Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (1940-1973) is generally considered the greatest Martial Artist of the 20th century. A true renaissance man, Lee was a talented artist, poet, philosopher, writer, and actor, apart from being a formidable fighter. His insights into philosophy, physical fitness, self-defense, and movie-making, have been enjoyed and lauded by millions of people around the world for well over three decades. He is the founder of Jeet Kune Do, the first Martial Art to ever be predicated on total freedom for the individual practitioner. A learned man, Lee attended the University of Washington where he majored in philosophy. His personal library contained over 2,500 books on topics ranging from Eastern Yoga to Western psychoanalysis. His achievements and example continue to inspire athletes and artists from around the world.   "With nothing but his hands, feet and a lot of attitude, he turned the little guy into a tough guy." -- Time Bruce Lee, Lei Jun Fan or Jun fan Lee (November 27, 1940 — July 20, 1973) was a Chinese American martial artist and actor regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century, and arguably the best martial artist of all time.
Lee's movies, especially his performance in the Hollywood-produced Enter the Dragon, elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of quality and popularity. Lee would use film making to prove and to demonstrate his fighting theories in Jeet Kune Do and his pioneering efforts paved the way for future martial artists and actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Chuck Norris. Bruce Lee movies sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West. The direction and tone of Bruce Lee's movies have forever changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in Hong Kong, China, and the rest of the world. Lee became an iconic figure particularly to Chinese; as he portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies.[1] Many see Lee as a model blueprint for acquiring a strong and efficient body as well as developing a mastery of martial arts and hand to hand combat skills. Bruce Lee's evaluation of the traditional martial arts doctrines is nowadays seen as the first step into the modern style of mixed martial arts. Early life Bruce Lee was an American Born Chinese (ABC) born at the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco to his Chinese father, Lee Hoi-Chuen and Chinese-German mother Grace Lee. Names Lee's Cantonese name, Lee Jun Fan; (Mandarin Pinyin: Li Zhènfán). At birth, Bruce Lee was given the English name "Bruce" by Dr. Mary Glover. Mrs. Lee had not initially planned on an American name but deemed it appropriate and concurred with Dr. Glover. Interestingly the name "Bruce" was never used within his family until he enrolled in La Salle College, a Hong Kong high school, at 12 years of age. In addition, Lee initially had a birth name (Li Yuen Kam); (Mandarin Pinyin: Li Xuànjin) given by his mother, as at the time Lee's father was away on a Chinese opera tour. After several months, when Lee's father returned, the name was abandoned because of a conflict with the name of Lee's grandfather. Lee was then renamed Jun Fan. Finally, Lee was also given a feminine name, Sai Fung, literally "small Phœnix"), used throughout his early childhood in keeping with a Chinese custom traditionally thought to hide the child from evil spirits. In a few movies Lee Siu Lung starred in as a teenager. Bruce Lee's screen name was Lee Siu Lung in Cantonese and Li Xiao Long in Mandarin; Mandarin Pinyin: Li Xiaolóng) which literally means "Lee Little Dragon." These were first used by director of the 1950 Cantonese movie in which Lee performed. It was very likely that the name "little dragon" was chosen based on his childhood name "small phoenix". In Chinese tradition, dragon and phoenix come in pairs to represent the male and female genders, respectively. Education and martial arts training Bruce Lee was educated both academically and in the field of martial arts. His studies of Kung Fu sparked his enthusiasm and understanding of martial arts in the development of Jeet Kune Do. Later Lee studied Judo, Jujitsu, Western Boxing, and other styles of martial arts. Lee received his early education and Kung Fu training in Hong Kong. Because of his father's fame as a Chinese opera actor, Lee had the opportunity to appear in several Hong Kong movies as a child. He studied the Wing Chun style of martial arts at a young age and learned English. Having seen his father practice Tai Chi Chuan, Lee was enrolled in Wing Chun under Sifu Yip Man. Wing Chun would later form a base for his later development and evolution of martial arts and the development of Jeet Kune Do. At age 14, Bruce Lee entered La Salle College, a high school, under the wing of Brother Henry. In 1959, Bruce got into a fight with a feared Triad gang member's son, and his father worried, so he and his wife decided to send Bruce to the United States to live with an old friend of his father's. All he had was $100 in his pocket and the title of 1958 Crown Colony Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong. After living in San Francisco, he moved to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father's. In 1959, Lee completed his high school education in Seattle and received his diploma from Edison Technical School. He enrolled at the University of Washington as a philosophy major. It was at the University of Washington that he met his future wife, Linda Emery, whom he would marry in 1964. Lee had two children: a daughter, Shannon, and a son, actor Brandon Lee, who was tragically killed in a film set accident in 1993. Early acting career A few credits short of graduation from the University of Washington as a philosophy major, Lee headed to San Francisco and then Hollywood. In 1964 at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, the soon-to-be-famous Lee met Karate champion Chuck Norris. Lee would later introduce Norris to portray one of Lee's opponents in Return of the Dragon, a.k.a. Way of the Dragon, in a famous Coliseum fight scene. Lee went on to star as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet, which ran from 1966 to 1967 and afterward opened up his own Jeet Kune Do school. Later Lee would use film making to demonstrate his fighting theories. Success in Hong Kong In 1971, unable to find acting roles and faced with stereotypes regarding Asian actors, Lee returned to Hong Kong with his family. There, he starred in martial arts movies, earning $30,000 for his first two feature films, cementing his fame. Physical training, fitness, and nutrition
Bruce Lee cared deeply about his physical fitness and he became famous for his physical condition despite his small stature. Lee typically exhibited a muscular and very lean appearance in his films, particularly in his upper body. Bruce Lee felt many martial artists of his day lacked the necessary physical fitness to back up their fighting skills. Bruce Lee used many different techniques and resources in aiding his physical fitness, including the use of electric current as an aid to strength training. However, this muscle stimulation device was only one of many pieces of equipment and exercise routines Lee used to achieve his fighting ability. Footage of Lee performing a fighting scene, was often slowed down because it would only show as a blur on screen. Lee developed a trick for showing off his speed: a person held a coin and closed his hand, and as he closed it, Lee would take it and could even swap the coin for another. The weight training program Lee used during a stay in Hong Kong in 1965, indicated biceps curls of 80 pounds and 8 repetitions for endurance. This translates to an estimated one repetition maximum of 110 pounds, placing Lee in approximately the 100th percentile for the 121 to 140 pound weight class. Bruce Lee was light because he was more interested in lean muscles and not bulky mass. His exercise routines consisted of a lot of things, for example weights and cardiovascular training. Bruce did not resort to traditional "body building" techniques to build mass, he was more interested in speed and power. He developed strategies to increase muscle strength and speed. Lee believed the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscle groups for a martial artist since virtually every movement requires some degree of abdominal work. Perhaps more importantly, the "abs" are like a shell, protecting your ribs and vital organs. Bruce Lee's washboard abs did not come from mere abdominal training; he was also a proponent of cardiovascular conditioning and would regularly run, jump rope and ride a stationary bicycle. A typical exercise for Lee would be to run a distance of two to six miles in 15 to 45 minutes. Nutrition Another element in Bruce Lee's quest for abdominal definition was nutrition. According to Linda Lee, soon after he moved to the United States, Bruce started to take nutrition seriously and developed an interest in health foods and high-protein drinks. He ate lean meat sparingly and consumed large amounts of fruits and vegetables. In later years, he studied vitamin supplements. 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships
"one inch punch" At the invitation of Ed Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championship and performed repetitions of two-finger pushups (using the thumb and the index finger) with feet at approximately a shoulder-width apart. In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "one inch punch," the description of which is as follows: Lee stood upright, his right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing, stationary partner.
