What have you learned from Bruce Lee?

[Cynik75]

He annoyed plenty of martial artists with his thoughts and philosophies on the classical mess.

I am not sure what do you mean by "plenty". I really doubt if anybody can name more then three persons annoyed by BL "thoughts and philosophies". And one of those persons was Cliff Booth

 

[drop bear]

Maybe Caine from Kung-Fu made a bigger impact with the words of wisdom shared via his show

The impact the back of house stunt teams had on the genre are often overlooked as well.

Gene lebel was in everything at the time.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What lessons you have learned from studying Bruce Lee?

I love what he had said, "I don't push, I punch."

Back in the 70th, if you could not do the Bruce Lee "3 kicks combo", you could not get any students.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

The impact the back of house stunt teams had on the genre are often overlooked as well.

Gene lebel was in everything at the time.

Gene was a legend.

 

[Flying Crane]

But the Tao of Jeet Kune Do is one of the most useless books I've ever opened. I don't think that was Mr Lee's fault, I always heard it was a notebook he used.

You should try reading James Mitose’s second book (I don’t remember the title).

No, on second thought, you shouldn’t. You can’t get those precious minutes of your life back once they are gone.

 

[marvin8]

I am not sure what do you mean by "plenty". I really doubt if anybody can name more then three persons annoyed by BL "thoughts and philosophies". And one of those persons was Cliff Booth

And others who practiced/taught traditional martial art styles that he developed a disdain for, which he considered restrictive and ineffective.

Excerpt from Bruce Lee: A Life.

He had recently given a kung fu demonstration in Chinatown's Sun Sing Theatre where he had insulted its traditional kung fu masters, calling them "old tigers with no teeth who teach nonsense." When the crowd, filled with students of these traditional masters, became upset, Bruce said, "I would like to let everybody know that any time my Chinatown brothers want to research my kung fu, they are welcome to find me at my school in Oakland." The audience gasped at what they perceived as an open challenge to all of Chinatown. After Lee's performance, David Chin, a young Chinatown kung fu student, recruited Wong Jack Man, a waiter at a local restaurant and aspiring kung fu teacher, to take up Bruce's challenge by convincing him he could make a name for himself by defeating Lee.

Excerpt from "Bruce Lee’s disgust for fake martial arts ‘cowards’ revealed in rare phone call recording:"

Lee outlined some of his major philosophies on the effectiveness – or lack thereof – of traditional martial arts.

“You saw the tai chi, the self defence … well, I hate to tell you this. If you were there, Jesus, we were so embarrassed,” Lee said.

“Joe Frazier is a man who is capable of using his tools and who is very determined in his savage, relentless attacks. Whereas those son of a b***** are cowards, turning their heads and swinging their punches. After the second round they’re out of breath. I mean, they’re really pathetic looking, very amateur.

 

[frank raud]

But the Tao of Jeet Kune Do is one of the most useless books I've ever opened. I don't think that was Mr Lee's fault, I always heard it was a notebook he used.

How dare you speak the truth!

 

[Buka]

When The Game of Death came out we went on opening day, there were around thirty of us, eight cars full. It was only playing in Downton Boston at the time. When we went to get tickets we found out they had enough seats left, but not together, three or four here, two over there, single seats all over etc.

So we all took our seats, first show of the day, eleven a.m. Three of our guys were sitting together in the middle of the theatre, two of them were cops. Four gangbangers were sitting directly in front of them. The gangbangers were carrying on, disturbing the entire theatre. After a while one of our guys politely asked them to keep the noise down, to stop yelling. The gangbangers got up and started threatening them, loudly.

But they had complete tunnel vision. Had they looked around they would have seen twenty five other men, in a half crouch beside their seats, all over the theatre, poised like they were about to run a race. The gangbangers leapt over the back of their seats to get our three guys sitting behind them. When twenty five of us charged, climbing over everyone, and each other, absolutely crushing these jerks. One of the cops was already on his radio, cops were there in minutes to arrest these fools. Two of them had drugs on them, two had outstanding warrants. Our group got a standing ovation from the theatre.

But the Game of Death was awful. One of the worst films I've ever seen. Even if Lee hadn't passed while filming it, it still would have been awful. But at least we got a good memory from it.

 

[drop bear]

The impact the back of house stunt teams had on the genre are often overlooked as well.

Gene lebel was in everything at the time.

I will add al leong.

Have you seen that movie with the Asian guy? He was that guy.

 

[Xue Sheng]

When The Game of Death came out we went on opening day, there were around thirty of us, eight cars full. It was only playing in Downton Boston at the time. When we went to get tickets we found out they had enough seats left, but not together, three or four here, two over there, single seats all over etc.

So we all took our seats, first show of the day, eleven a.m. Three of our guys were sitting together in the middle of the theatre, two of them were cops. Four gangbangers were sitting directly in front of them. The gangbangers were carrying on, disturbing the entire theatre. After a while one of our guys politely asked them to keep the noise down, to stop yelling. The gangbangers got up and started threatening them, loudly.

But they had complete tunnel vision. Had they looked around they would have seen twenty five other men, in a half crouch beside their seats, all over the theatre, poised like they were about to run a race. The gangbangers leapt over the back of their seats to get our three guys sitting behind them. When twenty five of us charged, climbing over everyone, and each other, absolutely crushing these jerks. One of the cops was already on his radio, cops were there in minutes to arrest these fools. Two of them had drugs on them, two had outstanding warrants. Our group got a standing ovation from the theatre.

