Dan Inosanto. Martial arts as a way of life

The vast experience of Dan Inosanto in the field of various martial arts (over 40 years) allowed him to be rightfully considered the greatest master of various trends in this field. Bruce Lee could be proud of such a student and like-minded person.

Biography

July 24, 1936 in the Californian town of Stockton was born Dan Inosanto. Biography of an American with Filipino roots is a lot of interesting moments, most of which are connected with martial arts. As a child, Dan was seriously fond of football. In his youth he was captain of the football team. Running for short distances also easily worked out for the guy. During his studies in Washington, he has repeatedly won prizes.

At the end of the college, Dan Inosanto teaches physical training in an ordinary school. It was from this time begins his passion for oriental martial arts. It all started with judo. 2 years, Dan successfully trained with Duke Yoshimura.

Then the young man decided to go into the army and got into the air division, where he became a paratrooper. In the army, Dan was involved in various styles of karate, the most favorite of which became Kempo.

In 1961, Inosanto retired from the army and came to Los Angeles in search of a kempo karate instructor. The guy was lucky: he met the legend of American karate - Ed Parker. Under his leadership, Dan in a few years received a black belt. It was Parker who introduced Inosanto to the Philippine military equipment, in particular to esrima - a battle on sticks.

Disciple of Bruce Lee

In 1964, Parker organized a championship in karate international level. Dan was instructed to accompany an important guest - Bruce Lee. So an acquaintance took place, which later developed into a strong friendship.

Dan Inosanto is an eyewitness of how Bruce Lee tried to introduce a system of integrated training in combat training. In the sixties it seemed strange and useless. Now any combat training can not do without yoga, swimming or cycling.

The development of Jeet Koon-Do as an individual combat system of Bruce Lee was largely possible thanks to like-minded people, among whom Dan Inosanto was one of the first. Photos with Bruce Lee occupy several pages in the master's album, which he demonstrates to his students.

Inosanto helped Lee in organizational matters and training processes. Thanks to his knowledge in many martial arts, Dan was able to bring in the system of Bruce Lee - Jeet Kun-Do - a lot of individual elements.

Inosanto was the only student of Bruce Lee, who was allowed to train Jeet Koon-Do other masters up to the third level. Permission to study at levels 1 and 2 was obtained by only three followers.

Master of Oriental Combats

Dan Inosanto owns the Academy of Martial Arts. It is located in California. The master shares with his students his knowledge of the philosophy of combat training, in particular, Jeet Koon-Do. Also in the institution of training for pugilism, Filipino martial arts, silat and other species. The number of instructors who received training from Inosanto, exceeds a few hundred. They teach in different parts of the world.

Dan Inosanto has many achievements of the highest level in all known types of martial arts. He won the black belt in jujitsu after 50 years, which is a confirmation of the will of the master and his beautiful physical form.

The coach is convinced that to protect the fighter must be versatile, that is, be able to fight in the stalls, repel strikes, own weapons. In 1996, Dan Inosanto for his merit and personal qualities was named in the US "Person of the Year."

Film and family

In addition to the activities of the instructor, a friend of Bruce Lee managed to appear in several films. Dan Inosanto, whose films are known to connoisseurs of martial arts, played a supporting role together with Bruce in the title role. One such film is "The Game of Death." Also the filmography of Inosanto includes the picture "Big Trouble in Little China", the comedy "The Big Stan", the tapes "For the sake of justice" and "The Red Belt".

Dan Inosanto has three children. The elder daughter of the master was named Diana Lee - in honor of an unforgettable friend and teacher. The sons are Danny and Lance Ersa.

Master Dan is the pillar of Jeet Kun-Do. He bases his own battle philosophy on principles based on Bruce Lee. The main concept encourages people to think and make decisions independently, while giving sufficient time to reveal their true potential.