Broken Rhythm - Bruce Lee's Game of Death

Yet another Bruce Lee documentary, however this one might have its place. Apparently not all of the Game of Death footage that exists has been shown, until now with Broken Rhythm.   

I suppose as long as there are interesting aspects of Bruce Lee's life and career that haven't been explored people are going to explore it. 

(description from the YouTube video)

Bruce Lee’s unfinished film 'Game of Death' has long captivated audiences. The footage he shot before his untimely passing – later reworked and incorporated into a film bearing the same title – carries a mysterious, almost mythic allure. Within these fragments lies a striking cinematic language and rich symbolic intent, revealing Lee’s ambitions not merely as a martial artist, but as a visionary actor, writer and director. What was he striving to express through this project, and what does it reveal about an artist too often reduced to the label of kung fu icon?

Alan Canvan's 'Broken Rhythm' is the first feature-length documentary to examine 'Game of Death' in depth, illuminating Lee’s aspirations as a filmmaker at the dawn of the New Hollywood movement and marking his earliest attempt to create what he described as “multi-level films.” The 1978 release – premiering five years after Lee’s death – contained only a fraction of what he filmed in 1972. Producer André Morgan, involved in both versions, guides us through the complex timeline behind the film’s completion, shedding light on the creative, financial, and logistical compromises that reshaped Lee’s original vision. By reassessing the commercial success of the 1978 version, 'Broken Rhythm' journeys backward to uncover a markedly different film than the one audiences ultimately saw.

Through exclusive interviews and rare archival material, 'Broken Rhythm' highlights an ensemble of voices offering firsthand insight into Lee’s life, work, and creative ambitions. Featured participants include those who worked closely with Lee on 'Game of Death', such as Andre Morgan, Dan Inosanto, and Ji Han Jae, alongside biographer Matthew Polly and playwright David Henry Hwang, who offer fresh perspectives on his artistic intent. Actress and producer Colleen Camp adds further dimension, reflecting on Lee’s enduring power as a cinematic icon. Together with additional voices, these accounts uncover revelatory details about the production of 'Game of Death', recontextualizing Lee’s legacy while exploring how his work grapples with enduring existential questions of life, death, identity, and the pursuit of artistic immortality.

For more information, visit cityonfire.com

Lee Defeats Sun In 60 Seconds - Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

Throwback Saturday night, here is a scene from the 1993 film Dragon: the Bruce Lee story. 

Hollywood can't get anything accurate it seems, and here is a good example. This scene takes place at the Long Beach Internationals, however they have it taking place in what looks like a high school gymnasium.... in a boxing ring!

Also, Bruce fights an opponent to prove his Jeet Kune Do principles are correct. They base this off Bruce's fight with Wong Jack Man, however in the film he fights "Johnny Sun." And to boot the fight with Wong Jack Man took place at Bruce's Oakland dojo, not at the Internationals.

Anyway, you get the idea. 

I guess we just need to relax and have fun with it, at least they did get Ed Parker Jr. to play the role of Mr. Parker.

Bruce Lee Honored with U.S. Postal Service Forever Stamp

(blackbeltmag.com February 21, 2026)

The United States Postal Service has released a new Forever stamp honoring Bruce Lee, recognizing the martial artist, actor, and thinker whose influence continues to shape the way martial arts are practiced and understood around the world.

The stamp was officially dedicated during a ceremony at Seattle’s Nippon Kan Theatre, a venue with long-standing ties to the city’s Asian American community and to Lee’s early years in Washington. The image depicts Lee executing a flying kick, a moment that reflects the directness and precision that set him apart from other martial arts performers of his era.

Addressing attendees at the event, USPS Senior Vice President Ben Kuo spoke about Lee’s impact on both martial arts and popular culture. He noted that Lee’s movement favored efficiency and purpose over exaggerated motion, and that his approach changed how audiences understood combat on screen.

Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, also spoke during the ceremony, describing the stamp as a meaningful acknowledgment of her father’s work and values. She emphasized that his ideas—discipline, adaptability, and personal growth—continue to resonate across cultures and generations.

The ceremony included appearances by former student and close friend Sue Ann Kay, journalist Jeff Chang, and Mimi Gan of the Wing Luke Museum, who served as master of ceremonies. The program also featured a national anthem performance and a formal color guard presentation by American Legion Cathay Post 186.

The stamp was designed by USPS art director Antonio Alcalá and is based on an egg tempera painting by Kam Mak. Rendered primarily in black and white, the design includes a single yellow brushstroke referencing The Game of Death. The typography is arranged so that Lee’s kick appears to cut through the words “USA” and “FOREVER,” reinforcing the sense of motion captured in the image.

The Bruce Lee stamp is available in panes of 20. As a Forever stamp, it will remain valid for the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate, placing one of martial arts’ most influential figures into everyday circulation.

link to article

A martial arts Rat Pack

Well, ain't that a kick in the head? 

An epic photo, Mr. Parker with Joe Lewis, Dean Martin, Bruce Lee and Mike Stone.

My best guess is this photo was taken the night before one of Mr. Parker's Long Beach tournaments. What was Dean Martin doing there? Well, Bruce Lee had worked as a fight choreographer on the 1968 film "The Wrecking Crew" which starred Dean Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. I would imagine Dean Martin was there to support Bruce.

It made me chuckle a little seeing the photo and remembering that one of Dean Martin's biggest hit songs is Ain't That a Kick in the Head.

YouTube link to Ain't That a Kick in the Head

And then how Mr. Parker famously said kicking someone in the head standing up makes about as much sense as bending over and punching them in the foot.

see post about why no high kicks in kenpo here

Anyway, I doubt Mr. Parker gave Dean Martin an impromptu martial arts lesson about kicking someone in the groin first. Although maybe Bruce Lee did. Either way, what a fun night that must have been having all those martial artists together with a member of the original Rat Pack.  

Bruce Lee scenes in "Marlowe"

(from a recent discussion on Facebook)

Most people know Bruce Lee played an enforcer in the James Garner film "Marlowe" (1969) but most don't know Garner was actually one of the many celebrity students who trained with Bruce Lee.

While he may not have been as devoted as Steve McQueen or James Coburn he did more than just receive "on the set" instruction. Here Garner demonstrates some basic board breaking ability. Garner also seemed to be genuinely interested in the study of martial arts for personal rather than professional reasons. He never really seemed to try and incorporate martial arts into any of his films and to the contrary was just as likely to "take a beating" as he was to dish one out. This is in sharp contrast to other Hollywood celebrities of the time with very minimal training who tried to present themselves as experts, especially in films.

The film also seems to have been an effort of two of Lee's students, Stirling Silliphant (writer) and James Garner, to help their teacher break into Hollywood films. This was one of the few Hollywood film roles Lee was able to get before returning to Hong Kong to make films for Golden Harvest. "Enter the Dragon" was a Warner Bros. film but of course shot on location in Hong Kong. 

Lee might have had a minor role in Marlowe, but he certainly made the most of it.

"Winslow Wong, that is I."

After watching Bruce Lee tear up James Garner's office in "Marlowe" (1969) it makes me wonder if Mr. Parker used that scene as inspiration for his scene in "Revenge of the Pink Panther" (1978). 

I've never seen it really discussed anywhere but you have to figure he did, he and Bruce Lee were good friends and Bruce Lee had just died a few years earlier. 

I can see where Mr. Parker would use this scene as a way to pay homage to his friend.

(watch Mr. Parker's scene in Revenge of the Pink Panther here:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shE7b_6NNpU

From Bruce Lee to Chinatown: Sue Ann Kay reflects on her Seattle roots

(nwasianweekly.com Nov. 15, 2024)

“I’m 79, and in the Chinese calendar, you’re a year old when you’re born. So I’m using that I’m 80, because it sounds better,” Sue Ann Kay, a longtime Seattleite and Chinatown-International District advocate said with a laugh, during her recent Q&A with the Northwest Asian Weekly.

After Kay spoke at the Landmarks Board Meeting in September, advocating for the preservation of Bruce Lee’s first dojo on University Way preserved as an historic landmark (which the board did not approve), Carolyn Bick of the Northwest Asian Weekly caught up with her to learn more about Kay’s life.

