The Man Who Revolutionized Martial Arts: Bruce Lee
The man, the myth, the legend. Bruce Lee was far from being a myth, but he was a legendary man who completely changed martial arts. He redesigned his foundation so significantly and precisely that no man or woman can perfect it further. Today, martial artists can only build on that foundation and help hone their ideas. Bruce was an amazing motivator, innovator, and philosopher. Most importantly, he was a true martial artist.
A Martial Artist is someone who adapts to any situation. This philosophy is not limited to fighting or martial arts. It can be used in daily life. We can use the job as an example.
Let’s say you are not doing as well as you thought and you know you can do much better. How can you improve at your job? You adapt to it! You listen and learn as much as you can. You go to work every day with a new goal in mind and each day you discover how to achieve that goal.
As a Martial Artist, I have learned to use what I learn in martial arts in daily life. Bruce Lee made this evident in his books and movies. He made his philosophy sounded in such a way that it was impossible to ignore it.
A personal challenge from me to you – watch a Bruce Lee movie (Enter the Dragon has great fight scenes and great Bruce Lee quotes)! Let me know if you felt his passion and heard some of his philosophy. MOTIVATED YOU? His philosophy has motivated me in such a way that it has changed my view on many things and how I approach each day. No article on Bruce Lee is complete without a little background on him.
A brief history of Bruce Lee:
The Bruce Lee story began on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, California. He was born Lee Jun Fan and was the fourth child of his father, Lee Hoi-Chuen, and his mother, Grace.
Lee’s father was a Hong Kong opera singer who was on tour in San Francisco when he was born, making Lee an American citizen. Three months later, the family returned to Hong Kong, which was occupied by the Japanese at the time. When Lee was 12 years old, he enrolled at La Salle College and later joined St. Francis Xavier’s College, which were high schools even though it says college. Lee’s father was his first martial arts instructor, teaching him the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan from the beginning. After joining a Hong Kong street gang in 1954, Lee began to feel the need to improve his fight. This caused him to start studying Wing Chun Gung Fu with Yip Man. While there, Lee often trained with one of Yip’s best students, Wong Shun-Leung. Thus, Wong had a great impact on his training. Lee studied with Yip Man until he was 18 years old. Most don’t realize how extensive Lee’s martial arts experience was. Lee also trained in Western boxing and won the 1958 boxing championship against Gary Elms by third round knockout. Lee also learned fencing techniques from his brother, Peter Lee (a champion in the sport). This varied background led to personal modifications to Wing Chun Gung Fu, and he called his new version of the style Jun Fan Gung Fu. In fact, Lee opened his first martial arts school in Seattle and named it the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.
Lee began to formulate a style of martial arts that was practical for street fighting and existed outside the parameters and limitations of other styles of martial arts. He kept what worked and what didn’t, he didn’t use. Jeet Kune Do was born in 1965. Lee opened two more schools after moving to California, and only certified three instructors in the art. They were Taky Kimura, James Yimm Lee, and Dan Inosanto.
Bruce Lee appeared in his first movie at three months old, acting as a stand-in for an American baby in Golden Gate Girl. He made around 20 movie appearances as a child actor. In 1959, Lee got into trouble with the police for fighting. His mother, deciding that the area in which they lived was too dangerous for him, sent him back to the United States to live with friends. There he graduated from high school in Edison, Washington before enrolling at the University of Washington to study philosophy. There he also began teaching martial arts, and that’s how he met his future wife, Linda Emery. Bruce Lee married Linda Emery in 1964. They had two children together: Brandon Lee and Shannon.
Bruce Lee made some American headlines as an actor on the television series The Green Hornet, which aired between 1966 and 1967. He served as Hornet’s partner Kato, where he showed off his movie-friendly fighting style. Even with more appearances, acting stereotypes were huge barriers and led him to return to Hong Kong in 1971. In Hong Kong, he became a major movie star in such films as Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection and Way of the Dragon. .
On July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee died in Hong Kong at the age of 32. The official cause of his death was brain swelling, caused by a reaction to a prescription pain reliever he was taking for a back injury. Controversy increased regarding his passing, as Lee had been obsessed with the idea that he might die early, leaving many wondering if he had been murdered. A month after Lee’s death in the United States, Enter the Dragon came out in the United States, eventually raising more than $ 200 million. Bruce made a lot of things happen in a short time. His studies and beliefs led to a universal change in the world of martial arts. Today, we have Mixed Martial Arts (AKA MMA) that is taking the world by storm and thanks to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and becoming the fastest growing show in the world. The man to thank is Bruce Lee. His ideas and ability to reach a wide diversity of people has shown that combining martial arts to find what works and what doesn’t is the only way to become a true martial artist.
Thanks Bruce Lee!
