Guro Dan Inosanto: The Teacher’s Teacher and His Influence on Empower Martial Arts

If Bruce Lee lit the spark, Guro Dan Inosanto has spent a lifetime keeping the flame alive. For over six decades, he has shaped the world of martial arts as a teacher, innovator, and cultural bridge. His influence stretches across continents and generations — and his reach runs directly into the heart of what we do here at Empower Martial Arts Academy.

Founder of Empower Dan Holloway with Guro Dan on his trip to train at the Inosanto Academy in LA.

Our lineage, through Guro Rick Faye, Guro Bob Breen, Rick Young, and Phil Norman, all traces back to this one extraordinary man. Every class we teach in Jeet Kune Do, Kali, and functional martial arts carries a little piece of the Inosanto legacy — a philosophy of openness, learning, and constant evolution.

Who Is Guro Dan Inosanto?

Born in 1936 in Stockton, California, Dan Inosanto is a living legend in martial arts. A lifelong student, teacher, and researcher, he is best known as Bruce Lee’s protégé and training partner, and the man entrusted to continue Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do after his passing.

But to call him “Bruce Lee’s student” doesn’t do him justice. Guro Dan is an encyclopaedia of martial knowledge. He has spent his life studying, documenting, and teaching countless systems — from Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Eskrima, Arnis) to Silat, Muay Thai, Shoot Wrestling, Savate, Capoeira, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

He has trained under dozens of masters worldwide, many of whom became household names because he shared their arts with the West. In fact, Guro Dan was one of the first Americans to bring Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the United States — introducing the Gracie family to the JKD community long before the first UFC. Without him, it’s fair to say BJJ may never have spread as quickly or widely as it did.

Ahead of His Time

What makes Guro Dan truly remarkable isn’t just the sheer number of arts he’s studied — it’s his approach to learning.

Decades before “mixed martial arts” became a buzzword, Inosanto was already exploring cross-training, pressure testing, and blending systems for practicality. While many traditional schools guarded their styles, he was out there connecting them.

He believed that no art had all the answers. His goal was to find truth in combat, wherever it existed — and share it.

Through the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts in Los Angeles, he created a space that became the global hub for JKD and Filipino Martial Arts. Fighters, coaches, and teachers from all over the world travelled to train with him — and many of them became the next generation of innovators.

Our Lineage to Guro Dan

At Empower Martial Arts Academy, we’re proud to come from a direct line of Guro Dan’s students. Each has added their own experience, personality, and interpretation to his teachings — and we stand on their shoulders.

Guro Rick Faye – Minnesota Kali Group

A direct student of Guro Dan since the 1980s, Rick Faye has become one of the leading figures in JKD and Filipino Martial Arts worldwide. His Minnesota Kali Group (MKG) system blends JKD, Kali, Muay Thai, and grappling into a structured, progressive curriculum that’s accessible to everyone — from hobbyists to professional instructors.

Rick’s focus on community, adaptability, and functional training has influenced everything we do at Empower. His motto — “train hard, stay humble, and help others” — could easily be ours.

Guro Bob Breen – The 4D Combat System

A true pioneer of martial arts in the UK, Bob Breen was one of the first Europeans to train with Guro Dan and bring JKD and Kali to British soil. A respected fighter, teacher, and innovator, Bob’s 4D Combat system continues the spirit of JKD — simple, efficient, and built around real human movement.

His decades of experience in competition, self-defence, and coaching have had a huge influence on how we structure training at Empower: practical, pressure-tested, but always evolving.

Rick Young – Martial Arts Scotland

Rick Young is one of the UK’s most respected martial artists — a BJJ black belt under BJJ legend Mauricio Gomes, and JKD/Kali instructor under Dan Inosanto, as well as Judo Black Belt and instructor in many other arts. His approach to blending arts, building fundamentals, and maintaining technical precision continues to inspire instructors across Europe, including our team at Empower.

Phil Norman – Ghost Fighting System

A dynamic martial artist and one of the UK’s most creative thinkers, Phil Norman is a full instructor under Guro Dan, before developing his own system: Ghost, a cutting-edge striking style built on movement, rhythm, and deception. Phil’s innovative approach embodies the very essence of JKD — take what works, discard what doesn’t, and make it your own.

These four instructors — all direct students of Guro Dan — have passed their wisdom, experience, and spirit of curiosity down through their students, and eventually to us.

How Guro Dan’s Influence Shapes Empower Martial Arts

Every time we run a class, whether it’s Kali, Jeet Kune Do, or Kickboxing, Guro Dan’s fingerprints are there.

Dan Holloway with Guro Dan Inosanto

Here’s how his philosophy lives on in our academy:

1. “Research your own experience.”

Inosanto teaches that no one has a monopoly on truth. At Empower, we encourage every student to explore, ask questions, and make techniques their own. We don’t produce clones — we help people find their own expression within the art.

2. Integration over Isolation.

Instead of treating each martial art as separate, we look at the connections. A parry in JKD becomes a deflection in Kali. A knee from Muay Thai links to a takedown in grappling. Everything is part of a bigger picture — one that’s fluid, adaptable, and functional.

3. Tradition meets evolution.

We honour the arts and the teachers who came before us, but we also adapt. Like Guro Dan, we’re students first — always evolving, always learning.

4. The martial artist as a complete human being.

Inosanto’s philosophy extends beyond fighting. It’s about character, respect, and humility. That’s why Empower isn’t just about building fighters — it’s about building people.

A Global Legacy That Lives Locally

Through his decades of research, teaching, and sharing, Guro Dan Inosanto has influenced nearly every modern martial artist in some way — whether they know it or not. His ideas shaped the growth of MMA, revolutionised self-defence training, and introduced the world to the richness of Filipino Martial Arts.

At Empower, his legacy lives through our daily training, our instructors, and our community. Every time a student picks up a pair of sticks, practices a JKD interception, or drills a flow with a partner, they’re part of a lineage that stretches back to Los Angeles, and beyond that — to the open mind of a man who refused to be defined by one style.

Guro Dan once said:

“My goal is to help people become their own artist — not a copy of me or Bruce Lee, but the best version of themselves.”

That’s exactly what we strive for at Empower Martial Arts Academy