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INTERVIEW WITH SIFU RICHARD TORRES BY SALIM BADAT
Richard Torres is a student of Bruce Lee's private student Ted Wong, whose lineage teaches the purest strain of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do.
Richard Torres executing a side kick
Please tell us of your martial arts background?
I started training in Japanese Karate back in June of 1971. I started looking into Jeet Kune Do in 1973, but continued in my Karate training. In 1973, I also began training in Jui-Jitsu with my father and in 1974 I began training in various styles of Chinese Kung Fu (including Wing Chun). That year, 1974, I found myself training in Karate, Jui-Jitsu and Kung Fu. By the end of 1975, I broke away from traditional martial arts and started looking into and training in Boxing and Kickboxing to understand the “aliveness” of Jeet Kune Do that Bruce Lee wrote so much about. By November of 1976, I decided that all my training and research would be directed towards Jeet Kune Do.
How did you get involved in Jeet Kune Do?
I knew of Bruce Lee from the Green Hornet Series, the Black Belt Magazine Articles, and the Longstreet Television Episodes. I was also super amazed to see him on the big screen in the Movies. What I didn’t realize was that he had created his own martial art system called Jeet Kune Do. After Bruce Lee’s passing in 1973, I wanted to learn everything I could learn about him, which led me to discover his art of Jeet Kune Do.
Being a teenager with a lot of time on my hands, I researched everything I could find about Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do. I even ordered a pre-publication copy of the “Tao Of Jeet Kune Do” Book in 1975, so that I could receive it as soon as it was available. When I received my copy in the mail, I practically devoured the book, reading it day and night.
1975 was a pivotal year for me, since I was training and teaching different aspects of martial arts. From my training, I could teach Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling.
A year later, 1976, Dan Inosanto wrote his book “Jeet Kune Do, The Art And Philosophy Of Bruce Lee”. I wrote him a letter to find out where I could purchase Full-Contact Equipment and where I could formally study JKD. I received a response from him several weeks later. He gave me the address of where Bruce Lee purchased his Full-Contact Equipment and wrote that JKD was only taught in L.A. at the Filipino Kali Academy. Being young and still in school, I could not travel to L.A. But by November 1976, I made the decision to devote my training and research to JKD.
In 1985, Paul Vunak was teaching seminars in New York City, which I attended every few months when he came to town. I did this for two years. I also trained several times with Richard Bustillo and also met and trained with Dan Inosanto in 1988.
How did you get to meet Sifu Ted Wong?
I first read about Ted Wong in “The Bruce Lee Memorial” Book in 1974. I then read about him again in Dan Inosanto’s book in 1976. In Dan’s book it was mentioned that Ted Wong trained privately with Bruce Lee without any previous martial arts training. So I knew that this man had a lot to offer. When I trained with Vunak, Bustillo and Inosanto, I always inquired about Ted Wong. To my disappointment, they all told me the same thing, “Ted Wong does not teach.”
I was involved in writing a newsletter entitled “The Bruce Lee Informer”, so I was invited as a special guest by Richard Bustillo and The JKD Society to attend Bruce Lee’s 50th Birthday in L.A. in November 1990.
In L.A., I went to visit Bustillo at the IMB Academy, when to my surprise, Ted Wong walks in. I immediately introduced myself and told him that I had been searching for him. I asked him if he was teaching JKD. And he told me he was not teaching. I gave him my phone number and told him that if he ever decided to teach JKD, to please call me. Ted Wong was nice enough to give me his home phone number also.
Incidentally, at this 50th birthday event I met for the first time Linda Lee, Brandon Lee, Robert and Phoebe Lee, Ed Parker and Van Williams, to name a few.
In 1993, I found out that Ted Wong would be teaching in Jerry Beasley’s Radford University. I spoke to Ted Wong over the phone and met him there in the summer of 1993. I began to follow Ted Wong all over the country consistently for many years and trained with him in New Jersey, Texas, Pittsburgh, Virginia, New York, California, Toronto, Montreal and Europe. I always enjoyed when he came to New York, because I got to spend personal time with him in my training. Sitting down and conversing with him on long airplane rides on our trips to Europe helped in my understanding of JKD. I was asked to assist him in those seminars and they paid both our airfares. It also helped me in getting more personal time with him. Finally, I was training in the JKD that I researched in Bruce Lee’s notes back in the 1970s. Eventually, in New York, on September 9, 2001 Ted Wong certified me officially as an Instructor.
How would you define Jeet Kune Do?
To me, Jeet Kune Do is martial science as expressed efficiently through the human body. It has nothing to do with styles, but everything to do with how efficient the human body can express itself in a given task of Kicking, Punching, Trapping or Grappling.
In Jeet Kune Do we look for the most Simplistic, Direct and Effective way to survive any attack in any situation. I agree with Bruce Lee when he describes Jeet Kune Do as a “Sophisticated Form Of Street Fighting”. To me, JKD has very little to do with sports and everything to do with street survival.
What do you consider to be Ted Wong's contribution to the art of Jeet Kune Do?
It was because of Ted Wong that the martial arts community learned of Bruce Lee’s art and realized how far left the art had gone in 20 years. Ted Wong’s greatest contribution was to make the public aware of Bruce Lee’s original Jeet Kune Do. Also, he was one of the few Jeet Kune Do instructors that taught JKD philosophy and how it applied to the art. Through him we learned that there was NO Filipino Arts, Muay Thai, Savate, Shoot Wrestling, or Silat in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. The main three arts that Bruce Lee used to create his JKD were elements of Wing Chun, Boxing and Fencing.
