at him is that he has delved to far in to arts that Lee did not practice and that he is not teaching the art as Bruce Lee taught it to him. I’ve also heard it said, or read in magazines that Bruce didn’t practice Kali, Pentjak Silat, Muay Thai (in fact he was interested in and had knowledge of all of these systems) or any of a number of arts Sifu Inosanto teaches and that these systems are being promoted at the expense of JKD.
On another front the last six or seven years have seen the rise of a number of groups and individuals who wish to train primarily in the art that Bruce Lee taught until his death in 1973. Most of these people use the term "original JKD" or "Bruce Lees JKD" to describe the aspect of the art they train in. Again some of these people feel Sifu Inosanto is neglecting Bruce Lee’s original curriculum while teaching some other systems independent of Lee’s own teachings.
I’d like to make it clear from the outset that I think it is admirable that people want to propagate Bruce Lees art as it was taught originally, and that I find no fault with anyone who is properly qualified in the art and wishes to do so and I wish them well in their personal training and development.
Problems arise however when individuals make ill informed comments about Sifu Inosanto’s teaching structure and his commitment to spread his Sifu’s art and philosophy.
The first misunderstanding I’d like to deal with is seminars. When Sifu Inosanto teaches an open course outside of his own school he invariably asks what the seminar host would like him to teach. If you have any idea of the amount of arts he is qualified in and the depth of understanding he has then you will realise how big a choice he has given the seminar sponsor.
In most cases the host will ask for the arts that they personally favour and wish to train in. A case in point would be when I followed Sifu Inosanto for six weeks in 1990. I attended seminars in places as far apart as Sydney, Australia to Brasstown, North Carolina and a lot of states in between. The scope of the arts he taught were as diverse as the locations he taught at. In some courses there was more emphasis on JKD than in others, again depending on the seminar hosts wishes. It’s easy to see why some people look at these courses, especially it there was very little Jun-Fan-JKD taught and wonder if Sifu Inosanto is still teaching Bruce Lee’s curriculum. I’m happy to report that not only is Sifu Inosanto still teaching Bruce Lee’s methods but that he has never stopped.
Students who train under Sifu Inosanto are given a choice of arts they can train in. Some of these systems include The Filipino Martial Arts, Thai Boxing, Shootwrestling, Maphilindo Silat, Savate, Western Boxing, Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do concepts.
Each of these arts have a definite, separate curriculum and certification process. All of the above systems are taught at the Inosanto academy in Los Angeles and are all given separate time allotments so that the student can study any one art independent of any other system being shown there.
If you wish to train only in shoot wrestling for instance that’s perfectly OK and the same goes for any other art. The Jun Fan Gung Fu classes are based purely on what Bruce Lee taught and are in no way affected by any other system being shown in the academy. Some of these classes are taught by Sifu Inosanto’s top students who have all been personally trained by him and the others are taken by Sifu Inosanto himself.
For anyone lucky enough to be accepted into Sifu Inosanto’s Jun Fan Gung Fu-JKD classes, they have the opportunity to train with Bruce Lee’s senior student and training partner in the original art that Lee taught. Again it’s important to remember that since the untimely death of his Sifu, Dan Inosanto has always taught Bruce Lee’s art and philosophy and while training in and teaching many arts for his own and his students personal growth has never stopped promoting the techniques, principles and concepts his Sifu gave to him.
Another point to keep in mind is that Bruce Lee himself was very selective about who he taught his art to and from 1970 until the time of his death in 1973 did not teach publicly. In fact even when Lee was teaching classes he screened students who wished to train or they had to be recommended by another member of the class.
When Sifu Inosanto opened his Jun Fan Gung Fu - Filipino Kali Academy in 1974 he did so with the intention of keeping Bruce Lee’s art alive without resorting to any commercialisation of his Sifu’s art. Entry to the JKD class was very hard to obtain and you had to go through a selection procedure to make sure you were suitable. Sound familiar? It should. This is almost exactly the same way Lee ran his classes.
Just after Bruce Lee’s death Sifu Inosanto was offered some very lucrative contracts involving opening a string of Jeet Kune Do schools across the USA. It would have made him a rich man. He refused, because he wanted to stay true to his Sifu and spread the art slowly and carefully to ensure that it would be passed down to future students as it was taught to him.