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Tell me about your background, and your childhood. Were you encouraged to seek out new experiences and experiences not then typical for girls and young women?

Yes and no. I mean, in our family, my sister and brother got to go into music. And my mother put me into baton twirling classes and ice skating, which was a little different. Now I wish I had some music background.

We had a good childhood on Capitol Hill, and we always went to the Chinatown-International District. So, our childhood was filled with going there to eat out with family and see what was happening. And yeah, in those days, the Chinese Baptist Church there on 8th was sort of a gathering point. I was a church dropout. But yeah, my sister and sister and mother, yeah. So we’ve been around Seattle since, well, I was born here.

I’m a product of Stephen’s [Elementary] School, Meany [Middle School], and Garfield [High School]! I graduated in ‘63 from Garfield.

How old were you when you met Bruce Lee? How did that happen?

Let’s see, I was in high school, and my father hung out in Chinatown. And so he had heard about Bruce Lee and had seen him demonstrate. And [my father] was the Boy Scout leader, so he asked Bruce if he would teach the Boy Scouts.

Bruce did end up teaching at the Chinese Baptist Church there in the CID. There’s a picture in the Wing Luke Museum. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention [at first]. That was before I joined and started martial arts. I think my brother was like 13, or younger. I don’t know—he was a Boy Scout, anyway.

My dad also invited [Bruce] over for dinner. He was sparring with my brother in the yard and showed me a few tricks. I guess I was impressed. And then he said that I could join the class on Saturday, just come. And I did, and I was hooked. I guess I didn’t really think about it, that I was the only female in the class. He just treated me like I was another student.

I became a fairly serious student. … Because he was a friend of my father’s, I think that he always treated me with a lot of respect—like I wasn’t any less of a student. 

I think what I’ve mentioned before in interviews is that I really appreciated that he taught me how to protect myself, before there were women’s classes. He used me to demonstrate to the rest of the class with an umbrella how to protect myself and use it as an extension of my arms. And I’ve never had to use it or really don’t think about that’s something that I would do. But I think that it does stick with you, and when you practice it, it becomes that your aware of your surroundings. And I don’t know if I could ever protect myself, but I’ve been exposed to what I could do if I had to.

You mentioned that you were hooked, after your first class. What specifically hooked you when you took that first class?

I think it was the Chinese culture. He introduced me to Yin and Yang, and he gave me that book, the Tao Te Ching. I just became interested in Chinese philosophy, although I’m not a real good student of anything.

But yeah, the culture intrigued me. And acupuncture—I got really interested in that… it was during a time when doctors at the University of Washington were calling it “voodoo.” Acupuncture wasn’t accepted here in the 60s.

So all of that was new to me, and fascinating.

My sister went through the university studying Chinese history and culture, but I didn’t, so I did get it a different way, I guess, and it was kind of a different group of friends … a lot of Garfield students—like Doug Palmer is one of them, wrote a book. (https://www.chinmusicpress.com/product-page/bruce-lee-sifu-friend-and-big-brother)

We’re all tied. You know, you run into people and then you find out about them and their backgrounds. Everyone had kind of a new awakening to something that wasn’t offered before. And Bruce was pretty charismatic.

Did your family support you studying martial arts?

They never questioned it. I just went every Saturday.

You mentioned that with Bruce, you were not treated any differently. Was that your experience broadly within the field of martial arts, or was Bruce really stand-out in that?

I have experienced sexism and racism through the years, and become more aware of it. But when I think back to that period, I was carefree and just open to anything. And I didn’t put up with a lot of negativity. It was a fun period growing up.

I didn’t do the competition round [in martial arts].

Part of the class was Tai Chi. And now, you know, there are Tai Chi classes and Qigong classes. I tried to go to see if I could keep it up, but I’m not really structured to do it on my own. I’ve never wanted to learn from someone else, after I learned from Bruce. I don’t know if that’s because of Bruce, or because I’m just not one to master anything. I just sort of dip in and see what it’s all about. 

But when you’re that young, too, it leaves a lasting effect—it was a lasting imprint. It’s like, “Wow, I got to really feel what the energy, the chi in Gung Fu was about, because in the classes we did the sticky hands. And I remember it was like an “Aha!” moment, because Bruce went around and did it with everyone in the class. And you do figure eights with your arms and you can feel the give and flow of the energy, so that if you were being hit and you connected to the arm, you could just deflect it. 

I didn’t really master any of that, but to be introduced to that type of an education—it was like another class that I had at the university, only it wasn’t at the university.

https://nwasianweekly.com/2024/11/from-bruce-lee-to-chinatown-sue-ann-kay-reflects-on-her-seattle-roots/comment-page-1/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJsk59leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsjG6La0tkAqwtwar7IrCyHaob2pbha5rzcOE_mP2zAHgNd286UoV1HJZ93N_aem_wosB3vuX7UePuKPHSjx96w#comment-2002403

Seattle Landmarks Board rejects Bruce Lee’s first dojo for historical designation

(nwasianweekly Sept. 20, 2024)

After lengthy discussion that took up most of its Sept. 19 meeting, the City of Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board decided not to designate the site of what advocates call Bruce Lee’s first formal dojo as a historical landmark.

Seattle’s Bruce Lee Fan Club submitted the building for historical preservation designation. Located at 4750 University Way, the building was one of the last places Lee trained and lived before moving to California. While the building—which still holds apartments—has been modified since Lee’s time, a landmark designation would have protected the building from further change and development without specific authorization from the board.

The designation failed by just one “yes” vote, with six of the nine board members voting “yes.” A landmark is approved for designation by seven or more members voting “yes.”

In addition to sending in documents (a “main points” document and a more detailed document) supporting the designation, a handful of people showed up to advocate for the site, including two of Lee’s students, CID Coalition member and longtime Chinatown-International District (CID) resident Sue Ann Kay and Jun Fan Gung Fu instructor Abe Santos. Advocates said that the building is the site of Lee’s first formal dojo, which distinguishes it from his more informal ones, like the basement of Ho Ho Restaurant in the CID.

In his public comment period, Santos offered to open a school in the building, in order to preserve the site’s legacy. Santos remembered that, about 12 years ago, he and Taky Kimura—Lee’s best friend and senior student—visited the building. The owners at the time asked whether the pair wanted to start a school there, he said.

“At the time, I was very busy with Sifu Taky, and we said no,” Santos recalled. “But in order to preserve this building, I think it’s important to do that.”

Kay took classes from Lee in 1963. The self-described “80-year-old retiree” was 16 years old, when she started taking classes from Lee.

“What Bruce gave to me especially was just an aura of safety, and he taught me self-defense, which in those days was not popular,” Kay said. “He also taught me about acupuncture when the University of Washington doctors that I knew were still calling it voodoo. And the space in the University District is really special to me, because we first learned in the basement of one of the buildings in Chinatown.

Later, Kay would introduce Lee to Linda Emery. The pair would end up marrying. Kay herself later became one of Kimura’s top female students.

In their designation request, applicants included both the fact that the building is an example of Spokane-born William G. Morris’ mid century modernist architectural style, as well as its association with Bruce Lee. The Landmarks Preservation Board considers architecture on several merits, including its association “in a significant way with the life of a person important in the history of the City, state, or nation” and/or whether it “embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or of a method of construction.”

Deputy Liaison for the Landmarks Preservation Board Erin Doherty also said that the owner of the building currently has no plans to create a museum in the building or space.

Following significant discussion—about 90 minutes’ worth—the board ultimately rejected the site for a landmark designation. However, there wasn’t full agreement among all members on this matter.

Throughout the meeting, board member Lora-Ellen McKinney repeatedly stressed that she understood the building’s significance in Bruce Lee’s legacy.

Before voting yes to preserve the building, McKinney said that her original leaning towards a “no” vote was because she believes it’s important to connect stories with places. But this is “not a perfect tool,” she said, and because she could not find a good architectural reason to preserve the building, she said that if designating the building based solely on Lee’s association was the only option, “then I will do that.”

Roi Chang disagreed, though she admitted that she saw the merits of what fellow board member Katie Randall had been saying about the board being “too hard” on the building.

“But … what’s catching me is the ability for this building to face significance,” Chang said. “I think without knowing it, without any other stand-up form, I wouldn’t be able to recognize this building for its significance, looking at what it was then versus now, so I’m voting no.”