 Why is Jeet Kune Do so misunderstood?
For over 30 years we were told by Dan Inosanto and his instructors under him that Jeet Kune Do did not exist: that it was just a concept applied to any style of combat. He in turn, taught different styles of combat and called it Jeet Kune Do Concepts or Jeet Kune Do Blend, whereas he referred to Bruce Lee’s teachings as Jun Fan.
Ted Wong taught that this was not so. Bruce Lee never referred to his art as “Concepts” or “Blend”. In fact, Bruce Lee renamed his Jun Fan Method, Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do in itself was a martial art system with its own principles and guidelines. This is not to take away from Dan Inosanto or his contributions to keeping Bruce Lee’s memory alive. In fact, Dan Inosanto trained many good martial artists who became great instructors themselves. But the “Concept” approach is more what we now call Mixed Martial Arts. This is an effective way of training for some, but it is not Jeet Kune Do.
Richard Torres applies a stop kick on an opponent.
I have read some of the brochures of some of these Concepts Schools which read, “We teach you the different styles, you pick what works for you, Welcome to your own JKD”. But Bruce Lee’s JKD has nothing to do with styles, and everything to do with expressing martial arts scientifically as expressed efficiently through the human body. In other words, there is an efficient manner for the human body to Kick, Punch, Trap or Grapple.
In the last years of his life, Bruce Lee made the statement that he “does not believe in styles anymore. We all have two arms and two legs. Let’s learn to use them to the maximum”.
When the science of Jeet Kune Do is understood, the need to explain or teach it via multicultural styles becomes a fabrication. To advertise Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do and teach principles that are contrary to what he taught, is to counterfeit the art. Bruce Lee never taught Jeet Kune Do Blend, or Jeet Kune Do Concepts. If anything “new” is discovered in this art, it is based on the human body and its efficiency.
Do you encourage your students to cross train in other arts?
I encourage my students to observe other arts and understand their positives and negatives. But I feel if you are training in true Jeet Kune Do, you are training in total martial arts and do not need to train in segments of the totality. Jeet Kune Do is simply to simplify and not add more and more. The more “choices of combat” you have, the more you need to stop and think. The simpler the technique, the easier it is to respond instinctively (like an echo). Since the art is based for street combat, efficiency in getting the job done is preferred, rather than accumulated styles of combat. Choice reaction is slower than instinctual reaction.
You need to understand how the brain works and how to properly train it. Cluttering the mind with too many styles and too many responses causes hesitation and thinking. The battle between thinking and non-thinking is the martial artist’s greatest struggle.
What does your personal daily training routine consist of?
Maintaining the attributes of strength, flexibility, and endurance is a constant maintenance program for life. After training and teaching JKD for so many years, the emphasis lies on being able to maintain the body in top condition. So my personal training consists of fitness exercises, whereas at my school I work on sharpening the tools. This includes full contact sparring with equipment, hitting and kicking the pads, and training in street combat situations.
What makes Jeet Kune Do unique?
The uniqueness in Jeet Kune Do is its efficient simplicity. The art is based on the science of the human body and how it can efficiently express martial arts. It has nothing to do with cultures and their styles of combat. Jeet Kune Do has nothing to do with styles and everything to do with the science of the human body expressing martial arts correctly. There is a proper science in Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling.
To teach multi-culture styles to explain Jeet Kune Do is to do the art an injustice. There is multi-culture in the Olympics, yet when they perform running, swimming, or any other event, all the cultures perform the same, according to the science of the human body and not according to their culture.
In the running event, why don't we see the Africans hopping, the Chinese running sideways, the French skipping, or any other culture running differently? To win the event, they need their human body to perform to the maximum. So the science of the human body is studied to see how it can perform best in this event. Only in martial arts do we expect different cultures to fight differently. But in an all-out street brawl, how different does each culture fight? True, all these styles may have something "different", but half-way cultivation leads to ornamentation.
I tend to agree with Bruce Lee when he says there is no such thing as a Chinese way of doing it, a Japanese way of doing it, or any other style via culture. Since we all have two arms and two legs, lets learn to use them to the maximum (with science).
So the uniqueness in this art is that it is a scientific martial art, efficient and simplistic enough for street fighting. It is bound by nothing to achieve its goal of surviving an all-out street brawl. This is why Jeet Kune Do is sometimes referred to as “Scientific Street Fighting”. It is simple, direct and non-classical.
Please tell us about your academy and the curriculum that you teach?
The Jeet Kune Do Martial Arts Institute has been opened for 15 years at the same location in Fishkill, New York. The curriculum is based on Bruce Lee’s teachings, principles and guidelines. Besides our basic training of sharpening the tools of Kicking, Punching, Trapping, and Counter Grappling for the streets, we spar full-contact with full-contact gear and train in different street scenarios. We work in mastering the proper fundamentals (the how-to) and also work on their progressive application (something few schools are aware of). This is the secret of being a great fighter in JKD.
What are your future goals and aspirations?
At the moment I am involved in teaching in my school and also teaching in seminars here in the States and in Europe. I also have a few students abroad who I am training to become Instructors.
I was involved in training some air marshals in close-quarter combat, some sate troopers and some local police, and may continue training them if they so desire. In the future I would like to publish a book on my discoveries of this great art and continue promoting JKD wherever possible.
Richard Torres and Phoebe Lee placing flowers on Bruce Lee's grave
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