You Will Be Missed

Obituaries

I should have wrote about this a week ago, but I am doing several things at once and getting in the swing of things at work.

The famous Michael Jackson died last week.

No, not the terror of little children everywhere, not the man who simoutaneously makes Catholic Priests and drooling pedophiles look like shoo-ins for the Nobel Peace award.

The beer critic.

In the circles of people who enjoy fine beers and whisky everybody knew Michael Jackson, and during his lifetime he became known as the most widely-published and influential author on beer. He wrote the authoritative treatise on beer, especially from Belgium. When I discovered the world of Belgium beers, Jackson’s “The World Guide To Beer” was right there to help me understand my new love, and treat her with care and respect. The modern “concept” of beer style is largely based on his 1977 World Guide To Beer, in which Jackson categorized a variety of beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names.

Jackson was especially well-known for his particular passion for the specialty brews of Belgium, and his bestseller The Great Beers of Belgium.

He’s the guy who introduced the terms "top yeast" for ales and "bottom yeast" for lagers. His work had a special influence on the popularization on the brewing culture in North America and had a great show called The Beer Hunter, which you can see from time to time on the Discovery Channel. During his 30 year career as a critic, he wrote columns for a large number of newspapers and magazines.

He was appointed to an honorary officer of the Ridderschap van de Roerstok in 1997 for his important contribution to the international success of the Belgian beers. This honor had previously only been given to brewers. Personally, I’m angling for one of those myself.

Jackson had been suffering from both Parkinson’s disease and Diabetes for at least a decade, and died of a heart attack last week. The boys and I toasted his life last Sunday during our post-Silat class beerfest with a cherry Lambic, one of his favorites.

Typical Michael Jackson "Light Lunch"

Larry Hartsell

The Jeet Kune Do world is one of those strange places that has things both wondrous and sickening in it. The late Bruce Lee died suddenly, without leaving any real instructions behind for what was supposed to happen if he was ever gone. And that’s why the world of JKD is at this moment more rife with politics and infighting than quite possibly any other martial arts organization today.

This is what happens when the INDIVIDUAL is the STYLE. It happened with Robert Trias and the U.S.K.A. It happened with Ed Parker’s Kenpo. It happened with Herman Suwanda and Mande Muda. When the individual is gone there is no more appointed source for the knowledge, and the followers most trudge on as best they can on their own. And a scarce few can actually claim to have even crossed hands with Bruce Lee, let alone actually trained with him.

Out of this era are a few individuals who are immediately recognized as the top guns of the system, and legends within their own right. Although he argues that he’s not the top guy, Dan Inosanto is clearly at the forefront of the system, perhaps even martial arts itself. Here in Washington Taky Kimura is also continuing the tradition left to him from Bruce. And then there’s Larry Hartsell…

I didn’t know Larry personally, just from a few seminars in the early 90’s at Guro Danny’s place. If a living mirror of Guro Dan existed, it must have been Larry Hartsell.

Larry is probably JKD’s unsung hero, an unassuming man who carried his portion of the JKD legacy with a calm confidence. I have three seminars with him on tape, and each one shows him calmly walking from one attendee to the next, making sure everybody understood what was going on, helping out where it was needed. Larry had assumed the role of grappling expert in the JKD system, and when I say expert I mean it in the same sense as when I say Danny Inosanto “Might know a thing or two about sticks”. Larry was about knowledge, and could wrap you up like a Christmas goose sans basting. Larry trained under Guro Dan for over 35 years, and was as excellent at his stick and knife work as he was at grappling, and could EASILY have been Guro Danny’s successor at Kali. I took a few of his classes because I had to (the seminars weren’t split apart with several teachers at once, it was one at a time) and he was always a good time. However, because I didn’t care as much about grappling back then as I did Eskrima, I didn’t take any extra classes with him.

I am genuinely sorry I didn’t try to get to know him better.

I have all of his books, and if you haven’t read them, you should at least check them out, in particular Jeet Kune Do: Counterattack Grappling Counters and Reversals. It’s got some great stuff in there.

Larry passed away on August 20^th, 2007.

Body and Spirit I surrendered whole
To harsh Instructors - and received a soul . . .
If mortal man could change me through and through
From all I was - what may The God not do?
THE WONDER
by Rudyard Kipling