One of Bruce’s closets friends and first students, Sifu Taky Kimura met Bruce in San Francisco not long after he arrived in 1959. Recognizing his natural ability, Kimura quickly became one of Bruce’s most dedicated students. The two became close friends during these early years, Kimura even serving as best man at Bruce and Linda Lee’s wedding. After Bruce’s passing Sifu Kimura passed his knowledge onto his son Andy Kimura who has carried on the legacy teaching Jun Fan Gung Fu from their famous Seattle school.

Another longtime student and friend of Bruce Lee, Sifu Jerry Poteet has taught many world class JKD practitioners. A student of both Kempo and Jeet Kune Do, Sifu Poteet was a regular student at Bruce Lee’s school in the early days. Sifu Poteet carried on Bruce’s teachings, even training the actor, Jason Scott Lee, for the role of Bruce Lee, in the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993. Sadly, Sifu Poteet passed away in 2012 leaving his many students to continue his teachings at the Jerry Poteet Jeet Kune Do Association.

Bruce Lee’s first student and first assistant instructor, Sifu Jesse Glover was already a champion Judo practitioner when he met Bruce in Seattle in 1959. Sifu Glover first witnessed Bruce’s Gung Fu during a local demonstration. Recognising Bruce as a fellow student at the local Edison Technical College, Sifu Glover asked Bruce to take him on as a student. This led to Bruce’s now famous duel with Wong Jack Man, over the right to teach non-chinese students. Spending years training directly with Bruce Lee, as he was developing his skills, Sifu Glover gained a unique insight into the principles and evolution of JKD. Sifu Glover continued teaching and spreading Bruce Lee’s message through his school, Seattle NCGF.

After witnessing Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu demonstration in Chinatown, San Francisco, George Lee approached the young Lee to ask about his training. George had previously done some Kung Fu before but was amazed at the fluidity of this “Wing Chun” style. The two quickly became lifelong friends and Bruce shared much of his philosophy of JKD with Sifu George. Known as the “Master Maker” Sifu George was responsible for the construction of much of Lee’s personal workout equipment which they both utilised during their training.

Guro Inosanto is a living embodiment of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, having dedicated his life to teaching and learning countless forms of combat. Guro Inosanto continues to travel the world teaching seminars to students of JKD from his school, The Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts. The JKD Legacy Academy students have had the pleasure of meeting and training with Guro Inosanto when he visited Melbourne last year and we hope to do so again soon.

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