Two finger push-ups Lee's right arm was partly extended and his right fist approximately an inch away from the partner's chest. Without retracting his right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to his partner while largely maintaining his posture, sending the partner backwards and falling into a chair placed behind the partner to prevent injury. Bruce Lee's feats Here are some of Bruce Lee's real life feats of speed, strength and endurance. This information is taken from various documentaries and magazines. Bruce Lee's striking speed from 2 feet away was five hundredths of a second. (Glover)  Bruce did push ups using only 2 fingers.  Bruce was able to break a 150lb bag with a sidekick. (Coburn)  Bruce would ride for 45 minutes (10 Miles) on a stationary bike, sweating profusely afterwards. (Hera)  Bruce's last movie Enter the Dragon was made for $850,000 in 1973 ($3.75 million in 2005 currency). To date, Enter the Dragon has grossed over $90,000,000. (IMDB.com)  Quotes from Bruce Lee's friends These are some quotes from Bruce Lee's friends about his feats of strength: Chuck Norris  "Lee, pound for pound, might well have been one of the strongest men in the world, and certainly one of the quickest." Doug Palmer  "Bruce was like the Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali in his prime, somebody who stood above everyone else. It's not that the other martial artists weren't good. It's just that this guy was great." Herb Jackson  "The biggest problem in designing equipment for Bruce was that he'd go through it so damn fast. I had to reinforce his wooden dummy with automobile parts so he could train on it without breaking it. I had started to build him a mobile dummy that could actually attack and retreat to better simulate "Live" combat, sadly Bruce died before the machine was built. It would have been strung up by big high-tension cables that I was going to connect between two posts, one on either side of his backyard. The reason for the machine was simply because no one could stand up to his full force punches and kicks, Bruce's strength and skill had evolved to point where he had to fight machines."  "He never trained in a gym, he thought he could concentrate better at home, so he worked out on his patio. He had a small weight set, something like a standard 100lb cast-iron set. In addition, he had a 310lb Olympic barbell set, a bench press and some dumbbells, both solid and adjustable."  "Bruce used to beat all other comers at this type of wrist wrestling and even joked that he wanted to be world champion at it." James Coburn  "Bruce and I were training out on my patio one day, we were using this giant bag for side kicks, I guess it weighed about 150lbs. Bruce looked at it and just went Bang, it shot up out into the lawn about 15ft in the air, it then busted in the middle. It was filled with little bits and pieces of rag, we were picking up bits of rag for months." Jesse Glover  "When he could do push ups on his thumbs and push ups with 250lbs on his back, he moved on to other exercises."  "The power that Lee was capable of instantly generating was absolutely frightening to his fellow martial artists, especially his sparring partners, and his speed was equally intimidating. We timed him with an electric timer once, and Bruce's quickest movements were around five hundredths of a second, his slowest were around eight hundredths. This was punching from a relaxed position with his hands down at his sides from a distance between 18-24 inches. Not only was he amazingly quick, but he could read you too. He could pick up on small subtle things that you were getting ready to do and then he'd just shut you down." "Bruce was gravitating more and more toward weight training as he would use the weighted wall pulleys and do series upon series with them. He'd also grab one of the old rusty barbells that littered the floor at the YMCA and would roll it up and down his forearms, which is no small feat when you consider that the barbell weighed 70lbs." Jim Kelly  "Bruce, well I can basically say this. I have been around a lot of great martial arts fighters. Worked out with them. Fought them in tournaments. In my opinion Bruce Lee was the greatest martial artist who ever lived. To me that's my opinion. I think Bruce lee is the greatest martial artist ever. I don't think anybody is in his class." Joe Lewis  "Bruce was incredibly strong for his size. He could take a 75lb barbell and from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest, he could slowly stick his arms out, lock them and hold the barbell there for 20 seconds, that's pretty damn tough for a guy who at the time only weighed 138lbs. I know 200lb weight lifters who can't do that." "I never stood in front of another human who was as quick as him. He not only had the quickness but he had the inner confidence to muster the conviction to do so. I've seen others who had the speed but lacked conviction or vice versa. He was like Ali, he had both. I stood before both of these men, so I know." "If Bruce Lee wasn't the greatest martial artist of all time, then certainly he is the number one candidate." (Source) Leo Fong  "Yes, I was on the receiving end of his side kick. It was like getting hit with a truck." Mito Uhera  "Bruce always felt that if your stomach wasn't developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring." Death, "by misadventure" Bruce Lee's death was officially attributed to cerebral edema. On July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong, due to have dinner with former James Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife, Linda, Bruce met producer Raymond Chow at two p.m. at home to discuss the making of the movie Game of Death. They worked until four p.m., and then drove together to the home of Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress and Bruce Lee's alleged mistress, who was to have a leading role in the film. The three went over the script at her home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting. A short time later, Lee complained of a headache, and Ting Pei gave him an analgesic. At around 7:30 p.m., he lay down for a nap. After Lee didn't turn up for the dinner, Chow came to the apartment but could not wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, who spent ten minutes attempting to revive him before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. However, Lee