Bruce Lee Part 6 - Incredible Feats & Death
Pound For Pound
Pound for pound Bruce Lee was the most powerful man in the world. Those who trained and sparred with him firmly believed. His feats of strength was unbelievable. From one handed chin-ups to one handed push ups using only one finger and his thumb, Bruce could also lift a 75 pounds dumb bell stretching his hand in front of him with his elbows locked for some seconds. Next time at the gym, try it. See if you can handle half of that and you will know what I mean.
The strength that he could generate is frightening as he could send men who outweighed him by a hundred pounds flying 6-15 feet with an one-inch punch or a kick and he only weighed between 125-145 pounds. He could thrust his fingers through full cans of Coca Cola or with a simple kick sent a 200-pound sandbag flying into the ceiling.
When the Chinatown elders sent their best fighter to challenge Bruce, Bruce won but he found that he used up too much energy and that the fight lasted longer than he had wanted. He felt tired, winded and thought that he really needed conditioning. He always had a hunger for knowledge. On physical conditioning, weight training, etc. He had a large collection of books as he needed to know how to apply philosophy, weight training, conditioning into martial arts. He would eliminate what were not found to be useful and when he found consistency from different books he would take note. It was the same way he learned in fighting.
Long Beach International Karate Championship (1964 & 1967)
Bruce was invited by Ed Parker, a famous Karate exponent. There he demonstrated the two-finger one hand push-ups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXP6trDByRQ and also performed the One-Inch Punch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mxwIC8lrv0. His volunteer that day was Bob Baker: "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again. When he punched me that last time, I had to stay home from work because the pain in my chest was unbearable."
Bruce also did the "unstoppable punch" on World Karate Champ Vic Moore. Bruce told Moore that he was going to throw a straight punch at his face. All he had to do is to block it. Bruce stepped back a few steps and asked when he was ready. When Moore nodded, Bruce glided in and threw a punch at him at such lightning speed and stopped just before contact. He did this eight times and Moore could not block a single attempt.
Bruce also did the "unstoppable punch" on World Karate Champ Vic Moore. Bruce told Moore that he was going to throw a straight punch at his face. All he had to do is to block it. Bruce stepped back a few steps and asked when he was ready. When Moore nodded, Bruce glided in and threw a punch at him at such lightning speed and stopped just before contact. He did this eight times and Moore could not block a single attempt.
Fight History
Dan Inosanto had no doubt that if Bruce had gone into pro boxing, he could easily be in the top of the Lightweight division. Bruce defeated three-time champion British boxer Gary Elms by KO in the third round of the 1958 HK Int'l Boxing Championship using Wing Chun techniques with straight high and low punches. Bruce KO Pu Chung, a top fighter from a rival school in a roof-top full contact match.
Bruce was frequently involved in street fights. Once, while removing his jacket, his opponent gave him a black eye. He flew into a rage, went after and KO him and broke his arm. It happened at a roof top and the police were called in. In Seattle, while he was taking a walk, he saw a guy harassing a Chinese girl and he broke the bully's nose. In a 1962 full contact match in Seattle, he fought with a Karate black belt Uechi and promptly knocked him out cold in all of eleven seconds.
Description of the fight - "Karate man arrived in his gi with black belt. Bruce came in street clothes and just took off his shoes. The fight lasted exactly in 11 seconds. Bruce hit the guy 15 times and only kicked him once. I thought Bruce killed him" - witnessed by Ed Hart who was the time keeper.
In Oakland, California Chinatown 1964. This was the controversial match with Wong Jack Man sent by the Chinatown elders to issue Bruce the ultimatum. Wong was a master of Xinyiquan, a powerful and aggressive art, Tai Chi quan and Northern Shaolin. The ornate scroll was issued with all the names of the sifus of Chinatown but it did not scare Bruce. Wong and a witness William Chen, a tai chi quan teacher said the match lasted 20-25 minutes - unusually long. Bruce Lee, Linda Lee and James Yimm Lee said it lasted only 3 minutes.
