Archive Feature

Tim Tackett

Black Belt contributor and book author Tim Tackett is an authority on jeet kune do.
Tim Tackett
(Photo by Thomas Sanders)
In 1962, Tim Tackett's martial arts training began when the U.S. Air Force sent him and his family to Taipei, Taiwan. While there, Tackett trained in kung fu. When he returned with his family to California a few years later, Tackett opened a kung fu school. However, he was also surprised to discover that he was one of the few non-Chinese kung fu teachers in America.

Tackett first saw Bruce Lee in 1967 at Ed Parker’s International Karate Tournament. He decided then and there to study jeet kune do. Unfortunately, Tackett wasn’t able to begin JKD training until after Lee’s  Chinatown school had officially closed. To fill the void, Dan Inosanto ran classes from the gym in his backyard. When Tackett joined the backyard class in 1971, there were only about 10 students in the class. Today, those students make up the who’s who of jeet kune do.

Tackett has continued to refine his skills with first-generation JKD student Bob Bremer and written extensively about the art with Bremer in Chinatown Jeet Kune Do: Essential Elements of Bruce Lee's Martial Art.

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