Tackett began training in the martial arts when he was stationed in Taiwan in 1962 while serving in the United States Air Force.
During his 3 years in Taiwan he learned two types of xingyiquan, tai chi, Northern and Southern Shaolin, White Crane, and Monkey style kung fu.
At that time the class consisted of about 10 students including Bob Bremer, Dan Lee, Richard Bustillo, Pete Jacobs and Jerry Poteet.
In 1973 he was given a senior instructor's rank by Dan Inosanto and was permitted to teach Jeet Kune Do to a small group of students.
[1] Having no desire to teach JKD publicly, he moved his most senior group of students to his garage in Redlands, California where he continues to hold classes every Wednesday night.