Because of his growing reputation, many others would challenge him to fights, possibly to make a name for themselves. Once, an invader went into his backyard to challenge and Bruce finish him off with a violent kick. Bob Wall, a famous kickboxing champion and co-start of Enter The Dragon recalled an extra taunting Bruce on a set that he was just a movie star but not much as a fighter. Wall described this guy as gangster type and a very good martial artist who was fast, strong and bigger than Bruce. Needless to say, Bruce finish him off in 30 seconds and had him in an arm lock. When the guy submitted, Bruce told him to get back to work instead of firing him.
Bruce's waist was always only between 26-28 inches. Bruce could hold a V-Up position for 30 minutes. He could do 50 one-armed chin ups, break boards that are six inches thick. Bruce had an incredible body which has almost zero per cent body fat. Nobody knew it until his first blackout and when he was hospitalised they took blood samples for tests and the doctors found out this amazing thing about his body. An average male has at least 18% fat.
He performed a side kick while training with James Coburn and tore a 150 pounds punching bag. He could perform leg lifts using only his shoulder blades to rest on the edge of a bench and suspend his whole body in midair.
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Despite his back injury that caused him great pain and remained for rest of his life, Bruce continued his pursuits. Bruce's Lee's striking speed from three feet with his hands down by his side reached five hundredths of a second. He could take in one arm a 75 lb barbell from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest and slowly stick his arms out locking them, holding the barbell there for 20 seconds. His combat movements were at times too fast to be captured on film for clear slow motion replay using the traditional 24 frames per second of that era, so many scenes were shot in 32 frames per second for better clarity. In a speed demonstration, Lee could snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind.
He could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks. - Witnessed by many such as Joe Hyams. Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened cans of Coca-Cola. (This was when soft drinks cans were much thicker than today's aluminum cans). Lee performed one-hand push-ups using only the thumb and index finger. He could cause a 300-lb (136 kg) bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a sidekick. ( According to Bob Wall, he has the video tape of him kicking 300lb bag towards the ceiling.) In a move that has been dubbed "Dragon Flag", Lee could perform leg lifts with only his shoulder blades resting on the edge of a bench and suspend his legs and torso horizontally in midair.
Bruce was able to jump 8 feet from a stand still (this was shown in pictures and his films such as the one where he kicked the light bulb out).
"There are no limits." - Bruce Lee
"There are no limits." - Bruce Lee
A Fascination
Bruce Lee influenced more people than any other great legends including John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and whoever perhaps all of them put together. The amazing thing about him was that he was a different hero and influence to different people. Martial artists revere his physical power, speed and dexterity. Body builders admired his perfection. Movie fans loved his extraordinary screen presence and animal magnetism. He opened new doors to action films way before Stallone, Schwarzenegger or Chuck Norris and created a path for Jackie Chan, Jet Li and others into Hollywood. He built a bridge connecting East to West.
The world's best body builders who toiled could not believe what they saw of his body at 5 ft 7 inches and weighing between 125-145 pounds. Bruce Lee's muscles were built for specific function. It has great clarity. Like looking at a house we just see a house but looking at his body tells you what each room's function was. Each muscle or muscle group including the neighbouring one was accounted for. Now you know why absolutely nobody could have fought with such feline grace?
According to his best friend Taky Kimura, Bruce would sometimes pretend that his thumb was like an air hose blowing air into his body then he will inflate his muscles and he would look like a cobra.
Death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ekAQfN8x8&feature=related
Wong Shun Leung who trained Bruce in Wing Chun visited Bruce two months before he died. Bruce wanted him to join the cast of Game of Death. Wong had some medical knowledge and he found that the black and white of Bruce's eyes were not clear. Wong asked if he was tired and hope that perhaps he was just over-worked and urged him to have more rest for even if a man worked like a machine he will break down. Wong claimed that Bruce's eyes were dull.
