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 A rare and original Bruce Lee student, Jerry Poteet is known as "The conscience of Jeet Kune
Do." And no less than the editor of Inside Kung fu magazine has called him, "Unquestionably the greatest Jeet Kune Do Instructor
in the world."
Since his teacher's premature passing, Jerry has stood firm, refusing to water down the art that
had such an enormous impact in his life. In fact, Jerry credits his teacher, Bruce Lee, with giving him the tools to survive,
"the fight of my life", when he was compelled to undergo a liver transplant in 1995. Today, Jerry teaches Jeet Kune Do to
the next generation of students and Instructors, who will keep the flame alive.
Sifu Poteet has been teaching martial arts for over 40 years . Like many young men in the 60s,
Jerry began his martial arts career in Kenpo, and became a black belt under renowned Kenpo Instructor Ed Parker. But, contrary
to popular misconception, Jerry did not meet his famous Jeet Kune Do teacher in Los Angeles, but in Oakland, at James Lee's
house. Later that year, he was fortunate enough to be chosen as the second student admitted to Bruce Lee's Chinatown School
back in LA. He was also selected to be in a "closed door" group of five students, who trained with Bruce Lee twice a week.
In the years since, Jerry has used his martial arts expertise to train the Dallas Cowboys football
team, executive bodyguard Hollywood celebrities, and choreograph the fight choreography of several motion pictures.
But his proudest achievement is the fact that he was chosen as the person best able to train the
actor who would portray his teacher, Bruce Lee. Over the years, Jerry has refined a teaching method that, like the art of
Jeet Kune Do itself, strips away the inessentials. It was this method he used to train actor Jason Scott Lee for the role
in DRAGON, THE BRUCE LEE STORY. For Sifu Poteet, it was the ultimate way "To give something  back to my teacher."
Jerry truly embodies the principle of Yin/Yang, or opposites co-existing harmoniously.
Whether teaching an individual or a group, Sifu Poteet is easy-going, yet intense. He is friendly
and casual in manner, yet he demands precision in movement and attitude. Laughing and joking, yet all business when it comes
to the training results. He wishes to elicit from students only what his teacher demanded from him; their best. It is amazing
to see how many surpass not only his expectations, but their own as well.
This is why Jerry Poteet is proclaimed as "The Source" for the truth in the art of Jeet Kune Do. | 
