Bruce Lee was not only a movie star, a martial artist and a cultural icon. His path and the values he conveyed have been motivating for several generations after his death.
We talk about the life of the great actor and how to achieve success in martial arts together with an international-class sports master in karate.
Alexander Golovikhin
international master of sports in karate, expert in the field of physical education
Success in martial arts, as in any other endeavor, requires hard work, systematic work on yourself, and confidence in success!
Be willing to change when change begins. Be flexible to change when the time comes for change. Empty yourself. Open up. Remember: the benefit of a cup is that it is empty.
Bruce Lee
Little Dragon
Bruce Lee was named Li Xiaolong after the dragon in whose year and hour he was born in San Francisco. His parents are Grace Li and Li Huichen, his father was a Chinese opera artist. From childhood, Bruce was interested in martial arts, although at school age he did not differ in physical strength from his peers, but rather, on the contrary, was a frail and frail boy.
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He began his journey into cinema very early - at the age of three months Bruce starred in the film “Golden Gate Girl”.
Clicks
The snap strike is a quick strike, similar to a whip strike, in which the hand makes a short contract with your target and returns to its original position at lightning speed. Such a blow is a hallmark of Bruce Lee. He leapt forward, stomping his front foot as his fist quickly stung his opponent.
Practice this strike on a paper bag or newspaper hanging on a rope. Don't try to put too much force into the punch. Just try to make a clean contract. After practicing the click a little in this way, move on to the bag. If you hit this correctly, the bag will make a “click” instead of a “thump.”
Martial artist
Bruce began to seriously engage in martial arts at the age of 16 in order to be able to stand up for himself in street fights. He trained with Ip Man, a Chinese martial artist who taught him kung fu. Lee later studied boxing, judo and jiu-jitsu and created his own style of kung fu, Jeet Kune Do. Bruce achieved perfection in the art of combat, he trained for hours every day and developed a daily norm of more than 7 thousand exercises.
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Thanks to daily grueling training, he brought the condition of his body to almost perfection, as evidenced by his numerous achievements, which may seem something impossible. And many of them are truly beyond human understanding.
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For example, Bruce could catch a grain of rice in the air with chopsticks, could do 50 push-ups on two fingers, made inhuman jumps of 2.5 meters from a standing position, and could also hold a corner in a handstand for half an hour. It is also a known fact that Bruce’s lightning-fast movements in the frame could not always be captured by cameras that were modern by those standards, which forced the film crew to shoot the scenes in 32 frames.
Alexander
: Thanks to the modern level of Internet development, it has become much easier to become famous throughout the world. But to master such skills, you need to devote at least 10-15 years of preparation. Perhaps not everything will work out. Many people practice martial arts, only a few become great. Hard work, the strictest discipline and the desire to achieve a big goal increase the chances of becoming, if not a modern Bruce Lee, then his follower.
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The city of San Francisco, located on the west coast of the United States, has given the world many talented people. The names of such talents as Jack London and Steve Jobs shine on plaques and monuments, but a special place among the natives of this amazing city is occupied by film actor and greatest martial artist Bruce Lee, born into a family of touring Chinese artists.
On November 27, 1940, during another American tour, Grace Lee, the wife of a Chinese actor and comedian, gave birth to a boy. This happened between six and eight o'clock in the morning, from which it followed that Li Hoi Chen's offspring was born at the hour of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar. Named Lia Xiaolong (translated from Chinese as “little dragon”), the future movie idol already managed to appear on the screen at the age of three months. It was a minor role as a baby girl in the Hong Kong film “Golden Gate Girl”. Further, undoubtedly thanks to his father’s connections in relevant circles, Lia Xiaolong’s film career did not stop there. As a child, Bruce Lee was by no means the same as we all later remembered. Li Hoi Chen's son was a frail and weak, if not sickly, child. Few people then suspected that the spirit of a real fighter and winner was hidden in the frail body of the Chinese boy. Up until he was 14 years old, little Bruce played quarrelsome orphans and difficult teenagers in films, whom, based on the plot twists and messages of the film, the audience often had to feel sorry for.
At the age when young citizens of our country receive passports, Lia Xiaolong begins to get involved in dancing. And this hobby did not pass without a trace. At the age of 18, Bruce wins the cha-cha championship in Hong Kong. In addition, at this age, he was noted for starring in the film “Orphan”, playing the main role, and also won interschool boxing competitions, absolutely incredibly defeating three-time champion Gary Elms. The sudden triumph inspired the young man, and it was then that Bruce began to think seriously about taking up martial arts training.
