I Discovered This Week That My Instructor Was Really Taught By Bruce Lee

[mudwhistle]

Are you a Jedi?

Sadly no. Minus the Force the Jedi religion's just silly.

Well, if you don't have the force you can't correctly build a lightsaber, thus you're just a nut in a bathrobe.

Indeed. Like to think lightsabres are just a matter of time. Thing in "Blade: Trinity" seems doable. Kinda like a Klingon bat'leth but with some kind of plasma. Long as there's a "receiver" point to stop the beam, generating the beam powerful enough is just a matter of miniturization. Hopefully.

I still prefer spinning backkicks because they're doable.

Great for movies and schoolyards, irl you never turn your back on an opponent.

If the guy is ready to go down it's perfect for finishing him off.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Are you a Jedi?

Sadly no. Minus the Force the Jedi religion's just silly.

Well, if you don't have the force you can't correctly build a lightsaber, thus you're just a nut in a bathrobe.

Indeed. Like to think lightsabres are just a matter of time. Thing in "Blade: Trinity" seems doable. Kinda like a Klingon bat'leth but with some kind of plasma. Long as there's a "receiver" point to stop the beam, generating the beam powerful enough is just a matter of miniturization. Hopefully.

I still prefer spinning backkicks because they're doable.

Great for movies and schoolyards, irl you never turn your back on an opponent.

I'm no expert but I've seen it used with devastating effect in MMA matches.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The things you can find online.

The other students at my school told me he was, but I sort of laughed it off.

I discovered that my Sifu, Jerry Poteet, was one of only 5 students Bruce Lee selected to carry on his legacy. Why he picked him was obvious to all of us.

I remember I was in the army and a friend of mine in the "Q"Course at Bragg took me to his school and introduced me and a few others to Jerry. He was a short, skinny grey haired white guy. For some reason he chose me as a demonstrator. He had me hold a 2 inch thick phonebook up to my chest to demonstrate Bruce Lee's famous one-inch punch.

Bam...in a flash he hit me with what is classified as a real slobberknocker. Good thing I had the book as protection because it would have stopped my heart.

I practiced with the school until I was reassigned to 5th Special Forces Group in Ft Campbell KY.

Until this weekend i never did any research on Jerry, and back then the internet wasn't established all that much. (1990)

I remember first learning martial arts when Bruce was still alive, when I was a kid. Looking back, it makes one realize how small a world this really is.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

 

[Harry Dresden]

I love that one book, "Tao of Jeet Kune Do". I almost hold it at grimoire status, considering the amount of self transformation one can achieve through truly studying it. It always worked well with what I already know of Chinese Kempo and other martial arts.

​

I bought it too, years ago. The binding was falling apart. Now you can go online and get video classes, which is more practical. But nothing replaced learning it from the Sifu in person. Plus nothing replaces sparring.

You have to spar. Books and videos mean nothing if you can't practice in a real world environment.

being in shape helps too......i saw a guy who was pretty heavy,but took his lessons and thought he was pretty bad get his ass kicked by a much smaller guy who i knew was in shape and was not trained in anything......the heavy guy was out of breath and laboring in the first few minutes and got taken down and it was over.....

Yup. Jerry was maybe 150lbs dripping wet. Short. He picked me out because I was the biggest.

They always do....

well i remember one thing that Bruce was pretty big on....being in shape...and that guy was in shape...Chuck Norris was on Sterns show back when i was a listener,and he said Bruce was not only the fastest person he had ever met but he was in incredible shape....

 

[September]

What good is technique if one neglects the development of strength, speed, and stamina/ endurance?

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[mudwhistle]

What good is technique if one neglects the development of strength, speed, and stamina/ endurance?

​

Then you do movies in Hong Kong......

 

[mudwhistle]

The things you can find online.

The other students at my school told me he was, but I sort of laughed it off.

I discovered that my Sifu, Jerry Poteet, was one of only 5 students Bruce Lee selected to carry on his legacy. Why he picked him was obvious to all of us.

I remember I was in the army and a friend of mine in the "Q"Course at Bragg took me to his school and introduced me and a few others to Jerry. He was a short, skinny grey haired white guy. For some reason he chose me as a demonstrator. He had me hold a 2 inch thick phonebook up to my chest to demonstrate Bruce Lee's famous one-inch punch.

Bam...in a flash he hit me with what is classified as a real slobberknocker. Good thing I had the book as protection because it would have stopped my heart.

I practiced with the school until I was reassigned to 5th Special Forces Group in Ft Campbell KY.

