 Bruce Jun Fan Lee (November 27, 1940 - July 20, 1973) was a Chinese American
martial artist and actor widely regarded as the most influential, well-known
and celebrated martial artist of the 20th century. Lee's films, especially his
performance in the Hollywood-produced Enter the Dragon, elevated the
traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level. His pioneering efforts
paved the way for future martial artists and martial arts actors such as
Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chuck Norris.
Lee's movies sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts
in the West. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced
martial arts and martial arts films in Hong Kong, China, and the rest of the
world. Lee became an iconic figure particularly to Chinese; as he portrayed
Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies.
Many see Lee as a model blueprint for acquiring a strong and efficient body as
well as developing a mastery of martial arts and hand to hand combat skills.
Lee began the process of creating his own fighting system known as Jeet Kune
Do. Bruce Lee's evaluation of traditional martial arts doctrines is nowadays
seen as one of the first steps into popularizing the modern style of mixed
martial arts.
Early Life
Bruce Lee was an American Born Chinese (ABC) born at the Chinese Hospital in
San Francisco in 1940 to his Chinese father Lee Hoi-chuen and Chinese-German
mother Grace Lee, where Bruce's parents were on a one-year US tour with the
Cantonese Opera Company. Bruce's maternal grandmother was Chinese and his
maternal grandfather was German.
Names
Bruce's Cantonese given name, Jun Fan, literally means invigorate San
Francisco. At birth, he was given the English name Bruce by Dr Mary Glover.
Mrs Lee had not initially planned on an American name but deemed it
appropriate and concurred with Dr Glover. Interestingly the name Bruce was
never used within his family until he enrolled in La Salle College, a Hong
Kong high school, at 12 years of age, and then again at another Catholic boys'
school St Francis Xavier's College, Kowloon. There he represented their boxing
team in inter-school events.
In addition, Lee initially had a birth name Li Yuen-kam given by his mother,
as at the time Lee's father was away on a Chinese opera tour. After several
months, when Lee's father returned, the name was abandoned because of a
conflict with the name of Lee's grandfather. Lee was then renamed Jun Fan.
Finally, Lee was also given a feminine name, Sai Fung, literally small
phoenix. It was used throughout his early childhood in keeping with a Chinese
custom traditionally thought to hide the child from evil spirits.
Bruce Lee's screen name was Lee Siu-lung in Cantonese and Li Xiao-long in
Mandarin which literally means Lee Little Dragon. These were first used by the
directors of the 1950 Cantonese movies in which Lee performed. It is possible
that that the name little dragon was chosen based on his childhood name small
phoenix. In Chinese tradition, the Chinese dragon and phoenix come in pairs to
represent the male and female genders. However, it is more likely that he was
called Little Dragon because he was born in the Year of the Dragon in the Hour
of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac.
Education and Family
At age 14, Bruce Lee entered La Salle College, a high school, under the wing
of Brother Henry. Then, he attended St Francis Xavier's College from
1957-1959.
 In 1959, Bruce got into a fight with a feared Triad gang member's son, his
father became concerned about young Bruce's safety and as a result, he and his
wife decided to send Bruce to the United States to live with an old friend of
his father's. All he had was $100 in his pocket and the title of 1958 Crown
Colony Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong. After living in San Francisco, he moved
to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father's. In 1959, Lee
completed his high school education in Seattle and received his diploma from
Edison Technical School. He enrolled at the University of Washington as a
philosophy major. It was at the University of Washington that he met his
future wife Linda Emery, whom he would marry in 1964.
Bruce and Linda had two children together, Brandon Lee (born 1965) and Shannon
Lee (born 1969). Brandon Lee, an actor like his father, died on a movie set while
filming The Crow on March 31, 1993.
Early Acting Career
A few credits short of graduation from the University of Washington as a
philosophy major, Lee headed to San Francisco and then Hollywood.
In 1964 at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, the soon-to-be-famous
Bruce Lee met karate black belt champion Chuck Norris. Lee would later
introduce Norris to portray one of Lee's opponents in Return of the Dragon,
also known as Way of the Dragon, in a famous Coliseum fight scene regarded by
many as one of the best martial arts fights ever filmed.
Lee went on to star as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet, which ran from
1966 to 1967 and afterward opened up his own Jeet Kune Do school. Later Lee
would use filmmaking to demonstrate his martial arts fighting techniques and
theories.
He had created the character idea for the role of Kwai-Chang-Caine for the TV
Series Kung Fu, but the role eventually went to David Carradine instead.
He also appeared in the film Marlowe in 1969 and a few episodes of the TV
series Longstreet in 1971.
