Dan 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 Dan 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 Guro Dan.
After college in 1957 Guro Dan 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 Guro Dan 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. Guro Dan 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. He 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. Guro Dan 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 Johnny 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 Sifu Dan was assigned the task to take care of Bruce Lee for the weekend. From this meeting Bruce Lee and Sifu Dan started a life long friendship.
Guro Dan is one of three people who have been appointed by Bruce Lee to teach Jeet Kune Do (Taky Kimura and James Lee being the other two),
He also studied with dozens of different martial arts masters else where in the US, Asia and Europe, including Johnny Lacoste, and Chai Sirisute. After Bruce Lee's death, he has become the principal spokesperson and historian for Jeet Kune Do.
Always a student himself, he continues to train with many highly regarded martial artists. Consequently, he holds Instructor or Black Belt level ranks in numerous, different martial arts.
In addition, he is well known for promoting the Filipino Martial Arts. He is responsible for bringing several obscure forms of the South East Asia Martial Arts into the public eye such as Silat, a hybrid combative form existing in such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
He has recently acquired his black belt in Brazilian Juijitsu under the Machado Brothers. He trained Shoot Wrestling under Sensei Yori Nakamura.
https://inosanto.com/
