Tim Tackett Interview
Conducted By Paul Bax

When you first witnessed Bruce Lee at the Internationals you were not overly impressed. Describe what you saw and your reaction to his performance at the time.
Tim Tackett: I saw Bruce at Parker's 1967 internationals. I was already a kung fu teacher as I learned it in Taiwan. I saw a lot of demos there of chi kung. I assisted an old man when he pounded a nail through a 4 by 4 board with his forehead. When I saw Bruce I thought he was good and that he was fast, but it wasn't until I started learning JKD that I came to realize how good it really was and what a martial art genius he really was. He did impress me enough that I wanted to train with him, but I was going full time to college and had a kung fu school and a wife and two kids, so I had no time to drive to L.A. to train. I did say "Hi" to Bruce when he was a guest at one of Kubota's tournaments where one of my students was fighting.

What was it that set him apart from others?
TT: He was so much smoother and faster than anyone else in the USA at that time or even now.

Dan Inosanto first met Lee in 1964. Did you have any contact with Dan at this time? If not, when did you two first meet?
TT: I first met Inosanto when I came back to the States from Taiwan. I think it was in November of 1964. I visited Parker's school. Ed had me show everything I learned in Taiwan. I demonstrated Northern and Southern Shaolin, Hsing-I, Monkey, and Tai Chi. At that time there were very few people in the USA who knew this stuff. After class Dan Inosanto asked me to go out to dinner with him and some other of Ed's instructors. The two who came with Dan were Jim Grenwald and Steve Golden. I saw Dan about four or five times a year after that at various tournaments where my guys were fighting and Dan was either competing or acting as an official.


So, do you hold rankings in all of the arts you learnt in Taiwan? How do these arts relate to Jeet Kune Do?
TT: I have a high rank in both of the Taiwan organizations. I must say that I have kept very little of what I learned there. The tai chi I kept for health. I also kept about 20% of the hsing-I I learned in Taiwan. Tai chi and hsing-i did help me understand when Bruce talked about un-crispy hitting. You don’t really know how good JKD is until you study it enough to be able to do it. I’ve found that a lot of people can talk about it, but few can do it. It’s really not that easy to learn, but it’s easy to talk about.

When did you officially start training in Jeet Kune Do in Danny’s backyard?
TT: Around 1970 or 1971 I started training in Dan’s backyard. I guess it was 1971 as my certificate is dated October of 73, which means that I was there for almost 2 years at that time.

Who was there with you student wise?
TT: The students who were there were there at that time were Bob Bremer, Dan Lee, Jerry Poteet, Richard Bustillo, Tony Luna, Al and Kurt Haber, Pete Jacobs, Seph Lamog, and Richard Lee. That was about it. I joined with my first kung fu student, Bob Chapman.

To your knowledge did Lee have any input into the teachings at that time?
TT: I think that Bruce was either getting ready to go to Hong Kong. Dan was clearly the teacher, but it was clear that he was doing what Bruce wanted him to do. There was the feeling that Bruce could drop in at any time so we better be looking sharp.

When did the first official school open from Dan Inosanto and please describe the original curriculums.