Bruce Lee - A Small Tribute To The Legend

He was my icon and he still is one of my icons today, though the reasons for the same are different today. When I look at his life's story, I too ask the question "Where have all the heroes gone?"

Truth is there is no one like Bruce Lee till date. There was a time when I loved Bruce Lee, the actor, today I admire Bruce Lee, the man & the legend. His life's story is un-parallel to anything I have come to read about or know of.

Not many people know of his life’s story, which is nothing short of spectacular. His life was filled with so many awe inspiring events that it’s difficult to document it, but as the attempt is to learn from the same, I will try and mention some of them which had profound impact on me and the way I think today.

In his thirty-three years on this planet, Bruce produced volumes of writings on a multitude of subjects. He eventually developed his own “System” of Martial Arts called Jeet Kune Do (JKD).

Still, I believe, it wouldn’t be possible for us to understand his life till we trace some events in his life: -

1953 (Age 13): - Hong Kong - After being beaten up by a street gang, Bruce began to take Kung-Fu lessons, despite local Hong Kong laws, outlawing street-fights. This was the first & the last time Bruce ever lost a fight. He began to train under Sifu Yip Man, another legend and a master of the Wing Chun system of Kung-Fu. (The Famous Movie IP Man 1 & 2 captures the story)

1958 (Age 18): Hong Kong- Bruce entered the 1958 Boxing Championships and defeated the reigning three year champion, Gary Elms.

1959 (Age 19): Bruce arrived in the United States, living with an old friend of his father's. He worked odd jobs around the various Chinese communities. Later, he moved to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father's.

Bruce began to teach his Martial Art skills in backyards and city parks.

1961 - March (Age 21): Seattle- Bruce enrolled at the University of Washington, studying Philosophy. He taught Kung-Fu to students at school.

1963 - October 25 (Age 23): Seattle - Bruce started his first Jun Fan Kung-Fu Institute. When he came to US, he realized that people didn’t knew Martial Arts the way he knew it, and had lots of misunderstandings about it as a way to fight like kick boxing.

He taught any person of any race. (Most Asian Martial Arts schools would only teach people of their own race). Chinese Idealists in US & China shunned this move and created a huge uproar on the same and abolished him from all Chinese gatherings and cultural events as well as publicly denounced him.

These actions infact motivated him to more strongly pursue the spreading of Martial Arts amongst people. It was like a mission, which revolved as the purpose of his life.

His life was actually built with spectacular events, once on the sets during a fight sequence, he went below water and remained there without breathing for more than two minutes, people feared he is dead, but he came out to everyone’s surprise and completed the sequence. The same sequence went on to get Bruce’s skills noticed at global movie scene much later.

1964 - August 2 (Age 24): Long Beach, Ca - Ed Parker, known as the Father of American Karate (Kenpo), invites Bruce to give a demonstration. He actually wanted to test his abilities. Bruce goes there and shows off his "one-inch punch," and his two-finger push-ups, where he literally does "two" finger push-ups.

1965 (Age 24): Oakland - Several months after he begins teaching, he is challenged by, Wong Jack Man, one of the biggest names in Kung Fu. Bruce agreed to fight.

The conditions for fighting were: If Bruce loses, he will, either close his school, or stop teaching Americans; and if Jack loses, he will stop teaching. Jack Man Wong had a strong clout & name for his fighting skills amongst Chinese in US, he was considered impossible to be defeated in a fight/ a match.

He believed Bruce wouldn’t actually come to fight, also to irritate Bruce; he tried to delay the match. Bruce insists that they shouldn’t wait for the decision. Wong then tried to put limitations on techniques.

Bruce refused "rules of fighting” and the two go no holds barred in a free style of fighting. As soon as the fight began, Bruce began to pound Jack Wong in only a couple of seconds. As Bruce was winning, Jack Wong attempted to flee, but gets caught by Bruce. Bruce finally pinned him on the ground in less than a minute.

This till 1995 was the fastest ever pin down in a martial arts fight.

Bruce’s self-belief was so strong that he was actually bothered on why the fight took so long and began to re-evaluate his style. He was determined that he is not in his top physical condition and started to work on his mental and physical self and the result was for everyone to see. Thus, the early concepts of Jeet Kune Do (JKD), "The art of the intercepting fist" is created.

JKD is an art including techniques of all types of fighting. (I.e. American Boxing, Thai Kick Boxing, Japanese Karate, etc.) Bruce Lee’s style was “no style” and that was the belief and vision behind “Jeet Kune Do”.

1970 (Age 30): Los Angeles - Bruce injured his sacral nerve and experienced severe muscle spasms in his back while training.

His condition was so severe, Doctors told him, that he would never be able to kick again and will possibly have to use support to even walk. Bruce took his condition as a personal challenge and started to chart his own journey to recovery, he started to document his training methods and his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do & yes, he was able to recover & get back on his feet again defying the medical conditions pronounced upon him.

1973 - April (Age 33): Hong Kong - Filming of Enter the Dragon is completed. Bruce was at Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong dubbing his voice for "Enter The Dragon". Bruce took a break to go to the bathroom and he is found on the bathroom floor. Bruce is rushed to a nearby hospital.

1973 - July 20 (Age 33): Hong Kong - Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). After much confusion and debate, doctors declared the death of Bruce Lee as "death by misadventure." Enter the Dragon was delayed from its initial premieres four days later because of the actor’s death.

Though the world in general is always curious and interested enough to talk of how Bruce died under mysterious circumstances, I personally find enough meaning from the way he lived his life. The question that I am sure you have on your mind, is why Bruce Lee was so famous, and why is he still thought of as the Master of Chinese Martial Arts?

Actually, Bruce criticized Karate for its broken motions, and Wing Chun for its flashy techniques. Both, he said, were not ideal to use in actual combat. This is the reason for the creation of Jeet Kune Do (JKD). JKD was designed to be used in real life situations.

It's style was no style. The goal of JKD is not to master certain techniques, but to let your body express the techniques in its own way. Everyone has his own style, and JKD is a form of bringing it out.

Bruce once said, "Many people come to instructors and say, like a man, ”what is the truth? Hand it over to me.” So therefore the instructor would say, 'I'll give you my Japanese way of doing it.' And another guy would say 'I'll give you the Chinese way of doing it.' But if you only have two hands and two legs, nationalities don't mean anything.

When you go with a particular style, you're expressing that style. You are not expressing yourself. What a statement and what a reflection of a life led with a purpose of being one with oneself.

Robert Clouse recalls Bruce : "The first time he would meet you, you'd expect him to shake hands but instead he'd step back and flick out his foot so fast you could feel the air move right at the tip of your nose. Then he'd take your hand and place it on his stomach. It was kind of his calling card."

Bruce had the courage to move away from the shackles of what were general beliefs and practices. He created & rather carved his iconic stature on his own.

As a man, he was so agile and fast, that there were researches done on the same, his mind control was so impactful that in the most severe of fights with tens of people, he always insisted on being hit as bad as it can get and never used a double.

To this day many Bruce Lee Imitators have tried to be just like him, but have all just faded. Even a star like Jackie Chan said “There can never be a NEW Bruce Lee”. That was Bruce Lee...... The Legend!!!