Bruce Lee Part 1 - A Legend Remembered
I have been working for donkey years and the curtains of 2010 is coming to a close. As you know when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. So I being the tough one has to get going. Even gurus need their breaks. When I break I mean it so there will be absolutely no work, no email, no sms, no phone calls, no stress, no golf, no writing. It will be a complete meltdown. I need to just rot and rot big time. I am going to be like water.
Bruce Lee: "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water. Now you put water into a cup it becomes a cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes a bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend".
As such there will be no articles on my blog this week. However, fortunately or unfortunately, the date of the week coincide with one of my all-time favourite icons Bruce Lee who was born on 27 November 1940. Today he would have been 70. Due to this little important issue, I will let you in to some thing about Bruce for the next few weeks from a different angle that you may have known about him.
Bruce showed us that it is not the years added to life but the life added to years. Nobody can write about Bruce without spanning an entire book. I will have to give it to you in bite size breaking them down into categories - the history, the personality, the beginning, the martial arts, the foundation, the journey, the philosophy, the incredible feats, the family, the friends, the movies, the quotes, the training, other key people who played a part, the actions, etc. Above all else, his spirit lives on...
Just 2-3 years ago, I did 3 push ups with one finger and a thumb (but with both hands) something I stopped doing like 10 years ago. A Japanese friend matched me. It was the first time someone I met could do it but he was smaller and lighter and years younger so I told him to come back and do it again 10 years later. You know we have a bit of ego right? I have stopped doing this since because I can't afford to break my finger or thumb as I need them for golf and to dig my nose. Then I started going to the gym and did terrific things on the day feeling like Bruce Lee but the very next day I had aches all over every bone, muscle and joints it was more like Bruised Knee. Inspired by him, I used to use my forehead to touch my knees while standing with the legs all straight but I dare not try it now.
Bruce Lee - The Legend & His Death
It was 20 July 1973. I woke up as usual like any normal day and by the afternoon I picked up a copy of the then New Nation (now defunct) and the headline read: "Bruce Lee Dies". My whole world crumbled. Not only me. All Chinese, Asians, underdogs love Bruce. My Malay, Indian, Eurasian friends and even Westerners love Bruce. Bruce gave us inspiration and hope. He was something to everyone and yet could be in different ways.
Rumours abounded as no one could accept that one so successful, so supremely fit could die so suddenly. Theories of murder due to jealousy by highly trained pugilists, poisoning or by the triads were all over. Even the face splashed on the front pages lying in a coffin did not look like him. The cause of death officially: cerebral edema (swelling of the brain).
Look at this clip of the funeral in Hong Kong - Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXe-659SnXo&feature=related
On 20 July 1973, Bruce was in Hong Kong and was due to have dinner with George Lazenby (James Bond star) as they intended to make a film. Bruce met Raymond Chow to discuss the film Game of Death. They worked for a couple of hours and proceeded to Betty Ting's home where Chow left to attend a dinner. Bruce had a severe headache and was given a painkiller after which he lied down to rest. He never woke up. Raymond Chow came back and Bruce was sent to the hospital. Bruce was dead before he arrived at the hospital.
There was no external injury. Autopsy later revealed that his brain had swollen from 1,400 grams to 1,575 grams an increase of 13%. He was 32 years old. The painkiller given to Bruce by Ting analgesic (painkiller), Equagesic which contained both aspirin and a muscle relaxant. The only substance found from the autopsy was Equagesic. Bruce's personal physician in Hong Kong and who had treated him during his first collapse believed Equagesic was not involved in the first collapse. A Scotland Yard expert and forensic scientist who had handled over 1,000 autopsies assigned to the case concluded that death was caused by acute cerebral edema due to reactions to compounds present in the prescription of Equagesic.
Bruce was later named Time Magazine's 100 Most Important People of the Century and History's 100 Most Influential People by a Japanese national survey. Oblivious to many Bruce Lee inspired many people in different ways, he sort of like gave everyone a breakthrough. The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) style you see today has to be credited to him. The opening sequence of Enter The Dragon was MMA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxoJ-O1B2D0
In it you could see Samo Hung himself a good fighter before he came on his own. You could see that Bruce had lost tremendous amount of weight in this footage. He was skinny. Bruce died before his biggest success and breakthrough into Hollywood in this movie. His dream.