But the Game of Death was awful. One of the worst films I've ever seen. Even if Lee hadn't passed while filming it, it still would have been awful. But at least we got a good memory from it.

messing with Boston PD…… they had a very bad day…you just don’t do that sort of thing…. I don’t care who you are…with the possible exception of some of the folks north end….who wouldn’t do it anyways…it’s bad for business.

wish I was there to see that would have made it worth watching the movie…. But I was in high school at the time, about 35 miles west of there

 

[Taiji Rebel]

And others who practiced/taught traditional martial art styles that he developed a disdain for, which he considered restrictive and ineffective.

Excerpt from Bruce Lee: A Life.

Excerpt from "Bruce Lee’s disgust for fake martial arts ‘cowards’ revealed in rare phone call recording:"

In reference to the match with Wong Jack Man:

EBM Kung Fu Academy

There are two sides to every story, maybe more if you take the Rashomon effect into account

 

[marvin8]

In reference to the match with Wong Jack Man:

EBM Kung Fu Academy

There are two sides to every story, maybe more if you take the Rashomon effect into account

There are three first-hand accounts, per author Charles Russo.

Specifically, I tried to corroborate everything through multiple sources. Trust me, the book would be a lot more exciting if I ran with every hyped-up story that came my way, but again, I think the factual history is ultimately far more interesting than the mythology.

The Wong Jack Man fight is an obvious example. There were nine people in the room; three of those people are still alive: Linda Lee, David Chin and WJM. So, I get to speak with 2 of the 3. And the account Linda gave me essentially matches what David told me, and they were on opposite sides of the room and opposite sides of the conflict. On top of that, there are second-hand accounts of how other witnesses related the story – James Lee, Ronald Wu, Chan Keung – and those match as well. It’s the stories from people who weren’t in the room who always ascribe hyperbolic detail to it. So, it’s kind of a simple process actually.

Excerpt from Striking Distance: Bruce Lee and the Dawn of Martial Arts in America:

Linda Lee and David Chin, who were on opposing sides of the conflict, give a generally similar account: the fight was fast and furious, spilling wildly around the room. The exchange was crude, and far from cinematic. After landing an opening blow on Wong's temple, Bruce struggled to decisively put away his evasive opponent like he had in Seattle a few years earlier, and quickly found himself heavily winded by the encounter.

Eventually Bruce's relentless advance caused Wong to stumble over a small step, into an untenable position on the floor where Bruce hollered "Do you yield?" in Cantonese over and over while pummeling him repeatedly. Having lost his footing, Wong had no choice but to concede. "From there, he said he gives up and we stopped the fight," recalls David Chin. "The whole thing lasted…not more than seven minutes."

 

[Cynik75]

And others who practiced/taught traditional martial art styles that he developed a disdain for, which he considered restrictive and ineffective.

Excerpt from Bruce Lee: A Life.

Excerpt from "Bruce Lee’s disgust for fake martial arts ‘cowards’ revealed in rare phone call recording:"

So there is one name: Wong Jack Man. Person known only because of BL fight.
Any more names of "plenty upset people"?
Chinatown was/is small population and I am sure 99,99 of it does not care about BL (and martial arts at all).

 

[O'Malley]

I will add al leong.

Have you seen that movie with the Asian guy? He was that guy.

It was him Al-a Leong!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flying Crane]

So there is one name: Wong Jack Man. Person known only because of BL fight.

Well no, he is well known because he has taught many students in the fifty years since Bruce Lee passed away and he is a highly respected Sifu in the Chinese community in the San Francisco area.

One of my teachers studied under him. Sometimes I have mentioned that to people, and I briefly mention that Sifu Wong is kinda famous because he had that fight with Bruce Lee. More often than not, people look at me in confusion, not knowing what I am talking about.

At any rate, Bruce Lee died a long time ago and Sifu Wong continued on, developing his skills and teaching his students.

I will also note that Sifu Wong actively shunned the spotlight. My Sifu, when he was studying at Sifu Wong’s school, would sometimes suggest doing some things like demonstrations that would promote the school, and Sifu Wong always rejected the ideas.

 

[marvin8]

So there is one name: Wong Jack Man. Person known only because of BL fight.
Any more names of "plenty upset people"?
Chinatown was/is small population and I am sure 99,99 of it does not care about BL (and martial arts at all).

TY Wong, Sam Louie, Bing Chan, Kenneth Wong, David Chin, Ronald Wu, Chan Keung, Martin Wong and Raymond Fong and Yoiche Nakachi.

 

[Cynik75]

TY Wong, Sam Louie, Bing Chan, Kenneth Wong, David Chin, Ronald Wu, Chan Keung, Martin Wong and Raymond Fong and Yoiche Nakachi.

Thanks a lot. Any sources please?

 

[marvin8]

Thanks a lot. Any sources please?

Striking Distance: Bruce Lee and the Dawn of Martial Arts in America by Charles Russo.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

TY Wong, Sam Louie, Bing Chan, Kenneth Wong, David Chin, Ronald Wu, Chan Keung, Martin Wong and Raymond Fong and Yoiche Nakachi.

My Sigung James Wing Woo was roommates with T.Y. Wong when they were both training with Lau Bun at the Hop Sing Tong. I heard all about this from him.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

So there is one name: Wong Jack Man. Person known only because of BL fight.
Any more names of "plenty upset people"?
Chinatown was/is small population and I am sure 99,99 of it does not care about BL (and martial arts at all).

Really? I wonder where you get these ideas?