Following the vote, Seattle Bruce Lee Fan Club President Charlette LeFevre sent out a press release stating that the club directors were “extremely disappointed,” but would be looking into getting the building designated as a state and national landmark.

She also wrote that the club’s directors are “still strongly encouraging the owner of the University Way Apts and the City of Seattle to recognize a site for what they feel is a culturally important landmark.”

https://nwasianweekly.com/2024/09/seattle-landmarks-board-rejects-bruce-lees-first-dojo-for-historical-designation/

Bruce Lee - Who HQ Graphic Novel

Might have to pick up this graphic novel about Bruce Lee just to see if mentions the Long Beach Internationals or anything. It probably won't, but one can always hope. 

https://www.whowasbookseries.com/books/who-smashed-hollywood-barriers-with-gung-fu-bruce-lee/

Wide Angle: Film, Fighting, and Philosophy: the Arts of Bruce Lee

(from dawn.com)

It is difficult to think of a person whose mannerisms, hair style, clothing, facial expressions, and even name have been copied to such a large extent as Bruce Lee (1940-1973). Arguably the most recognisable face of the past century, Lee is known primarily for his on-screen martial arts prowess. But Lee was much more than an entertainer; throughout his adult life and acting career he tried to impart something of the philosophies of the Far East, whether in his appearances on the American television show Longstreet (1971-1972), or in his last completed film Enter the Dragon (1973). It is the latter which introduced Lee to Western audiences on a wide scale, cemented his place in cinematic and cultural history, and changed action films forever.

Although Lee was born in the United States, he grew up in Hong Kong, and appeared in numerous films there as a youth. It was in Hong Kong that he began to study Wing Chun Gung Fu under the auspices of the master Yip Man, despite his fellow students demanding that he should not be taught because he was not pure Chinese (Lee had some European ancestry). Returning to the US in his late teens, he spent several years educating himself, developing Jeet Kune Do (his personal eclectic approach to combat), and teaching martial arts to Hollywood stars. He also sought to land significant parts in American film and television, but struggled to find meaningful roles in an industry that perpetuated stereotypical images of Chinese.

In the early 1970s, Lee decided to try acting in Hong Kong. The result was a trio of films which caused him to acquire immediate and massive renown in Asia: The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), and Way of the Dragon (1972), the last having been written and directed by Lee himself.

It was on the strength of this new-found fame that Hollywood took a more serious interest in Lee, and which led to Enter, the plot of which is rather simple. Lee, a member of the Shaolin Monastery, is solicited by a British intelligence agent to take part in a martial arts tournament held by the drug smuggler Han, where he is supposed to observe and report any illicit activity upon which governments may act to shut down Han’s operations. Of course, Lee takes things much further and, by the end of the film, has used fists and feet to defeat Han and dozens of his bodyguards along the way.

It is not important to recount the plot of Enter in detail, because it is largely irrelevant, and not as significant as the scenes featuring Lee’s explosive physicality. The film lends itself open to criticism on this point, but there is little difference between this action-serving plot and the similarly contrived narratives of innumerable musicals or westerns, in which the songs or climactic gunfights are the only memorable features. However, unlike most westerns or musicals, Enter is infused with philosophical ideas. For while Lee did not direct Enter, he was heavily involved in various aspects of production: the fight scenes were choreographed by him, he made script changes to include more accurate and more philosophical content, helped select certain cast members, and even chose the film’s title.

Lee’s involvement means that Enter is not easily dismissed as a mere action flick in the way that some of the James Bond films can be (screenwriter Michael Allin, who knew little of Gung Fu, wrote the original Enter script as a homage to Bond films). Granted, Enter does not evince the sort of craftsmanship that is traditionally associated with great cinema. But what is not in doubt is that the philosophy of Lee and his own inspirations are visible throughout the film, elevating it above the genre.

“Compared to a good kung fu film,” said the great German filmmaker Werner Herzog, “someone like Jean-Luc Godard is intellectual counterfeit money.” It is unclear if Herzog had a specific film in mind, but one could do much worse than Enter. The opening dialogue between Lee and a Shaolin monk reflects ancient Zen Buddhist doctrine. A scene in which Lee deflects a confrontation with an arrogant fighter is based on a 15th century samurai tale, signalling Lee’s disapproval of pointless violence. Lee was aware of his potential to “aestheticise violence”, as he put it, but he believed that cinema could be an educative force, and that art was a path to enlightenment and liberty.

But the martial demonstrations of Lee are philosophical in a way that a purely Western film could never be. Because Gung Fu and many other martial arts of the Far East incorporate Confucian, Taoist, and/or Buddhist principles in both theory and practice, they are philosophy made manifest. “Gung fu,” wrote Lee, “can be said to be the Chinese attempt to discover the mysteries of nature”. Thus, like the martial arts themselves, Lee’s films often exhibit both verbal and physical expositions of philosophical ideas. This would have been taken to new heights in Game of Death, which was to have been Lee’s second directorial effort, but he died before the project could be completed.

The unification of pen and sword has a long tradition in Far Eastern cultures, and it is not unusual to find historical figures linking thought and action. The 15/16th century Chinese thinker Wang Yang-Ming, for example, was both a military general and a philosopher. The 16th/17th century samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi advocated that one train oneself in both the literary and martial arts. One can find analogous ideas in the lives and opinions of ancient Western thinkers, but Lee was well aware that modern Western philosophy was dominated by abstract thought. He had studied the subject (along with psychology) at university and was a voracious reader; his library contained more than 2,500 volumes, some of them quite rare. Indeed, so interested in books was he that at one time he considered becoming a secondhand bookseller.

Lee’s perspectives on filmmaking resembled his position on the martial arts. In both acting and in the martial arts, he strove for a combination of instinct and control: “natural unnaturalness or unnatural naturalness”, as he described it in an illuminating interview he gave for the Pierre Berton Show in 1971. In the martial arts he utilised whatever he thought would enhance unarmed combat: fencing techniques, the footwork of boxer Muhammad Ali, the exercises of the Pakistani wrestler Gama, and so on. In films he was influenced and inspired by numerous sources, from American comedian Jerry Lewis to Japanese actor Shintaro Katsu (of Zatoichi fame).

In the martial arts he devoured books on the subject, did not hesitate to criticise what went before, and pushed boundaries. In film he read books on cinematography and filmmaking, was critical of the cinema of both Hollywood and Hong Kong, and aspired to make films of higher quality than what had been produced in the past.

His first endeavour at direction was Way of the Dragon, an unusual production in that it was the first Hong Kong film to be shot in the West. Lee also commissioned a film score, an uncommon procedure at the time. And he was also the first Hong Kong director to view rushes in colour. Lee eschewed cinematic tricks which attempted to mask the fact that the actors were not experienced martial artists, and his martial feats are usually bereft of the magical or fantastical. He thus brought a new level of realism to the martial arts film. Of course, there is a difference between the more flamboyant and theatrical displays of Lee onscreen and his techniques off camera, but not so much that one cannot learn from watching him.

As Matthew Polly perceptively notes in his useful biography Bruce Lee — A Life, the duel between Lee and Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon is not a random assemblage of flailing fisticuffs, but a Jeet Kune Do tutorial.

Something similar could be said about a melee in Enter, where Lee moves effortlessly from barehanded combat to fighting with staff, sticks, and eventually the nunchaku, demonstrating the ultimate fighter’s ability to battle with whatever weapons are available to him. Lee’s fluidity and skill is visibly genuine, so much so that, rather than speed up his moves to suggest quickness, Enter director Robert Clouse had to speed up the camera to 32 frames per second (instead of the usual 24) in order to capture his movements.

Lee was not the first person to infuse philosophy into a martial arts film — King Hu’s meditative A Touch of Zen had been released in 1970-1971. Nor was Lee the first fighter who wished to strip combat of its inefficiencies — the 16th century Chinese general Qi Jiguang, for instance, also condemned flowery posturing that was useless in actual battle. But neither before nor since has there appeared such a charismatic figure who straddled continents and disciplines in the manner of Lee, and it was because of this, coupled with his indomitable convictions and unrelenting desire to succeed, that he was able to reach millions around the world.