was dead by the time he reached the hospital. There was no visible external injury; however, his brain had swollen considerably, from 1,400 to 1,575 grams (113%). Lee was thirty two years old. On October 15, 2005, Chow stated in an interview that Lee was allergic to Equagesic, an analgesic formulation containing meprobamate, aspirin and ethoheptazine. When the doctors announced Bruce Lee's death officially, it was coined as "Death by Misadventure". However, the exact details of Lee's death are controversial. Bruce Lee's iconic status and unusual death at a young age led many people to develop many theories about Lee's death, such as a murder involving an ancestral curse, triads, gangsters, sudden death in epilepsy and so on — none of these have ever been proven. At the 2006 meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Dr James Filkins, formerly of the Cook County medical examiner's office in Chicago suggested that Lee had died from Sudden Unexpected Death In Epilepsy (SUDEP), a syndrome only recognized in 1995. Martial arts lineage Lineage in Wing Chun / Jeet Kune Do  Sifu in Wing Chun Yip Man Other instructors Sihing Wong Shun-leung Learned Filipino stick fighting skill (Eskrima) from Dan Inosanto Learned Tang Soo Do high kicking skill from Chuck Norris Learned Judo fighting skills from Gene Lebell Learned various kicks from Jhoon Rhee Sifu Gin Foon Mark (Praying mantis kung fu)  
Bruce Lee - Creator of Jeet Kune Do
Known students in Wing Chun Unknown Known students in Jun Fan Gung Fu: Taky Kimura Allen Joe Jesse Glover Charlie Woo James W. DeMile Numerous others... Known Students in Jeet Kune Do: Dan Inosanto James Lee Larry Hartsell Jerry Poteet Ted Wong Joe Lewis Chuck Norris Kareem Abdul-Jabbar James Coburn Roman Polanski Lee Marvin Steve McQueen
Filmography Lee starred in a leading role in a total of five major films, two of which (Enter the Dragon, Game of Death) premiered after his death.
Released # Chinese and English title of original release U.S. title Note  1971 - The Big Boss Fists of Fury Plays "Cheng Chao-an". Fights against a drug lord (The Big Boss) in Thailand.  1972 - Fist of Fury The Chinese Connection Plays the character "Chen Zhen" Fights against Japanese tyrants in Shanghai.  1972 - Way of the Dragon Return of the Dragon Plays "Tang Lung". Fights crime in Rome, Italy. Released after Enter the Dragon in the U.S. hence the title.  1973 - Enter the Dragon same Plays Shaolin Monk "Mr. Lee". Fights an ex-monk turned drug lord in Hong Kong to avenge his sister.  1979 - Game of Death same Plays Martial arts master "Billy Lo". Pieced together with few fight scenes after his death.
Note: The English titles for the first two films were swapped by the U.S. distributor. The title The Chinese Connection (a play on the then-recently-released The French Connection) was originally intended for The Big Boss due to the drugs theme of the story.
Yuen Lo (Later to become action super star Jackie Chan), was a member of the Seven Little Fortunes he was a stunt double for the villain Mr. Suzuki in Bruce's Fist of Fury at the time it was a record as he fell 15 feet without the aid of safety equipment. Also, during filming of Enter the Dragon Jackie was hit in the face by Bruce's feared nunchucks.
Philosophy Although Bruce Lee is best known as a martial artist and actor, Lee majored in philosophy at the University of Washington. Lee's books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are well-known both for their philosophical assertions both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to claim that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings. His influences include Taoism and Buddhism.
The following are some of Bruce Lee's quotes on that reflect his fighting philosophy, primarily derived from Jiddu Krishnamurti's teachings.
"If I tell you I'm good, you would probably think I'm boasting, If I tell you I'm no good, You KNOW I'm lying."  "Be formless... shapeless like water. If you put water into a cup it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, and it can crash. Be water, my friend..."  "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."  "The more relaxed the muscles are, the more energy can flow through the body. Using muscular tensions to try to "do" the punch, or attempting to use brute force to knock someone over, will only work to opposite effect."  "Mere technical knowledge is only the beginning of Kung Fu, to master it, one must enter into the spirit of it."  "There are lots of guys around the world that are lazy. They have big fat guts. They talk about chi power and things they can do, but don't believe it."  "I'm not a master, I'm a student-master, meaning that I have the knowledge of a master and the expertise of a master, but I'm still learning, So I'm a student-master. I don't believe in the word master, I consider the master as such when they close the casket."  "Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there."  "Jeet Kune Do, It's just a name, don't fuss over it. There's no such thing as a style if you understand the roots of combat."  "Unfortunately, now in boxing people are only allowed to punch. In Judo, people are only allowed to throw. I do not despise these kinds of martial arts. What I mean is, we now find rigid forms which create differences among clans, and the world of martial art is shattered as a result."  "I think the high state of martial art, in application, must have no absolute form. And, to tackle pattern A with pattern B may not be absolutely correct."  "True observation begins when one is devoid of set patterns."  "The other weakness is, when clans are formed, the people of a clan will hold their kind of martial art as the only truth, and do not dare to reform or improve it. Thus they are confined in their own tiny little world. Their students become machines which imitate martial art forms."  "Some people are tall, some are short. some are stout, some are slim. There are various different kinds of people. If all of them learn the same martial art form, then who does it fit?"  "Ultimately, martial art means honestly expressing yourself. It is easy for me to put on a show, and be cocky so I can show you some really fancy movement. But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly enough; that my friend is very hard to do."  "Use no way as way, use no limitation as limitation."
