Jesse Glover: The First Student

Before the fame, before the films, before Jeet Kune Do even had a name — there was Jesse Glover. This is the story of Jesse Raymond Glover (born October 15, 1935, Seattle, Washington): the champion judoka and psychology major who met an eighteen-year-old Bruce Lee at Edison Technical College in 1959, traded judo for gung fu with him, and became Bruce Lee's first student and first assistant instructor in America. We trace the Seattle years, the famous electric-timer speed tests at Jesse's house, the founding of his own system Non-Classical GungFu, his three books, and the bond between two brothers — Jesse and his younger brother Mike Lee, creator of Nova Jeet Kune Do — who stayed after Bruce's funeral in 1973 and buried their friend with their own hands. Chapters: 0:00 — Intro: the first student 3:06 — The judoka: before Bruce 6:11 — Seattle years: the exchange 9:17 — Non-Classical GungFu 12:22 — Legacy: two brothers, one line "Masters of Fighting" is a series on the great martial artists and the ideas they left behind — told by people who live in their lineage.