# Bruce Lee Questions.



## arnisador

I've started reading the Bruce Lee Library Vol. I: Words of the Dragon: Interviews, 1958-1973, by John Little, and it raises some biographical questions. If anyone knows the answers, I'd be curious to hear them!

Bruce Lee's Chinese name is given both as Lee Siu Lung and Lee Jun Fan. Which is right?

It says that Bruce Lee finished high school in the States, in the Seattle area--did he finish his schooling in Hong Kong as well? Did he study at a U.S. high school because he needed credits or because he needed time to adjust to the U.S.?

Was Bruce Lee ever awarded certification as an instructor or a "black belt" in anything?

Did he finish his philosophy degree at the U. of Washington? Did his wife finish her degree? Did Brandon Lee finish at Emerson?

When did Linda Lee remarry? Does her husband (Mr. Cadwell?) have any martial arts training or connection?


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## Randy Strausbaugh

I believe that Lee Jun Fan was his actual name. Siu Lung (Little Dragon) was his nickname.  And, if memory serves, a nurse in San Francisco gave him the western name "Bruce".


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## IMAA

I just got thru reading "The Biography of BRUCE LEE" by Robert Clouse its an older book but it left alot of things open for suggestion.   I don't know but if much of what was said about Bruce from that Biography,  I dont think if I were to have of ever met him, I would not of liked him.   He seemed a bit like an ***. 

In the Biography it doesnt say anything at all about him finishing any school he ever went to.   I think he was too busy w/ his "GANG" and trying to impress everyone.  I dont know kinda odd.  He seemed very unstable and not very mature.

  Just my .02 from what i got from the story.


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## Cthulhu

Lee Siu Loong was his 'stage' name...it meant something like 'Little Dragon Lee'.  Lee Jun Fan was his given Cantonese name.  "Bruce" was suggested by a hospital employee in San Fransisco.

He never finished his philosophy degree a U. of Washington.  Unsure of Linda Lee. 

Cthulhu


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## NYCRonin

As far as I know, lee never was awarded a BBelt equivalent in any formal art.
Lindas second husbnad, though aware of Lees reputuation in MA's was not involved in them, at least not at the time of thier marriage.


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## MA-Caver

I believe Linda Lee reverted back to her maiden name Caldwell so to avoid folks from bugging her about her late husband.


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## arnisador

> _Originally posted by MACaver _
> *I believe Linda Lee reverted back to her maiden name Caldwell so to avoid folks from bugging her about her late husband. *



No, her maiden name was Emery, I believe.


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## MA-Caver

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> *No, her maiden name was Emery, I believe. *



I'll stand corrected then... (SEE I DON'T know everything!  )


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## Doc

Additionally, Bruce only had about 3 years off and on of formal training in Wing Chun. His "rep" was made as a teenage gangmember on the streets of Hong Kong.

He never graduated from high school or college.

Linda Emery's second husband was Kenpo black belt Tom Bleecker who published the "Journey," as well as a fascinating and indepth book on Bruce Lee titled "Unfinished Business." Obviously he had access to information and perspectives not available to most. 

Linda's current husband is her third and her former and now current attorney.


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## arnisador

> _Originally posted by Doc _
> *Linda's current husband is her third *



I didn't know that!


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## markulous

> _Originally posted by NYCRonin _
> *As far as I know, lee never was awarded a BBelt equivalent in any formal art.
> *



That is correct.  The only person he ever studied under was Yipman in Wing Chun.  And they don't have a belt system.  If my memory serves me correctly he studied with him for about 5 or 6 years, then after that he basically moved back to America and created the rest on his own.


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## Doc

> _Originally posted by markulous _
> *That is correct.  The only person he ever studied under was Yipman in Wing Chun.  And they don't have a belt system.  If my memory serves me correctly he studied with him for about 5 or 6 years, then after that he basically moved back to America and created the rest on his own. *


2 and a half max. A physical specimen but not very knowledgeable. An opinion of Ed Parker Sr. and Wally jay to name two. Gene LeBell as well who began to teach him grappling after an introduction by Parker Sr. and his signing on to be the primary stuntman on the Green Hornet.


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## legend29

Bruce did attend a technical school to earn enough credits to enter Washington University. He took Wing Chun from Yip Man from the time he was 13.  He also studied other arts like the Praying Mantis from Sifu Gin Foon Mark in New York. This is where he really picked up the power side forward idea. He picked things up rather quickly and was able to get into the more advanced stages before he was done. ( The book the Dragon and the Tiger talks about this time with Sifu Mark.He also studied other forms of Gung Fu with  James Yimm Lee among others.

