Martial Edge Meets Diana Lee Inosanto

You are here: Home

Interviews

By Pete Mills, on 02-03-2008 15:39

Martial Edge has the pleasure to be in conversation with female martial arts icon Diana Lee Inosanto. Lesley Jackson learns what it is to be surrounded by martial arts from infancy and growing up in a culturally changing time in America.

Diana Lee Inosanto has a martial arts pedigree like no other. The daughter of highly respected martial artist Dan Inosanto and God daughter of his instructor, martial arts legend Bruce Lee, Diana has carved herself into a female martial arts icon in her own right. An expert in the Filipino martial arts, Muay Thai, French Savate and of course, Jeet Kune Do, she and her husband and fellow instructor Ron Balicki have travelled the world teaching and demonstrating the martial arts. As well as a martial artist Diana has been a stunt woman and talented actress, both on screen and stage. Her roles have included that of Julius Caesar on stage and various appearances in film and television. She has recently turned to film-making where she has written, directed and starred in the independently made film ‘The Sensei’, a story about a young man who learns to defend himself against homophobic bullying in the early 1980s. Diana hopes to continue making martial arts themed films with a social conscious that the audience can learn from as well as being entertained. Diana currently lives in California with her husband Ron Balicki and children Sebastian and Zachary.

Martial Edge: Being the daughter of Dan Inosanto and God daughter of Bruce Lee one presumes you were involved in the martial arts from an early age, what are your earliest memories of martial arts?

Diana Lee Inosanto:Oh gosh, that’s really hard to say! You know it has always been around me and I can even remember as far back to when I was one, even in the bathroom there were martial arts magazines and books! In the kitchen my dad had a collection of swords and martial arts equipment; it’s just something that has always been part of my daily surroundings. During this time my father was teaching a lot, and I would often visit the school in China Town. After my Uncle Bruce died my dad also had a school that was in our back yard in Carson and then later on he moved to Torrance. So it’s definitely something that’s been around me on a daily basis.

Martial Edge: Would you say that you had quite an unusual upbringing then?

Diana Lee Inosanto: Yes, I think I had a feeling how unusual it was when I was about three or four when Uncle Bruce came over and my dad and he were working in the back yard. I could see the neighbours overlooking over the fence and they were saying, “Hey, there’s Kato!” That’s when I came to realise that there was a special public relationship that Uncle Bruce was having with the public at that time. That was kind of a wondrous discovery for me.

Martial Edge: As well as being surrounded by martial arts during your childhood, at what point and why did you start to train in the martial arts with more intent?

Diana Lee Inosanto: I have to say I have to credit my father who would always encourage me to train. He always felt that his daughter should have at least a cultural identification with the martial arts, “this is your culture,” he would say to me. Also as a woman he wanted me to grow up able to defend myself so whether I liked it or not, he made me train. By the time I hit adolescence my father backed off and the funny thing was that I found myself gravitating towards martial arts anyhow because I was so used to training at my dad’s school. For a while in my early adulthood, from late teens to early 20s I took another route; I started getting more into dance and acting and it wasn’t until I found myself a single mother of an autistic son that I really strongly came back to the martial arts and started training very heavily. It was at that time I trained with a good friend, who was one of my father’s leading students, and would become my future husband. At that point the martial arts became more of a spiritual journey, helping me to heal inside and deal with the stress of having a child with autism.

Martial Edge: One presumes you started your training with Jeet Kune Do, which other martial arts have you been involved in and why did you choose them?

Diana Lee Inosanto: Well, the first thing I should probably define here is that most people think Jeet Kune Do is an art percé , it really is more of a philosophy or a concept and about everyone’s personal journey, evolution and what works best for them. The art itself that Uncle Bruce actually came up with is called Jun Fan Gung Fu; Jun Fan was his name in Chinese. I know semantically people always refer to Jeet Kune Do but historically the name Jeet Kune Do is the philosophic thinking behind the actual fighting style. My father felt it was really important for me to be introduced to a variation of martial arts. I was always surrounded by Filipino martial arts and other styles I encountered later were Muay Thai and French Savate, so think of it as a martial arts smorgasbord. My dad would give me a taste of all the different arts and then his hope would be that I would eventually gravitate to what I felt was most natural and my evolutionary process as a martial artist.

	Enter the Dragon The martial arts film for people who don’t even like martial arts films. This movie is the equivalent of the Big Bang theory: the start of everything. Ben Johnson closely studies a film which most martial artists regard as their favourite movie of all time, starring the legendary Bruce Lee.

