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Guro Dan Inosanto: Guardian of the Filipino Fighting Spirit By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Fri, 27 Jun 2025  Marina del Rey, California (June 21, 2025) Guro Dan Inosanto remains as sharp as the blades he’s mastered, and his presence still moves with the calm precision of someone who has studied rhythm all his life. At eighty-eight, he still moves with purpose— not just in body, but in spirit. His memory does more than recall— it carries the weight of generations. My father once called him the Keeper of the Dancing Flame. I understand that now. On a warm Saturday morning, my son Grant and I sat with Guro Dan at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts in Marina del Rey— a sanctuary for martial artists and disciples of self-defense. Wall-to-wall were vintage photographs, fight artifacts and quiet reverence. We arrived at his academy to speak about boxers. He welcomed us and graced us with much more. He spoke of rhythm and flow as it relates to martial arts, eastern and western boxing, and the art of self-preservation. We revisited teachings he’s shared before: “We preserved our (Filipino) martial traditions by hiding them in plain sight— through dance, through ritual, through rhythm. When colonizers tried to erase our fighting systems, we disguised them in celebration. The footwork, the angles, the timing— it was all there. What looked like a performance was actually preparation. What looked like culture was survival.”  He fired a left jab and then stepped to the side. “Balance and footwork is key,” he said. Guro Dan would know. He boxed during his time in the United States Army and later served as a martial arts instructor. To him, boxing and Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Arnis, Eskrima) and bare-fisted disciplines like Panuntukan and/or Suntukan, were never separate— they were intertwined, bound by timing, movement, and memory. At that moment, I understood— Filipino boxers weren’t shaped solely in gyms. They were raised in rhythm. To me, what Guro Dan teaches goes beyond blades, fists and footwork. In his teachings, Filipino Martial Arts becomes a living map of survival passed down through generations.  He led us to a wall of tribute to Filipino boxers. On it were photos of Jimmy Florita, Speedy Dado, Pancho Villa, Rosalio “Sleepy” Caballero (a Stockton favorite who fought over 300-to-500 amateur and professional bouts), and Dencio Cabanela, Jr., and many others. There was special reverence for the Docusen brothers: Maxie, the formidable Cajun Filipino pugilist who was avoided by many; Bernard, who faced the great Sugar Ray Robinson; and Regino, an accomplished fighter in his own right. “Gene Tunney, the great heavyweight champion who beat Jack Dempsey,” he recalled, “was the one who encouraged the Docusens to go professional— despite all the racial and economic barriers at the time.” He spoke of meeting former world champion and Filipino-American Salvador “Dado” Marino, who once taught at his high school in Hawaii. He remembered the story of former champion Willie Pastrano— Filipino and Italian— who only revealed his roots after winning the world title. Pastrano was the undisputed light-heavyweight king from 1963-65. Guro Inosanto recalled growing up on the south side of Stockton, California, where even breaking curfew could land you in the back of a paddy wagon. He spoke of a fellow martial artist from Hawaii— Lucky Lucaylucay, an amateur boxing champion in both Kauai and Honolulu. Lucky’s father, Buenaventura “Kid Bentura” Lucaylucay, was a Filipino immigrant and a professional boxing champion in his own right, holding titles across the islands. Kid Bentura once trained alongside Kid Moro— the same Kid Moro who famously gave Henry Armstrong all he could handle at a fight that resulted in a draw and a riot in Pismo beach, about 300 miles from Watsonville. Hammerin’ Hank was one of his favorite boxers, according to Guro Inosanto.  Among the framed memories was a personal photo with Tatay Ben Delgado, the trainer who once guided a young Manny Pacquiao. “Ben never used a stopwatch,” Guro Dan smiled. “But he could time a three-minute round to the second.” We spoke reverently of Gaudencio Cabanela, Sr.