In Honor of Sifu Daniel Lee

DRAGON’S DEN – DANIEL LEE

 

In the mid 80’s, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Jerry Poteet’s oldest and dearest friends, Daniel Lee. He was a great friend to Jerry and myself for the next 30 years. One of their deepest bonds was the undying appreciation and loyalty to their teacher, Bruce Lee. Along with other Bruce Lee students, Ted Wong and Steve Golden, neither Dan nor Jerry wished to capitalize on their teacher’s fame, but rather vowed to keep the art of Jeet Kune Do, as they learned it first hand, true to the principles of the Maestro.

 

Dan Lee was the oldest of the private training group, and  always referred to Sigung Lee as “The Young Dragon.” No slouch in the martial arts department himself, Dan Lee was middleweight boxing champion of Asia, a sh black sash, a black belt in Ju Jitsu and Kenpo, and a Tai Chi master BEFORE he met his famous teacher. It speaks volumes that he considered Bruce Lee his Sifu until his death. He and Jerry used to sit in the living room and regal me with stories from their training sessions with Master Lee. But it is not those stories that I recall today.

 

Dan Lee was one of the first recipients of a triple bypass many decades ago. His diet was severely restricted after the cardiac surgery. Jerry, one of the first of a liver transplant, became a lifelong diabetic. One weekend Dan and Steve Golden were visiting us, and like naughty kids, they all snuck off to the ice cream parlor. I will never forget the sight of the three of them sitting there diving into hot fudge sundaes, and fighting over whipped cream! Dan and Jerry were “cheating” on their diets, and wore expressions of sheer bliss on their faces. As for Steve, he just encouraged them to eat more! Since we were not in the best neighborhood, I remember thinking “I wonder what would happen if someone tries to start trouble with these three middle aged men, giggling and hunched over their ice cream”?

 

After I lost Jerry, Dan Lee often called to check on my well being. Along with Steve, he encouraged me to keep Jerry’s JKD legacy going, and to take care of myself. On one particularly rough day of fighting through my grief, he shared a personal story. He confessed to me that after the death of his wife, Charmaine, he had slept in his car at the school parking lot in order to avoid going home to an empty house. I was relieved, since I had been doing the same, and sleeping in my car at the beach. We shared other stories about loss and recovery, and he told me “chin up, don’t succumb to sorrow.”

 

The true embodiment of Yin/Yang, Daniel Lee was an explosive powerhouse when he moved and sparred, but he was also the epitome of stillness in repose. Professor and scholar, philosopher and martial artist, scientist and Taoist. Loyal to his friends, his teacher, his family, Daniel Lee exemplified the living Tao.

 

Now, he reunites with Jerry and his teacher in the Dragon’s Den. I can only hope they have ice cream and root beer.

-Sifu Fran Poteet-Joseph

 

 

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2 thoughts on “In Honor of Sifu Daniel Lee”

  1. A moving and FUNNY tribute Fran…

    My dad had a sweet tooth and a weakness for food–hence the triple bypass and a second triple bypass about 20 years later.

    I might try to share this story with Steve Golden and Pete Jacobs..I can totally picture the scene you described.
    I’ll also try to write down some of the memories that I share on Wednesday and send them to all the JKD gang..They are my child’s viewpoint of their “golden days” of being young and invincible.
    Rob Lee

  2. To all in the JKD family:

    My time with Dan was only a few years but was one of the most valuable experiences in my training.

    As Dan was not an average Martial Arts mentor. I had been teaching and training in the arts for many years and had realized that I needed more knowledge, insight and various methods so, I was determined to seek out a high quality teacher who I could respect…and Dan was clearly the best of all my prior martial arts mentors as he had the ability to not only offer an overview of his training with Bruce but also, he could blend his scientific training with his traditional and spiritual aspects, blending these together with a deep sense of respect for all of his students.

    As a personal backyard student of his, I was honored to be accepted by this high quality teacher and often, when I was training in his backyard after fixing or replacing some of his training equipt., he would hear my war cries and often take a moment from his workload and offer me some of his valuable perspectives and past experiences.

    We would sit in his backyard, in the patio training area next to the pool and share wisdom and philosophies, as his mental acumen was quite advanced and focused.

    Dan had a gentle way about him, always offering a strong and stable class curriculum while sharing his personal experiences about Bruce and how Dan was training with Bruce one day and Bruce wished he could somehow create a way to watch his boxing films while training simultaneously, and so, Dan figured out a way to project the boxing movies onto a wall or blank sheet and in that way, Bruce could watch & train at the same time.

    Having Dan for a teacher was one of the best times in my life, as a martial artist and that, I will always value and deeply respect this man, my mentor, my friend, for being such a strong example of what a high quality martial arts instructor should be….some called him “Si Fu”…and others called him “Si Gung”…but Dan always said….”Hey, I’m just Dan, call me Dan”.

    But I …will always call him…”FRIEND”.

    My deepest respect & love goes out to you Dan, thank you for all your generous and sincere
    help over the years.

    In Appreciation & Respect Jeff

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