Bruce Lee is a great Chinese personality, who is called by people as the best martial artist in the world. Lee is a martial artist as well as a Hong-Kong and American actor, philosopher, producer, director, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts. He had made a place in the hearts of people in a very short time with his work, due to which he was forever called one of the best martial artists.
He entered films at a young age and became famous as a child artist. He very soon became a martial arts instructor while doing his acting and martial arts work. People liked him a lot. But he died at the age of 32. Complete information about his life has been given in this article.
Introduction to Bruce Lee :
- Name- Bruce Lee
- Full Name- Lee Jun-fen
- Born- 27 November 1940
- Place of Birth- Chinatown, San Francisco, California, U.S.
- Nationality- Chinese, American
- Father- Lee Hoi-Chuen
- Mother- Grace Ho
- Siblings- Phoebe Lee, Agnes Lee, Peter Lee, Robert Lee
- Wife- Linda Lee Cadwell
- Kids- Brandon Lee, Shanan Lee
- Death- July 20, 1973
- Death Place- Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Bruce Lee's Early Life :
Bruce Lee's father was Lee Hoi-Chuen and his mother was Grace Ho. His family shifted to Hong Kong when he was three months old. Lee had four other siblings. He belonged to an affluent family, but was still involved in street fights and gang revelries, which was necessary for him to be trained in martial arts. His first teacher was his father, who taught Lee the basics.
At the age of 13, he began training for Wing Chun under Yip Man. He was taken to learn the art of Wing Chun privately from Yip Man and Wong Shun Leung due to their mixed lineage tradition. Academically, Lee received his early education at La Salle College. But due to not getting good marks, he was removed from there and put in 'St. Francis Xavier's College'.
His participation in street fights continued until 1959, relocating to San Francisco. Lee's parents were deeply troubled by his violent behavior, and they wanted to leave Hong Kong for a safe and healthy avenue. After a few months in San Francisco, he moved to Seattle, where he enrolled to complete his further education at Edison Technical School. Meanwhile he worked as a live-in waiter for Ruby's Chow's restaurant. In 1961, he joined the University of Washington where he majored in drama. This is how his early life was spent.
Career :
Bruce Lee learned to speak monosyllabic words as a child before the start of his career. His father, who was a Cantonese opera star, was associated with the film background, from where his career started. He was only three months old when he did his first film "Golden Gate Girl". The early years of his life were eventful since making his debut in the world of spectacle.
Due to this an actor was born in him and his acting skills went on increasing with every film, he did about 18 to 20 films at that time. After acting from 1959 to 1964, he left his acting career and made martial arts his profession. He started this as a teacher of kung-fu. With his time, he opened his own martial arts school in Seattle named "Lee Jun Fen Gung Fu Institute".
In 1964, he left his college to join James Lee, a renowned martial arts instructor from Oakland. Together they opened another school in the same city, which was named Jun Fen Martial Arts Studio. In 1964, Lee competed in the Long Beach International Karate Championships, where he was popularized by his '2-finger push-up' and 'one-inch punch'.
After this he went there where he met Taekwondo master Zhu Gu Ri, there they became friends immediately and it was beneficial for both the artists. He performed very well in an event in 1967. Meanwhile, he had a personal match with Wong Jack Man, which he won. Although the result of the match was declared unanimously, there were two versions regarding its proceedings.
His exceptional performance at the Long Beach Karate Championship brought him into the limelight of Hollywood directors. His first acting stint as a mature adult was in the TV series 'The Green Hornet'. The show started in 1966 and ran its first season till 1967.
From 1967 to 1969, she was invited as a guest in many TV series, including TV series like 'Ironside', 'Here Comes the Brides' and 'Blondie'. In between his acting, he used to take some time out to concentrate on his martial arts as well. He realized that he was too rigid in traditional martial arts techniques. They created a new system that required them to be prepared in traits such as practicality, flexibility, speed and efficiency.
This happened when Jeet Kung Do paved the way for the intercepting fist. In 1969, he went as a guest in the film 'Marlov'. However, he lacked the bias and key role, leaving Los Angeles for Hong Kong in the summer of 1971. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Lee signed two films.
In 1972, he was an actor, writer, director, star and choreographer for a fight scene in the film 'Way of Dragon'. In the same year, he got another film offer, which was named 'Inter the Dragon'. The film was to be released on 26 July 1973. In this way he had a career in film and martial arts.
His Major Works :
Bruce Lee, an eminent martial arts artist, has done many films and TV shows. One of the films that made the most of the headlines as well as made him a hero, was The Golden Harvest and Inter de Dragon by Warner Bros Productions. The film grossed worldwide and earned about $ 200 million. This was his biggest success.
His Death :
He suddenly collapsed on 10 May 1973, when he was dubbing for the film 'Inter the Dragon' even after going through a headache and seizure. Immediately, he was admitted to the Baptist Hospital in Hong Kong, where he was diagnosed with cerebral edema. He was cured of the first illness. After this, on 20 July 1973, he was scheduled to meet James Bond star, George Lazenby, to which they agreed and arranged a meeting with Raymond Chow and Betty Ting Pie at Letter's Residence to discuss the script for the film 'Games of Death' they wanted to make with Lazenby. He complained of headache and took the pain killer. He lay down to take a nap, and this was his last nap.
He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His body was examined, in which it was found that the Meprobamate ingredient had caused an allergic reaction, due to which he died. He was buried in his wife's hometown at Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle. In order to preserve his home in Hong Kong, it was announced that it has been converted into a tourist site by a philanthropist, Yu Pang-li.
Achievements :
- After his death, his name was listed in Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century".
- In 2013, he was honored with the prestigious Founder's Awards at the Asian Awards. A statue of him was unveiled that same year in Chinatown, Los Angeles. The 7 foot tall statue was erected in Guangzhou, China, and proudly admires his achievements as a martial arts instructor to this day.
Some interesting facts about Bruce Lee :
- Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco.
- One of Bruce Lee's secret hobbies was writing poetry and in fact he was very good at it.
- Bruce Lee was one of Hong Kong's most prominent child actors, having done 20 films by the time he was just 18 years old.
- When Bruce was 13, he was taught 'Wing Chun' by Grandmaster 'Y' Ip.
- Bruce Lee also belonged to Germany, because his mother was from Germany.
- Jackie Chan started his career as a stuntman in Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury and Inter the Dragon.
- Once when asked who would win the fight to the death, Chunk Norris said – “Surely Bruce Lee, no one can beat him”.
- Bruce Lee was also known as a great cha-cha dancer, he also won the Hong Kong cha-cha championship in 1958.
- Bruce Lee's last film 'Games of Death' also includes the scene of his actual funeral, in which he was inside the coffin.
- Bruce Lee also demonstrated a ONE INCH PUNCH with which he could throw his opponent 6 feet far on the floor with just one inch gap between him and his opponent.