You can't win a fight with one blow. Either learn to tolerate insults or hire a bodyguard. Forget about victories and defeats, forget about pride and pain. If your opponent scratches you, hit him. If your opponent hits you, break his arm. If your opponent breaks your arm, take his life. Don't think about leaving the battle intact. Be ready to sacrifice everything. Even life. - Bruce Lee
Contrary to the skepticism of many kung fu teachers, who argued that martial arts of this level are comprehended only by those who, from the earliest years of their lives, completely and completely devote themselves to it, Bruce proved himself to be a very capable, if not a gifted student. Those techniques and movements that take weeks of training to master, Lee mastered in a ridiculous three days. Bruce liked Tai Chi techniques so much that a simple desire grew into a passion, and he tried to constantly train, not allowing classes to be put off.
The closest kung fu style to Bruce was Wing Chun. He studied it in Hong Kong with the famous master Ip-Man, who became famous for unofficially becoming the first non-clan kung fu teacher, revealing the flavor of martial arts to the Western world. The growing interest in the Wing Chun style was fueled by Li Xiaolong's two major films, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. We'll talk about them a little later. Martial arts came surprisingly easily to Bruce. In record time, he mastered judo ijiu-jitsu, and over time developed his own style of Jeet Kune Do (“the way of the leading fist”), characterized by the fact that it was intended exclusively for street fighting, for which reason Bruce called it not a style, but a universal method, adaptable to any type of martial arts.
Upon reaching nineteen years old, Lee left for the United States. He was prompted to take this step by the question of confirming his American citizenship, related to Bruce’s birth in San Francisco, as well as by the desire to get a good education. Having got a job as a waiter in the restaurant of a friend of his father, he graduated from Edison Technical School and entered the University of Washington to study philosophy. There he was destined to meet his future wife Linda.
Western education is good for one thing, Eastern education for another. You can say: “It’s better to do some things with this finger, and others with this finger.” But the whole hand is better anyway. - Bruce Lee
Life in the USA restarted his film career. Confident and impressive knowledge of martial arts played a good role, Bruce began acting in American television series and soon, when there was no doubt about the skill and artistry of the Hong Konger, he was offered a role in the film “The Big Boss”. The producers of the film took a big risk, giving Bruce complete freedom in staging the fight scenes. By that time, he already had several students whom he won due to his popularity on television. The first major film was an unprecedented success and changed the audience's understanding of martial arts. Bruce became famous overnight. Tempting offers were not long in coming, and after a while Lee starred in “Fist of Fury” and “Return of the Dragon,” which this time had a much more substantial budget than Bruce’s previous film.
Popularization of Kung Fu
At the age of 21, already a famous actor, Bruce opens his own martial arts school, where he begins to teach people the method of fighting - Jeet Kune Do, translated from Chinese as “The Way of the Leading Fist”.
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Bruce Lee's students included film stars Roman Polanski, Steve McQueen and Lee Marvin. Bruce worked to perfect his technique until his death, but never demonstrated it in any of the films in which he starred.
Lee's son was shot on the set, and his daughter quarreled with Tarantino
After Bruce's death, his son Brandon continued Lee's path. He became a master of jeet kune do, and in 1985 he starred in the first film, Crime Killer. Afterwards he appeared in several more films, and after one of the main roles in “Showdown in Little Tokyo” with Dolph Lundgren, people started talking about Brandon.
In the following films, he already choreographed fight scenes and emerged from his father’s shadow. The film “The Raven” was supposed to cement his star status, but he never completed the film. In the last scene, the main villain shot at Brandon's hero, but the gun was loaded not with a blank bullet, but with a live one. Lee was struck in the abdomen, the bullet lodged in the spine and caused extensive hemorrhage. Brandon died 12 hours later in the hospital.
Bruce's daughter Shannon also tried to act in films: her first role was a cameo in her father's biopic in 1993. She then appeared in several low-budget films and several television shows. She was also a singer and performed the song I'm in the Mood for Love for the film Shanghai Connection in 2000. In 2008, Shannon Lee became the executive producer of the television movie The Legend of Bruce Lee, which tells the story of her father's life. And currently she heads the Bruce Lee Foundation.
In 2019, Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released, where one of the main characters, Cliff Booth, quarreled with the character of Bruce Lee, created by Tarantino. There, Bruce was shown to be arrogant and even stupid, after which Cliff fought with Lee and even defeated him. Because of this scene, the film's premiere was postponed by a month - Lee's fans were criticized. Shannon also did not stand aside and expressed her dissatisfaction. Quentin told her, “Your father really was an arrogant guy.”
