Academy of Jeet Kune Do Fighting Technology
Athens
Greece
Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Instructor
Vagelis Zorbas
Biographies
Guro Inosanto has over 30 years experience in the martial arts and is a world authority in Jun Fan Gung Fu/Jeet Kune Do Concepts and Filipino martial arts.
Guro Inosanto was originally introduced into the martial arts at the age of ten. During that summer he was taught Okinawa Te and Jiu-Jitsu by a local from his home of Stockton, California. That experience left a favorable impression on him but as boys will be boys he followed his interest in football and track for the next ten years. At Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington he won a track conference with 9.5 seconds in the 100 yard dash. His senior year he was the leading ground gainer for the football team. Later his primary career would be a Jr. High School Physical Education teacher.
After college in 1957 Guro Inosanto took, up Judo from a man called Duke Yoshimura. He trained in Judo until 1959 when he entered the service to become a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division. During his tour of duty he was stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While stationed there he was exposed to various styles of Karate with exposure to some other arts as well. It was at this time he got his first look at Kenpo Karate.
In 1961 he was discharged from the military service and he moved to Los Angeles, California. He looked for an instructor in the art of Kenpo. This search would lead him to path that would change his life. He found the “Father of American Karate”, Kenpo Instructor Ed Parker. For the next several years he would train with Ed Parker and attain a black belt in the Kenpo system.
It was Ed Parker that first inspired Guro Dan to study Filipino martial arts. Guro Inosanto thought the Filipinos had some stickfighting called Eskrima. But Ed Parker informed him that there was a lot more than just stick work to the Filipino martial arts. He later went to his father, who in turn introduced him to many Escrimadors in the local Filipino community. The three of the most prominent where Max Sarmiento, Angel Cabales, and John Lacoste.
In 1964, Ed Parker was organizing his International Karate Championship. During that time Ed Parker needed someone to escort one of his out-of-town guests around town. So Guro Inosanto was assigned the task to take care of SiJo Bruce Lee for the weekend. From this meeting Bruce Lee and Guro Inosanto started a life long friendship.
During
the next nine years he studied with SiJo Bruce Lee up unto Lee’s passing
in 1973. During that time Guro Inosanto gained instructors certification
in all three arts (Tao of Chinese Gung Fu, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Jeet Kune Do)
that Bruce Lee taught. Guro Inosanto is the man personally chosen by Bruce
Lee to carry on the concepts and philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. He was one of
the only three persons ever to be certified by Bruce Lee to teach. (The
two others are Taky Kimura, and the late James Lee).
In addition to having
studied over 20 methods/styles of Filipino martial arts (being an
instructor in several), he is an instructor in Muay Thai under Master Chai
Sirisute, an instructor in Pentjak Silat under Pendekar Paul De Thouars
and Pendekar Herman Suwanda, an instructor in Shoot Wrestling (Shooto)
under Yori Nakamura. In keeping with the spirit of always being a student
Guro Inosanto is currently studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Machado
Brothers and was awarded his Black belt in late1999 after 4 years of
study, in which time he put in more hours training than most people do in
20 years, most of it one on one with the various Machado Brothers
Guro Inosanto has worked both in the television and movie industry as a stunt man, fight choreographer, and trainer on numerous projects. In addition to this he has several instructional videos and has authored several books: "A Guide to Martial Arts Training", "The Filipino Martial Arts", "Jeet Kune Do", and “Absorb What Is Useful".
Guro Inosanto has also received the following awards from Black Belt Magazine's Hall of Fame: 1996, - Man of the Year, 1988 - Weapons Instructor of the Year, 1983 - Instructor of the Year, and 1977 - Jeet Kune Do Instructor of the Year.
Larry Hartsell came into Bruce Lee's school as a
man with a black belt in Judo and over 10 years of experience in
grappling
as well as a strong foundation in the striking arts that began in 1961
with his training in Kenpo Karate under Ed Parker. Shortly after receiving
his black belt rank from Ed Parker, he spent time in the Army including
combat in Vietnam, where he served with military police.
Larry Hartsell, already an accomplished Judo man, enjoyed sparring with soldiers from the elite South Korean ROK division stationed nearby. Upon his return to this country he enrolled in SiGung Bruce Lee's Chinatown school in Los Angeles. It was at this school that he began his thirty years of training under Guro Dan Inosanto, which he continues to this day. Larry Hartsell's training under Bruce Lee continued with Private instruction at Bruce Lee's home in Bel Air, California.