Martial Arts Training and Development
Tai Chi Chuan
Young Bruce learned the fundamentals of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan from his
father, Lee Hoi-cheun. Lee's Wing Chun Sifu, Yip Man, was also a colleague and
friend of Hong Kong Wu family teacher Wu Ta-chi. He always held that the
principles of Tai Chi Chuan influenced his view of martial arts all through
his life as an actor and a martial artist. While it is obvious that the style
studied by his father was the Wu style, Lee was seen on at least one occasion
demonstrating the 108 Basic Movements of the Yang form.
Hung Gar
In between the learning of Tai Chi and Wing Chun, Lee also learned bits and
pieces of the Kung fu style Hung Gar from a friend of his father. While we do
not know how much he learned of this particular martial art, there are
photographs of Bruce demonstrating animal stances and forms found within its
teachings.
Wing Chun
Bruce Lee began his formal martial arts training at the age of 14 in Wing Chun
under Hong Kong Wing Chun master Yip Man. Bruce was introduced to Sifu Yip Man
by William Cheung, who was then a live-in student of Yip Man, in early 1954.
Like most martial arts schools at that time, Sifu Yip Man's classes were often
taught by the highest ranking students. One of the highest ranking students
under Yip Man at the time of Lee's training was Wong Shun-leung, who is
understood to have had the largest influence. Lee would leave before learning
the entire Wing Chun curriculum, but Wing Chun formed a base for his later
explorations of martial arts and development of Jeet Kune Do.
Bruce Lee's first formal, organized bout came as a teenager at his high school
in Hong Kong. He was to fight a young British boxer, a reigning two-time
boxing champion. Bruce knocked his opponent out with repeated strikes, using
the Wing Chun technique Jik Chung Chuy.
Jun Fan Gung Fu
It would not be until his arrival in the United States, however, that Lee
began the process of creating his own system, which he would later teach at
the martial arts schools he opened first in Seattle starting with judo
practitioner Jesse Glover as his first student who later became his first
assistant instructor, and the first person authorized by Lee to teach aspects
of Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. After moving to Oakland and Los Angeles, California
Lee opened his martial arts school named the Lee Jun-fan Gung Fu Institute.
Jeet Kune Do
Bruce Lee believed that martial arts styles were limited by their very nature.
Instead, he emphasized what he called the style of no style. This consisted of
utilizing a non-formalized approach which Lee claimed was not indicative of
traditional styles. Lee named his martial arts system Jun Fan Gung Fu, which
consisted mostly of elements of Wing Chun, with elements of Western Boxing,
Fencing. Eventually Jun Fan Gung Fu transformed itself to what he would come
to describe as Jeet Kune Do or the Way of the Intercepting Fist.
Lee claimed that, after arriving in San Francisco, his theories about martial
arts and his teaching of secret Chinese martial arts to non-Asian students
gave him enemies in the martial arts community. A contest was scheduled
between him and Wong Jack-man, a practitioner of Northern Shaolin Kung fu.
Bruce Lee's description of the fight was that Wong Jack-man challenged him to
a duel over his decision to teach non-Chinese students. Bruce Lee accepted the
challenge. Many who witnessed the fight believed Lee had won the duel, however
Wong disputes this. Lee later took the view that the fight took too long
because traditional martial arts techniques were too rigid and formalistic to
be practical in scenarios of chaotic street fighting. Perhaps as a result of
this fight, he decided to develop a system with an emphasis on practicality,
flexibility, speed, and efficiency.
Beyond Jeet Kune Do
The match with Wong influenced Lee's philosophy on fighting. Lee believed that
the fight had lasted too long and that he had failed to live up to his
potential. At this point he decided to start different methods of training
such as weight training for strength, running for endurance, stretching for
flexibility, and many others which he constantly adapted.
Bruce Lee certified three instructors: Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, and James
Yimm Lee. James Yimm Lee, a close friend of Bruce Lee, died without certifying
additional students. Taky Kimura, to date, has certified one person in Jun Fan
Gung Fu: his son and heir Andy Kimura. All other instructors are certified
under Dan Inosanto. Prior to his death, Lee told his then only two living
instructors Inosanto and Kimura (James Yimm Lee had died in 1972.) to
dismantle his schools. Both Taky Kimura and Dan Inosanto were allowed to teach
small classes thereafter without using the name Jeet Kune Do. Lee specifically
said to Inosanto Keep the numbers small and the quality high.
