You know that Bruce Lee was pretty damn deadly with a pair of nunchaku. But do you know of the man who first introduced Bruce to his most famous movie weapon? Soon, hopefully everybody will know. The story of martial artist Dan Inosanto is being developed into a feature film.
Bruce Lee Protege, Who Helped Cowboys Win Super Bowl, to Get Film Treatment (Exclusive)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Mark Gordon Company is developing movie on the life of Dan Inosanto, who was a protege, instructor, training partner and close friend of Bruce Lee, and a martial arts legend in his own right. The film will be produced by Mark Gordon, Matt Jackson, Tarik Heitmann and Dan Inosanto's daughter (and Bruce Lee's goddaughter) Diana Lee Inosanto.
A respected instructor and authority in a multitude of martial arts styles, Dan Inosanto was one of three instructors personally certified by Bruce Lee to teach Jeet Kune Do. After Lee's death in 1973, Inosanto became a key figure in preserving his legacy as a principal spokesman and historian for Jeet Kune Do.
And yes, in 1964, he was the guy who handed Bruce his first nunchaku.
"At the time, he thought [it] was a worthless piece of junk," Inosanto recalls in the 2012 documentary I Am Bruce Lee. But he eventually trained Lee in how to use his now-signature screen weapon, famously wielded in films like Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon. He was apparently a quick study.
"In three months, he was swinging it like he'd been doing it for a lifetime," says Inosanto.
Game of Death features Lee and Inosanto memorably squaring off in a nunchaku duel.
In addition to being a revered icon in the world of martial arts, Inosanto was also a key figure in a secret training program that led the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl XII. Wait... what?
In the mid-1970s, Inosanto was recruited by Dallas Cowboys conditioning coach Bob Ward as part of a stealth training program for up-and-coming linesman Randy White. UPDATE: The movie will be based on Diana Lee Inosanto's upcoming book on her father, Way of the Cowboy.
With all the various Bruce Lee biopics hitting screens over the years, I've always believed no real Bruce Lee narrative was complete without Dan Inosanto. But heck, it makes sense that his story should get its own movie.
So who's the badass Filipino American actor that gets to play Dan Inosanto?
