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

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[mudwhistle]

 

[mudwhistle]

“Old School” by Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph
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Categories: Uncategorized

For the last two decades, I have traveled all over the world, teaching Jeet Kune Do , as well as other martial arts. More people than ever are pursuing martial arts for a variety of reasons, and most attend class working hard to be their best. But still, something is missing…

When I began my training with JKD Master Jerry Poteet, I had reached a point where I was quite proud of my martial arts abilities. I assumed that learning from him would be “a piece of cake”. But that cake turned out to be very hard to swallow! Training with Sifu was both exhilarating and exhausting. After the third lesson, he handed me a sheet of paper and said “This is yours”.

When I glanced down at it, I saw ”Supplemental Training For Fran Joseph” on the top, and below, a step-by-step regimen for physical excellence. Many of the exercises were the same ones Jerry’s teacher, Bruce Lee, had given him. When I got to the bottom of the page and saw SPLITS BETWEEN CHAIRS, my face must have registered dread. Jerry just chuckled and told me he had the same reaction to that exercise with Sijo Lee. Bruce just shot him “that look” and told Jerry “something to shoot for!”. And, try he did.

Jerry immediately installed a home gym in his garage. Under his teacher’s directions, he was expected to hone his body daily. As his famous teacher warned him, “the mind will always push the body past what it can safely endure”. So, Jerry forged his body into a JKD fighting machine. Those of you who have seen pictures of Jerry from that era can attest to his amazing physique. Lean, lithe, and explosive, Sifu reached his potential. (He felt that too much muscle would bulk and slow the body, like a turtle’s armor).

His gym was equipped with ‘torture” devices of all sorts. Jerry would laugh when he recalled visitors attempting to give his REVERSE Roman Chair a try! True to his teacher’s predictions, there was a time he did injure himself. The bar was set so high that after Jerry hurt his shoulder using hooks on a 300-pound heavy bag, his teacher noticed something was wrong with Jerry’s strikes. Slipping up behind him, he scolded, “I told you NOT to use hooks on that heavy bag.” Jerry wisely kept his distance the entire class, and never used hooks on that particular bag again.

This tradition of intensive and unique training continued with Sifu Jerry. Those of us lucky enough to be in that first group with him always share “war stories”. Like Jerry, we did low line attacks without the benefit of hard shin guards. And, we were expected to train like spartans, every day of the week, to achieve greatness. (Something to shoot for!)

Sifu Jerry’s awareness was laser sharp, and he knew if we were slacking off. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the payoff for such intense training. In order to receive first certification from Jerry, I had to go to professional boxing and kickboxing gyms and spar the champions. In all humility, I was amazed at how easy it was to hold my own and best them. Was it me? They were all much younger and stronger than myself, so how could I control them so easily? I realized it was the TRAINING METHOD that gave me my new abilities.

Of course, it was up to me to use that method, but I realized that the supplemental training Jerry developed for me was a bullet-proof formula to give me the extra edge in the martial way. And, that was just the beginning…

Why are students, who are exposed to more martial arts than ever before, not taking advantage of this supplemental training? For at least two reasons: people today do not have the time that martial arts devotees had several years ago to devote to Olympic-level supplemental training. Time is a precious commodity in today’s world, and most of us are tightly budgeted in our daily schedules. The second reason is that people do not have access to this specialized training. In fact, many of the drills Jerry developed for professional athletes are just now being used by teams and Olympians. Most are still unknown. (I have related how Jerry was the first to put the dots on the mitts, to his teacher’s delight. From then on, Jerry called them FOCUS mitts. At the time, the rest of the martial arts community ridiculed him!)


See you at the OLD School…

Old School by Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph Jeet Kune Do Training with Protege Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph - a prot g of Jerry Poteet an Orginal Bruce Lee Student

 

[mudwhistle]

b

 

[mudwhistle]

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

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“Old School” by Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph
- 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

For the last two decades, I have traveled all over the world, teaching Jeet Kune Do , as well as other martial arts. More people than ever are pursuing martial arts for a variety of reasons, and most attend class working hard to be their best. But still, something is missing…

When I began my training with JKD Master Jerry Poteet, I had reached a point where I was quite proud of my martial arts abilities. I assumed that learning from him would be “a piece of cake”. But that cake turned out to be very hard to swallow! Training with Sifu was both exhilarating and exhausting. After the third lesson, he handed me a sheet of paper and said “This is yours”.

When I glanced down at it, I saw ”Supplemental Training For Fran Joseph” on the top, and below, a step-by-step regimen for physical excellence. Many of the exercises were the same ones Jerry’s teacher, Bruce Lee, had given him. When I got to the bottom of the page and saw SPLITS BETWEEN CHAIRS, my face must have registered dread. Jerry just chuckled and told me he had the same reaction to that exercise with Sijo Lee. Bruce just shot him “that look” and told Jerry “something to shoot for!”. And, try he did.

Jerry immediately installed a home gym in his garage. Under his teacher’s directions, he was expected to hone his body daily. As his famous teacher warned him, “the mind will always push the body past what it can safely endure”. So, Jerry forged his body into a JKD fighting machine. Those of you who have seen pictures of Jerry from that era can attest to his amazing physique. Lean, lithe, and explosive, Sifu reached his potential. (He felt that too much muscle would bulk and slow the body, like a turtle’s armor).

His gym was equipped with ‘torture” devices of all sorts. Jerry would laugh when he recalled visitors attempting to give his REVERSE Roman Chair a try! True to his teacher’s predictions, there was a time he did injure himself. The bar was set so high that after Jerry hurt his shoulder using hooks on a 300-pound heavy bag, his teacher noticed something was wrong with Jerry’s strikes. Slipping up behind him, he scolded, “I told you NOT to use hooks on that heavy bag.” Jerry wisely kept his distance the entire class, and never used hooks on that particular bag again.

This tradition of intensive and unique training continued with Sifu Jerry. Those of us lucky enough to be in that first group with him always share “war stories”. Like Jerry, we did low line attacks without the benefit of hard shin guards. And, we were expected to train like spartans, every day of the week, to achieve greatness. (Something to shoot for!)

Sifu Jerry’s awareness was laser sharp, and he knew if we were slacking off. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the payoff for such intense training. In order to receive first certification from Jerry, I had to go to professional boxing and kickboxing gyms and spar the champions. In all humility, I was amazed at how easy it was to hold my own and best them. Was it me? They were all much younger and stronger than myself, so how could I control them so easily? I realized it was the TRAINING METHOD that gave me my new abilities.

Of course, it was up to me to use that method, but I realized that the supplemental training Jerry developed for me was a bullet-proof formula to give me the extra edge in the martial way. And, that was just the beginning…

Why are students, who are exposed to more martial arts than ever before, not taking advantage of this supplemental training? For at least two reasons: people today do not have the time that martial arts devotees had several years ago to devote to Olympic-level supplemental training. Time is a precious commodity in today’s world, and most of us are tightly budgeted in our daily schedules. The second reason is that people do not have access to this specialized training. In fact, many of the drills Jerry developed for professional athletes are just now being used by teams and Olympians. Most are still unknown. (I have related how Jerry was the first to put the dots on the mitts, to his teacher’s delight. From then on, Jerry called them FOCUS mitts. At the time, the rest of the martial arts community ridiculed him!)

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

While I've never been into martial arts other than watching MMA.
I have to say the ability of some of these guys is incredible. One of my favorites is Royce Gracie. He whooped ass on dudes twice his size on a regular basis with little to no effort.

 

[Harry Dresden]

this is the book i have....

 

[mudwhistle]

this is the book i have....

Cool ...they're still selling it on Amazon.