Wong sparred with Bruce when he visited and found Bruce to be still powerful but not as before. Well, I personally thought that Bruce was famous now and he can't have all the time to himself training his body and martial arts alone anymore. There were probably changes going on rapidly in Bruce's life. More vitamins, medicines and electronic machines to train, more distractions, more work on scripts, movies. How do you make a movie even better? Bruce could shoot some small actions 200 times to perfection. His mental and physical state could be in turmoil as his burdens in life must have been great.
Wong was recorded to have told Bruce that the difference between men was small as someone who has the same power as Bruce could still fight him but Bruce will win because he has techniques. Do not take yourself as superman then you will have a better and more meaningful life or you may feel cold and lonely. Bruce replied that he is now different as his life is insured and he is ready to face anything. His family need not worry and he has no worry. "If anybody disturbs me, he should be careful. I am not afraid of death, I can kill any attacker any time." Was some people disturbing him?? Wong was said to have told Bruce that if he were correct then every millionaire would be a model father. He urged Bruce to find more time to be with his wife and children. "don't spent too much time in making money" Wong said to Bruce and Bruce shook his head and smile. Bruce went back to the States.
One day before Bruce died, he gave Wong a call to tell him that among all his friends he respected Wong the most because he thought Wong was always optimistic, did not care for or took money and fame seriously. Bruce told him that his life was better. Wong told him that if we sought money and fame we will only torture ourselves. "I am only trying to find happiness. You can live like me too, don't exceed the limit. Then you'll find your life is better than everybody." That was the last words between good old friends and they have been separated forever.
Bruce was laid to rest in traditional Chinese outfit like those he wore in Enter The Dragon. Long before his sudden and tragic death, rumours were rife that he was wounded or killed in fights and when Bruce died, the rumour mills worked overtime. One day Bruce got a call from the largest newspapers in Hong Kong to inquire if he were still alive.
The rumours were wide ranging from Bruce being killed by the triads because of past enmities or grievances or refusal to pay protection money to murder by a highly skilled pugilist. Others believed he was cursed and his death was already sealed at birth or that the house he lived in has bad feng shui or that he was killed in a challenge match.
Certain people among the Chinese community believed that he had too much intensity in his training. Some even suggested drug use like cannabis or hashish to calm him down or to relieve his back pains and headaches. Certain quarters actually believed that he faked his own death like in the movie The Game of Death so he could get away from it all.
The Coroner's report was inconclusive as the medical authorities came up with different reasons but they all agreed on one thing - cerebral edema, a swelling of the brain caused by congestion of fluid. But what caused this cerebral edema? No injury was found on his skull but his brain had swollen considerably from 1,400 grams to 1,575 grams. No blood vessels were broken or blocked. Hemorrhage was ruled out. All internal organs were meticulously examined and the only substance found was Equagesic. A highly respected Professor of forensic medicine from the University of London was called and he found that the edema was caused by hypersensitivity to Equagesic. This report was accepted by the authorities and the cause of death was stamped: "Misadventure".
An early death was what Bruce had contemplated with frequency. According to his wife, Linda, Bruce had no wish to live to a ripe old age because he could not stand the idea of losing his physical abilities which he had achieved after striving so hard over the years. "If I were to die tomorrow, I will have no regrets. I did what I wanted to do. You can't expect more from life." Bruce said.
With this I end the episodes on Bruce Lee which as I have said in the beginning should be remembered for the fact that he has lived and inspired many rather than he has died. In my final article, I shall give you anecdotes of how we can apply his principles and ethics.
Do you know which is Bruce Lee's favourite hotel? "Hyaaaattt!!!" And his favourite drink? "Waaateeer! Waaateeer!" (Shout the answers in the way Bruce would growl during a fight). Juts pulling your legs
Thank you Bruce, for the memories!
I'll show you what we could learn next and how we can apply it in life.
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