Black Belt – August-September 2019

Photos Courtesy of Dr. Z

MARTIAL ARTS NEWS YOU CAN USE. READ IT - KNOW IT - LIVE IT

NEXT GENERATION OF

JEET KUNE

DO MOVIES

n July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee, founder of jeet kune

do, passed away in Hong Kong. He’ll always be

remembered for his movies, which continue to cap-

tivate audiences around the world. Perhaps that’s

why he was named one of the top 100 most influential people

of the 20th century.

Lee’s legacy lives on, and his art of JKD is practiced daily

in countless countries. One of his many devoted followers is

Dr. Z, a practitioner of the martial arts and the medical arts, as

well as a filmmaker. He has a fascinating background and is

planning an equally fascinating future.

Could you discuss your relationship to Bruce Lee and jeet

kune do?

Martial arts is a way of life for me. Therefore, I think, breathe

and practice it every day. I have been studying jeet kune do

since 1982. I became an instructor in 1990 and taught it for

approximately 30 years. In the past, I made various contribu-

tions to a number of magazines and journals. I was also a

classmate of the late Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son. We both

had been studying under the same instructors.

I furthered my education by attending the UCLA film school

in the ’90s. This allowed me to expose jeet kune do to a larger

audience of practitioners, as well as spectators.

Could you elaborate on why you attended film school?

I will give you the short version. In 1993 I was already a prac-

ticing doctor in Los Angeles. One day, a patient came in and

said‚ “I am so sorry about Brandon.” I turned on the TV and

was speechless and stunned for hours. I just could not believe

it. The next year, I visited the gravesite of Bruce and Brandon

at the Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle. I broke down and cried

— and kept asking, “Why?” On the plane ride back home, I

kept saying to myself, “I need to contribute something for the

inspiration that they brought to the martial arts.”

A few weeks later, I decided to go to film school. Sub-

sequently, I was able to produce 13 independent pictures,

dedicating them to Bruce and Brandon as well as to the con-

tinuation of jeet kune do around the world. How I produced

13 pictures was through understanding the film industry. I

bypassed a lot of hurdles using the principles of jeet kune do

— being “simple, direct and effective.” While others using the

conventional way [had to] wait forever until their budgets or

productions were cleared, I was able to find ways to make it

happen sooner.

Have you met many martial arts movie stars during your

Hollywood journey?

Yes, I have. In addition, [I was] a jeet kune do classmate of

the late Brandon Lee [in the ’80s] as he was growing up and

being groomed to succeed his father. Showdown in Little

Tokyo was a success, followed by Rapid Fire, and then came

The Crow — fate, misfortune or whatever word you want to

use prevented that from happening back in 1993. A couple of

years later, Shannon Lee came on the cinematic scene, but

10 BLACKBELTMAG.COM § AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019