Jeff Imada (born June 17, 1955) is a martial artist, stuntman, director, and actor from California. He has performed stunts in over 100 movies and televison programs and authored one of the first books published in the US about the balisong knife.
Jeff Imada was born in Inglewood, California, USA, where he began studying martial arts at the age of fifteen. At El Camino College and UCLA, he majored in pre-med and minored in music. While in college, he started working as a movie "extra," which led to his becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Stunts Unlimited and the Directors Guild of America. Jeff Imada has been the technical advisor on numerous films, including Dutch (1991), Tango & Cash (1989), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Dreamscape (1984), and Streets of Fire (1984), and such television series as "Magnum, P.I." (1980), "Remington Steele" (1982), "Dynasty" (1981), "Matt Houston" (1982), "Airwolf" (1984), "Stingray" (1986), "Hart to Hart" (1979) and "Tales of the Gold Monkey" (1982).
He was a close friend to Brandon Lee with whom he studied Jeet Kune Do under the tuteledge of Dan Inosanto and was the primary fight coreographer on Lee's final film, The Crow.
Imada has authored two books on the history and use of the Balisong knife.The Balisong Manual was one of the first books published in the US about this unusual knife.
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