Bruce Lee Facts and Questions?

Hi,

I have some questions about Bruce Lee, I would love it if someone could answer them for me.

1) I love Bruce Lee, his movies, his style everything, but once someone told me that Bruce only apparntly had 3 fights in real life which all ended in Draws/Losses. Surley that cant be true?

2) In the movie Dragon: the bruce Lee story, It shows Bruce in a Karate Championship basically saying ' Karate Is no good '.
Why would he do such a thing? Did he not respect other's arts or was he just trying to promote Jeet Kune Do?

3) What's the Difference between Jeet, Kung fu, Wing chun ect Did Bruce learn all of them and then form his own ?

 

Ok here is the abridged answers to your questions, others feel free to add in the details.

1. I can name at least one fight that Bruce won. However, it was Bruce's performance during the fight (and the difficulty he had in winning) that led to the development of Jeet Kune Do.
People would challenge Bruce on his film sets all of the time (mainly cocky extras) and Bruce wiped the floor with them.

2. Bruce saw arts like Karate as too stylised and rigid. Although I'm sure he respected the arts and he did acknowledge that all arts have 'pearls', he did in essence think arts like Karate were no good.

3. Bruce originally learned Tai Chi, then at 13 moved on to Wing Chun where he got a firm grounding in the art. Bruce also learned various forms from various styles of Kung Fu, with ease I might add. He had an uncanny ability for being able to learn forms and patterns in VERY little time (which is ironic considering forms and katas were the kind of things he would come to discard and rebel against).

Bruce began to modify the Wing Chun he had learned after finding it to be too limiting. He called this modified version, 'Jun Fan Gung Fu' (Lee Jun Fan was Bruce's Chinese name).

After the fight I mentioned in number one, Bruce researched his ass off, as well as hours upon hours of experimentation to find away to beat an opponent simply and effectively. For example, he saw that in Western Fencing they have their weapons hand forward. Bruce utilised this and realised that having your power side forward was more efficient, as it meant your strongest tools were closest to the target.
Jeet Kune Do is composed of three arts, essentially:
1. Wing Chun
2. Western Boxing
3. Western Fencing

With this Bruce had also developed a philosophy of combat, which included things such as power side forward, economy of motion etc etc.
The aim of Jeet Kune Do is to hit, with the minimal amount of effort and the maximum amount of power.

I'm gonna have to stop myself or I'll be writing about this stuff forever. Some books you may want to read though:

Fighting spirit by Bruce Thomas (it is an EXCELLENT biography)
Jeet Kune Do conversations by Jose Fraguas (a collection of interviews with Bruce's first and second generation students, that puts the whole original/concepts argument to rest, of some of these 'instructors' would actually bother to read it).
What's in a name? by Dave Carnell

Peace

 

Thanks so much for the swift response!

I just have one last question, the one that bothers me the most.

I like to keep pretty healthy, and am very against Drugs and Drug Use, wether it be Steroids or Cocaine.
A friend of mine once told me Bruce was a frequent user of Pot.
Now If it was Medical for his back I understand, but Surley Bruce wasn't an avid drug user?

 

Upgraded

Regarding your question with BL and pot, it's the first I've ever heard of it and I will be surprised if it was the case.

CraigLeeJKD

That's an excellent response, totally agree with all you have said! Infact, you've persuaded me to read some of those books you've recommended.

 

Whoever told you that was wrong.

A very famous story of Bruce Winning a fight inside 11 seconds (thjat was his target) was against a karate expert, who Bruce respected as a martial artist. In this fight, a fight at which Jesse Glover was present, Bruce Lee hit the Karate guy with a straight blast so hard that he broke the guys cheekbone and fractured his skull.

 

Yeh bruce was a regular drug user. He used to smoke really potent stuff which in the end contributed to his death.

 

Yes that is true, but let me give you another way of looking at things.

Alcohol is a drug. That is a fact, not an opinion. Alcohol is responsible for more deaths than ecstasy, cocaine and 'pot' combined. The only reason it is not illegal is due to, yes you guessed it, money. The only reason it is so acceptable as a recreational drug as opposed to the likes of pot is because it is legal!

Remember, it is a cultural thing too. The majority of Western culture only frown so much upon drug use because it has been drilled into us.

Perds, thanks for the compliment, and I'm sure you will find those books very beneficial.

Peace

 

It's not a drug. It's a drink.





(Woo! Brass Eye quote in everyday conversation +14 cool points)

Hmmmm... that's a slightly skewed statistic. Like saying that the electric chair is responsible for fewer deaths than the train - it's entirely true, but would you rather go in the electric chair or take a train?

 

That was supposed to be a joke, right?

 

yes, he is a little slow

 

*high five*

 

You know I also heard Bruce Lee ate cake.

Bernard Manning would be appalled.





(Do I get cool points too? )

 

I heard Bruce Lee carried his dope in Joss Akland's spunky back-pack.

 

+12 Cool Points LEVEL UP

Critical Damage to Cool Rating
Use Clarky Cats for rejuvenation?

 

Since when does pot kill? So far there hasent been one person who has OD'd or died from smoking pot. He was known to chew pot but i dont know about smoking it.

 

Base rate fallacy....

 

Bruce Lee Did Marijuana?? Links Please

 

I guess the real question is: Who the hell cares?!