Awards and honors With his ancestral roots coming from Gwan'on in Seundak, Guangdong province of China, Guangdong Shunde Jun'An), a street in the village is named after him where his ancestral home is situated. The home is open for public access.  Bruce Lee was named TIME Magazine's 100 Most Important People of the Century and as one of the greatest heroes & icons and among the influential martial artists of the 20th century.  The 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a slightly fictionalized biographical film about Bruce Lee.  In 2001, LMF, a Cantonese hip-hop group in Hong Kong, released a popular song called "1127" as a tribute to Bruce Lee. The lyrics include: "We only want you to become a Chinese you can be proud of. Learn from others; Need not copy. Use your heart to digest the knowledge of others. Try asking why there are so many failures here who do not support each other and always pretend to be like the other. [Chorus] We had Bruce Lee teach us we are not the disease of Asia. Though having yellow skin, we can still be ourselves. Do not follow, copy, and be like the other. Do not look down upon ourselves.... The spirit of Bruce Lee will never die and the Chinese will never forget that."  In 2004, UFC president Dana White credits Bruce Lee as the "father of mixed martial arts".  In September 2004, a BBC story stated that the Herzegovinian city of Mostar was to honor Lee with a statue on the Spanish Square, as a symbol of solidarity. After many years of war and religious splits, Lee's figure is to commend his work: to successfully bridge culture gaps in the world. The statue, placed in the city park, was unveiled on November 26, 2005 (One day before the unveiling of the statue in Hong Kong, below).  In 2005, Lee was remembered in Hong Kong with a bronze statue to mark his 65th birthday. The bronze statue, unveiled on November 27, 2005 honored Lee as "Chinese film's bright star of the century".   1959 Bruce Lee came to the U.S. To an America where the Chinese were still stereotyped as meek house servants and railroad workers, Bruce Lee was all steely sinew, threatening stare and cocky, pointed finger--a Clark Kent who didn't need to change outfits. He was the redeemer, not only for the Chinese but for all the geeks and dorks and pimpled teenage masses that washed up at the theaters to see his action movies. He was David, with spin-kicks and flying leaps more captivating than any slingshot.
As an exceptional martial artist, Lee's ability to synthesize various national martial techniques sparked a new trend in unarmed combat martial arts films. His talent shifted the focus from martial arts director to martial arts actor. Since 1973, the year Bruce Lee died and his famous motion picture Enter the Dragon was released, movies have been the single most influential factor behind the growing popularity of martial arts. Lee's cinematic success spawned a global industry of the martial arts, and schools opened and flourished worldwide. During the 1970s more students took up the study of martial arts than at any time before or since. To those involved in martial arts, the years from 1972 to 1975, the height of Lee's popularity are often cited as the Bruce Lee era. Biography of Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (Lee Hsiao Lung), was born in San Francisco in November 1940 the son of a famous Chinese opera singer. Bruce moved to Hong Kong when he soon became a child star in the growing Eastern film industry. His first film was called The birth of Mankind, his last film which was uncompleted at the time of his death in 1973 was called Game of Death. Bruce was a loner and was constantly getting himself into fights, with this in mind he looked towards Kung Fu as a way of disciplining himself. The famous Yip Man taught Bruce his basic skills, but it was not long before he was mastering the master. Yip Man was acknowledged to be one of the greatest authorities on the subject of Wing Chun a branch of the Chinese Martial Arts. Bruce mastered this before creating Jun Fan Gung Fu, and then progressing to creating the art of Jeet Kune Do. At the age of 19 Bruce left Hong Kong to study for a degree in philosophy at the University of Washington in America. It was at this time that he took on a waiter's job and also began to teach some of his skills to students who would pay. Some of the Japanese schools in the Seattle area tried to force Bruce out, and there was many confrontations and duels fought for Bruce to remain.  He met his wife Linda at the University he was studying. His Martial Arts school flourished and he soon graduated. He gained some small roles in Hollywood films - Marlowe- etc, and some major stars were begging to be students of the Little Dragon. James Coburn, Steve McQueen and Lee Marvin to name but a few. He regularly gave displays at exhibitions, and it was during one of these exhibitions that he was spotted by a producer and signed up to do The Green Hornet series. The series was quite successful in the States - but was a huge hit in Hong Kong. Bruce visited Hong Kong in 1968 and he was overwhelmed by the attention he received from the people he had left.  He once said on a radio program if the price was right he would do a movie for the Chinese audiences. He returned to the States and completed some episodes of Longstreet. He began writing his book on Jeet Kune Do at roughly the same time.  Back in Hong Kong producers were desperate to sign Bruce for a Martial Arts film, and it was Raymond Chow the head of Golden Harvest who produced The Big Boss. The rest as they say is history. Bruce Lee Chronological Time Line 1940 - November 27 - San Francisco- In the The Year of the Dragon between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. (the hour of the dragon), Lee Jun Fan, Bruce Lee is born at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco Chinatown while his father and mother traveled to the U.S. Lee Hoi Chuen, Bruce's father, was performing with the Cantonese Opera Company in America. At three months old, Bruce debuts in "Golden Gate Girl" in San Francisco, CA. He plays role of a female baby, carried by his father.  1941 (Age 1): Hong Kong - Bruce and his parents return to Kowloon, their family home. They move to into an apartment at 218 Nathan Road, Kowloon district. The apartment is located on the second story of a building which contained a store on the ground level.  1946 (Age 6): Hong Kong - Bruce makes his first major childhood movie in The Beginning of a Boy. Later this year, he performs in The Birth of Mankind, and My Son, Ah Cheun. (During the later years of his childhood, Bruce appears in 20 more films in Asia. In these films, Bruce's vivid facial expressions begin to develop, and they foreshadow his future expressions in his famous Kung-Fu movies. Bruce becomes nearsighted and starts wearing glasses. (He will later start wearing contacts, suggested to him by a friend who is an optometrist.)  1952 (Age 12): Hong Kong - Bruce begins attending La Salle College.  