From the 5th to the 9th of August, Scott and I embarked on our second journey to the legendary camp of instructor Guro Dan Inosanto at the world-famous Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts in Los Angeles. Guro Dan Inosanto is the leading pioneer in JKD, gaining his knowledge from his training partner and closest friend, Bruce Lee.
After a 10-hour flight — and having to wait two hours for our rental car — we finally arrived in Los Angeles. Exhausted from our day’s travel, we went straight to bed hoping to be on form for our first day of the camp.
The following morning I got all my training gear ready and walked to the academy. I couldn’t wait to get started. Walking through the front door reminded me of the first time I came in October: the sense of greatness, and all the world-famous martial artists who had trained there. I remembered how lucky I am to be training with one of the greats.
While speaking to the receptionist, Dory, she got us even more excited by mentioning that Guro Dan was also teaching a two-day staff seminar during the camp. Having previously done some staff work at the October instructor camp, which I loved, I was eager to expand my knowledge — so obviously I accepted the offer.
Training day 1
The training day began with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend Jean Jacques Machado. During this session we practised the arm bar from guard, really focusing on small details such as how much tension should be in the legs and what your legs should be doing — easily forgotten if you are not consistent. We also did a reverse scissor sweep which I found very interesting and had never seen before, which led into a collar choke and arm bar from mount.
After the Jiu Jitsu session, the instructor camp began. We started off by doing the first six Jun Fan 5 counts, adding in evading the lead round kick as well as some basic compound trapping. After this we progressed onto variations on the Thai 6 counts, then went on to defences of the jab–hook, following up with some basic combinations.
We then went on to a lot of double stick, where we did the back-hand series, Abinico series, Redondo series and figure-of-eight series. Throughout these drills we changed the heights of the attacks, going from high–low–high to low–high–low for example, and we would always finish each combination with the odd series.
When the camp had finished, we did the staff seminar, where we worked basic patterns with a partner and how they translate to single stick and long sword.
Training day 2
The camp started off with the Machado BJJ, where we learnt what to do if your partner defends the collar choke from mount — a smooth and slick arm bar. We also looked at how to get an arm bar from back mount, which I thought was cool.
After this it was back to the second part of the staff seminar, where we revised the patterns we did on day one. Then we moved on to sumbrada with different weapons against the staff, such as single stick, double stick, stick and dagger, long sword (or dos manos in Spanish) and sword and shield.
Our third course that day was the International Inosanto Instructors camp. We started off with the basic four counts and had the choice of using either Jun Fan or Thai method. We then linked this with evading both the lead and rear round kick, where we did some Silat takedowns as well. In the stick work portion of the class we went over the Abinico and Redondo series again, and after this we also did some really cool things with the Cambiata.
Training day 3
Once again we started out with an awesome BJJ session. We did the Kimura from guard, really focusing on the detail and how to get the back if your opponent straightens their arm. We also did the arm bar where you walk both legs up the back using your arms, so we really had to focus on what our legs were doing.
In the instructor camp it was a bit of a slower day as we had to do our testing. The day started off with revising the eleven four-count drills we did on day 2, again using either Jun Fan or Thai method. We also revised the 6-count drills and did some new 6 counts using Burmese boxing method, where we had to punch, elbow, knee and kick all off the same side.
We did a bit of conditioning where we did a straight blast for 30 seconds, aiming to get at least 120 punches — I achieved 140, so I was pretty happy with my result. We then did the same drill with uppercuts, where I managed 130.
It then came to the testing. We started with the striking test, where we had to do an 11-count drill on the heavy bag. We then did the stick testing, where we did sumbrada with single stick, double stick, stick and dagger, long sword and staff.
Training day 4
In day 4 of the BJJ session we did the scissor sweep to either arm bar or triangle. We also did a really interesting reverse lasso and swept our partner.
In the instructor camp we went over the fourteen 4 counts and 6 counts. We also did the Thai 12-count drill, and combined the 6- and 4-count drills while defending any attack the pad holder threw. We then went on to trapping into takedowns.
The highlight of the day, however, was knife sparring — Guro Dan told Scott and me that he was really impressed with our sparring. We then had to do knife and sarong sparring in front of all 60 other instructors from around the world. Having never even held a sarong I felt a little nervous, but Scott and I just decided to go with it, and Guro Dan once again told us it looked really good.
Training day 5
On the fifth and final day of the BJJ camp we revised some of the topics we had covered throughout the week, and I was fortunate enough to roll with Jean Jacques Machado — BJJ legend and 7th degree red and black belt. Not many people can say that.
During the final day of camp, like the BJJ camp, we went over the same content from the week: all the 4 counts, 6 counts, 12 and 15 counts, as well as the Abinico and Redondo series and figure of eight. On the last day we also went over more advanced techniques and patterns with the staff, and before I knew it the camp had come to an end.
Doing these camps has been a life-changing experience for me personally. I had always had the dream to visit L.A. and train with Guro Dan. I was able to fulfil this dream because of the opportunity Can Do Martial Arts has given me. I cannot stress how inspiring and knowledgeable Guro Dan is, and this is an opportunity of a lifetime. This trip is a must — not just for JKD practitioners but for all martial artists who want to expand their knowledge.