Skip Ellsworth in new Bruce Lee biography

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wow. so very cool! I'm going to have to add that one to my reading list! thanks

You might want to look up Sid Woodcock related to that time period. There may be a link to Skip's history there too. Though I don't know the exact dates that Bruce and Sid knew each other, Sid did bring his background as WWII OSS in China and later Indo-China after the CIA was organized as an in-theater operative. Sid had learned and taught Japanese and Chinese arts and at the time he knew Lee, he brought more to the table in terms of developed knowledge of Chin Na (joint locking, controls and takedowns) which he shared with Bruce and his students.

As a civilian, Sid was in the arms trade and helped bring the Detonics (smallest 45 based upon the 1911) to market. He taught weapons and armed combat as well. As instructor to CIA operatives and later civilian life.

It might be that both Lee and Skip met him at that time. The firearms interest would be a commonality and certainly the wider firearms interest public was fairly well integrated on a social level in Seattle back in the day. Sid was never far from both martial arts or firearms. He thought of them as all martial arts. A weapon, is a weapon, regardless if it has black powder or not -- an extension of the human body.

I tend to think that Bruce held similar views.