1953 (Age 13): Hong Kong - After being beaten up by a street gang, Bruce begins to take Kung-Fu lessons, despite local Hong Kong laws, outlawing street fights. This is the first, and the last time Bruce loses a fight. He begins to train under Sifu Yip Man, a master of the Wing Chun system of Kung-Fu.  1954 (Age 14): Hong Kong - Bruce takes up cha-cha dancing.  1958 (Age 18): Hong Kong - Bruce wins the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. Bruce has a leading role in the film The Orphan. This is the last movie Bruce makes as a child actor. This is the only movie where Bruce does not fight.  1958 (Age 18): ??? - Bruce enters the 1958 Boxing Championships and defeats the reigning three year champion, Gary Elms.  1959 (Age 19): Hong Kong - Because of numerous street fighting, causing police involvement, Bruce's father and mother decide that Bruce should take a three week voyage to the United States. The trip is a possible means to get him back on the right track. He return to his birth-place -- San Francisco Chinatown. Time was also running out for him to claim his American Citizenship.  1959 (Age 19): San Francisco - Seattle - With $15 from his father, and $100 from his mother, Bruce arrives in the United States, living with an old friend of his father's. He works odd jobs around the various Chinese communities. Later, he moves to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father's. He lives in a room above her restaurant while working as a waiter downstairs. He eventually enrolls in Edison Technical School and earns his high school diploma. Bruce begins to teach his Martial Art skills in backyards and city parks.  1961 - March (Age 21): Seattle- Bruce enrolls at the University of Washington, studying Philosophy. He teaches Kung-Fu to students at school.  1963 - Summer (Age 23): Hong Kong - Bruce proposes to Amy Sanbo but is turned down. Bruce returns to Hong Kong with friend Doug Palmer for the first time since his arrival in the U.S. to visit family. He then returns to Seattle at the end of summer to continue his education.  1963 - October 25 (Age 23): Seattle - Bruce takes out Linda Emery (his future wife) for their first date. They have dinner at the Space Needle. Bruce gives notice to Ruby Chow and leaves her restaurant. He starts the first Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute.  1963 - Fall (Age 23): Seattle - Bruce moves his Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute into a building (4750 University Way) near the university campus. He teaches any person of any race. (most Asian Martial Arts schools would only teach people of their own race). At Garfield High School, Bruce demonstrates the "One-Inch Punch". This is the punch he would later make famous at the 64' Long Beach Internationals and which was developed by him and James DeMile in Seattle. Bruce would hold his arm straight out, and with a shrug of his shoulder, knock a man straight across the ground.  1964 (Age 24): Bruce meets Jhoon Rhee at the International Karate Championships. The two would remain good. (Jhoon Rhee will invite Bruce to Washington, D.C. to appear at tournaments.)  1964 - June (Age 24): - Bruce discusses with James Yimm Lee plans to open a second Jun Fan Kung-Fu Institute in Oakland, CA.  1964 - Summer - Oakland (Age 24): Plans are finalized, and Bruce leaves Seattle to start a second Jun Fan Kung-Fu school in Oakland. His good friend, Taky Kimura, takes over as head instructor.  1964 - August 17 (Age 24): Seattle - Bruce returns to Seattle to marry Linda. They soon move to Oakland.  1964 - August 2 (Age 24): Long Beach, Ca - Ed Parker, known as the Father of American Karate (Kenpo), invites Bruce to give a demonstration. Bruce shows off his "one-inch punch," and his two-finger push-ups, where he literally does "two" finger push-ups. At his first International Karate Championships, Jay Sebring, the hair stylist for Batman, William Dozier, a producer, who is looking to cast a part in a TV series he was developing. Sebring then gives a film of Bruce's demo to Dozier who is impressed at Bruce's super-human abilities. Bruce later flies down to Los Angeles for a screen test.  1964 - August 4 (Age 24): Oakland - Bruce leaves for Seattle. He will propose to Linda.  1965 (Age 24): Oakland - Several months after he begins teaching, he is challenged by, Wong Jack Man, a leading Kung-Fu practitioner in the Chinatown Community. They agree: If Bruce looses, he will, either close his school, or stop teaching Caucasians; and if Jack looses, he will stop teaching. Jack Man Wong does not belie Bruce would actually fight, and tries to delay the match. Bruce becomes angered and insists that they not wait. Wong then tries to put limitations on techniques. Bruce refuses "rules" and the two go no holds barred. Bruce begins to pound his opponent in only a couple of seconds. As Bruce is winning, Wong attempts to flee, but is caught by Bruce. Bruce begins to beat him on the ground. Students of the other teacher attempted to step in and help their teacher, James Lee, Bruce's good friend prevent this. Later he is bothered on why the fight took so long and begins to re-evaluate his style. He is determined that he is not in his top physical condition. Thus, the early concepts of Jeet Kune Do (JKD), "The art of the intercepting fist" is created. JKD is an art including techniques of all types of fighting. (i.e. American Boxing, Thai Kick Boxing, Japanese Karate, etc.) His style is no style. Bruce is signed to a one-year option for The Green Hornet. He is paid an $1800 retainer.  1965 - February 1 (Age 25): Oakland, CA - Brandon Bruce Lee is born.  1965 - February 8 (Age 25): Hong Kong - Bruce's father passes away in Hong Kong. Bruce returns to Hong Kong for his fathers funeral. As tradition dictates, in order to obtain forgiveness for not being present when his father died, Bruce crawls on his knees across the floor of the funeral home towards the casket wailing loudly and crying.  1965 - May (Age 25): Bruce uses the retainer money from the Green Hornet and flies himself, Linda, and Brandon back to Hong Kong in order to settle his father's estate affairs. While in Hong Kong, Bruce takes Brandon to see Yip Man to persuade Yip to perform on tape. Bruce wants to take the footage back to Seattle and show his students what the man looks like in action. Yip modestly declines.  1965 - September (Age 25): Seattle - Bruce, Linda, Brandon return to Seattle.  1966 (Age 26): Los Angeles - Bruce and family move to Los Angeles to an apartment on Wilshire and Gayley in Westwood. This is where he begins working on a new TV series called The Green Hornet as Kato. The Green Hornet series starts filming and Bruce is Paid $400 per episode. Bruce buys a 1966 blue Chevy Nova. Bruce is later known to have gotten the part of Kato because he was the only person who could accurately pronounce the star's name, Britt Reid. He later opens third branch of the Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute in Los Angeles' Chinatown.  1966 - September 9 (Age 26): Los Angeles - The Green Hornet series premiers.  