“Bruce was definitely a fighter. But it was underneath a very deep person rooted in a philosophy that went back thousands of years. He was a very old soul come to visit us for a short time.” ~ Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee’s wife)
The name ‘Bruce’ was given by the physician who attended to him when he was born. His birth name was Lee Jun-Fan (李振藩), while his Chinese screen name is Lee Siu-lung (李小龍; Siu-lung means “little dragon”).
‘Lee the Little Dragon’, is based on the fact that he was born in both the hour and the year of the Dragon by the Chinese Zodiac.
He studied drama and Asian and Western philosophy at the University of Washington. It’s kind of hard to relate to one who often got into the street fighting in his adolescence to study philosophy, haha.
Apparently, the very initial reason he took up kung fu was to learn about self-defense during that rather chaotic period in Hong Kong (the place where he grew up), as suggested by his father.
Sometimes our weakness can lead us to our greatness. By overcoming it, we can reach the height that we never have imagined.
However, this greatness also caused his young demise at the age of 32 years old. Otherwise, he could have enjoyed longer his happy family with his two beautiful children.
His son Brandon Lee may also not have died young during an accident in the filming of ‘The Crow’ at the age of 28.
This demonstrated exactly the fable of ‘A man and a horse’.
Good and bad are interchangeable over time. You can never know if a good thing is true as it is, or vice versa, throughout the evolution of your whole life.
He was a champion in cha-cha dance in Hong Kong, in which later he incorporated this dance movement into his martial art. This shows how innovative he was.
Below is his philosophy of ‘Be like water’:
“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. When you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; when you put it into a bottle, it becomes a bottle; when you put it in a teapot, it becomes a teapot. The water can flow and it can crash, be like water, my friend.”
If one can be adaptable in life in a good way, he will be a winner in life.
Can you imagine a kung fu master can be a poet as well? He was one.
His daughter Shannon Lee said, “He did write poetry; he was really the consummate artist.”
He was widely read. He has a collection of about 2,500 books on various subjects on combat techniques such as fencing, boxing, taekwondo, ancient or modern philosophies, and psychology.
His fighting style was heavily influenced by Wing Chun, Tai Chi, taekwondo, boxing, fencing, etc. He incorporated all these into his version of kung fu — Jeet Kune Do, which means ‘the way of intercepting fist”.
He also incorporated Zen Buddhist and Taoist philosophies as a new school of martial arts thought in Jeet Kune Do. It was formed as practical, simple, direct, with explosive speed and to win in combat.
Bruce was innovative and never stopped improving himself and crafting his art.
This concurs with what the ‘hottest grandpa in China’ says, “I keep improving myself, sculpting myself, perfecting myself.”
“When the opponent expands, I contract; when he contracts, I expand; when there’s an opportunity, I do not hit, (raising and referring to his fist) it hits all by itself.”
This perfectly depicts “The term kung fu is a skillful endeavor without interference from the intellect or emotions.” It comes from inward with a forceful inner strength. A combination of body and mind.
