Jesse Glover was born October 15th 1935 in Seattle, Washington. He was Bruce Lee’s first student and assistant instructor. 

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Prior to meeting Bruce, Jesse studied Judo primarily. He excelled as a Judo player, winning many tournaments against higher ranking belts due to his superior technique. Being an inquisitive martial artist, he continued to explore other arts and fighting methods. Jesse’s first glimpse of Bruce was during a demonstration in Seattle where he and good friend Ed Hart watched Bruce perform Gung Fu on stage. As fate would have it, Bruce began attending Edison Technical School where Jesse also attended. Eventually Jesse introduced himself to Bruce and asked to become his student. They quickly became good friends and avid workout partners. Jesse trained with Bruce for 4 years from 1959-1962. The majority of their training was in an informal, one-on-one setting. During that period Bruce, having recently left his formal training in the Wing Chun system under Grand Master Yip Man, was experimenting with the skills he had acquired and their functionality against different types of fighters. The countless hours Jesse spent with Bruce offered a unique perspective on the core principles and training methodology Bruce used to develop his foundation as a martial artist. Jesse eventually took these core ideas and modified them to create his own method, Non-Classical Gung Fu (NCGF); a system that Jesse never stopped developing. 

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Jesse taught privately in Seattle, Washington in addition to giving seminars in the United States and abroad until his unfortunate passing on June 27, 2012. He was the author of several books on martial arts and was working on others which remain unpublished. His instruction and innovation in martial arts over 50 years was instrumental to the improvement and development of countless individuals. Jesse continues to be a great inspiration to the lives he touched.