As for Linda, she has been married three times as mentioned earlier. I'm not sure about her education though.


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## 7starmantis

I'm not doubting you, but do you have any documentation as to Bruce's studying of mantis?

7sm


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## legend29

Only from what I read in the book , " The Dragon and the Tiger " and from what I've read on Sifu Gin Foon Mark.  The book was co written by James Yimm Lee's son, Greglon Yimm Lee and by Sid Campbell . The book is really one of the best reads that I've had the pleasure of . It's going to be a five volume set, with each volume being released every seven months or so.

It also talks about Bruce's fight with 5th degree Karate black belt Uechi, that lasted about 11 seconds. This was observed by such people as Jesse Glover Taky Kimura, as well as other students from the Seattle period.  Actually my Sifu heard about this fight from Taky Kimura at The Nucleus events when they were still intact.

You also come to find that James was very skilled at martial arts as well, and how him and Bruce met. It also talks about the meeting of Wally Jay among others. If any of you is a Bruce Lee fan, I can't stress the value of this book enough, I can't wait for volume two.


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## Randy Strausbaugh

Jesse Glover, in his book "Bruce Lee: Between Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do", also tells about Lee studying Southern Mantis from Gin Foon Mark.  In fact, Glover states that he first saw Bruce Lee in a Gung Fu demonstration which featured the Southern Mantis school, and that he (Lee) liked to do a Mantis form whenever they did demos in Seattle.  He didn't say what the name of the form was, though.


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## legend29

In the Dragon and the Tiger book, it also mentions how Bruce was very well diversed in a lot of the Gung Fu animal styles. Such as the Tiger claw, Dragon, Crane, and the Mantis just to name a few.


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## wingchun100

Lee studied with plenty of other people (example: tae kwon do master Jhoon Rhee), but he never called anyone else his "teacher" other than Yip Man.


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## Thunder Foot

True. Lee also studied with Fook Yeung who showed him Tong Long Kuen as well as sets from the Red Junk Opera.


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## Buka

Doc said:


> 2 and a half max. A physical specimen but not very knowledgeable. An opinion of Ed Parker Sr. and Wally jay to name two. Gene LeBell as well who began to teach him grappling after an introduction by Parker Sr. and his signing on to be the primary stuntman on the Green Hornet.



No disrespect intended, but Wally Jay and Master Parker both told me different.


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## wingchun100

Doc said:


> 2 and a half max. A physical specimen but not very knowledgeable. An opinion of Ed Parker Sr. and Wally jay to name two. Gene LeBell as well who began to teach him grappling after an introduction by Parker Sr. and his signing on to be the primary stuntman on the Green Hornet.



I was discussing the fact that he didn't complete the system with my Sifu. (We are from the Yip Man lineage; our Sigung is Yip Ching.) Judging from what he has seen, he thinks Bruce might have learned all of Sil Lum Tao, MAYBE Chum Kiu, and hardly any of the wooden dummy form. However, he also said, "He might not have learned the whole system, but he had a solid grasp of the concepts. He was very smart."


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## Stickgrappler

From magazine articles - didn't BL also study some WCK with William Cheung, Wong Shun Leung, and Hawkins Cheung?


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## wingchun100

Stickgrappler said:


> From magazine articles - didn't BL also study some WCK with William Cheung, Wong Shun Leung, and Hawkins Cheung?



William Cheung was a contemporary of his under Yip Man. Jesse Glover (one of Bruce's first American students) said Bruce was never really interested in forms; he always studied people that he thought were the best fighters, and William Cheung was one of the people he watched. And yes, he did also train with the other two.


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## Stickgrappler

^^^

so it's possible he got some of the higher level WCK from the 3 of them, or at the very least watching them fight


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## geezer

Stickgrappler said:


> ^^^...so it's possible he got some of the higher level WCK from the 3 of them, or at the very least watching them fight


_More than possible._ In spite of always preaching that a student should be _patient _and should wait for their sifu to teach them new techniques when they are truly ready, every instructor I met from Hong Kong learned everything they could as fast as they could from anyone who would show them. Then, maybe if they hung around, they got taught  the info formerly with corrections and refinements by their sifu.


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## simplicity

*Wong Shun Leung *was Bruce Lee's WC instructor and when he came to America, than he learned Red Boat Wing Chun from *Fook Yueng....*


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## simplicity

By the way, Jesse Glover was a good friend of mine...


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