1967-1971 (Age 27-31): Hollywood - During this time, Bruce lands bit parts in various films and T.V. series. He also gives private lessons for up to $250 an hour to personalities Steve McQueen, James Coburn, James Garner, Lee Marvin, Roman Polanski, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Bruce meets Chuck Norris in New York at the All American Karate Championships in Washington D.C. Chuck fights Joe Lewis and wins.  1967 (Age 27): Washington, D.C. - Bruce meets Joe Lewis at The Mayflower Hotel while both were guests at the 67' National Karate Championships. Joe is competing in the tournament and Bruce is making special appearances as Kato.  1967 - February (Age 27): Los Angeles - Bruce opens a 3rd school at 628 College Street, Los Angeles, CA. Dan Inosanto serves as assistant instructor.  1967 - July 14 (Age 27): Los Angeles - The last episode of The Green Hornet Series shows. The movie is later said to have failed because Bruce, a minor role became more popular than the main character.  1969 - April 19 (Age 29): Santa Monica, CA Shannon Lee is born.  1969 (Age 29): - A scriptwriter is hired and paid $12K by Stirling Silliphant and James Coburn to write a script for the Silent Flute. The script produced is unacceptable, and no other scriptwriter could seen to do the job. They then decide to write it themselves.  1970 (Age 30): Los Angeles - Bruce injures his sacral nerve and experiences severe muscle spasms in his back while training. Doctors told him that he would never kick again. During the months of recovery he starts to document his training methods and his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Later after his death, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do is published by his wife in memory of Bruce Lee.  1970 (Age 30): Hong Kong - Bruce and Brandon fly to Hong Kong and are welcomed by fans of The Green Hornet Show. Bruce sends Unicorn to talk to Run Run Shaw on his behalf and inform Shaw that he would be willing to do a movie for him for $10K. Shaw makes counter-offer of a seven year contract and $2K per film which Bruce declines.  1971 - February (Age 31): India - Bruce, James Coburn, Stirling Silliphant fly to India to scout locations for The Silent Flute. They spend one month searching but are forced to call off the search as Coburn backs out of the project. This trip gives Bruce the idea for Game of Death, where a fighter, mastering in several techniques, will go from one level to the next in a temple: the first level (the level of weaponry), the second level (the level of the nine degree black belt), and the third level ( "The level of the unknown.")  1971 (Age 31): Hong Kong. - Bruce takes a short trip back to Hong Kong to arrange for his mother to live in the U.S. Unknowingly to him, he had become a superstar for The Green Hornet was one of the most popular TV shows in Hong Kong. Later, he is approached by Raymond Chow, owner of a new production company, and offered the lead role in a new film called The Big Boss. Bruce accepts. Bruce is supplied with small furnished apartment at 2 Man Wan Road - Kowloon, HK. Wu Ngan, moves in with Bruce and Linda. Later Wu Ngan marries and his new wife moves in as well. Brandon attends La Salle College. The same school Bruce attended only 15 years before. Bruce is interviewed by Canadian talk show host, Pierre Berton, for a tv program being filmed in Hong Kong. This is the only on film said to be in existence.  1971- July (Age 31): Thailand - Filming begins for The Big Boss (released in the U.S. as Fists of Fury). The Big Boss opens in Hong Kong to great reviews and mobs of fans. Proceeds to gross more than $3.5 million in little than three weeks.  1971 - December 7 (Age 31): Hong Kong - Bruce receives telegram, notifying him that he had not been chosen for the part in the upcoming series, The Warrior. This series was later released as Kung-Fu, staring David Carradine, who doesn't know shit about martial arts. (The show aired as ABC-TVs Movie of the Week on February 21, 1972.)  1972 (Age 32): Hong Kong - Fist of Fury (released in the U.S. as The Chinese Connection) is released. It grosses more than The Big Boss and further establishes Bruce as a Hong Kong superstar. Bruce gets a larger budget, a larger salary, and more power of directing in this film. Bruce begins work on Game of Death and films several fight scenes including Danny Inosanto and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bruce appears on Hong Kong's TVB channel for a hurricane disaster relief benefit. In a demo Bruce performs, he breaks 4 out of 5 boards, one of which is hanging in the air with a line of string. Brandon even performs and breaks a board with a sidekick! Bruce helps Unicorn, a fellow actor, by assisting him for one day and supervises fight action sequences in Unicorn's film, The Unicorn Palm - Footage of Bruce on the set is used in the movie and Bruce's name appears in the credits to his surprise causing Bruce to become angry and make a public announcement denying his endorsement of the film. Unicorn was advised to get Bruce's name in the credits, so his movie would have a better chance at being a success.  1972 (Age 32): Rome, Italy - Location shots are made for Bruce's third film The Way of the Dragon (released in the U.S. as The Return of the Dragon). This time Bruce gets almost complete control the the movie, which he writes, directs, and stars in. Chuck Norris is Bruce's adversary in the final fight scene. Again, this film surpasses all records set by his previous two films.  1972 - December 28 (Age 32): Oakland Bruce's brother, James, dies of "Black Lung." 1973 - February (Age 33): Hong Kong - Bruce gets his chance at American stardom as filming of Enter the Dragon begins while Game of Death is put on hold. It is the first-ever production between the U.S. and Hong Kong film industries. On February 20, Bruce is guest of honor at St. Francis Xavier's school for Sports Day ceremonies.  1973 (Age 33): Los Angeles - Grace Lee, Bruce's sister, sees Bruce in Los Angeles, CA. Bruce tells her that he does not expect to live much longer and that she is not to worry about finances as he will make sure she is provided for. She rebukes him for talking that way.  1973 - April (Age 33): Hong Kong - Filming of Enter the Dragon is completed. Bruce is at Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong dubbing his voice for "Enter The Dragon". The air conditioners had been turned off, so the microphones won't pick them up. The temperature soared. Bruce takes a break looping lines to go to the bathroom and splash water on his face. In he bathroom, he passes out on the bathroom floor. He revives twenty minutes later just as an assistant sent to find out what was keeping him walks in and discovers him on the ground. He tries to conceal his collapse by acting as though he has dropped his glasses on the floor and is searching for them and is helped up by the assistant. As they are walking back to the dubbing room, Bruce collapses again and is rushed to a nearby hospital.  