“It would be good for him to shut up, it would be good. Or he could apologize and say, “I don’t really know what Bruce Lee was like. I just wrote it like that for my film. But don’t think that this really happened.” The father looks like a pompous and arrogant bastard there. Not as someone who had to work three times harder to achieve something that was so easy for others. Here he brags and challenges Brad Pitt. He wasn’t like that in life,” Shannon said in an interview.
At a press conference in Moscow, Quentin said that he did not want to show her father as bad.
“Okay, I admit, I exaggerated a little, had a little fun at his expense. This scene is a bit of a parody. But actually, Bruce Lee really was an arrogant guy. The way he spoke in life - I didn’t make it up, I heard it. Everyone is outraged that Bruce never said that he could beat Muhammad Ali. But I heard him say it! Moreover, his wife Linda wrote this in the biography of Bruce Lee, one of the first that I read - “Bruce Lee. A man only I knew." He definitely said that,” Tarantino said.
But there are no such words in the book. These words were spoken by a critic: he wrote in one of the magazines that people would easily bet on Lee’s victory over Ali.
“His answer is also disturbing because he presents everything as fact, and on the other hand, considers it fiction. Tarantino can portray Bruce Lee however he wants, and that's what he did. But it’s pretty dishonest for him to say, “Well, that’s just the way he was, but it’s a feature film, so don’t worry too much,” Shannon responded.
Since then the skirmish has subsided. And Lee said that this was not the first time she had heard such words about her father: “Similar words were always said by white men who were related to martial arts and Hollywood.”
Innovation by a Hong Kong actor
Achievements in the field of martial arts brought him fame in the film industry. The filmography of the famous Hong Kong actor includes more than 20 roles in various films. In his films, he demonstrates his fantastic fighting skills, which is what most viewers remember.
However, the directors insisted that the movie did not convey all of Bruce's incredible abilities. Just look at his “inch punch”, which many fighters around the world are still trying to repeat.
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Bruce Lee also proved himself to be a talented director when the Hong Kong film company Golden Harvest entrusted the young actor with directing all the action scenes in the film.
He brought many new tricks and combinations of blows to the film industry, which Jean-Claude Van Damme himself later spoke about: “Before him, every fighter in the movies hit as if from a machine gun, and the viewer thought that it was just flickering. Each blow from Bruce is demonstratively powerful and unique in its own way.”
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But, in addition to fights in movies, Bruce also took part in real fights. During his life, he held many competitions, and his first and only defeat was inflicted on him at the age of 13. This incident also motivated Bruce Lee on his path to becoming the greatest kung fu fighter of all time.
Impacts with weights
Bruce Lee would have been a master of throwing quick punches without losing their power. He often worked them with cuff weights or small dumbbells. Using light weight, throw 100 crosses with each hand.
This exercise trains the latissimus dorsi and lower back muscles. The power and explosiveness of a punch comes from twisting the hips, transferring energy up the body, and working the back muscles. When you take the weight off your hands and continue to throw straight punches without the weight, you will find that your punches are lightning fast and fast enough to shock or knock out your opponent.
Shaolin
Shaolin is a mysterious Buddhist monastery. In the 12th century, the best Chinese fighters trained there. The famous leopard, dragon, snake, crane and tiger techniques originated here. How do novices live today, and what modern technologies do they use during their training?
Shaolin monks. Photo: gapp.az
Shaolin is rightly called the cradle of martial arts. After all, its history goes back more than fifteen centuries. The monastery was founded by the Indian monk Bhadra in 495. Soon Bodhidharma, the 1st patriarch of Chan Buddhism, came here. He shared the secrets of sacred martial practices with other monks and turned the monastery into an impregnable fortress. But why were the novices of the monastery taught to fight, and how did Shaolin become a forge of professional fighters?
What abilities were attributed to Bruce Lee?
Teacher, you know kung fu, and I know how to dance chachacha. Let me teach you to dance, and you teach me kung fu!
Actor Bruce Lee
The greatest controversy surrounding the personality of Bruce Lee began in the nineties. VCRs reached our country, and Soviet citizens could see Bruce Lee in video salons. The worn-out tapes with the Hong Kong actor were distributed throughout the Union, and Bruce became a semi-legendary personality. What kind of superpowers were not attributed to him. “Guys, I heard that Bruce Lee can catch a bullet on the fly!”, “I found out yesterday that Bruce Lee defeated 100 opponents in a karate tournament in a day!”, and so on... Most likely, most of these statements grow from fragile children's minds with wild imaginations. But one thesis was most common. This is data on the strength qualities of Bruce Lee
. According to rumors, the actor could:
- Hold a 32-kilogram weight for 20 seconds at arm's length;
- The speed of the hand strike was 0.05 seconds;
- He could do pull-ups and push-ups with just one finger.
