"Ed lectures me"

One of my martial arts role models is Danny Insosanto. For those who don't know, Danny is best known as Bruce Lee's protege and probably the leading authority on Filipino martial arts in the world. What many don't know is that he started out in the arts in Ed Parker's school where he worked his way up to 2nd black.* It was there he was introduced to the Filipino arts through Mr. Parker, who told him it was his heritage and he should look into them.
   He also met Bruce Lee through Mr. Parker when he was assigned as Lee's escort for Parker's International Karate Championships where he was to do a demo. That demo was filmed by Mr. Parker and later shown to the producer of the TV series The Green Hornet who later cast Lee as Kato. That started his path to stardom. All this is documented in both Mr. Parker's and Danny Inosanto's books.
  In the 80's I was fortunate to spend a significant amount of time training in the Filipino arts under Danny.  I loved his way of teaching, his personality and was and am impressed with his depth of knowledge. He has always pursued more knowledge and proficiency. He is a master's master.
  It was at a seminar in Chicago that I had my first opportunity to talk with him. He spent a bit if time with me and I think it was because I was an Ed Parker student, so we shared a lineage and experience. There were lots of people there who wanted his time so I considered myself fortunate. In later years I would be able to take more weekend seminars and week-long training in the Los Angeles area. It was in that first meeting that he made the comment I used as a headline for this article, which was "Ed lectures me". First, you don't find a whole lot of people who refer to Mr. Parker as Ed. I've met a few and most who do (or did) use it that way out of a familiarity born of working with Mr. Parker in the early years. One or two did it just to subtlely show they were above using the common term of respect for him. At least, that's what I got from it based on the tone of voice and context of the conversation.
     Danny said "Ed lectures me" when he spoke about running into Mr. Parker from time to time. Seeing the history they had, that Danny had been a Parker student and was becoming internationally known, and knowing Mr. Parker, I'm sure the conversation turned toward handling people and presenting information. I can see how Danny would say he was being lectured and I can also see Mr. Parker looking at it as dispensing advice. It's all about perspective, which is the lesson I got from the comment. Of course, I wasn't there when it happened so maybe he really was giving him a lecture. Maybe Mr. Parker was trying to insure Danny knew he was his teacher and always would be. I don't know.  What I do know from being with egotistical doctors, pilots and martial artists is that guys will "name-drop" or "credential drop" when they meet like dogs at a mailbox, marking their territory. It's funny at times, kind of pathetic at others. It is what it is. Maybe they were marking their territory. They are both giants in the arts, worthy of respect. I am glad to have known them both.
  

* It was John McSweeney who was Danny's first kenpo teacher.