Bruce Lee and grappling: what the Tao of Jeet Kune Do says

HistoryChecked 31 Oct 2026

By Scott Flear, founder of JitsAI. From the Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Ohara, 1975), with page numbers, and interviews with the people who trained with Lee.

Bruce Lee wrote grappling into his notes: throws, leg tackles, joint locks and chokes, with a section headed “Studies on Judo and Ju-Jitsu”. He trained judo, jujitsu and wrestling with Gene LeBell and Wally Jay. He never trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and no source shows he held a judo rank.

What did Bruce Lee write about grappling?

An early outline on p.75 splits it in two: “1. Wrestling” (strangulation, leg tackles, tie-ups) and “2. Judo: Joint locks, Chokes”, with “Leverage timing” underneath. Pages 115 and 116 turn that into lists.

p.115

7 throws

  • Hooking throw
  • Reverse hooking throw
  • Single leg tackle and trip
  • Double leg tackle
  • Foot sweeps, with or without an arm drag
  • Kick back
p.116

10 joint locks

  • Outside armpit lock
  • Wrist lock and reverse wrist lock
  • Lying across arm bar
  • Standing and lying single leg locks
  • Single and double leg and spine locks
  • Foot twist toe hold
p.116

3 chokes

  • Rear drop choke
  • Lean over drop choke
  • Side drop choke
p.116

3 takedown methods

  • Circle step single leg tackle
  • Drop step leg tackle
  • Draw step leg tackle
p.116

4 foul tactics

  • Hair pulling, for control
  • Foot stomp, for maiming
  • Pinching, biting and ear pulling, for release or control
  • Groin grabbing

The locks aren’t only for standing. Lee notes they work “lying on the ground” too, “as an immobilizing technique” (p.116).

His do’s and don’ts for grappling

Do’s, p.116

  1. Always keep moving.
  2. Be prepared for counters.
  3. Develop cat-like movements.
  4. Make the opponent wrestle your way.
  5. Be aggressive; make your opponent think defense.

Don’ts, p.116

  1. Don’t cross your legs.
  2. Don’t commit your arms too deeply.
  3. Don’t chase your opponent.
  4. Don’t rely on one takedown; be ready for other openings.
  5. Don’t let your opponent circle you.

What do the Tao’s grappling drawings show?

Pages 117 to 123 are Lee’s own sketches with handwritten labels. Here’s what each page covers.

  1. p.117Leg attacks Double leg attacks with a back heel and a lift, single leg trips, and double leg locks once the opponent is down.
  2. p.118Leg locks and toe holds Single leg locks that run “TO TOE HOLD”, a “Toe hold arm pin”, and a takedown entry that ends on the foot.
  3. p.119Entries An “ankle pick up” into a foot twist and leg lock, arm blasts, elbow throw-bys to a rear strangle, and “Arm drag to strangulation”.
  4. p.120Head and neck Forward neck cranks, a chin lift, a spine stretch, a “REVERSE FIGURE-4 NECK LOCK” and a “FRONT FACE LOCK”.
  5. p.121Head and arm Side, front and top strangles, a rear kneeling strangulation, half nelson combinations and a boxed “Guillotine”.
  6. p.122Studies on judo and ju-jitsu Fighters in gi and belts: a hip throw, standing strangles, a “scarf hold”, a “straight armlock” and a “stomach throw”.
  7. p.123Collar choke and surfboard “Okuri Eri-Jime”, drawn from the back with the legs in, and a “Double armlock (surfboard)” with the feet in the back.

The margin of p.122 carries a line that fits the whole section: “All fighting should be done with speed and sudden economy in mind, as well as with power.”

What do Bruce Lee’s grappling moves look like?

These are JitsAI’s own diagrams, not Lee’s drawings. Green does the move, blue receives it, and the white arrow shows the direction of force.

What are Lee’s grappling moves called today?

Most of them are still taught. Where the name or the sketch is loose, we give the closest modern equivalent and say so.

p.115“Double leg tackle”

Same moveDouble leg takedown

p.115“Single leg tackle and trip”

Same moveSingle leg takedown

p.119“Ankle pick up”

Same moveAnkle pick

p.116“Foot twist toe hold”

Closest modern equivalentToe hold

p.116“Lying across arm bar”

Closest modern equivalentArmbar (juji gatame)

p.122“Straight armlock”

Closest modern equivalentStraight armbar (juji gatame family)

pp.116, 121“Rear drop choke, rear kneeling strangulation”

Closest modern equivalentRear naked choke

p.120“Reverse figure-4 neck lock”