At ease in both East and West despite experiencing racism in both Hong Kong and the US, studious of ancient Chinese wisdom and modern American self-help books alike, Lee’s attitudes to life mirrored his approach to both martial arts and cinematic art. His interviews and private letters are suffused with philosophy. He aspired to perfection, and was not satisfied with mediocrity. He looked to himself for inspiration, rather than others: “The sacred journey is taken alone. Each man must seek out realisation himself. No master can give it to him.” And Lee had little interest in commercialism or identity politics. He married a white American girl, took as his students Americans of different ethnicities, and transcended styles and races. He considered himself, above all, a human being. In Way of the Dragon one can find a Chinese character saying that he doesn’t want to learn foreign fighting styles, but Lee chides him, saying that it doesn’t matter where knowledge comes from so long as it is helpful.

Since Bruce Lee’s demise, a number of Chinese actors have come to the fore. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, both of whom had small roles in Enter, have achieved considerable popularity in the West, as have others such as Chow Yun-Fat, Donnie Yen and Jet Li. All of these are talented individuals who have appeared in some fine films, but one wonders if any of them would have achieved such success if Lee had not destroyed the derogatory stereotypes of orientals that pervaded Western cinema.

Lee once opined that he could not possibly become an idol for the white man, but in this he was quite wrong. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the release of Enter, or witness how his stature would go beyond cinema and race. In 1995, the city of Mostar, which had witnessed intense ethnic warfare during the Bosnian War, erected a statue of Lee to symbolise the overcoming of ethnic divisions. “We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats,” said one of the originators of the idea, “But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.” Boxers such as Sugar Ray Leonard have studied him. Film directors such as John Woo have been influenced by him. Bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger have admired him.

Countless people have taken up the martial arts after being inspired by him; mixed martial artists often speak of Lee as the godfather of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His likeness has appeared in video games and comic books — Marvel legend Stan Lee referred to him as a superhero without a costume. This wide-ranging influence is akin to that of religious figures. Not for nothing did the musician RZA say that, for him, Lee was a minor prophet.

It is therefore not a simple matter to categorise Lee as a martial artist, an actor, a film director, or a teacher. In the 2nd century AD, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote that “the subject-matter of the art of living is each person’s own life.” Thus, in line with the title of a book about Lee, it would not be inappropriate to describe him as an Artist of Life.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1481050/wide-angle-film-fighting-and-philosophy-the-arts-of-bruce-lee?fbclid=IwY2xjawJDzcRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeHQaGWVCmhiHEWl-dripENtBXsoz27Ul8WrvgWbwmEIJ29iuFrIpKS8Mw_aem_jl0e4dbpjnyO_Ypy9mlMwQ

Wong Jack Man interview - 2017

(An interview of Grandmaster Wong Jack Man by Mr. Michael Dorgan in 2017 after the release of the film Birth of the Dragon.)

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What did you think of “Birth of the Dragon?”

I found the movie entertaining, a fun film to see with your family and friends. It has lots of action and comedy, and also offers a lesson to be learned.  It’s about two martial artists who followed very different paths –one becoming the world famous movie star and the other a kung fu grandmaster of Northern Shaolin, Taijiquan and Hsingyiquan.  I will tell my friends to see it because it will bring back many fond memories of their youth, when kung fu was very popular. 

What did you think of the actors’ portrayals of you and Bruce Lee?

Xia Yu, who is a very famous actor in China, was excellent in portraying me. He was able to capture the essence of my reserved nature and my exceptional martial arts skills. He does not have a martial arts background but he is very athletic and convincing on film.

Philip Ng, who portrayed Bruce, was also excellent. He resembles Bruce and has his body type. And he conveyed Bruce’s charisma and cockiness, as well as his accent and mannerisms. Also, he had the martial arts skills to play the part. He is known for his stunts and choreography in Hong Kong film. I see a future for him as an actor.

Did you like the fight scenes?

Yes, they were very exciting to watch. I think they kept everyone at the edge of their seats.

What were some of your favorite parts?

My favorite part was when I head locked Bruce, which actually happened three times during our fight in 1964. I also liked it when Bruce and I team up to fight the gangsters. It was very funny, with non-stop action. I heard it took two weeks just to film the fight between Bruce and me and our final fight with the gangsters. It took a lot of skills from the actors, stunt people, stunt choreographers and the talented director to pull it off.

What do you think of the Steve character in the movie and the criticism some have made of making him a major character in a film about you and Bruce Lee?

That was not a problem for me. He was the narrator who was driving and telling the story of me and Bruce. Who else could have told the story? Besides, he played as Bruce Lee’s white student – are they now saying Bruce Lee could not teach a white student? According to Linda Lee, the whole reason for the fight between Bruce and me was so Bruce could teach kung fu to the white man and others of a difference race.

I really don’t understand all this nonsense. They created a little side story about the character Steve to make him a bit more interesting and to help set up the fight between my character and Bruce Lee and the fight the two of us had with the gangsters. This film is made for the international market - it should have an international cast. Most of the criticism is from some Bruce Lee fans and his daughter, Shannon. They don’t understand that this film is not a biopic about Bruce Lee but was inspired by the fight and is highly stylized and fictionalized. Bruce Lee was portrayed as he was in his early twenties. Are they just going to ignore that part of his history? He later matured and moved on to become world famous and put martial arts on the map. Bruce Lee’s films were fictionalized, too, so I don’t see a problem with it.

You and Bruce Lee both grew up in Hong Kong and were about the same age. Did you ever meet him there, or had you heard of him?

Bruce Lee was a year older than me. He was born on November 27, 1940, and I was born on December 1, 1941. I never met him or heard of him while I was in Hong Kong.

What was your childhood like and how did you become involved in Kung Fu?

My childhood was pretty normal. Like most boys my age, I became interested in martial arts by watching martial arts movies, reading martial arts stories and martial arts comic books, and watching street performers.

What made you decide to immigrate to America and what did you hope to achieve here?

I came to America to be united with my family. And I was asked by my teachers, Yim Sheung Mo and Ma Kin Fung, to spread the Northern Shaolin, Taijiquan and Xingyiquan to America and the world. 

My teachers were top students of the famed master Gu Ruzhang, widely known as Iron Palm because of his ability to smash even large stacks of bricks with his bare hand, and they were members of the non-governmental Jing Wu martial arts organization, whose motto is “Love your country, cultivate your character and be a good citizen of the community.”  It is all about doing the right things and showing great concern for morals and ethics. Jing Wu has promoted martial arts training for men, women and children to build strong bodies and healthy minds since it was founded in 1909 in Old China. Fifty-nine branches of Jing Wu have sprung up in 22 countries since I first brought Northern Shaolin to America in the early 1960’s.

                                                  (Wong Jack Man in 1964, the year of the fight with Bruce Lee)

Tell us about the San Francisco Chinatown martial arts scene in the early 1960's, when some schools were aligned  “tong” organizations, the fraternal and social groups that sometimes ran gambling, prostitution and racketeering operations.

When I first arrived in San Francisco, I taught at a social club for what you might call the “big shots” of Chinatown, who were interested in Taijiquan and other traditional Chinese martial arts. They were impressed by my skills, which they had seen at my demonstrations at various community locations, and I was asked to join the club by member Lau Yee Sing, the owner of the Great Eastern Café, who had a passion for martial arts.

I worked part-time at his restaurant as a waiter to make ends meet until I became a full-time instructor, teaching all day and into the evenings. 

San Francisco Chinatown in the 1960's had a booming night life. There were six Chinese movie theaters packed every night showing martial arts movies, historical dramas and comedies. The restaurants were always filled with families and friends having late dinners or snacks after a night out to the movies. It was the best of times being in the middle of it.

There were only two martial arts teachers who were members of a tong.  One was Wong Tim Yuen, a.k.a. T.Y. Wong, of the “Sturdy Citizen's Club". He was a member of The Hop Sing Tong and taught a southern style of kung fu. The other tong-connected teacher was Lau Bun, chief instructor of the Hop Sing Tong Kung Fu Club, who taught the southern style Choy Li Fut.  He taught private groups and tong members, and later renamed his school Hung Sing Studio. He also taught Lion Dancing.