In as far away as Bosnia and Herzegovina they erected his statue. Of course they did the same in Hong Kong. Even break dancers and music of hip hop were known to have credited Bruce. The French Parkour, to be exact Le Parkour, a philosophy and physical practice to traverse elements of rural and urban settings moving from one point to another in a most efficient way. There may be other influences from Africa or others but they have taken Bruce's quote of "Be Like Water" and flow seamlessly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzBwwf7kK9k
Parkour is built on speed and efficiency. It is quite an amazing practice as you can see these folks running around jumping from one roof top to another, skidding on railings or running up walls. Parkour founder is David Belle. May be we should include this in NS training. There will be no more obstacles.
When I was a child, there was a playground behind where we lived. There were three swings hanging from a horizontal pole 8 feet high. They put sand on the ground in case you fall and to prevent sand from being washed away they erected a six inch (height & width) concrete perimeter surrounding the sand pit. Beside it, 3-4 feet away they erected some concrete horses each another 3-4 feet apart. Next to all these they have a concrete maze like "get lost" walls 3-6 feet in height.
The neighbourhood boys from about 13-15 would come around and play a game like Parkour. They cannot let their feet touch the ground. So the they will have to climb on top of the swing pole, run on the perimeter around the swing, jump onto the concrete horses or on top of those maze. One person would have to do the catching and whoever got caught would have to do the next catching.
These youths were amazing and they could have gone on to become founding members of Parkour. In one memorable incident this boy who is a mute jumped onto and hung on with his hands clutching the top of a six foot wall. The catcher sprinting behind very closely both running on the thin perimeter of the swing jumped next to him. All the catcher need was to hang on a second and use one other hand to touch him. In a split second this mute boy jumped backwards and spun around landing onto the thin six inch width perimeter and hurried away.
A Brief History
27 November 1940 to 20 July 1973 - Bruce Lee was only 32 when he died and at the peak of his super stardom with more to come in terms of what he could do both on the screen and his martial arts. When we knew him, he was the movie star who stirred our passion because he was like no other before him. Sculptured body, lightning speed, real martial arts and always the underdog who came to the rescue of the weak and who made the Chinese and the weak proud. It was only much later that I knew more about Bruce Lee the man, all human, his beginnings, his friends, his struggles, his frustrations and his brimming confidence. It is more interesting to understand Bruce the man and I shall show you the key points about him, the people around him and perhaps some lesser known but nevertheless interesting details about him.
He was born in the US when his father was on tour with a Chinese opera. In his teen years, he learned Wing Chun martial arts from Grand Master Ip Man. Later he moved to the US and settled in Seattle, Washington. Among his first friend was Jesse Glover (judo champion) who became a close friend and training partner. Later, Taky Kimura became his student. Bruce met James Yimm Lee, an accomplished martial artist from Oakland who was impressed by Bruce's prowess and later became his student and assistant. Bruce went over to Oakland. He opened a school with James. Bruce was discovered at the Ed Parker 1964 Karate Internationals where a TV producer picked Bruce for the role of Kato in the Green Hornet. In 1965, he moved on to Los Angeles where he opened he opened a third and final school with another close friend Dan Inosanto.
He coined his art "Jeet Kune Do" in Cantonese means the "Way of the Intercepting Fist". It was originally called Jun Fan Kung Fu (Jun Fan is Bruce's Chinese name). In LA, Ted Wong, Dan Lee, Bob Bremer became his students. He also trained Joe Lewis and celebrities like Steve McQueen, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and James Coburn. Bruce was also close to James Yimm Lee and has worked with Bob Wall and Korean Taewkondo expert Jhoon Rhee. In 1969, he closed all his schools and opted for backyard approach to training to keep small classes for more personalised sessions. He also moved on into movies where he felt he could reach even more people.