Closest modern equivalentA figure-four around the neck, the shape a triangle choke makes with the legs

p.121“Guillotine”

Same moveGuillotine choke

p.120“Forward neck crank, front face lock”

Closest modern equivalentNeck crank

p.121“Half nelson and hammerlock”

Closest modern equivalentBent arm lock behind the back, the kimura’s direction

p.116“Wrist lock”

Same moveWrist lock

p.123“Okuri Eri-Jime”

Same moveOkuri eri jime, the sliding collar choke from the back BJJ cousin: the bow and arrow choke

p.122“Scarf hold”

Same moveKesa gatame

p.122“Stomach throw”

Closest modern equivalentTomoe nage

“Same move” means Lee’s label names the technique a coach would teach under that name today. The sketches are rough, so details such as grips can differ.

Who taught Bruce Lee grappling?

Gene LeBell

Judo, wrestling and “some finishing holds”, privately, for over a year. They met on The Green Hornet in 1966.

Wally Jay

Small circle jujitsu, from 1962. The Deseret News dates it 1962 to 1964, at Jay’s Alameda school.

Hayward Nishioka

A judoka who says he trained with Lee once a month in Los Angeles. Asked what he’d do if an opponent sat down and waited, Lee said he’d walk away.

Dan Inosanto has said Lee also researched chin na, and that locks and submissions were drilled, not sparred.

Did Bruce Lee have a judo black belt?

No source shows it. In a letter to Ed Hart, Lee wrote that he planned to take judo at university for his physical education requirement. That’s a class, not a grade.

Photos of Lee in a black belt are usually put down to Jesse Glover’s belt, according to bjjdoc.com. Brown belt claims name no grader, dojo or date. Treat any judo rank as unproven.

Did Bruce Lee use grappling in his films?

Want to learn that finish? Our armbar guide breaks it down in 5 steps.

How is Bruce Lee linked to Brazilian jiu-jitsu?

Through his students, after he died. There’s no documented meeting between Lee and any Gracie.

  1. July 1973 Lee dies. Rickson Gracie is 14.
  2. 1978 Rorion Gracie settles in the US.
  3. 1980 Chuck Norris first trains with the Gracies in Rio, by Rickson’s account. Later he trains with Rorion and the Machados.
  4. 2015 Norris is promoted to third-degree BJJ black belt.
  5. 2023 Dan Inosanto is promoted to fifth-degree BJJ black belt by Jean Jacques Machado.

Norris on his first session, to Graciemag: “it was like I’d never had a lesson in my life.” If you’re weighing up the two parent arts, start with BJJ vs judo.

Did Bruce Lee’s notes point towards MMA?

His notes mix striking and grappling on purpose. The “Facts of Jeet Kune Do” list includes strong in-fighting by “throwing”, “grappling” and “immobilizations” (pp.22-23). In the next section he rejects ranking one range over another, “grappling versus hitting and kicking” included: “There is no such thing as ‘this’ is better than ‘that’” (p.23).

He still preferred to stay standing, and Inosanto says the locks were drilled rather than sparred. For the ground half, our no-gi jiu-jitsu guide is a good start.

What else do people ask about Bruce Lee and grappling?

Did Bruce Lee train jiu-jitsu?

He trained judo, jujitsu and catch-style grappling, not Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Wally Jay taught him small circle jujitsu from 1962, and Gene LeBell taught him judo, wrestling and finishing holds. His Tao of Jeet Kune Do has a section headed “Studies on Judo and Ju-Jitsu” (p.122).

Did Bruce Lee have a judo black belt?

No source shows he held any judo rank. A letter to Ed Hart shows he planned to take judo as a university class. Photos of Lee in a black belt are usually put down to Jesse Glover’s belt, so treat any rank claim as unproven.

Did Bruce Lee train with the Gracies?

There’s no documented meeting. Lee died in July 1973. Rickson Gracie was 14 then, and Rorion Gracie settled in the US in 1978. Lee’s circle met the Gracies later: Chuck Norris from 1980, and Dan Inosanto through the Machado brothers.

What submissions are in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do?

Page 116 lists ten joint locks, including a “lying across arm bar” and a “foot twist toe hold”, plus rear, lean over and side drop chokes. The drawings on pages 117 to 123 add neck cranks, a guillotine, a figure-four neck lock and okuri eri jime.

Did Bruce Lee use grappling in his films?

Yes. Enter the Dragon opens with Lee finishing Sammo Hung with an armbar, which LeBell later said he had taught him. Way of the Dragon ends with a neck hold on Chuck Norris, and Game of Death has takedowns and a choke finish.