Instead of rushing in and opening a chain of Jeet Kune Do academies he instead chose to take the harder and longer route by hand-picking his instructors and allowing them the freedom to run their own schools. Sifu Inosanto does not charge his students any money for gradings, membership of his organisation or for using his name. Anyone certified by Sifu Inosanto to teach JKD-Jun Fan Gung Fu will have an excellent grounding in Bruce Lee’s original art in it’s many different phases of development.
They will also have an understanding of the conceptual process we call Jeet Kune Do. I find it strange that the people now coming to "save" Bruce Lee’s original art took so long to do so. Where have they been for the last twenty years while Dan Inosanto has almost single handedly been promoting Bruce Lee’s art and philosophy in his own academy, in books and in seminars all over the world?
Recently several other students of Bruce Lee, notably Ted Wong and Dan Lee have come forward to teach seminars and show their version of JKD, this can only be good for all of our understanding of Lee’s art and philosophy.
I’d like to finish by quoting from part of a letter that hangs on the wall of the Inosanto academy in Los Angeles. It was sent to Sifu Inosanto from Linda Lee, Bruce’s wife and I hope it sets the record straight. She wrote
"This letter serves to verify that Dan Inosanto was the senior instructor and student of my late husband, Bruce Lee, and that he is the legitimate practitioner and teacher of Bruce’s art of self-defence called Jeet Kune Do. There is no other person who had as close and as long a relationship with Bruce in the study of art. At the time of Bruce’s death, Dan Inosanto was the one man who had spent the longest and most recent period of time with my husband in the development and refinement of the art of Jeet Kune Do. With Bruce’s passing, Dan became the senior spokesman and authority not only on the physical expression of the art, but also on the underlying philosophy and it’s application to many of life’s pursuits. He has undertaken to continue Bruce’s teachings at the training academy he has set up in southern California."
(Quelle: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewen/articles.htm)
Grüsse
Dan Inosanto - Keeping The Flame Alive
In the last few years there seems to have been some confusion as to whether students under Sifu Dan Inosanto and indeed Sifu Inosanto himself have held true to Bruce Lee’s original teachings.
The root of a lot of this misunderstanding seems to lie in people who attend maybe one or two seminars given by Sifu Inosanto and take it for granted that the material he demonstrates there is the curriculum he is currently teaching. I’ve even been to seminars where students have said "he didn’t show any JKD" or "He didn’t mention Bruce."
One of the most frequent criticisms levelled at him is that he has delved to far in to arts that Lee did not practice and that he is not teaching the art as Bruce Lee taught it to him. I’ve also heard it said, or read in magazines that Bruce didn’t practice Kali, Pentjak Silat, Muay Thai (in fact he was interested in and had knowledge of all of these systems) or any of a number of arts Sifu Inosanto teaches and that these systems are being promoted at the expense of JKD.
On another front the last six or seven years have seen the rise of a number of groups and individuals who wish to train primarily in the art that Bruce Lee taught until his death in 1973. Most of these people use the term "original JKD" or "Bruce Lees JKD" to describe the aspect of the art they train in. Again some of these people feel Sifu Inosanto is neglecting Bruce Lee’s original curriculum while teaching some other systems independent of Lee’s own teachings.
I’d like to make it clear from the outset that I think it is admirable that people want to propagate Bruce Lees art as it was taught originally, and that I find no fault with anyone who is properly qualified in the art and wishes to do so and I wish them well in their personal training and development.
Problems arise however when individuals make ill informed comments about Sifu Inosanto’s teaching structure and his commitment to spread his Sifu’s art and philosophy.
The first misunderstanding I’d like to deal with is seminars. When Sifu Inosanto teaches an open course outside of his own school he invariably asks what the seminar host would like him to teach. If you have any idea of the amount of arts he is qualified in and the depth of understanding he has then you will realise how big a choice he has given the seminar sponsor.
In most cases the host will ask for the arts that they personally favour and wish to train in. A case in point would be when I followed Sifu Inosanto for six weeks in 1990. I attended seminars in places as far apart as Sydney, Australia to Brasstown, North Carolina and a lot of states in between. The scope of the arts he taught were as diverse as the locations he taught at. In some courses there was more emphasis on JKD than in others, again depending on the seminar hosts wishes. It’s easy to see why some people look at these courses, especially it there was very little Jun-Fan-JKD taught and wonder if Sifu Inosanto is still teaching Bruce Lee’s curriculum. I’m happy to report that not only is Sifu Inosanto still teaching Bruce Lee’s methods but that he has never stopped.