- Bruce Lee punched a can of cola with one finger.
In general, such an Asian superman. It is impossible to say whether this is true or not.
Bruce Lee devoted almost all his free time to developing his body.
USSR
Surprisingly, in some countries martial arts were banned. They were believed to pose a threat to dictatorial regimes. For example, Pinochet criminalized learning karate in Chile. This type of martial arts was banned in both Mongolia and the USSR. And in China, during the reign of Mao Zedong, martial wushu completely turned into ordinary gymnastics.
The ban on teaching hand-to-hand combat led to many schools being closed and instructors being repressed. However, there were also those who worked underground, risking everything.
Shi Yanbin recalls: “If earlier we practiced with some kind of weapon - a staff or a sword, then during the time of persecution of kung fu, a person simply performed a set of exercises with his hands. If earlier several people worked and fought together to practice techniques, then during the times of prohibitions, a kung fu master could only practice alone.”
The reason for such prohibitions, according to historians, lies on the surface. After all, any martial art presupposes a strict hierarchy, its own charter and philosophy, which can be fundamentally different from the ideological guidelines of the state. Potentially, such dissent could lead to riots and even mass uprisings. The Criminal Code of the RSFSR had an article for illegal karate training. It entailed imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to five hundred rubles.
However, such restrictions applied only to ordinary citizens. But in the special services, martial arts were actively used. In addition to sambo, employees of the foreign intelligence service and the KGB were taught joshinmon, a type of hard and dynamic karate. It was practiced in Cuba, where the master of this fighting style, Kobayashi Seiki, moved for political reasons.
KGB training camp. Photo: racyja.com
Japan
Surprisingly, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the local equivalent of the army, do not study karate. It is considered too simple. The fact is that this fighting style was invented by ordinary residents of the island of Okinawa as a means of protection against pirates and foreign invaders. Today, soldiers are trained using a more sophisticated system - Daito-ryu aikijujutsu. From it came such well-known trends as aikido and judo.
From time to time, information leaks into the media that Japanese soldiers are taught absolutely fantastic hand-to-hand styles that allow them to defeat the enemy without even touching him. Experts are confident that such techniques are based on hypnosis.
In the Land of the Rising Sun, there really is another, little-known system called kiaijutsu. This is the art of the battle cry. It’s hard to believe, but with the help of sound of a certain frequency, ancient masters forced the enemy’s internal organs to vibrate. Such exposure led to loss of consciousness and sometimes instant death. Some experts suggest that this is how the legendary fighter Bruce Lee was killed.
Endurance development
Bruce Lee believed that a real fighter, in addition to agility and strength, must have endurance. To develop endurance, Bruce did running, jumping rope and cycling. He ran regularly, three times a week, usually on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He loved the six-kilometer distance, which he ran in 20-25 minutes, constantly changing his running pace.
Jumping rope took place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and took about half an hour. Exercises with a jump rope helped develop not only endurance, but also leg strength and ease of jumping, necessary for a fighting match. After training with a jump rope, Bruce sat on an exercise bike and worked out his leg muscles for 45 minutes at a good speed.
"1 inch push"
Bruce Lee.
Photo: altinmadalyon.com Lasting milliseconds, it is a complex set of movements. It starts in the knees. Their sharp extension turns the hips. This, in turn, tilts the right shoulder forward and throws the arm towards the opponent. Then, just before the attack, the fingers form a fist. The final stage is a quick retreat. A step back reduces the time of impact on the selected affected area, concentrating the energy at one point.
Experts say that the main thing in Bruce Lee's explosive blow is perfect coordination of movements. It is this that gives the attack force, which, according to experts, is equal to almost two tons.
Ryuji Imai has already been nicknamed “the reincarnation of Bruce Lee.” The six-year-old boy, a passionate fan of the actor, performs all his most difficult tricks with filigree precision. The most incredible thing is that Ryuji has only been training for two years. But where did he get such phenomenal abilities? Was he really born a child prodigy, or can anyone who has been involved in martial arts since childhood achieve similar results?
Martial arts are not just bare-handed fighting
They often use weapons, such as a three-meter bo pole, sai tridents, or even women's hidden Kanasashi fighting stilettos. But the main thing, of course, is the swords. According to legend, some of them had magical properties. Is this possible?
Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, Japan. Millions of people come here every year for the sole purpose of worshiping the legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Local legend says that the blade was found in the body of an eight-headed dragon by the wind god Susanoo, who defeated the monster. The celestial being gave the weapon to his sister, the goddess Amaterasu. Centuries later, it fell into the hands of the first emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun, Jimmu.
Atsuta Shrine. Photo: travelbook.co.jp
Surprisingly, Kusanagi no Tsurugi is still a symbol of power in Japan today. True, the sword is not put on public display. The blade is taken out only at the time of coronation, and even then wrapped in cloth. One might assume that this mystical weapon never existed. But after the defeat in World War II, Emperor Hirohito publicly announced it. Then he called for protecting the sacred relic from the American occupiers at all costs.
Power training
Understanding that for a correct and effective strike, in addition to technique, strength is needed, Bruce seriously began to comprehensively develop his muscles, using various barbells and dumbbells. He developed two complementary strength training programs and worked out regularly: on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with a constant alternation of programs. He managed to achieve ideal muscle definition and make his strike not only fast, but also incredibly strong.
Personal life of Bruce Lee
Bruce met his future wife Linda Emery in Seattle. The girl, like him, studied at the University of Washington and in 1961 came to his kung fu classes. A sympathy arose between the martial arts master and the 17-year-old beauty, which gradually grew into love. Linda became a loyal fan and devoted student of Bruce, and in 1964, his official wife.
Bruce Lee and Linda Emery in their youth
A year later, the couple had baby Brandon, and in 1969 baby Shannon was born. Brandon, like his father, became an actor and, by a tragic accident, passed away before he even reached the age of thirty.
Bruce Lee with his wife and children
The young man died on the set of the film “The Raven” from a pistol shot, which, due to the negligence of the pyrotechnician, turned out to be loaded with a live cartridge.
Brandon Lee died young on the set of The Crow
Shannon also became an actress, but has not acted in films for many years. The last film with her participation, the action film “Lessons for an Assassin,” was released in 2003. now, together with his mother, he heads the Foundation of his legendary father. Shannon left cinema due to the birth of her daughter Ren Lee Kesler in 2003.
Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon
Myth or not?
One thing is for sure. Although Bruce Lee is considered a fighter-actor, Bruce himself believed that a decent fighter should “polish” his body in the gym . And there Lee conducted various experiments on himself
. This is true. But no documented confirmation of his records could be found anywhere. Unfortunately, there are no documents or videotapes that would confirm the achievements of Bruce Lee. There is only one video of Lee landing an inch punch on a standing opponent. And I must say, it looks impressive. Actually, that's all.
This punch was Bruce Lee's calling card
Death
At the age of 33, Bruce Lee died unexpectedly. Death occurred on July 20, 1973; this event came as a shock to all of Hong Kong, as well as fans of the star around the world.
According to the official version, death was caused by cerebral edema. The cause of the swelling was allegedly a headache pill taken by the actor. Bruce's body was transported and buried in Seattle.
Monument to Bruce Lee in Hong Kong
Fans did not want to believe in such an absurd death of their idol, which led to the birth of a lot of rumors about how exactly Lee died. One of these versions spoke in favor of the murder of the actor by another master who did not want him to teach martial arts to Europeans and Americans. However, such rumors were not confirmed.
Integrity of being and the meaning of life, self-knowledge and awareness
Bruce often and in different formulations called himself a person who is constantly learning. And this really was so: after all, you can not despise your past, not reject it and not drown in old experiences - but learn lessons from it. In the present, he was willing to spend thousands of hours on something that really interested him, studying the subject to perfection.
Well, a future in which a person wants to achieve something, all the more forces him to always be open to learning new things. He considered the main thing to be self-knowledge and awareness of all his actions.
He managed to make his existence holistic because he did not separate life and his main business. His student and friend, actor James Coburn, argued that Bruce viewed all life events from the point of view of the philosophy of martial arts, and brought everything that he discovered in these arts to life [3]. At first, this only caused James bewilderment, but then he realized that Bruce’s philosophical and physical are inextricably linked, and this is what explains his success.
A very characteristic moment for him is described by Linda Lee: she says that her husband often appeared before her like this: in one hand - a book, in the other - a dumbbell... [3]
Life, according to Bruce, is an endless process of development in which everyone must look for ways to express themselves and expand their capabilities. “To live means to create. To live, you need to express yourself in a free creative process” [2, p. 25].