These two teachers were well respected and taught their students to be good citizens of the community. They were also “enforcers” for the community against troublemakers. The tongs were first established as places for the single men to go for help in finding housing and jobs, and in acclimating to a new country. They were able to share their roots and language, and were given a sense of belonging and community. Only a small number of tong members were involved in criminal activities at the time.

Before I arrived in San Francisco in the early 1960’s, there were only a few traditional Chinese martial arts teachers and kung fu was not yet popular. All the young people, including the Asian kids, were learning Karate, the Japanese martial art system bought back by the serviceman after World War II. There were Karate schools everywhere, even in Chinatown.

I was the new kid in town. I brought something new to the martial arts community through my performances and demonstrations by my students at schools and auditoriums. I was the only one doing these public shows. Later, other kung fu instructors and I organized the National Chinese Gungfu Exhibition at the San Francisco Civic Center to showcase various styles of Kung Fu.

We invited Bruce Lee to participate but he declined. We later found out he came up from Los Angeles to watch it in a disguise. I did not see him but others recognized him and told me. 

I also gave solo performances at Chinese Family Association gatherings and participated in many Chinese New Year celebrations locally and outside of Chinatown. People were impressed because they never seen the Northern Shaolin system, which is both powerful and acrobatic. It includes high kicks, big leaps, aggressive long-range attacks and whirling, circular blocks. It also features traditional Chinese weapons, including staff, spear, straight sword, double butterfly swords, double tiger hooked swords, saber, chain whips, three-section staff and guan dao.

Ming Lum, a local martial arts promoter, began taking my students to Karate tournaments, where they were often winners. That made people take notice. Soon, my reputation grew and I was teaching Karate Instructors and instructors of other popular martial arts.

Once Karate Instructors and other types of martial artists learned from me, they changed their business signs to announce they were also teaching kung fu. It was the golden era of kung fu, and pretty soon everyone with a little knowledge was teaching it.

By the early 1970s, kung fu became even more widely popularized by Bruce Lee through his films and by the “Kung Fu” television series starring David Carradine. The stunt coordinator for that TV series was also a student of mine.

I never advertised my schools in the newspapers. My business grew by word of mouth of my reputation and from my involvement in my community and outside communities.

I had a martial artist move here from Hawaii to learn my Northern Shaolin system and then move on to win many championships and become known as the “Godfather of Kung Fu in Europe.” His wife also studied with me and became the top-ranked women fighter in the United States. She also fought men and won. I also trained the first non-Asian full-contact fighter to ever win a gold medal at the World Championship full-contact Chinese Martial Arts Tournament in Taiwan.

Bruce Lee's wife, Linda, wrote that you challenged him on behalf of the Chinatown kung fu teachers, who were angry that he was teaching Caucasians. Is it true? If not, what provoked the fight?

What she wrote is absolutely not true. What provoked the fight was Bruce Lee’s arrogance and his insulting treatment of other martial artists. He trashed the teachers in Chinatown, calling them "old tigers with no teeth" and lectured them about his Wing Chun system being far superior to their traditional Chinese martial arts.

The matter came to a head following a performance he gave at the Sun Sing Theater with Hong Kong actress Diana Chang, who was regarded as the Marilyn Monroe of Asia and was there to promote her new movie, “Amorous Lotus Pan.” She did a Cha Cha dance with Bruce, who was there to promote his school.

In front of a packed house, he demonstrated his one-inch punch - a punch launched just an inch from the opponent. He demonstrated it with his friend, George Long, who taught the White Crane system. It did not go well and the audience laughed and booed him. 

That angered Bruce. He tried again and succeeded in knocking George backwards, but George was not pleased and complained that he had not been ready for the second try. Bruce was still upset and issued a public challenge to anyone who thought he was better then him.

The Chinatown martial arts community decided it needed to respond and that I was the best-qualified person to exchange skills with Bruce Lee. A letter was written and hand delivered to Bruce at his Oakland school inviting him to discuss what happened at the Sun Sing Theater and to exchange martial arts skills with me. He refused to come to San Francisco, but wrote a note inviting me to his school in Oakland with the date and time to meet.

Why were only a few people allowed to witness the fight and what were the agreed upon rules, if any?

It was a private exchange of skills. There was no discussion of rules until moments before the match.

Bruce Lee and his former wife both said he quickly defeated you. What is your account of what happened?

I got a ride to Bruce’s school with an acquaintance. Four of his friends were also in the car, but I didn’t know them. I was wearing my traditional black kung fu uniform.

It was a deserted part of town, and we arrived at exactly 6:00 pm. His school was an empty storefront with no business sign. We walked in. It was a small room with no furnishings.

One of Bruce Lee's friends made the introduction, as it was the first time we had met each other. I was introduced only to Bruce. I asked him if he had issued a challenge at the Sun Sing Theater.  He told me no, that he had not issued a challenge on stage.

At that point, I thought he did not really want to spar or exchange skills with me. Our group all started to leave but then the person who let us in locked the door.

Bruce became very angry and started yelling and cursing. He told me, 

"You have been killed by your friend," and "He is going to ruin your life." 

At that moment, I thought that was a strange thing for him to say. But Bruce knew that the person who hand-carried the letter to him had set us both up. When the letter was delivered, Bruce was angry and was ready to fight him. Now Bruce was so angry that he cursed him, and that person became very frightened and nervous. All the people in the room were scared, and the tension was high.

Bruce told me he was not here to make friends and that we should fight to see whose skill level was higher. I think he felt he would lose face if he did not fight me in front of his friends and the others who were there.

I told him we were just going to spar. I quickly laid down the universal standard rules in a match: no poking the eyes, no grabbing the throat or kicking the groin. He angrily responded, “No holds barred. No rules. We are going to fight to the death.”

After the other people stepped to the side, Bruce asked me to come to the center of the room. I extended my hand for a handshake, as is customary in any open match. Bruce pretended to offer his hand but immediately curved his fingers like deadly claws and tried to poke out my eyes. My quick instincts blocked him from doing damage to my eyes, though he ended up scratching me with his fingernail above my eye.

That attack set the tone of the fight. Then he started to make these loud, horrifying sounds - like a ghost screaming is the only way I can describe it.  I never heard sounds like that before in my life, and they were scaring everyone in the room. He continued to swear, yell and utter the terrifying sounds as he repeatedly tried to attack my eyes, throat and groin in between throwing straight punches at my chest.

It was these techniques he used the most, and I had to step backward to avoid his attacks. He was basically out of control and trying to do me serious harm. He chased me, arms swinging, but I side-stepped him each time so his blows were not effective. I also had to create distance so I could attack him using my long-range techniques to counter his attacks.

At one point, I caught him as he charged at me and locked his head under my left arm. Both of his arms fell to his sides and he was shaking because of my strong grasp on him. I could have finished him off with my right fist or choked him out but did not since I feared the consequences if I seriously hurt him.

After I let him go, he became even more enraged and continued to curse, yell and make god-awful sounds. I really thought he was on something at that point. And I thought he really wanted to kill me.

He continued his aggressive but ineffective attacks. I ended up locking his head again but this time he was on his knees. I let him go again, then caught him again and locked his head for a third time. But he remained full of rage when I let him go. He continued to charge at me, swinging his fists. I used my windmill blocks and hit him three times in the head in rapid session. He staggered and spun around three times and all the sudden stopped yelling, cursing and making the noises.

He was so winded he could not go on. That was how the match ended. Linda Lee later wrote that the fight lasted only three minutes but it actually lasted about 20 minutes.

Before we left, Bruce Lee asked me not to discuss the fight with anyone and I agreed. But later he bragged to people that he had won, which is why I then I issued a public challenge on the front page of a local Chinese newspaper, inviting him to fight me in an open arena filled with witnesses. He did not respond.

Bruce Lee at the time had trained only in Wing Chun, a southern martial arts style that emphasizes straight ahead attacks with fast, powerful punches. Your Northern Shaolin favors, longer, more circular strikes and blocks and more kicks. What did you learn from the fight as a martial artist?  What did you learn as a man?

As a martial artist, I learned nothing from the fight or from him. He threw away his system (Wing Chun) after the fight because it had not worked for him, and began developing his own system, Jeet Kune Do, which borrowed high kicks and many other movements from my system and from other systems. 