Martial Edge: I suppose the inevitable question is what are your most distinct memories of Bruce Lee?

Diana Lee Inosanto: You know it’s funny I’ve been asked this question quite a bit lately and what I remember most about him is the example he set. Of course I grew up with watching him train with my dad and there was always the art itself that I used to see whilst training with my father. You have to remember back in the 60s and 70s, our country in the US was going through a lot of changes culturally; you started to see the very beginnings of diversity and people of different cultures coming together. It was still very unusual in martial arts for people to cross train and it was even more unusual for black, white, Asian or Hispanic people to hang out together but the beauty of Uncle Bruce was that if you went to his school it was like a composite of the United Nations. He really was one of the founders of mixed martial arts in that he was also doing mixed cultures. It was unusual at that time to see such a mixture of cultures, people were surprised that Chinese, Japanese and Koreans hung around together but not for Uncle Bruce. He was wonderful in that way and I think that was a very important example that people can follow even today and so that’s my earliest memory; seeing him, my dad and the many people in that group working together. The other memories I have of him are when he came over, he and dad would work out, talk philosophy and crack jokes once in a while! I had memories of going to their house too as well, Brandon and I used to play as our parents would gather and do what adults do.

Martial Edge: As well as Bruce Lee and your father, where else or who else have you gained influences in your martial arts and also how do you feel you shaped your own ideas and martial arts style and made it uniquely Diana Lee Inosanto?

Diana Lee Inosanto:It was interesting growing up as there is a tradition among the Filipino martial arts that when you train your children there is a point when you let others also train your children. My father had other students under him to assist in the teaching and my training and God bless them, I was the class clown at times! I don’t know if you have that kind of joke in England but it was like being the minister’s daughter and I could be rambunctious.

First of all there was Richard Bustillio, which I always want to make historically clear as he became my God father after Uncle Bruce died. He was also one of Bruce’s original students and I used to take his classes as a child. There was Teddy Lucay, Chai Sirisute, who is a big time Muay Thai instructor worldwide, Maung Gyi , Edgar Sulite, Yori Nakamura, Fred Degerberg and also my husband, Ron Balicki, who has had a huge influence on me. There was also Nicolas Saignac, the French Savate guy that I used to train under and also Herman Suwanda. In Capoeira I trained under Mike Young and Boneco Simos. So there were always these wonderful people that I had the chance to interface with and broaden my horizons as a martial artist.

I’m semi retired as a stunt woman since 2004 as it started to get dangerous and as a mother I wanted to be more available to my children, but boy it’s not easy! One of my sons is autistic so he needs a lot of time and I have also been spending more of my time as a film maker.

Martial Edge: Being a woman in quite a male environment with the martial arts, especially starting out quite a few years ago, what feminine qualities and strengths do you feel you have brought to the martial arts and how would you like to see women’s martial arts develop?

Diana Lee Inosanto:I have to say back in the 90s when I was travelling across the country and Europe with my husband to teach I would often find myself with my husband and a room full of 50 to 100 men and I was the only woman. I was like, “wow, how am I going to get the respect of these gentlemen?” and my husband would say, “just do your best and teach.” It was interesting because the next time I came around, more and more men were starting to bring their girlfriends, their wives, their mothers and their sisters to come and train and so I like to think that maybe I had some influence and impact there. The idea of women being included in the martial arts arena when it was predominately male has shifted now and so for that I’m happy.

I hope I could have played some influence there and that I find more and more men have been more open minded about teaching women. Of course there are some men that aren’t as willing to include women and that’s ok; you know I figure that it is an evolutionary process of our times and as far as femininity is concerned I would hope that I can maybe challenge people to also think that martial arts are for everyone and not just for those that we have traditionally placed in the martial arts role.

Martial Edge: How do you combine the roles of stunt woman and actress, martial artist, wife and mother? How do you manage your time?

Diana Lee Inosanto:I’m semi retired as a stunt woman since 2004 as it started to get dangerous and as a mother I wanted to be more available to my children, but boy it’s not easy! One of my sons is autistic so he needs a lot of time and I have also been spending more of my time as a film maker. I’m very lucky as I have a supportive family and so I can balance my life and I have an amazing husband who is also very supportive.

Martial Edge: Have your two children, Sebastian and Zachary, become involved in martial arts?