1973 - July 10 (Age 33): Hong Kong - Bruce Lee is walking through the Golden Harvest Studios and overhears Lo Wei in a nearby room bad mouthing him. He confronts Lo Wei who retreats and summons the local police. When the police arrive Lo Wei falsely accuses Bruce of threatened him with a knife concealed in his belt buckle. He further insists that Bruce sign a statement that he will not harm him. Bruce signs the statement to get Lo Wei off his back although Lo Wei lied to the police and Bruce never had a knife nor threatened to kill him. That same day, Bruce appears on the Hong Kong TV show, Enjoy Yourself Tonight with host Ho Sho Shin. Bruce alludes to his problems with director Lo Wei, but does not mention him by name. Bruce is asked to display his physical prowess and demonstrates his abilities. Bruce demonstrates a technique and Shin is hurled across the stage. The show of power causes the press to indict Bruce in the paper and accuse him of bullying the talk show host though this was not the case.  1973 - July 16 (Age 33): Hong Kong - Heavy rains fall caused by a typhoon off the coast of Hong Kong. Bruce makes a $200 phone call to speak to Unicorn in his hotel room, who is filming a movie in Manila. Bruce tells Unicorn that he is worried about the many headaches he is experiencing.  1973 - July 18 (Age 33): Hong Kong - A bad Feng Shui deflector, placed on the roof of Bruce's Cumberland Road home in Hong Kong is blown off the roof by heavy rain and winds. The deflector had been placed on the house to protect Bruce and family from bad Feng Shui; previous owners had all been plagued by financial disaster and it was believed that this was because of the incorrect positioning of the house. The deflector was to ward off evil spirits.  1973 - July 20 (Age 33): Hong Kong - Early in the morning Bruce types a letter to his attorney, Adrian Marshall, detailing business ventures he wants to discuss on his upcoming trip to Los Angeles. Bruce had tickets already set to return to the US for a publicity tour and was scheduled to appear on the Johnny Carson show. Raymond Chow goes by Bruce's house and the two discuss plans for their upcoming movie Game of Death. Linda kisses Bruce goodbye and says she is going out to run some errands and will see him later that night. Raymond and Bruce visit Betty Ting Pei at her apartment to discuss her role in Game of Death. That evening plans had been made for them all to meet George Lazenby over dinner and enlist him for a part. Bruce explains that he has a headache, takes a prescription pain killer offered by Betty, and lies down on her bed to rest prior to dinner. Raymond Chow departs and says that he will meet them later. Raymond Chow and George Lazenby meet at a restaurant and await Bruce and Betty's arrival, but the two never show up. At 9:00 p.m. Chow receives a call from Betty; she said that she has tried to wake Bruce up but he won't come to. Betty summons her personal physician who fails to revive Bruce and who has Bruce taken to the hospital. Bruce does not revive and is pronounced dead. The doctor's are surprised that he had lasted as long as he did that night but unfortunately Betty did not get him help as soon as she could have. Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). After much confusion and debate, doctors declared the death of Bruce Lee as "death by misadventure." Enter the Dragon was delayed from its initial premieres a four days later because of the actors death.  1973 - July 25 (Age 33): Hong Kong - A funeral ceremony is held for friends and fans in Hong Kong consisting of over 25,000 people. Bruce is dressed in the Chinese outfit he wore in Enter the Dragon. 1973 - July 30 (Age 33): Seattle - After a smaller second ceremony in Seattle, Washington at Butterworth Funeral Home on East Pine Street, Bruce Lee is buried at Lake View Cemetery. His pallbearers included Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Danny Inosanto, Taky Kimura, Peter Chin, and his brother, Robert Lee.  1973 - August 24 Hollywood - Enter The Dragon premiers at Graumann's Chinese Theater. The movie is a success, and Bruce Lee achieves world-wide fame. Here are some of Bruce's truly amazing real life feats, which I consider to be absolutely outstanding. All of this information is taken from various documentaries and magazines. There's also some quotes from his closest friends.  A few of Bruce's awesome feats:  Bruce's striking speed from 3 feet away was five hundredths of a second.  Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks.  Bruce did press ups using only 2 fingers.  Bruce could thrust his fingers through unopened cans of Coca-Cola. (This was when soft drinks cans were made of steel much thicker than today's aluminum cans)  Bruce was able to explode 100lb bags with a simple sidekick.  Bruce would ride for 45 minutes (10 Miles) on a stationary bike, when he'd finished, a huge pool of sweat was beneath him.  Bruce once caved in a protective headgear made from heavy steel rods, rods that had previously withstood several blows from a sledgehammer.  Bruce's last movie "Enter the Dragon" was made for a modest $600,000 in 1973. To date, is has grossed over $300,000,000.  Quotes From Bruce's Friends about his Amazing Feats:  Herb Jackson - "Bruce was interested in becoming as strong as possible".  Jesse Glover - "When he could do push ups on his thumbs and push ups with 250lbs on his back, he moved on to other exercises".  Herb Jackson - "The biggest problem in designing equipment for Bruce was that he'd go through it so damn fast. I had to reinforce his wooden dummy with automobile parts so he could train on it without breaking it. I had started to build him a mobile dummy that could actually attack and retreat to better simulate "Live" combat, sadly Bruce died before the machine was built. It would have been strung up by big high-tension cables that I was going to connect between two posts, one on either side of his backyard. The reason for the machine was simply because no one could stand up to his full force punches and kicks, Bruce's strength and skill had evolved to point where he had to fight machines. Bruce was very interested in strength training, you could say that he was obsessed with it".  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce was only interested in strength that he could readily convert to power. I remember once Bruce and I were walking along the beach in Santa Monica. All of a sudden this huge bodybuilder came walking by, and I said to Bruce "Man, look at the arms on that guy" I'll never forget his reaction, he said "Yeah, he's big, but is he powerful???".
Chuck Norris - "Lee, pound for pound, might well have been one of the strongest men in the world, and certainly one of the quickest".  Joe Lewis - "Bruce was incredibly strong for his size. He could take a 75lb barbell and from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest, he could slowly stick his arms out, lock them and hold the barbell there for 20 seconds, that's pretty damn tough for a guy who at the time only weighed 138lbs. I know 200lb weight lifters who can't do that."  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce had tremendous strength in holding a weight out horizontally in a standing position. I know because I've seen it. He'd take a 125lb barbell and hold it straight out".  Jesse Glover - "Bruce would take hold of a 70lb dumbbell with one arm and raise it to a lateral position, level to his shoulder and then he'd hold the contraction for a few seconds. Nobody else I knew could even get it up there, let it alone hold it up there".