It is well known to the students of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do that Bruce Lee broke combat down into the four ranges of Kicking, Boxing, Trapping and Grappling. The serious students of Jeet Kune Do are also aware that the development of the grappling range techniques in this system were assigned to Larry Hartsell. At the time of Bruce Lee's untimely death there were only 33 formal techniques in the grappling range. As the final and closest range there was much research to do in this range and Larry Hartsell has continued his research into this area with various discrete techniques that now form the core of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Grappling.Larry Hartsell's skill in hand-to-hand combat, his weapons training and his development of techniques in the grappling range led to a wide and varied range of professional experiences. With his training under Bruce Lee, his degree in criminology, his ten years of law enforcement experience, and his training under Dan Inosanto, Larry Hartsell has been in wide demand as a professional bodyguard for celebrities like Mr. T of the A-Team fame, and as a trainer for both the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. In addition the this he has taught classes at his own schools as well as at the Inosanto Academy, and has offered self defense and combat courses for the elite Navy Seals and police officers through various colleges and agencies.
Larry Hartsell has authorized several books on the subject of Jeet Kune Do Grappling. "Entering to Trapping To Grappling and takedowns, Counters, and Reversals." In addition he has five internationally distribute videotapes on the grappling arts. These books, videos and his skill in the grappling arts have resulted in Larry Hartsell being listed in the "Who's Who in Martial Arts" and cover shots with numerous feature articles in Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt, Martial Arts Training, Inside Karate, Australian Fighting Arts, and many others.
Larry Hartsell is the man Dan Inosanto described as "One of the premier Jeet Kune Do fighters of our time." Currently Larry Hartsell has focused his efforts on the development of the Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association. With the tremendous rise in the popularity of the grappling arts it has become paramount to Hartsell to demonstrate to martial artists the fact that Jeet Kune Do has had a strong emphasis on the grappling range for thirty years and that these thirty years have produced an extensive development of the grappling arts. The Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association currently has 22 United States and 17 International representatives worldwide. Sifu Hartsell continues to offer seminars through his members schools as well as through five international tours yearly. In addition he offers private training to a small number of students at his home in Marina del Rey, California. www.jkdassoc.com Paul Vunak's interest in the martial arts began at the young age of nine when he began formal study in the art of Tae Kwon
Do.
By fourteen, he had achieved his first black belt. Paul began to explore
other styles such as Kenpo and Hung Gar (Tiger Crane) Gung Fu. Within
three years, he had earned another black belt (in Kenpo). More
importantly, Paul had discovered that he wanted to turn his love for the
martial arts into his life's work.
In August of 1976, the school where Paul studied Kenpo closed. Paul decided to investigate another school he had been hearing about, the Filipino Kali Academy. One look and it was "love at first sight!" After a three-month waiting period (during which Paul established himself as the school pest by showing up every day, unauthorized, to observe), he began his study of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do under the guidance of Lee's top student Dan Inosanto. Paul began travelling extensively with Dan for seminars and JKD demonstrations. One of the major highlights - setting up camp in Texas to work martial arts with the Dallas Cowboys! Paul achieved the rank of Full Instructor in Jeet Kune Do in July of 1988.
During these years at the Kali Academy, Paul realized that he had a certain propensity for the street-oriented side of JKD. He began to concentrate his martial art studies in those areas which were most suited for the gritty realism of a street fight. Gradually, other fighters with the same mentality began to gravitate toward Paul; and in 1983 he formed an organization devoted to these interests, Progressive Fighting Systems.
The concept of personal instruction in Jeet Kune Do was instilled right from the start. P.F.S. students typically came to Paul's home studio for weekly group classes. Word of Paul's masterful teaching style and world-class fighting skill began to circulate; soon, he was accepting students from all parts of the country. He began travelling to teach seminars, and made his first series of instructional videos in 1986.
The following year, Paul received an unexpected visit from the military. Almost before he knew what was happening, he moved to Virginia with a contract to teach hand-to-hand combat to the United States Navy SEAL Team Six. He remained in Virginia until 1991, when he returned to California to resume teaching group classes and seminars. Numerous law enforcement agencies, including police departments and SWAT teams, the FBI, and the DEA, began to solicit his highly effective training methods to augment their personnel training.
Paul currently conducts training seminars worldwide and at his studio in Southern California. Paul continues to produce videos and instructional CD-ROMs; to date he has well over 30 videos available.
One of the most important objectives of Progressive Fighting Systems is to promote the worldwide expansion of Jeet Kune Do and the Filipino Martial Arts. Of equal importance is to demonstrate an undying loyalty to the man given the task of carrying on Bruce Lee's art, Dan Inosanto. Paul explains, "I owe everything to Dan. He had unlimited patience during my 'prickly' teenage years, when I had a major chip on my shoulder! To this day, I consider it an honor to count myself among his students." Most vital, perhaps, for Paul and his organization is to provide the means for students to grow and develop, not just physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. By pursuing these ambitions, Paul hopes to ensure that Bruce Lee's contribution to the martial arts and to humanity will never be forgotten. www.fighting.net