Story Of Bruce Lee

THE BRUCE LEE STORY

On the morning of November 27, 1940 (in the Chinese year of the Dragon), Lee Jun Fan was born in San Francisco. The mother, Grace had not planned on an American name, and the father, at the time, was performing a popular Chinese opera in New York. So it was one of the Hospital employee who thought of the name Bruce. The mother concurred and from then on it was Bruce Lee. A legend was born. Shortly afterward, the family returned to Hong Kong.

Bruce's Hong Kong film career began when he was only six years old. The director of his father's latest film saw him on the set and was so impressed that he offered him a part in his father's film. This was the beginning, leading to over twenty motion picture roles and steadily increasing popularity among Hong Kong audiences.

Bruce started training in the martial arts mainly to overcome his fear of being humiliated in a street fight. As a teenager he began to get into more and more fights for no reason at all. And if he didn't win he was furious. As a result, under the great master Yip Man's Wing Chun (meaning "beautiful springtime") teachings, Bruce became a proficient martial artist, not to mention a feared street fighter. However, Bruce actually had more than one teacher. As time went by, Bruce grew. His enthusiasm towards martial arts was more apparent. He was young, energetic and competitive. He soon became acquainted with Wing-chun's basic Kung Fu. Since he was very clever, Mr Yip loved him very much and taught him many secret techniques in Win Chun Kung Fu. He became an expert in Wing Chun Kung Fu.

When Bruce was about fourteen, he discovered that "dancing" could be a great deal of fun. He had a real Knack for it and rapidly became quite polished, never lacking eager partners. Much of the balance and footwork became evident in his later fighting style. His favorite was the Cha Cha, and he spent many hours practicing extremely complex dance routines. He eventually became the Hong Kong Cha Cha Champion.

At the age of 19, Bruce was becoming more and more involved in street fighting. So in 1959 his parents decide to sent him to live with friends in the United States, Where he would finish high school. While he was staying in Seattle, Bruce was allowed to live in the restaurant's attic in exchange for his services as a busboy and waiter. Bruce finished high school and went on to college. By day he attended the University of Washington and nights he was working in the restaurant. After a few months of this, he decided that this lifestyle was not for him. He quit his job at the restaurant and began teaching Kung-fu. At the age of twenty-two, Bruce authored an extremely unique text which he titled "CHINESE GUNG-FU: The Philosophical Art of SELF-DEFENSE." This book reflected his preocupation with spiritual as well as physical development.

Before Bruce finished his Bachelor Degree in Philosophy, he meet Linda Emery, a pretty blonde coed, enrolled in his class and in 1964 they were married. Shortly afterward, they moved to California. In 1965, Bruce's son, Brandon, was born. Couples years later his daughter Shannon was born.

THE BRUCE LEE STORY 2

When Bruce debuted to the world giving a demostration of Martial Arts at Ed Parker's 1964 internationals, Ed was getting it all down on film. Fate intervened a few years later while Ed was teaching Jay Sebring (one of the people later killed along with Sharon Tate in the Sharon Tate murders). Jay mentioned that his friend Bill Dozier (the producer of "Batman 1966 T.V. series") had bought the rights to the "Green Hornet" and needed a Kato. Parker showed Dozier the film on Bruce and the rest is history. As Kato on the popular T.V. series "The Green Hornet", Bruce introduced millions to the beauty, creativity and power of the martial arts.

Bruce felt certain that "The Green Hornet" was going to be his "Big Break," but after the series went off the air after only one season, Bruce found that parts calling for orientals were few and far between. He landed a small role in "Marlowe," a feature film starring James Garner, and also appeared in a few episodes of "Longstreet," a television series starring James Franciscus, but for the most part his career was going nowhere. Then, he decide to opened up three Knoons (schools) designed for only the most serious of martial arts students. It was here that he developed and taught what was to become JEET KUNE DO. Which he had a group of students like Steve McQueen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Etc.

In the U.S. Bruce knew many good friends in the field of martial arts. One of them was an expert in the nunchaku and Ka-li - Mr. Dan Inosanto. (Bruce Lee is the one in the center without shirt and Dan is the one whom is in the Bruce's right.) They exchanged their techniques. In short while, Bruce grasped the essential points in the use of the nunchaku and Ka-li. The beginning of the seventies saw Bruce spending more and more time between Hollywood and Hong Kong. Offers began pouring in from many different sources and he was continually in transit firming up commitments and scouting locations for future projects. In constant demand, his fees escalated accordingly to such astronomical rates as $275.00 per hour. However the perpetuation of Jeet Kune Do was still very important to him so before he embarked for good on his glamorous new profession abroad, he turned the responsability of his teaching over to his head instructor and friend, Dan Inosanto.

In 1970, Bruce Lee sustained a rather severe injury to his back. His doctors ordered him to discontinue the practice of martial arts and to remain in bed to allow his back to heal. "This was probably the most trying and dispiriting time in Bruce's life" (Linda Lee Commented). Bruce stayed in bed, virtually flat on his back for six months, but he couldn't keep his mind from working - the result was the book of Tao of Jeet Kune Do. The bulk of these writings was done at that time, but many scattered notes were recorded at earlier and later times. Bruce Lee had decided to finish the book in 1971 but his film work keept him from completing it. Bruce also vacillated about the advisability of publishing his work because he felt it might be used for wrong purposes. Bruce intended that the book were a record of one man's way of thinking and as a guide, not set of instructions. This book was printed for the first time in 1975 (Not when Bruce was alive like suggest the film of Universal Studios DRAGON - The Bruce Lee Story). As a matter of fact, the book was incomplete and was finished by Bruce Lee's wife Linda Lee, Gilbert L. Johnson & Dan Inosanto.

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THE LEGEND ON SCREEN

After the "Green Hornet" and "LongStreet" television series, Bruce was asked to star in the television series "Kung-Fu." But Bruce was later turned down by the producers of the "Kung-Fu" TV series, because they thought Bruce was too "Oriental" looking for mainstream american audiences. Then, after a little while, he went to Hong Kong to make a series of action movies, which propelled him into international superstardom. As time went on, Bruce was determined to upgrade his films. Eventually he incorporated his philosophy and Jeet Kune Do into his films. Bruce Lee only made 4 films about Martial Arts and another one incomplete (Game of Death). That's made 5 of them

The Big Boss was a typical low budget "chop-suey" film. Bruce was reluctant to have this film shown in the western market because of it's lack of sophistication. His charisma and martial arts ability overshadowed any short comings in the film and instantly catapulted him to superstar status.

The Chinese Connection (Fist of Fury) With the box office success of The Big Boss behind him, Bruce asserted more of himself in each succeeding film. In The Chinese Connection his fight scenes were flawless and believable. His simple and direct fighting style of Jeet Kune Do would set the standard for all martial arts films to come.