TED WONG

Over the past 26 years, the term Jeet Kune Do has become a common household word in martial arts, made famous by it's late founder, Bruce Lee. Although not until recently has Ted Wong made public his interpretation of Jeet Kune Do, he has been privately training and teaching a few students ever since the death of his teacher. Today, he is one of the very few JKD practitioners who can trace his roots directly to the founder.

A few of the many magazines that feature Ted Wong.

Wong actually began JKD in 1967 at Bruce Lee's third kwoon (training hall) in Las Angeles' Chinatown. Later on, Lee took him as a private student and workout partner, becoming one of only four people to have been personally trained by Bruce Lee and groomed for instructorship; the others being Taky Kimura, the late James Lee, and Dan Inosanto. In addition, among the many students of Bruce Lee, Ted Wong was one of only two people to have received certificates in Jeet Kune Do, the other being Dan Inosanto. Most of Lee's students received the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute certificate, which states that the students achieve rank according to the standards of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute (the name of Bruce Lee's schools in Seattle, Oakland, and Las Angeles.) But the Jeet Kune Do certificate states that one must have been personally taught by Bruce Lee in order to have received rank in JKD. Wong trained with Bruce Lee toward the end of Lee's later stages of JKD development, basically becoming Lee's last major private student.

Ted Wong was also one of the primary people involved with demonstrating techniques in both the Bruce Lee's Fighting Method series of books co-authored by Bruce Lee and M. Uyehara, and the book Wing Chun Kung Fu, authored by the late James Lee, edited by Bruce Lee.

After Lee's death, Wong chose not to teach JKD openly to the public. He maintained a low profile, keeping almost entirely out of the public eye. He continued to train in the backyard as he previously done with Lee with a few friends like Herb Jackson, further developing his JKD skills in private. He has taken very few students over the years, and only then on a private, personal one-two-one basis with the student. In addition, Wong held numerous semi private seminars in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today Ted Wong can be found hosting seminars across the U.S., in Canada and Abroad.

William Cheung and Ted Wong's book Wing Chun Kung Fu/Jeet Kune Do : A Comparison is an excellent opportunity to examine Wing Chun which was the basis for Jun Fan Gung Fu and see the clear differences that made up the art known as Jeet Kune Do. (Click on the book for a few examples of Jeet Kune Do techniques shown in animations)