Bruce Lee History
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Bruce Lee History ,
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
- Death: 20 July 1973 (brain edema)
- Best Known As: Star of Enter the Dragon
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Bruce Lee History Biography
Born in San Francisco, California to a Chinese father Lee Hoi-Chuen, and German-Chinese mother Grace Lee. His father was known for being an actor in classical Chinese opera. Lee was raised in Hong Kong, where his parents lived. His parents were film actors, hence he had the opportunity to appear in several Chinese movies as a child. He also studied the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu. At a young age he was able to speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese.
In 1959, Lee went to Seattle to complete his high school education. He received his diploma from Edison Technical School and went on to enroll in the University of Washington as a philosophy major. It was at the UW that he would meet his wife Linda Emery.
After leaving University, Lee went on to star as Kato in the television series The Green Hornet. On his return to Hong Kong, he starred in the movies, earning $30,000 for his first two feature films, that would cement his fame.
His martial arts style
After studying and becoming dissatisfied with existing classical schools of martial arts, Lee began the process of creating his own style: Jun Fan Gung Fu, a modification of Wing Chun blended with Western Boxing, and Fencing. His schools were called Jun Fan Gung Fu Institutes. Later, in order to apply a more descriptive name, he renamed it Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist). JKD was a further refinement of his style which incorporated elements from many styles to create a more streamlined and practical martial art, as well as a comprehensive system of fitness training. JKD is also defined as his personal philosophy of how martial arts should be effectively practiced (and according to others also as a self-help philosophy).
There is often some discrepancy between Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu (a.k.a. "original Jeet Kune Do") and Jeet Kune Do (or JKD) Concepts, which explore other styles not previously incorporated into Jeet Kune Do by Lee. Lee saw loyalty to a particular martial arts style as being dogmatic, analogous to the practice of organized religion or ethnocentrism. This and Lee's other revolutionary ideas about martial arts and his teaching of non-Asian students gave Lee many enemies in the martial arts community of the 1960s/70s (culminating in many challenges by other martial artists Lee poignantly answered). Yet, much of the dispute about Jeet Kune Do instruction is not so much the names, but the credibility of the instructors teaching these Jeet Kune Do fighting systems.
Lee frequently gave demonstrations of his two-finger pushups and his famous "one inch punch", a mastered technique in which he could deliver a devastating blow yet have his fist travel a mere one inch (2.54 cm) in distance before striking an opponent. His studies of Wing Chun Gung Fu sparked his enthusiasm and understanding of martial arts. In fact, Wing Chun was the only martial art Lee formally studied, under the guidance of Yip Man. Throughout his life Lee studied many styles of martial arts through an extensive literature research and contacts with other martial artists.
It is a well known fact that Lee used every known technique and resource in aiding his fitness including electric current as an aid to strength training, because of the leanness the muscles gained in working against themselves. However, this muscle stimulator was only one of many pieces of equipment and exercise routines Lee used to achieve his on-screen physical appearance. His obsession with physical fitness is seen in his personal notes and diary. Lee tracked the evolution of his training in his diary, which has been recollected and published in The Bruce Lee Library by John Little a "martial arts historian" from Bruce Lee's Estate.
