Larry Hartsell:
2007 Honorary Award
Larry Hartsell:
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While motoring down Santa Monica Boulevard in the early 1960s, Hartsell found himself in front of Ed Parker’s kenpo school, peering through the window on a day when Dan Inosanto was teaching. Immediately attracted to the dynamic art, Hartsell signed up and began working toward his black belt. Early on, he developed a reputation for being a hard-nosed brawler; it stemmed from his bouncing days in bars in North Carolina, he later said. Always eager to test the validity of the techniques he was learning, he took on all challengers—and promptly sent them packing. Hartsell met Bruce Lee in 1964, but they didn’t get a chance to train together because Hartsell was drafted into the Army. He saw active duty in Vietnam, where he served with the military police. His love of the martial arts motivated him to seek out opportunities to spar with any practitioners he ran into. His relationship with law enforcement and the military would continue long after his active duty ended, for he often conducted hand-to-hand and weapons seminars for various civilian and military agencies. Upon his return to the States in 1967, Hartsell continued his martial journey at Lee’s Los Angeles Chinatown school and his home. Few men from Hartsell’s era were able to back up the theories of jeet kune do and other martial arts with the kind of hard-fought experience that he had. Whether teaching self-defense, working as a bodyguard or training football players, Hartsell lived on the cutting edge of where high concepts meet hard impact. Hartsell’s love of grappling, fueled by encouragement from Lee and Inosanto, led him to research other styles and systems after Lee passed away. Under mentor Inosanto, Hartsell earned instructor-level rank in Jun Fan gung fu, jeet kune do, silat and kali. But the grappling arts were Hartsell’s strongest calling, and he eventually returned to the mat. His labors there produced a unique combination of striking, trapping, grappling and submission fighting, which he took to the world via his JKD Grappling Association. On August 20, 2007, Hartsell passed away at age 65. He left behind his wife, Debra, and thousands of friends, fans and followers around the world. Because of his passion for the self-defense arts and his efforts to spread his knowledge to anyone who showed an interest, Black Belt proudly presents its 2007 Honorary Award to Larry Hartsell. (This profile originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of Black Belt.) 
Larry Hartsell (1940 - 2007) |
