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Larry Hartsell Biography

Larry Hartsell started his martial arts training in 1957 when he enrolled in a judo club in his home town of Charlotte, North Carolina, which he continued up till 1960. He also wrestled in high school further taking part in contact sport and experience grappling. In 1960 he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began studying Kenpo Karate in 1961 under the great late Ed Parker. After receiving  his black belt in Kenpo Karate, he was inducted into the army and went on to serve his country in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967, where he served as a military policeman.

After his discharge from the armed forces in 1967, Larry was fortunate to become a member of Bruce Lees private Los Angeles Chinatown school located on 628 College St.- Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. This was a closed door school which one could not just walk in, one had to be invited personally. In addition to training at the Chinatown  school, Larry was a member of an elite select few original students that personally trained with Bruce Lee at his house. Apart from sharing a student-instructor relationship with Bruce Lee, Larry was fortunate to have been a good friend who enjoyed talking about martial arts and hanging out together. After the untimely death of his instructor and friend Bruce Lee, Larry continued to constantly immerse himself to reach his full potential as a martial artist, and to this day he has been a close family friend of the Lee family.

In 1973, Larry moved back to his native North Carolina and opened up the only authorized Jeet Kune Do school east of California, where he began teaching carefully screened students Jeet Kune Do. In addition to the Inosanto Academy and the Kali Academy (both based in Los Angeles) this was the only other place for learning Jeet Kune Do in the world.

In 1982 Larry moved back to Los Angeles where he started teaching his own JKD class at the old Inosanto Academy. He began working as a professional bodyguard ( Cliff Stewart a student of Larry’s and the most sought after bodyguard in history got him involved in professional bodyguarding) to Hollywood celebrities and the rich and famous, including Mr. T of The A Team and Rocky 3 fame, Larry Flint of Hustler magazine and various Saudi sheiks in Beverly Hills. Larry along with Dan Inosanto and Dr. Bob Ward have been the conditioning coaches to professional football teams Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

Dubbed as the ‘premier JKD streetfighter’ Larry has worked as a professional bouncer in biker bars in North Carolina where he has had to use his practical skills against the rough and tough. Larry is the only original student of Bruce Lee from the L.A. Chinatown school to have fought a full contact fight for Lee which evidently became the first ever full contact kickboxing fight. Larry’s vast experience in hand to hand combat and ten years of practical experience in law enforcement including his service as a deputy sheriff, lead him to teach law enforcement officers and agencies self defense and baton tactics. He also has an associate degree in criminology.

At the time of Bruce Lee’s untimely death there were limited formal techniques in the Jeet Kune Do grappling range. Larry has continued his pursuit of investigating and integrating concepts into his Jeet Kune Do framework as taught to him by Bruce Lee to strengthen the grappling range, thus making it much more effective.

Hartsell has appeared  on magazine covers worldwide from Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt, Karate Kung Fu Illustrated, Impact, Combat, and Australasian Fighting Arts. He has also produced a series of instructional videos that focus on the diverse aspects of training and fighting. He’s a best-selling Jeet Kune Do author having authored a total of four classic Jeet Kune Do books including the acclaimed ‘ Jeet Kune Do: conditioning and grappling methods’.

Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association founded by Larry Hartsell over ten years ago was formed to propagate and promote training and fighting aspects of Bruce Lees Jeet Kune Do with the prime emphasis put on the grappling component of the art. Today Hartsell who is an internationally recognized senior Jeet Kune Do instructor  continues to teach seminars worldwide. In addition he teaches at his home in Los Angeles out of his garage a handful of students on a one-on-one personal basis only. He also teaches classes at the Inosanto Academy in Los Angeles and the Hayastan Academy in Beverly Hills. Dan Inosanto, Larry’s mentor  and close friend spend as much time as possible in pursuit of continuing their research in their quest for ‘truth’ in combat. He is one of a few individuals to have been certified as a senior full instructor in Jeet Kune Do by Dan Inosanto.

Many consider Hartsell to be one of the most knowledgeable and world renowned Jeet Kune Do grappling authorities, and a prime force behind the promotion and perpetuation of Bruce Lees art on a worldwide level. With over 40 years of learning, coaching and practical experience  Larry Hartsell is truly and American Icon and grappler, as well as the leading force behind the propagation of Bruce Lees Jeet Kune Do for the past three decades.  He is the hard man of JKD.   

This biography was taken from Larry Hartsell’s book Jeet Kune Do: Hardcore Training and Strategies.