Diana Lee Inosanto: Not as yet. Zach shows a natural talent and my husband has been playfully introducing him. Sebastian has autism and I have been trying to introduce him to Capoeira with the dance and rhythm as a therapeutic medium but it isn’t really his calling.

Martial Edge: You have taken part in various different projects in films and acting, including playing Julius Caesar. What do you gain from your acting? Do you see this as a separate entity to your martial arts, or do you think they are inextricably entwined?

Diana Lee Inosanto:My father’s sister, Lilia Inosanto, was an actress in a leading Oriental theatre company and from that I’ve developed a love and respect for the performing arts. She passed away over 10 years ago. Acting is like therapy reflecting different dynamics of human behaviour. I’ve been involved in making independent films, not the chop-suey type of movie but using martial arts to promote civil rights and exploring human sensibility Organizers of the Hate Crimes Bill (also known as “The Matthew Shepard Act) endorse our movie on their website (www.hatecrimesbill.org). It’s important because Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Gordan Smith have been leading this bill, so I feel the endorsement comes indirectly from them. ‘The Sensei’ is a thought provoking film about tolerance and compassion which I am proud of.

Martial Edge: The film you recently wrote, directed and starred in, ‘The Sensei’, has a very strong storyline regarding homophobic bullying in the early eighties. What gave you the idea for this film? What would you like the audience to gain from watching ‘The Sensei’?

Diana Lee Inosanto:The basic concept of the film goes all the way back to Bruce Lee and martial arts journalist and practioner Gilbert Johnson. He was a prolific martial artist and writer for publications like Black Belt magazine, Inside Kung Fu. After Uncle Bruce’s death, Gilbert also helped to co-edit ‘The Tao of Jeet Kune Do’ and Dad’s book ‘The Filipino Martial Arts’. He was a very close family friend. However in the 80s, when the AIDS epidemic started to take hold and it was labelled the ‘gay disease’, it was used in the US by the anti-gays as a scapegoat. Gilbert was one of the first people to contract the disease via a blood transfusion he needed after being involved in a car accident and because of this, he quickly understood the discrimination and prejudice encountered by people who have contracted AIDS or the HIV virus. As a result he became an activist to make people aware that AIDS is not a gay disease and can affect anyone, that compassion is needed, not hate. This has been reflected within the martial arts world with school owners dealing with gay students in the dojo and challenging the prejudice that has touched the martial arts community in this way.

Personally my parents have a mixed marriage as my mother is white and my father Asian. Therefore, we had certain sensitivity about prejudice. In the early 70’s we were considered different as a family, so in some ways I felt an affinity with the gay community. As a martial artist I would never turn down a student due to their homosexuality; I am pleased to see that the UK has adopted the civil marriage laws for gay couples and I hope the US will follow in this direction.

Martial Edge: What other projects do you have coming up in the future?

Diana Lee Inosanto: I would like to continue to focus upon films with a social message . I want to get away from the B movie kick-butt films and use martial arts as a means to expand the social conscience with a message, much like the Billy Jack movies of the 70s. However, I am looking at other projects that explore other genres like I did in my previous film ‘The Prodigy’. Even in ‘The Sensei’ it is more of a drama, where martial arts is highlighted. People are responding to this as well; the Matthew Shepherd Foundation had a benefit screening of ‘The Sensei’ and his mother Judy Shepherd was very pleased with the result, we attracted a very diverse crowd. The world premiere of ‘The Sensei’ will be shown sometime during the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival that runs from May 1^st to the 8^th. (See festival information at http://festival.vconline.org). In addition, in Hollywood, I am making the transition to be known as D. Lee Inosanto. Although in the martial arts world I grew up as “Diana” Lee Inosanto, in Hollywood and the mainstream public, I find it is easier as a woman filmmaker to be known as D. Lee Inosanto. Even as a woman writer and director, I understand why someone like J.K Rowling of the Harry Potter books is using her initials for marketing purposes.

The Sensei

Martial Edge: How would you like to see your martial arts develop over the next few years?

Diana Lee Inosanto The martial arts have always come as a second language to me, but now I think I would like to explore more of the healing arts and the internal martial arts. I have a wonderful husband and this is a martial journey we will take together. I would like to remain a martial arts role model right up to my eighties or nineties, but I definitely see the martial arts as a life journey.

Diana, thank you for taking the time to speak to us at Martial Edge, it has been an honour and a pleasure.

Author Profile: Lesley Jackson

View Full Profile