After his death JKD has gone through different phases. At first, classes were kept small but due to its popularity spreading some forms were more relaxed. Some of Lee's students chose to teach JKD as Lee has taught them, others invoked their own cultural arts into it such as Thai Boxing (Muay Thai), Filipino Kali and French Savate. Bruce Lee always made it a point to study all forms of martial arts and would often spar against them learning how to defend against them. JKD seeks simplicity over complicated stuffs and fixed or stylised patterns. In JKD, every martial artist can find their own JKD within them but I see JKD as a core set of principles that set is apart as an art and even more so a philosophy. It is not easy to understand the philosophy that Bruce taught.
Who Really Is Bruce Lee?
I aim to let you in with a more personal look at Bruce Lee in ways that you never knew him before. Bruce Lee was a wonderful spiritual guy who is deep thinking in his philosophy. Bruce Lee's core principles has been to "know yourself". Everything he did was in pursuit of self-cultivation that will lead to self-knowledge. He spent countless hours to study, learn and train. Art is a path through which life's secrets are revealed.
The Beginning
Lee Jun Fan aka Bruce Lee was born in the year of the Dragon on 27 November 1940 in San Francisco as his father was touring the USA with the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera company. Jun Fan means to "return" in Cantonese. A nurse suggested the English name Bruce. Bruce already had a restless energy when young and was already a child movie star at 6. By 8, he had a screen name Lee Siu Lung (Lee Little Dragon).
In his teen years, he was a street fighter. He told "Black Belt magazine in 1967:"I was a teenage punk who went looking for fights." He wasn't good at school and entered an English speaking Catholic institution and had mediocre grades and was expelled for disruptive behaviour only to be enrolled at another Catholic college with not much improvement. Despite wearing dark rimmed glasses he was no model student. His main activity was street fighting. He would use toilet chain, his fist and feet.
Wing Chun and Ip Man
He used to be bullied as a young boy and had wanted to train in martial arts. He was later introduced to Ip Man the Grand Master of Wing Chun school. At Wing Chun, he learned and grew in his skill and "chi" (inner energy). Wing Chun is an art developed by a woman who was tutored by a Shaolin nun. It suited him as he was of small built. The movement is fluid and economical and it turns the opponent's force against him (like Aikido). Bruce's passion for martial arts was total and went beyond an obsession. He learned too on Eastern philosophy.
At that young age, he already had his own ideas about fighting. A street fighter would know that any particular set of fighting style would be limited in a street fight where they are no rules, is chaotic and where opponents do not bow. He had deep loyalty and respect for Ip Man. Once, a rival school's pupils issued a challenge to Wing Chun students for a fight on a rooftop. It was supposed to be a sparring session but it turned ugly when a boy hurt Bruce Lee in the eye while Bruce was taking off his jacket. Angered by this, Bruce responded with a series of high kicks and straight punches knocking out his opponent and breaking his arm. He was arrested. Finally, everyone thought it wise to send Bruce out of harm's way to America. Wing Chun was his foundation from where he would evolve. This is Wing Chun.....
Bruce often faced discrimination. In Hong Kong, the British dominated. There were bullying in the streets. Though he was involved in street fights I wouldn't call him a gangster. He fought for the weak, those who got bullied and he stood up for justice, protecting his friends or neighbours. He simply loves to fight. Ancient martial arts in itself discriminates non-Chinese and when at Wing Chun Bruce faced discrimination too as he is not a full-blooded Chinese as his mother is half German. From here on, one can see the heart of Bruce as he battled discrimination.
Journey
Bruce went on American President Lines ship to San Francisco and made some money on board teaching cha cha (he was just crowned Hong Kong cha cha champion). He worked for a Seattle restaurant owner Ruby Chow who was family friend. He later studied philosophy at the University of Washington that was where he started teaching kung fu. When he was teaching, he was also learning. Bruce's happiest times were spent in Seattle. If you are there today, Ho Ho Seafood Restaurant at 651 S. Weller St. was where he once started his first training studio at the basement.