Until this weekend i never did any research on Jerry, and back then the internet wasn't established all that much. (1990)

I remember first learning martial arts when Bruce was still alive, when I was a kid. Looking back, it makes one realize how small a world this really is.

Anyone a teen in the 80s probably took martial arts. Was the height of all the ninja-chic crap.

The Ultimate Jeet Kune Do Online eAcademy by Sifu Jerry Poteet Jeet Kune Do Training with Protege Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph - a prot g of Jerry Poteet an Orginal Bruce Lee Student

 

[mudwhistle]

Philosophy in Motion – Catching Beats of Time
by Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph

On the birthdays this past week of Sijo Bruce Lee and Sifu Jerry Poteet (they used to share birthday cakes), I have been recalling old times and, of course, those who are gone.

One of Sifu Jerry Poteet’s common command was, “Catch beats of time!” Although he was referring to the combative beats of time in JKD training, I did not realize then how precious those temporal beats would become. Let’s face it, time, at least on this physical plane, is not our friend. There are only so many moments in a lifetime. In fact, Jerry’s favorite song was “Time In a Bottle”, by Jim Croce. Some of us are privleged to enjoy more beats of time than others, but the lesson is the same for life or Jeet Kune Do.; to lose even one beat of time is to squander an opportunity that will not come again.

Of course, when training Jeet Kune Do, Jerry would have us pare down our movements to the bare essentials. For example, a kick that began with three motions, back leg to front leg, knee pointed, foot extended, became ONE motion, thus catching two beats of time. Like the Zen swordsman Takuan, there was “not a hairbreath between movements”. This type of training requires extreme awareness; awareness of body motion, awareness of superfluous movement, awareness of TIME. But if you could grasp the principles and express them, your strikes, kicks, punches, etc. became incredibly explosive. (One need only to watch any of Bruce Lee’s movies to see this PHILOSOPHY IN MOTION. Like his famous teacher, Bruce Lee, Jerry Poteet lived fully in the present moment. Many of his lessons were a guide or blueprint for finding the Living Tao. Ironically, the more still and centered he became, the more explosive and incredible his martial arts skills became. Focusing purely on the present moment gifted him with an awareness of other’s intentions. He knew, or seemed to know, what you were going to do before you did! When Jerry pressed Sijo Lee about his uncanny ability to do the same years previosly, Bruce merely told him “not to discard the five senses looking for a sixth”. After that conversation, Jerry not only trained his body for the rigors of Jeet Kune Do, he endeavored to train his mind and senses to their fullest. He always had a book(s) by his side, as well as a notepad to record his ideas on everything from JKD, new equipment designs, poetry, cooking, etc. The smallest task became an opportunity to live in the moment and express himself creatively.

I have written previously about his teacher’s confession to Jerry that he knew his life would not be long. Like his Sifu, Jerry grabbed life by the lapels, and lived to the fullest. Jerry also sensed that his life would not be long, so he determined to be present for every single beat of time. After a liver transplant in 1996, he realized that every day alive was “a day of grace” to be savored. And savor it he did. Like the Japanese swordsman who cherish the fleeting beauty of the short-lived cherry blossom flower, Jerry would observe each frame of time as though it was an artistic masterpiece.

Today, nearly two years after his death, I cherish those beats of time that I shared with Jerry. It is clear that his legacy is not simply about kicking or punching, etc., but about grasping the present moment, (much more than “mindfulness”), and the manipulation of energy. It is this legacy that we will share in future lessons, seminars, etc.

Because if we can catch beats of time…the beat will always go on.

Philosophy in Motion Catching Beats of Time Jeet Kune Do Training with Protege Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph - a prot g of Jerry Poteet an Orginal Bruce Lee Student ​

 

[mudwhistle]

Bruce Lee (李小龍)
Founder of Jeet Kune Do

Certified by Bruce Lee
as instructors of Jeet Kune Do Taky Kimura
James Yimm Lee
Dan Inosanto
Notable students of
Jun Fan/Gung Fu/Jeet Kune Do Brandon Lee
Jesse Glover
Dan Inosanto
Yorinaga Nakamura
Taky Kimura
Richard Bustillo
Jerry Poteet
Ted Wong
James Yimm Lee
Rusty Stevens
Chuck Norris[96]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
James Coburn
Joe Lewis
Roman Polanski
Lee Marvin
Stirling Silliphant
Mike Stone

Jerry Poteet is the skinny guy on the far left

 

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Turn the sound down or mute it ... it ruins the video for me.

 

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Dan Insanato second from left ..Jerry Poteet with the beard in the center

 

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Dan Insanato instructing students.... Jerry is far right.

 

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