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GARY DILL JKD The Old Way
GARY DILL
JKD The Old WAY
Monthly Column from a true legend in the art. Gary Dill talks about the old ways.
My first introduction to Jeet Kune Do (JKD) was in 1966 when I saw Bruce Lee as “Kato” in the TV show ‘Green Hornet.” I was a Goju Karate instructor at the time, working my way through college, and I was impressed with his speed and techniques
I wanted to learn his system, but I was just a college student in Oklahoma, and he was a “TV star” in California. But as fate would have it, it happened. In 1971, when I was in Vietnam, I read an article about Bruce’s JKD school taught by James Lee in Oakland, CA. I knew I would be rotated to the Bay Area after my Nam tour, so I took a chance and wrote to him. He wrote back to me and told me to contact him upon my return. I did, and this was the most important thing that happened to me in my martial arts career.
James Lee was my instructor. I had just missed Bruce Lee by a couple of weeks. But that was okay because James was well known in California as the man to go to for JKD training. He was Bruce Lee’s right-hand man and helped him convert techniques from Wing Chun to JKD after the Won Jack Man fight
Bruce and Linda lived with James for some time at this Oakland home. The class was held in his garage. He had special handmade equipment on all three walls geared for JKD training. The class was small, with only 5-10 students at any given time
I was very much into sparring during my ten years in karate. As a result, I fell in love with Jeet Kune Do. The Oakland JKD had no katas, rituals, or aesthetics; all the training was geared toward actual combat in the street. The Oakland JKD aggressively blended Wing Chun gung fu, boxing, and fencing.
James would tell us that one would never be good at JKD unless they had developed the “killer instinct.” Since I just returned from Vietnam, I understood exactly what he meant.
kept detailed notes every night after class because I knew the importance of what was been taught. I am so glad that I had the insight to do that. After being discharged from the military in late 1972, I returned to Oklahoma to finish college.
Soon after I got back to Oklahoma, James Lee sent me written permission to “share” JKD with my students, in which he also included a two-year JKD training outline (which was authored by Bruce) for use in teaching my class. To my knowledge, I am the only one to which James gave this training guide.
In December 1972, I officially started teaching JKD. I have been teaching JKD consistently since then (52 years) because it works in the street.
I spent ten years in the military and ten years in law enforcement and had several occasions to use it. Because of the notes I kept every night after class and the Bruce Lee two-year lesson plan provided to me by James, I have the most in-depth JKD curriculum out there today. During the last 52 years, I have trained thousands of students and certified several hundred qualified instructors
I still work every day, teaching weekly group classes and providing private instructions, and since 1989, I have been teaching JKD seminars here in the US and Internationally. I am deeply involved in other martial arts, but JKD is still my foundation. I owe everything I am in the martial arts to James Lee and Bruce Lee. I owe them a debt that can never be repaid
From the Editor
Grandmaster Gary Dill is an exponent of the Original JKD Studio in Oakland, California started by Buce Lee. With over 50 years of continuous dedication to his art he is noted as one of the pioneers and legendary authorities on the JKD practice. He joins the IMA family as a monthly columnist.
I have been friends with Mr. Dill for many years and have seen firsthand of his abilities and knowledge in martial arts. Currently Mr. Dill still teaches at his school in Oklahoma, USA and is currently writing a book on his legacy and history in the martial arts. Look for this book coming soon.
