Bruce Lee And His Battles In Life
Joe Lewis quote, “If Bruce Lee wasn't the greatest martial artist of all time, then certainly he is the number one candidate. ” Bruce Lee is one of the most iconic figures in the world of martial arts and the Asian film industry. And though his death at 32 was just as he was achieving fame as an international superstar, the story of his struggle is more powerful.
The most important events of his life are all based on his battles in a life of controversy, though he's faced it since the beginning. From the start of his journey, he showed a sizable amount of natural skill towards the fighting arts and acting. His life in Hong Kong began as a child celebrity, turned street fighter- and eventually student of the legendary Yip Man. From boxing in tournaments and landing minor acting roles through his life, after struggling against racism, financial obstacles, he left numerous things behind that are still used today. Inspiring millions of people, he left behind his philosophy that many people have written books on and study through. It’s well known that Bruce Lee was an inspiration for many popular martial artist and fighters. Including Boxing and MMA legends like Sugar Ray Leonard, Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, Georges St. Pierre, and Randy Couture among many others. Even UFC president Dana White has credited him for being the main inspiration behind the fastest-growing sport in the world, calling him the “father of MMA”.
Bruce Lee was taught in the ways of traditional martial arts as he was growing up in Hong Kong. And at that time, it was against the rules to stray away from the traditional ways of it. But he never allowed anything to limit him, as his world-famous philosophy implies, in martial arts or in life. So he invented his own system, Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid fighting style based on his philosophies of being limitless and formless. “If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread in your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. ”In addition to this, Lee also believed in teaching martial arts to anyone who was willing to learn. At the time most Chinese Martial arts schools refused to admit non-Chinese students, and he saw this as flawed. He didn't let the believed 'violation of their code' cloud his way of teaching. This made him unpopular among the Chinese martial artists of San Francisco.
In 1964, Lee had issued an open challenge during a demonstration at a Chinatown theatre in which he claimed to be able to defeat any martial artist in San Francisco. A Martial Artist named Jack Man Wong challenged him to a public fight. Weeks of back-and-forth messages and rising tensions went by. Soon, Wong travelled east over the Bay Bridge to Bruce's new Kung Fu school in Oakland. The conditions of the fight were that if Wong lost, he would quit teaching. If Bruce lost, he would close his schools or stop teaching non-Chinese people.
Within one minute Bruce defeated Jack. Seven years before he achieved international fame in the 1973 film Enter the Dragon, Bruce starred in a short-lived television show, The Green Hornet. He played The Green Hornet's sidekick valet, Kato. Though the show got cancelled, Bruce's character's immense popularity outshone the main's, leading to the show being renamed “the Kato Show. ”
Things still didn't come easy for him, even after the success of the. Green Hornet. No matter where he tried being a lead actor, they would turn him down, simply because he was not white. Bruce pitched a Kung Fu series to Warner Brothers. He worked hard, giving the screenwriters and directors his input. He believed the new series would ultimately have him as the lead actor. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers announced that they had selected Caucasian actor, David Carradine, who did not have much martial arts history and experience. Lee felt cheated, feeling that if he hadn't been Chinese, he would be the lead actor of the series. It was a clear case of Hollywood Xenophobia.
When things couldn't get any worse, this was when Bruce Injured his back and was bedridden for six months. Doctors told him that he could never kick again. He, of course, refused to believe them and within six months had mostly recovered from his injury. Still, acting opportunities escaped him. He decided to take a break from the frustration to go to Hong Kong with his familyTo his surprise, in Hong Kong, he was recognized as the star of the Kato Show.
One of Hong Kong's leading producers, Raymond Chow, knew that Bruce wanted to act in movies, and approached him asking if he wanted to star in a motion picture he was making in Hong Kong, called The Big Boss. Bruce accepted. The movie was a massive success and turned him into an overnight major movie star in Hong Kong. He proceeded with further movies, titled Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon, co-starring Chuck Norris.
Finally what Bruce had been praying for had arrived. Warner Brothers came back to him, proposing a movie that was titled Enter The Dragon. It made him an international star and would go down as one of the greatest movie legends of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, just days before the release, Bruce Lee passed away of Cerebral Edema.