Bruce Lee later became famous only because he fought with me. That fight forced him to develop a new fighting system and philosophy that led to his success as a martial arts movie star. I was progressing in the internal martial arts way before the fight with Bruce Lee. He had nothing to teach me.

As a man, I learned from the fight not to trust what I hear from others. I must analyze and research the truth and evidence before I act on it.

Are you surprised by the enduring interest in the fight within the martial arts community? Why do you think people still like to discuss and debate it?

I think the fight has enduring interest because we were two well-known martial artists and it was a closed-door event and the witnesses could not agree on what they saw or the outcome of the fight. This type of event should be held in public for all to see with rules, judges and referees, so the end results are very clear.

My fight with Bruce Lee has been talked about and debated for over 50 years around the world and it probably will be debated for another 50 years. Who else can claim this? Not even Ali or Frazier.

In China, there was a long tradition of secrecy surrounding martial arts, which often were taught only to men and only to family or clan members. You were one of the first Chinese kung fu teachers to open his school to men and women of all ethnicities. What benefits do you think martial arts offer to modern society?

Kung fu teaches compassion, wisdom, positive thinking, gentleness, patience, harmony, diligence, perseverance, courage, honesty, righteousness, loyalty, self-discipline and responsibility. It promotes inner strength, healthy habits and the enjoyment of life, as well as a calm, clear mind and good spirits. Learning self-defense skills improves self-confidence, builds a strong body and allows you to help others less fortune then you. 

In other words, kung fu can help develop a well-rounded individual. This is helpful in modern society, where many people lack the skills to have a successful life.

https://www.taichisanjose.com/wong-jack-man-interview

Meet James Yimm Lee: "The Man Who Helped Make Bruce Lee a Success"

(blackbeltmag.com)

Most famous individuals have an inner circle of friends and trusted advisers who are standing by in the shadows and are willing to provide counsel, direction and opinions, and to share their influence. One of the reasons martial artist and actor Bruce Lee became as well-known and successful as he did is because he developed an inner circle of friends who provided him with counsel and direction, and helped him accomplish his goals.

One of the most influential members of this group was James Yimm Lee, who had a great impact on Bruce Lee's personal and professional life. James Yimm Lee was already an established and respected instructor of kung fu and iron palm in the Oakland, California, area when he met Bruce Lee, who is not related to him. Bruce Lee was a young college student at the time, and James Yimm Lee was very impressed with Bruce Lee's kung fu skills and teaching methods.

Although he was 20 years older than Bruce Lee, the open-minded James Lee decided to train with him and absorb what this talented young practitioner had to offer. Their liaison resulted in a lifelong friendship.

In addition to his expert kung fu skills, James Lee was also an accomplished weightlifter and helped get Bruce Lee started in a weight-training program, which subsequently resulted in his sculptured physique. James Lee worked as a welder in the local shipyards, and he used this skill in designing and constructing many unique training devices he and Bruce Lee used in their workouts.

James Lee had a close relationship with a number of noted martial artists in the area, including jujitsu master Wally Jay, Shaolin kempo instructor Ralph Castro and American kenpo founder Ed Parker. James Lee introduced Bruce Lee to these individuals, and it was through Ed Parker's Hollywood connections that Bruce Lee received a screen test, which eventually got him the role of "Kato" in The Green Hornet televlsion elevision series.

When Bruce Lee married Linda Emery in 1964, the couple moved in with James Lee and his family and lived at the Oakland residence for the next two to three years. Bruce Lee and James Lee soon opened a kung fu school, but eventually classes were relocated to James Lee's garage. lt was during this period that the birth of Bruce Lee's jeet kune do method of combat took place.

Gary Dill was one of James Lee's top students, and he currently teaches jeet kune do in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Dill founded the Jeet Kune Do Association for the purpose of presenting and promoting the pre-1973 brand of jeet kune do, as it was developed by Bruce Lee and taught by James Lee.

As an avid martial artist, Dill had become familiar with Bruce Lee through reading martial arts publications and watching The Green Hornet series. As he learned more about Bruce Lee's combat method, Dill's interest in jeet kune do grew. "I knew that I had found the answer for me in the martial arts and that I had to eventually learn this new system of combat," Dill says.

Dill realized, however, that his chances of learning jeet kune do were remote. He was doing a tour of military duty in Vietnam, and Bruce Lee was a television star in California.

As fate would have it, Dill was transferred to Oakland after his stint in Vietnam, and he heard about the Oakland jeet kune do school the Lees were operating. Dill was able to obtain James Lee's mailing address, and he wrote the instructor a letter requesting a meeting for the purpose of training with him. A meeting time was arranged, and Dill called on James Lee one Sunday afternoon. James Lee "interrogated" him for more than two hours, trying to get an idea of Dill's character and commitment to training.

After the "inquisition" was over, James Lee invited Dill downstairs to his garage "studio.” This was the room where jeet kune do was born and developed. “I was in awe,” Dill recalls.

On the wall adjacent to the garage door was an adjustable hanging bag, and custom, handmade training devices were positioned about the area — a hydraulic kicking machine, a one-armed training dummy, and much more. On the back wall was a traditional wing chun mook jong (wooden dummy). All the equipment appeared to be well-worn from extensive use. James Lee demonstrated how some of the equipment worked, and Dill took that as a sign that James Lee was considering accepting him as a student.

Later, back in the living room, James Lee told Dill he would accept him as a student. Then he shook his forefinger at Dill and said, "If you screw up one time, you're out!" Dill was on permanent probation.

“I didn't care if he put me on double life probation,” Dill recalls. "I was accepted, and I was going to learn jeet kune do.”

On his first day of training in James Lee's garage, Dill joined four other students who were all karate instructors from a nearby city. They had been training with James Lee for a month or so.

James Lee showed the five students several techniques, then sat back and watched the students' moves like an eagle. Nothing escaped his expert eyes; he was a thorough and detailed instructor. Dill had practiced martial arts for years, but he had never experienced any combat training as effective as jeet kune do.

James Lee taught Dill more efficient ways to execute kicks, how to develop speed and power in his hand strikes, how to trap an opponent's hands, and a number of striking combinations.

"Training a month with James Lee was like training a year in a traditional school, the instruction was so intense, so accelerated," Dill says. "Everything was geared for actual combat — no forms, no sport, no rituals.”

But after one month of teaching Dill, James Lee announced he was terminating all instruction because he was ill. The four karate instructors said goodbye to James Lee, who pulled Dill aside and said he wanted to talk to him before he left.

James Lee waved to the four karate stylists as they were driving off, then said to Dill, "Those sons of bitches! lf Bruce was here, he would kill 'em," explaining that he found out that the four were teaching jeet kune do in their karate school without permission and were telling their students that they were jeet kune do instructors.

James Lee proceeded to tell Dill that he had been checking out all the students’ attitudes and sincerity over the past month and that Dill was the only one of the five he wanted to keep as a student. Dill continued to train with James Lee until he was discharged from the military some time later.

James Lee was a patient and cordial person, but he did not tolerate disloyalty or lack of dedication from his students. For example, before class one night, one of James Lee's students was telling the others about how he had trained recently with some Chinese "master" at a city park. James Lee overheard the conversation but said nothing.

The student brought the subject of the "park master" up again during class, and James Lee asked him, “Have you ever seen this guy at the park do any techniques fast?” The student said, “No." And James Lee calmly added, “Yeah, and you won’t either.”

Class continued on, and a few minutes later, the same student started bragging again about the so-called "master" in the park. A perturbed James Lee stopped the class and said, “I know that guy, and he is no master."

When class was over, the bigmouth was at it again, bragging about the “master.” James Lee walked right up to his face and said, "You think that guy at the park is so good, you can train with him from now on because you will never train here again with me."

Nobody wore any kind of formal uniforms to James Lee's jeet kune do classes. In fact, James Lee usually wore a white dress shirt, pleated slacks and wingtip shoes while teaching.

Some students wore T-shirts, sweatpants and casual shoes. Others wore jeans, flannel shins and boots. There was no dress code. James Lee told the students that it is not what they wore but how well they performed their jeet kune do techniques that mattered.

