James W. DeMile Enjoyed reading the response to my post about Bruce being disappointed. Particularly the one from paul J. Amato. He showed excellent insight relative to the JKD evolution, or what it should be. When they removed Dan from representing the true JKD they immediately froze it in time. It became a bus filled with enthusiastic followers of Bruce, but without a driver. The main problem with the Lee family trying to protect the name of Bruce is that the emphasis is on him as a man, not a martial artist. The Lee family is very sincere, but really know little about Bruce as a martial artist. Shannon never trained and therefore must rely on her mothers memory of Bruce, as well as trying to interpret all the notes and pictures Bruce left behind. Restricting the evolution of JKD with copyrights is choking the memory of Bruce. Only Dan stands out as a true representative of who Bruce was at that time. He spent personal time as well as in-depth training. Unlike most students who only see the final product, Dan saw how, when and why Bruce thought as he did in the LA period. This was a critical time for Bruce. His past experiences were making him step back and reflect, mainly on the limitations of only following one path. He could see the need to reach out to other arts and broaden his vision. Dan saw this new vision and did not hesitate to move on and above where Bruce was at, at that time. Bruce would be proud of him. I met Dan many years ago and have always admired his focus in evolving his knowledge and skill, just as Bruce would have done. Of all the martial artists I have met, since Bruce Lee, Dan stands at the top as fulfilling Bruces dream of making new discoveries. It was a major mistake, to Bruces memory, to by-pass Dans exceptional knowledge and sincere desire to keep the memory and teachings of Bruce. The family has built a wall around his memory, often keeping out those who are most important. They should reach out to Dan, apologize, and ask him to capture that moment in time, that will soon be lost forever.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 20:50:39 +0000