Students who train under Sifu Inosanto are given a choice of arts they can train in. Some of these systems include The Filipino Martial Arts, Thai Boxing, Shootwrestling, Maphilindo Silat, Savate, Western Boxing, Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do concepts.
Each of these arts have a definite, separate curriculum and certification process. All of the above systems are taught at the Inosanto academy in Los Angeles and are all given separate time allotments so that the student can study any one art independent of any other system being shown there.
If you wish to train only in shoot wrestling for instance that’s perfectly OK and the same goes for any other art. The Jun Fan Gung Fu classes are based purely on what Bruce Lee taught and are in no way affected by any other system being shown in the academy. Some of these classes are taught by Sifu Inosanto’s top students who have all been personally trained by him and the others are taken by Sifu Inosanto himself.
For anyone lucky enough to be accepted into Sifu Inosanto’s Jun Fan Gung Fu-JKD classes, they have the opportunity to train with Bruce Lee’s senior student and training partner in the original art that Lee taught. Again it’s important to remember that since the untimely death of his Sifu, Dan Inosanto has always taught Bruce Lee’s art and philosophy and while training in and teaching many arts for his own and his students personal growth has never stopped promoting the techniques, principles and concepts his Sifu gave to him.
Another point to keep in mind is that Bruce Lee himself was very selective about who he taught his art to and from 1970 until the time of his death in 1973 did not teach publicly. In fact even when Lee was teaching classes he screened students who wished to train or they had to be recommended by another member of the class.
When Sifu Inosanto opened his Jun Fan Gung Fu - Filipino Kali Academy in 1974 he did so with the intention of keeping Bruce Lee’s art alive without resorting to any commercialisation of his Sifu’s art. Entry to the JKD class was very hard to obtain and you had to go through a selection procedure to make sure you were suitable. Sound familiar? It should. This is almost exactly the same way Lee ran his classes.
Just after Bruce Lee’s death Sifu Inosanto was offered some very lucrative contracts involving opening a string of Jeet Kune Do schools across the USA. It would have made him a rich man. He refused, because he wanted to stay true to his Sifu and spread the art slowly and carefully to ensure that it would be passed down to future students as it was taught to him.
Instead of rushing in and opening a chain of Jeet Kune Do academies he instead chose to take the harder and longer route by hand-picking his instructors and allowing them the freedom to run their own schools. Sifu Inosanto does not charge his students any money for gradings, membership of his organisation or for using his name. Anyone certified by Sifu Inosanto to teach JKD-Jun Fan Gung Fu will have an excellent grounding in Bruce Lee’s original art in it’s many different phases of development.
They will also have an understanding of the conceptual process we call Jeet Kune Do. I find it strange that the people now coming to "save" Bruce Lee’s original art took so long to do so. Where have they been for the last twenty years while Dan Inosanto has almost single handedly been promoting Bruce Lee’s art and philosophy in his own academy, in books and in seminars all over the world?
Recently several other students of Bruce Lee, notably Ted Wong and Dan Lee have come forward to teach seminars and show their version of JKD, this can only be good for all of our understanding of Lee’s art and philosophy.
I’d like to finish by quoting from part of a letter that hangs on the wall of the Inosanto academy in Los Angeles. It was sent to Sifu Inosanto from Linda Lee, Bruce’s wife and I hope it sets the record straight. She wrote
"This letter serves to verify that Dan Inosanto was the senior instructor and student of my late husband, Bruce Lee, and that he is the legitimate practitioner and teacher of Bruce’s art of self-defence called Jeet Kune Do. There is no other person who had as close and as long a relationship with Bruce in the study of art. At the time of Bruce’s death, Dan Inosanto was the one man who had spent the longest and most recent period of time with my husband in the development and refinement of the art of Jeet Kune Do. With Bruce’s passing, Dan became the senior spokesman and authority not only on the physical expression of the art, but also on the underlying philosophy and it’s application to many of life’s pursuits. He has undertaken to continue Bruce’s teachings at the training academy he has set up in southern California."
(Quelle: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewen/articles.htm)
Grüsse