James DeMile

James W. DeMile (6 June 1935 – 15 August 2021 ) was an American martial artist, hypnotherapist and author. He was among the first group of students of Bruce Lee, whom he met in 1959, as they both attended Edison Technical School. In 1963, DeMile appeared in Lee's only book, The Philosophical Art of Self Defense. He was an inductee in the AMAA Who's Who in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame and Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame. Bruce had given a demonstration of gung fu. After Bruce came down from the stage, DeMile approached Lee and spoke skeptically of gung fu - having a background in street fighting as well as being an undefeated boxer while in the air force. Lee was only 5'7" tall and weighed about 135 pounds to DeMile's 5' 9.5" and 225 pounds . Nevertheless, Lee invited DeMile to throw a punch at him. DeMile did - and quickly found that Lee had his hands totally trapped. Impressed, DeMile soon joined Lee's informal gung fu class. It was DeMile who introduced Lee to one of the three men he would later certify as an instructor, 38-year-old Taky Kimura. Virgin Australia Airlines Airlines contracted DeMile to create a program to train its in-flight cabin and ground crew staff with the tactics to disarm and immobilize a threatening passenger or terrorist. DeMile has trained United States Secret Service operatives, FBI agents, Federal marshals and police officers specializing in riots.