LeROY GARCIA AND SKIP ELLSWORTH
LeRoy has been one of Skip's very best friends since the two of them were 15 years of age.
Skip says, "LeRoy was one of the toughest kids in the Seattle area. Other kids would come from all over the city to fight him. He would fight anybody... any time... any place. He would fight them one at a time, or all at once. He was fearless. I saw him get stabbed in the leg once -- about six inches above the knee. The knife went clear through his leg, and out the other side. He didn't even flinch. He just ignored it until he was finished with what he was doing."
Skip says LeRoy takes a punch better than anyone he has ever seen. The guys they hang out with sometimes joke and say, "If you hit LeRoy with a truck, all you get is a dent in your truck."
Skip talked with Jesse about LeRoy long before Jesse and LeRoy were introduced. He would say to Jesse, "You are going to really like LeRoy. You guys have a lot in common. You are going to become good friends with LeRoy once you meet him."
As things turned out, Jesse and LeRoy have been very close friends for almost 40 years.
Skip thinks LeRoy was probably Bruce's sixth or seventh student in America.
Even more important, LeRoy was one of Bruce's closest friends, and he had a major influence on Bruce's life.
For example -- he even taught Bruce how to drive a car.
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JIM DeMILE AND SKIP ELLSWORTH.
This photo was taken by the front door of Skip's log house -- in August, 1997.
Skip thinks that Jim DeMile was Bruce Lee's sixth or seventh student in America. Jim has been teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu in the Seattle area for many years. Also, he gives Kung Fu seminars throughout the world.
In the "group" photo, above (showing Bruce Lee with his six original students), Jim is in the front row, on the left.
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TAKY KIMURA AND SKIP ELLSWORTH.
Skip says, "Taky was one of Bruce Lee’s original students in the Seattle area. He is an exceptionally good martial artist – but even more important, he was one of Bruce’s good friends. In the martial arts field Taky has a reputation for being a very nice guy. He is respected and admired by everyone. You will never meet anyone who doesn’t like Taky."
Taky recently reminded Skip about the first time they met. It happened like this; Taky had just joined the "gang," as a new friend and student, but he hadn’t yet met Skip. He was practicing with the group when Skip (still a stranger to Taky) arrived late to join the practice. Everyone was standing in a line doing exercises when Skip approached the group -- pretending to be a stranger. In a very loud and belligerent manner, Skip interrupted the practice and said some derogatory things about Kung Fu. Then Skip (looking very serious) actually challenged Bruce to a fight. Bruce (and the other students) went along with the joke and pretended they didn’t know Skip. Harsh words were exchanged back and forth – and it looked like a serious fight was going to occur at any moment. Taky was completely "sucked in" by this, and he was worried that this crazy young white-guy was going to get killed – or worse. He was very relieved when everybody finally laughed (including Bruce), and it became obvious that Skip was Bruce's friend, and part of the gang.