As a result of a lawsuit between the estate of Bruce Lee (also known as
Concord Moon) and the Inosanto Academy, the name Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do was
legally trademarked, and the rights were given solely to the Lee estate. The
name is made up of two parts: Jun Fan (Bruce's given Chinese name) and Jeet
Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). The development of Bruce Lee's art
from 1961 until the end of his life was one smooth and indivisible path. In
the beginning, he referred to his teachings simply as Jun Fan Gung Fu. Later
he further refined his art as a unique Gung fu all its own - Jeet Kune Do.
Some martial arts instructors, in an effort to promote themselves or their
martial arts schools, make dubious claims about learning from or teaching
Bruce Lee. There are only a few living people who can trace their lineage
directly to Bruce Lee. |
1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships
At the invitation of Ed Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach
International Karate Championship and performed repetitions of two-finger
pushups (using the thumb and the index finger) with feet at approximately a
shoulder-width apart. In the same Long Beach event he also performed the One
inch punch. The description of which is as follows: Lee stood upright, his
right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing,
stationary partner. Lee's right arm was partly extended and his right fist
approximately an inch away from the partner's chest. Without retracting his
right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to his partner while largely
maintaining his posture, sending the partner backwards and falling into a
chair placed behind the partner to prevent injury, though the force of the
impact caused his partner to soon after fall onto the floor.
Physical Fitness and Nutrition
Bruce Lee felt that many martial artists of his day did not spend enough time
on physical conditioning. Bruce did not resort to traditional bodybuilding
techniques to build mass; he was more interested in speed and power.
The weight training program that Lee used during a stay in Hong Kong in 1965
indicated bicep curls of 36kg and eight repetitions for endurance. This
translates to an estimated one repetition maximum of 50kg, placing Lee in
approximately the 100th percentile for the 55 to 64 kilogram weight class.
Lee believed that the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscle
groups for a martial artist, since virtually every movement requires some
degree of abdominal work. Perhaps more importantly, the abs are like a shell,
protecting the ribs and vital organs. Bruce Lee's washboard abs did not come
from mere abdominal training; he was also a proponent of cardiovascular
conditioning and would regularly run, jump rope, and ride a stationary
bicycle. A typical exercise for Lee would be to run a distance of two to six
miles in fifteen to forty-five minutes.
Another element in Bruce Lee's quest for abdominal definition was nutrition.
According to Linda Lee, soon after he moved to the United States, Bruce
started to take nutrition seriously and developed an interest in health foods
and high-protein drinks. He ate lean meat sparingly and consumed large amounts
of fruits and vegetables.
Death by Misadventure
Bruce Lee's death was officially attributed to cerebral edema.
On July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong, due to have dinner with former James
Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film.
According to Lee's wife Linda, Bruce met producer Raymond Chow at 2 pm at home
to discuss the making of the movie Game of Death. They worked until 4 pm and
then drove together to the home of Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress who was
to have a leading role in the film. The three went over the script at her
home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.
A short time later, Lee complained of a headache, and Ting Pei gave him an
analgesic. At around 7.30 pm, he lay down for a nap. After Lee didn't turn up
for the dinner, Chow came to the apartment but could not wake Lee up. A doctor
was summoned, who spent ten minutes attempting to revive him before sending
him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. However, Lee was dead by the
time he reached the hospital. There was no visible external injury; however,
his brain had swollen considerably, from 1,400 to 1,575 grams (13%). Lee was
thirty-two years old. On October 15, 2005, Chow stated in an interview that
Lee was allergic to Equagesic. When the doctors announced Bruce Lee's death
officially, it was pronounced Death by Misadventure.
However, the exact details of Lee's death are controversial. Bruce Lee's
iconic status and unusual death at a young age led many people to develop many
theories about Lee's death, such as a murder involving Triads, gangsters,
ninjas, and so on - none of these have ever been proven.
Another conspiracy theory states that Lee faked his death, and will return
when he has perfected his martial arts.
Yet another theory is that Lee died while shooting a movie, because a crewman
purposely loaded a gun with a live round instead of the blank, similarly to
how his son died nearly 20 years later. It was a conspiracy for the studio to
get his money.
Final Resting Place
 Bruce Lee's final resting place is Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle, Washington,
on top of Capitol Hill, overlooking Lake Washington. He was buried on July 30, 1973.
Tragically, Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee died from an unfortunate accident on
the movie set, The Crow, on March 31, 1993. Brandon Lee's final resting place
is beside his father. There are a lot of people that visit the grave site
everyday. The grave site gets so much traffic that they have to replace the
grass every four months.
The cemetery address is:
Lakeview Cemetery
1554 15th Ave E
Seattle, WA
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