James Yimm Lee died in December 1972 from lung cancer caused by welding fumes. While he was alive, he played an integral role in Bruce Lee's life, as well as in the early development and teaching of Bruce's jeet kune do. He became one of Bruce Lee's closest friends, his mentor and his training partner.

And he was one of only three students Bruce Lee certified as instructors in his system. It is a legacy he would be proud of.

https://www.blackbeltmag.com/meet-james-yimm-lee-the-man-who-helped-make-bruce-lee-a-success

Another book I'll probably have to get

(from Jaime Elias Castro's Facebook page)

After two years of intense work, I am excited to be able to share with you all my first literary work. Writing about a myth so dissected by the media as Bruce Lee is not an easy task. That is why I always told myself that if one day I dedicated my time to him again it would be to offer something new and unknown about him. His millions of admirers around the world deserve no less from me.

The journey has been long and sometimes exhausting, but since I visited San Francisco’s Chinatown for the first time in 2010 and got to know the places where the story took place, I had clear its meaning.

One of the key moments in Bruce Lee’s life took place in November 1964. The Chinese martial arts community of the Bay Area in San Francisco, tired of the continuous attacks of the Little Dragon, sent a master named Wong Jack Man to take down this young man from nowhere who questioned all the established canons and attacked centuries of martial tradition.

That fight, which could have gone unnoticed, became the most ‘unknown’ and discussed about martial fight of the 20th century. An episode of such magnitude in the life of Bruce Lee is something that had hardly been dealt with in the necessary depth, much less in our language. I sincerely believe that this work succeeds in clearing up all doubts surrounding the fight forever.

The book, created in a large format, 170 pages and 200 photographs, tries to transport us to another era. It was always my intention to place the reader at the epicentre of the historical, social and cultural context in which these events took place. No work done to date has managed to bring together such a quantity of testimonies, interviews and press clippings about a fight that changed the history of the martial arts forever. A duel that led Bruce Lee to evolve as a martial artist, to create the Jeet Kune Do and to install martial arts in the most absolute modernity

Note: Pending tying up a few small details, I will be able to announce shortly the date of the presentation of the work and its release date. Thank you very much.

Jim Kelly, Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon and kenpo karate

(from wikipedia)

Jim Kelly began his martial arts career under the tutelage of Sin Kwang The' (Shaolin-Do) in Lexington Kentucky.  He trained in Okinawan karate under the direction of Parker Shelton, Nate Patton, and Gordon Doversola. During the early 1970s, Kelly became one of the most decorated world karate champions in the sport. In 1971, he won four prestigious championships that same year, most notably, the World Middleweight Karate title at the 1971 Long Beach International Karate Championships. Kelly opened his own dojo which was frequented by numerous Hollywood celebrities and which ultimately landed him in the movies. 

Kelly was the first black martial arts film star. His first film role was a martial arts instructor in the thriller feature film Melinda (1972). He got it after being asked by the film's writer, to whom he was introduced by one of his karate students, to teach martial arts to its star, Calvin Lockhart. Kelly then co-starred alongside Bruce Lee in the blockbuster Enter the Dragon (1973). He played Williams, a martial artist invited to a tournament run by crime lord and renegade Shaolin monk Han. The role was originally intended for actor Rockne Tarkington, who unexpectedly dropped out days before shooting in Hong Kong. Producer Fred Weintraub had heard about Kelly's karate studio in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, went there to see him, and was immediately impressed. 

That film gave him his most memorable lines

Han: We are all ready to win, just as we are born knowing only life. It is defeat that you must learn to prepare for.

Williams (Kelly): I don't waste my time with it. When it comes, I won't even notice.

Han: Oh? How so?

Williams: I'll be too busy looking good.

-----

If you want to be "too busy looking good" may I suggest this Enter the Dragon inspired Jim Kelly "Williams" t-shirt based on the Black (Kenpo) Karate Federation cobra logo which appears briefly on the wall in a flashback dojo scene in the film. 

https://www.bathroomwall.com/products/enter-the-dragon-inspired-williams-jim-kelly-kung-fu?variant=8035137191964

Bruce Lee with Dan Inosanto

One of several photos of Bruce Lee with Dan Inosanto taken for the magazine Kung Fu monthly.

It's cool to see Mr. Inosanto representing in his Kenpo gi with the IKKA crest.

Showdown in Oakland: The Story Behind the Wong Jack Man - Bruce Lee Fight (available on Kindle only)

 

(from Amazon.com)

Many say this fight was the most important fight in the life of the famed martial icon Bruce Lee. True or not? You be the judge.

This book is the most detailed version ever written of the fight between Wong Jack Man and Bruce Lee in 1964, a fight which many insiders say spurred Lee on to create his personal art of Jeet Kune Do (JKD), Most importantly, it describes the context within which the fight occurred, how it all happened, why it happened, and what happened afterward. It is also a glimpse into the kung fu world of San Francisco Chinatown in the 1960s.

This fight has taken on an almost mythical status in the much studied career of the great martial icon Bruce Lee. Details unknown to the general public are revealed here for the first time ever and any student of martial history, Bruce Lee, or Jeet Kune Do should find this book a fascinating read. If anyone wishes to discuss this incident in an intelligent and thoughtful manner, this book must be read. Follow the author's careful reasoning as he takes the reader back in time to an incident which took place almost fifty years ago.

The true-life story behind this match is easily as interesting (perhaps more so) as any fictionalized movie portrayal of this singular encounter.

Eyewitness accounts, Chinese newspaper articles (with their English translations) and many old photographs make this meticulously researched book required reading for anyone interested in what actually transpired between Wong Jack Man and Bruce Lee in late 1964 and early 1965. These newspaper articles document the viewpoints of both Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man on the fight at the time.

Get an inside look at what really happened and step back in time to the streets of San Francisco Chinatown in 1964!

https://www.amazon.com/Showdown-Oakland-Story-Behind-Bruce-ebook/dp/B00AR0KE1I

A new book about Bruce Lee's real fights

Bruce Lee remains the gold standard that all martial artists are compared to. But could he actually fight? World Champions in karate competition have gone on record to point out that he never once competed in tournaments. Were his martial abilities merely a trick of the camera?

For the first time ever, Bruce Lee authority and bestselling author John Little takes a hard look at Bruce Lee’s real-life fights to definitively answer these questions with over 30 years of research that took him thousands of miles. Little has tracked down over 30 witnesses to the real fights of Bruce Lee as well as those who were present at his many sparring sessions (in which he was never defeated) against the very best martial artists in the world.

From the mean streets of Hong Kong, to challenge matches in Seattle and Oakland, to the sets of his iconic films where he was challenged repeatedly, this is the incredible real-life fighting record of the man known as the “Little Dragon,” who may well have been the greatest fighter of the 20th century.

(Barnes and Noble link)

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wrath-of-the-dragon-john-little/1143451049

Bruce Lee practicing Captured Twigs

 Except he forgot to entrap the attackers hands.

50 years after his death, Bruce Lee remains a star, a role model, an enigma

(article by Mark Magnier July 20th, 2023)

The legacy of martial arts legend Bruce Lee has endured at the 50th anniversary of his death in part because there are so many Bruce Lees.

Since his (July 20th) 1973 death under mysterious circumstances at age 32, Hong Kong has embraced Lee as a native son, China as an anti-Japanese nationalist, Asian-Americans as a role model, blacks and Latinos as a fighter of white oppression, the developing world as a foil against colonialism.

“Think about how many people try to own Bruce Lee and how many narratives there are,” said Paul Bowman, cultural studies professor at Cardiff University and lead editor of Martial Arts Studies, an academic journal. “He functions as a kind of fantasy object or muse for people in different contexts.”

At Thursday’s half-century mark, there are conferences, double features, special memorabilia and exhibitions – including the Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s “Bruce Lee: a Timeless Classic” – amid little sign his legacy is fading.

In a 2022 survey by Laaunch, an anti-discrimination non-profit, respondents rated Lee among the three most prominent Asian-Americans of all time, with the others, actors Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu, still alive.

“He’s the only Asian actor to become an international icon, up there with Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe,” said Matthew Polly, author of the 2018 biography Bruce Lee: A Life. “Not many who died have generated so many who pretend to be Bruce Lee, like Elvis impersonators.”