Bruce was always innovative. In the 50s, Chinese Martial Arts were conservative and believed that weight training slows the speed of the practioner. Bruce found a way to start with heavy weight and low repetition then reduced weights with increased repetition. This way, he built muscles, developed power and increased speed. Bruce also never believed in high impact training like heavy bag kicking as this would develope bulk muscles which reduce a practioner's speed.
Bruce was colour blind, he taught all races who wanted to learn which angered his own race in Chinatown. From the issued challenge, Bruce fought Wong Jack Man and won but he felt the fight lasted too long though it was really quite short. He felt he could have finished faster. That led him to search for answers. Bruce worked hard and had belief and confidence. He knew what he was doing and that he was good. Success though not a guaranteed thing is a natural progression.
The Struggles
Like you and me Bruce struggled. Struggled in his studies in Hong Kong. Struggled against bullies. Struggled against discrimination because he is Chinese. Struggled in a foreign land. Struggled because although he was confident with what he was good at how could he make ends meet. Struggled when the mother-in-law didn't like him at first. Some quarters in his own community thought of him as being arrogant because Bruce was always brimming with confidence and confidence becomes cockiness when the truth he spoke hurt.
His persistence and determination was as legendary but deep down in him there were frustrations. He did great stuffs, did the right things, thought of the great ideas but he didn't get the rewards he so deserved. Like the Green Hornet. Like his ideas on the Shaolin Monk fighting for justice in the old West. While Green Hornet failed in the USA, it was a hit in Hong Kong and Asia. So you can see from here, like Bruce, our day of reckoning could come. Thinking he was failing he went to Hong Kong to great reception and success followed.
As success came, he had to do more, not just acting but also on the scripts, on directing and to choreograph the fight scenes. He had to keep up with his physical fitness, his martial arts. He worked endlessly. Maybe he had injuries from fights. Some version opined he had it during the fight with Wong Jack Man but that could be Hollywood stuffs. Another was the fight in Thailand with a powerful Muay Thai exponent.
The official version was from the "Good Morning" exercises he did. This is a very effective exercise for the lower back but a dangerous one which some pro athletes would even shun. It involved carrying a barbell over your shoulders and then bending from the waist to 90 degrees. Bruce not only did this, he was said to have added more weights and did them repeatedly. One day his back snapped and he hurt his sacral nerves and was hospitalised for months where he started writing and compiling the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Doctors said he will never kick again but he came back fully restored after a long struggle but behind public eyes, he was some times in pain.
The Dream
Bruce suffered excruciating back pain from time to time. Some times, he had severe headaches. He had a blackout in the movie studio that shocked everyone and when at the hospital they took his blood test and that was when they found out that Bruce body had less than 1% of fat. Almost zero. Now compare this to an average man's 18%.
Bruce have always love talking and training martial arts and sharing ideas. He left the schools so that he could go into the movies and reach a much greater audience. When his Wing Chun elder Wong Shun Leong who trained him visited him after some time because Bruce always had great respect for him and have written many letters to, he found that Bruce was not as happy a person as he should be.
This leads me to think that we will sometimes find ourselves in similar situation where we may be more successful, have more money but we may not enjoy what we do anymore. Wong was said to have told Bruce that he could always do what would make him happy and Bruce replied that you are better than me or something to this effect. Soon after Bruce died.
The Legacy & His Spirit
I wanted to write about Bruce Lee on his birthday as I wanted to remember him not because he died but for his birth and that he had lived and lived among us. As an adult I felt even more about the impact of Bruce than young because he had struggled, faced discrimination. As a husband, father, friend.
Here, you can see his grave in Seattle taken care of by Kimura. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha2qSxABVIM&feature=fvw
He affected and influenced the world more than Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean combined when he died and after he died but his spirit lived on. His profound principles and teachings is still valid. Taky Kimura his closest and best friend has dedicated his life of protecting Bruce's teachings and his grave and Brandon's. What a friend! What a great human! What a man! Today Bruce is still my man! If you want a solid friend, he should be like Taky Kimura!
I shall be giving you more interesting notes on Bruce in the coming weeks. Watch this space. Do not miss everyone of them for I may never do it again. Meantime enjoy this clip of Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUkGIsKvn0. Ciao!
Happy Birthday Bruce Lee!
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