— Kid Dencio— a fighter remembered for his grit, footwork, rhythm. Dencio, Sr. once outshone Llew Edwards at the Olympic Stadium in Santa Cruz, Manila, losing by 10-round decision but winning the crowd. A photo of his son, Dencio Cabanela, Jr., now hangs on Guro Dan’s wall.  Remembering Filipino Boxing Pioneers: The Thirty We also spent time looking through the photo gallery of a book in progress— The Rise of Filipino Boxers in the Squared Circle— portraits and stories that my late father and his friend Jack Fiske have inspired. It paralleled Guro Inosanto’s deep admiration for the Greatest Boxers Made in the Philippines, and in that quiet moment, our shared respect for their legacy came into focus. Guro Dan nodded. “I heard many stories about them when I was young,” he said. “My parents spoke Pancho Villa’s name with deep respect.” That quiet confirmation told me everything. They weren’t just fighters. They too were dancers— moving to a rhythm only some could hear, but everyone could still envision. We spoke about the origins of the Filipino fighting arts…of Lapulapu, Magellan, of the Manila Men, the first Filipinos in America who created the first Filipino community in Saint Malo, Louisiana— the soldiers and sailors from the Manila Galleon era. It was his father, Guro Inosanto explained, who encouraged him to unify the terms Kali, Eskrima, and Arnis under the name Filipino Martial Arts— a phrase he discussed at the Smithsonian in 2010. The world listened.  (L-R) One Aspiring Writer, Guro Dan Inosanto and Guro John Maidment The Rhythm Remains I asked about the connection between boxing and the blade, “Do the hands follow what the feet dictate?” “The blade is an extension of the fist,” Guro Dan said. He nodded and broke it down— triangular steps, angled entries, subtle misdirections. The very architecture of attack and deception in the ring, it became clear, didn’t come solely from Western fighting schools. Much of it was already encoded in the Filipino martial movement. And the concept of attack, retreat, offense and defense all start from the ground up. A solid base, i.e. balance and footwork, is integral to any fighting system.  Archival photo of Master Dan Inosanto (Courtesy of the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts, 13352 Beach Ave., Marina del Rey, California) The Keeper of the Dancing Flame It’s tempting to speak of legacy in the past tense. But Guro Dan doesn’t just carry memory. He lives it. He was Bruce Lee’s friend, a fellow disciple and a trusted bridge between traditions. It was Guro Dan who introduced Bruce Lee to the single and double stick and helped refine the use of the nunchaku— techniques that later lit up the screen in Fist of Fury (1972), The Way of the Dragon (1972), Enter the Dragon (1973), Game of Death (1978). What the world saw as cinematic action and spectacle was, in part, the quiet transmission of Filipino martial wisdom. And he passes our Filipino fighting arts forward— not just for posterity, but for those ready to carry the torch. Guro Dan continues his life’s work with the rhythm of Kid Dencio. He continues to walk the proverbial trail of Pancho Villa. He preserves the blade’s meaning— like Ceferino Garcia with the bolo punch. Long live the Filipino boxers past and present…And may we all learn to walk the ring through their sacrifices— clear-eyed, grounded, and ready to answer the rhythm that still calls.  Long live the Keeper of the Dancing Flame… Mabuhay at Salamat, po, Guro Dan Inosanto. ----------------------------------------------------------- Notes of Appreciation: We’re grateful to Guro Paula Inosanto for welcoming our request and inquiry, and for accommodating us warmly. Thanks also to Guro John Maidment for offering a short but memorable lesson in Filipino Martial Arts. It was clear he’s spent a lifetime refining what he teaches. We were also joined by Guro Tsuyoshi Abe, Guro Joel Clark, and Guro Ricardo Crespo— instructors and longtime students at the Inosanto Academy. Their presence gave more weight to the visit. Guro Joel Clark has been part of the Academy for more than 30 years. Guro Abe and Guro Maidment have each trained and taught there for close to 40. Their commitment speaks for itself. We thank them all for sharing their time with us. It meant a great deal. All the photos from that day were taken by Grant Rivera, who captured the spirit of the day. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel Rivera, RRT.  |
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