Even when his star has waned, interest has roared back and taken new forms – befitting his “be like water” fighting mantra – initially tracking China’s rise, later in response to anti-Asian attacks in the US and Asians’ increasingly prominent global role.

“Interest in Bruce Lee has skyrocketed since Crazy Rich Asians and the rise of Asian pride,” said Andre Morgan, a former executive with Golden Harvest, which produced Lee’s Enter the Dragon and Game of Death films. “Bruce Lee’s legacy is to all the young, non-white children of the world.”

Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s only living child, who was four when her father died, safeguards his image assiduously, having battled numerous lookalikes, fakes and depictions, some sanctioned, many not. She sees no reason that his legacy won’t endure, even as artificial intelligence threatens to create new, more convincing mock-ups.

“I definitely think there’s another 50 years here,” said Lee, an actress, film producer and chief executive of the Bruce Lee Family Companies. “There’s been a lot of Bruceploitation things happening … It’s a scary and very interesting place to be.”

While Lee’s martial arts talent, on-screen charisma, ambition, choreography and acting skills have fueled his enduring reputation, he also benefited inordinately from timing.

The late 1960's and early 1970's witnessed an explosion in social consciousness, civil and minority rights and interest in Eastern culture as race-based immigration policy ended and newly independent countries emerged.

Those who knew Lee, and the industry of experts created since, say he was not driven by politics, although the image of a person of colour in the early 1970s fighting and defeating whites was in itself a dramatic political statement embraced by long-suffering minority communities.

When his popularity waned in the 1980s, Lee’s films and their many imitators became a staple of daytime TV reruns watched by black and Latino kids, helping inspire hip hop and the hugely influential Wu-Tang Clan after 1992.

Meanwhile, widespread film piracy was imprinting Lee globally as a symbol of anti-colonialism, a fighter who attacked and beat white overlords. And in the aftermath of the brutal Balkan wars, when Croatia sought a unifying theme to ease the ethnic hatred, it settled on Lee.

The outlines of his life echo on San Francisco’s steep Chinatown streets as biographer Charles Russo retraces Lee’s footsteps.

Born in San Francisco in 1940, raised in Hong Kong, obsessed with martial arts, Lee was sent back to northern California in 1959 to sever his ties with local gangs.

Brought up wealthy, he felt humiliation as a restaurant busboy, Russo recounts, pointing out the low-end flat he lived in, Chinese theatre where he performed and fraternal associations he defied.

“He never got on well with the martial arts culture in Chinatown,” said Russo, author of Striking Distance: Bruce Lee and the Dawn of Martial Arts in America, standing in front of Chinese Hospital where Lee was born.

“He was very critical of a lot of the stuff that he saw was just overwrought nonsense.”

Over the next decade, Lee bounced between San Francisco; Seattle, where he started his martial arts school; Hong Kong, where he made three films; and Los Angeles, where he achieved his dream of starring in a Hollywood feature, only to die days before it became a smash hit.

Along the way, he built up his jeet kune do martial arts philosophy; embraced Zen Buddhism and Daoism; engaged in tempestuous fights with rivals; honed his choreography; and brought emotion to the wooden, slapstick world of fight films that ultimately redefined the genre.

Further fueling the legend has been boundless speculation over his early death from brain swelling – one more figure who burned bright and died young in an era of political assassinations and celebrity overdoses. His demise in Hong Kong has been variously attributed to heat exhaustion, an allergic reaction, Spanish fly, a curse, mafia revenge.

“Dying early is so useful for iconic status because you don’t have the messiness of three divorces, four stints in rehab,” said Polly. “That’s what the point of being an icon is, to be used by people for what they need.”

For mainland China and Hong Kong, his legacy has been problematic. On one hand, his scenes defeating whites and Japanese dovetail well with nationalistic themes.

In 2008, CCTV, along with Shannon Lee and Beijing’s propaganda ministry, produced a 50-part Legend of Bruce Lee series showcasing Chinese culture and unity before the Olympics.

But reported illegal drug use, extramarital affairs and a headlong quest for wealth have made Lee a challenging Chinese role model.

Also incongruous has been his defiance of Confucian hierarchy and smorgasbord approach to martial arts, seen as more typical of American pragmatism than traditional Chinese culture.

A statue erected in 2005 on Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront was initiated by fans, not officials; his Kowloon home reportedly became a rooms-by-the-hour hotel before it was demolished; and a permanent Lee museum never got off the ground.

The ambiguity only increased after pro-democracy students embraced Lee’s “be water, my friend” approach during 2019 protests.

The legend’s global expansion has resulted in legions of copycats, pirates, wannabes and cheesy souvenirs.

There are Lee bobble heads and aftershave, “genuine autographs” on rent checks and credit card receipts, auctions for his scuffed white platform shoes – hardly fashion’s finest moment – and a 1969 manifesto he wrote outlining his goals: become the highest paid US “Oriental superstar”, achieve world fame and make US$10 million by 1980.

“Everyone is seeing Bruce as a symbol of universality,” said Jeff Chang, an author and cultural critic working on a Lee biography. “You’re really trying to sell the nail clipper and so you put an image on it that people recognize.”

Lee’s legacy has made the family millions after his daughter fought to regain control of his intellectual property, film rights and domain names. Since then, Bruce Lee Enterprises has marketed its own memorabilia and challenged views it believes tarnish his image.

Some say the legend and adoration risk going too far.

“This deification that the family is trying to project, he’s not a god,” said Morgan, adding that he carried Shannon Lee in his arms when her father died.

“I have no axe to grind, but I’ve never met a god and never met a living god. I’ve worked with a lot of actors who hoped they were a living god.”

Projects the family have authorized include a 2008 commercial for Nokia showing a Lee double playing ping-pong with nunchucks, and a 2013 “Water, it’s like instincts. Shapeless, formless, fluid” Johnnie Walker whisky advertisement with a Lee lookalike conversing in Mandarin, which he did not speak well.

Shannon Lee is suing a fried chicken chain in China for US$30 million over a marketing image it says looks like Lee, and has criticised director Quentin Tarantino after he depicted her father as a pompous loser in his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

“I’m tired of hearing from white men in Hollywood that he was arrogant,” she wrote in a 2021 rebuttal.

Among her recent projects are an executive producer role on the martial arts series Warrior, which is based on “Bruce Lee’s vision”, and a planned Lee biopic with Taiwanese director Ang Lee that she hopes will launch once the Hollywood writers and actors strike ends.

“My voice is just one among many, and Ang Lee is an auteur filmmaker and has his own perspective on things,” she said.

Over the years, Lee has inspired a raft of books, conferences, scholarly papers and exhibits.

Memorabilia collector Jeff Chinn walks tourists and fans through San Francisco’s Chinese Historical Society of America, recounting the new-found respect he and other Asian-American schoolkids received when Enter the Dragon opened, even as Lee fought barriers, seen in an early 1970s movie poster.

“You’ll see that the artist gave Bruce Lee extra slanty eyes and those stereotypical eyebrows,” Chinn said. “It’s stuff that he had to face in order to succeed in Hollywood.”

Much of the aura surrounding Lee has been frozen in time, his notebooks the musings of a seeker as a hippie-tinged society sought spiritualism from an Asia viewed as exotic, mysterious, enlightened.

“It was pop philosophy,” said Chang. “To reduce the idea of dissolving the ego to the notion of the most efficient way of crushing your enemy, it’s a leap.”

Endless debate among obsessive fans centres on whether Lee ever lost a fight and whether traditional martial arts communities, including tai chi master Wong Jack Man, fought him for teaching non-Asians.

While some were certainly against his sharing, experts say, he also had an arrogant streak that invited challenge.

“The whole fight with Wong Jack Man is just ludicrous; all along he said ‘I was teaching Westerners,’” said Bowman, a martial arts practitioner for more than 40 years. “Bruce Lee was like a hothead. He tried to say he was the best and it annoys people.”

Said Russo in front of the Great Star Theatre: “They want their teacher to be seen as the unbeatable master. Well, that doesn’t happen in sports, right?

“It doesn’t mean you’re still not the best ever.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3228277/50-years-after-his-death-bruce-lee-remains-star-role-model-enigma