Wally Jay - "I last saw Bruce after he moved from Culver City to Bel Air. He had a big heavy bag hanging out on his patio. It weighed 300lbs. I could hardly move it at all. Bruce said to me "Hey, Wally, watch this" and he jumped back and kicked it and this monster of a heavy bag went up to the ceiling, Thump!!! And came back down. I still can't believe the power that guy had".  Hayward Nishioka - "Bruce had this trademark "One Inch Punch", he could send individuals (Some of whom outweighed him by over 100lbs) flying through the air where they'd crash to the ground 15 feet away. I remember getting knocked up against the wall by that punch. I didn't think it was possible that he could generate so much power in his punch, especially when he was just laying his hand against my chest, he just twitched a bit and Wham!!!, I went flying backward and bounced off a wall. I took him very seriously after that."  Jesse Glover - "The power that Lee was capable of instantly generating was absolutely frightening to his fellow martial artists, especially his sparring partners, and his speed was equally intimidating. We timed him with an electric timer once, and Bruce's quickest movements were around five hundredths of a second, his slowest were around eight hundredths. This was punching from a relaxed position with his hands down at his sides from a distance between 18-24 inches. Not only was he amazingly quick, but he could read you too. He could pick up on small subtle things that you were getting ready to do and then he'd just shut you down".  Doug Palmer - "Bruce was like the Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali in his prime, somebody who stood above everyone else. It's not that the other martial artists weren't good. It's just that this guy was great"
Jesse Glover - "Bruce was gravitating more and more toward weight training as he would use the weighted wall pulleys and do series upon series with them. He'd also grab one of the old rusty barbells that littered the floor at the YMCA and would roll it up and down his forearms, which is no small feat when you consider that the barbell weighed 70lbs".  Herb Jackson - "He never trained in a gym, he thought he could concentrate better at home, so he worked out on his patio. He had a small weight set, something like a standard 100lb cast-iron set. In addition, he had a 310lb Olympic barbell set, a bench press and some dumbbells, both solid and adjustable".  Karreem Abdul Jabbar - "Bruce put me on a weight training program during the summer of 1970. It was a three days a week program, comprised mainly of the same stuff he was doing for the major muscle groups. I think I was doing about 2 sets of 12 reps, but it worked".  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce would always shadow box with small weights in his hands and he'd do a drill in which he'd punch for 12 series in a row. 100 punches per series, using a pyramid system of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10lb dumbbells and then he'd reverse the pyramid and go 10, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1 and finally zero weight. He had me do this drill with him and man what a burn you'd get in your delts and arms."
Linda Lee - "Bruce was forever pumping a dumbell which he kept in the house. He had the unique ability to do several things at once. It wasn't at all unusual for me to find him watching a boxing match on TV, while simultaneously performing full side splits, reading a book in one hand and pumping the dumbell up and down with the other. Bruce was a big believer in forearm training to improve his gripping and punching power. He was a forearm fanatic, if ever anyone came out with a new forearm course, Bruce would have to get it."  George Lee - "He used to send me all of these designs for exercise equipment and I'd build them according to his specs. However I wasn't altogether foolish, I knew that if Bruce was going to use it, it must be effective, so I'd build one to send to him and another for me to use at home."  Bob Wall - "Bruce had the biggest forearms proportionate to anybody's body that I've ever seen. I mean, his forearms were huge. He had incredibly powerful wrists and fingers, his arms were just extraordinary".  Van Williams (Green Hornet) - "Me and Bruce used to have these wrist wrestling contests. The two combatants arms are fully extended with the aim of twisting the opponent's wrist in a counter-clockwise direction to win. I was the only known person to best Bruce at this and he used to get really mad at that. But it was simply a matter of weight ratios, I outweighed him by damn near 40lbs. Still, Bruce had a pair of the biggest forearms I've ever seen".
Herb Jackson - "Bruce used to beat all other comers at this type of wrist wrestling and even joked that he wanted to be world champion at it".  Taki Kimura - "If you ever grabbed hold of Bruce's forearm, it was like getting hold of a baseball bat".  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce was so obsessed with strengthening his forearms that he used to train them every day. He said "The forearm muscle was very, very dense, so you had to pump that muscle every day to make it stronger".  Van Williams - "Bruce used to pack up Linda and Brandon and drive over to visit my wife and me at the weekends. He'd always bring with him some new gadget that he'd designed to build this or that part of the body. He was always working out and never smoked or drank. He was a real clean-cut, educated and wonderful person. I've got to admit that when I last saw him, which was a month or so before his death, he was looking great, his physique was looking as hard as a rock. Bruce had great respect for me and as a joke he placed a sticker in the back window of his automobile that read, "This car is protected by the Green Hornet".
Mito Uhera - "Bruce always felt that if your stomach wasn't developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring".  Linda Lee - "He was a fanatic about ab training, he was always doing sit ups, crunches, roman chair movements, leg raises and V-ups".  Chuck Norris - "I remember visiting the Lee household and seeing Bruce bouncing his little boy, Brandon, on his abdomen while simultaneously performing leg raises and dumbell flys."  Herb Jackson - "He did a lot of sit ups to develop that fantastic abdomen. He told me "The proper way of doing sit ups isn't just to go up and down but to curl yourself up, like rolling up a roll of paper, doing them this way effectively isolates the abdominal muscles". He would also perform sit ups where he'd twist an elbow to the opposite knee when he rolled himself up".
Bolo Yeung - "Bruce had devised a particularly difficult exercise that he called "The Flag". While lying on a bench, he would grasp the uprights attached to the bench with both hands and raise himself off the bench, supported only by his shoulders. Then with his knees locked straight and his lower back raised off the bench, he'd perform leg raises. He was able to keep himself perfectly horizontal in midair. He was incredible, in 100 years there will never be another like him".  Linda Lee - "Bruce's waist measurement certainly benefited from all of the attention he paid to his ab program. At it's largest, his waist was 28 inches. At it's smallest, his waist measured under 26 inches".  Bob Wall - "Bruce was pretty much of a five mile runner, but then Bruce was one of those guys who just challenged the heck out of himself. He ran backwards, he ran wind sprints where he'd run a mile, walk a mile, run a mile. Whenever I ran with Bruce, it was always a different kind of run. Bruce was one of those total athletes. It wasn't easy training with him. He pushed you beyond where you wanted to go and then some".  Karreem Abdul Jabbar - "I used to run with him up and down Roscamore Road in Bel Air when we trained together during the summer of 1970. It was a very hilly terrain, which Bruce loved, and we'd do that at the beginning of each of our workouts".
Mito Uhera - "He'd ride a stationary bike for 45 minutes straight (10 Miles) until the sweat would form in pools on the floor beneath him."  Herb Jackson - "Bruce would wear a Weider Waist Shaper (a type of sauna belt) when riding his stationary bike. It was all black and made out of neoprene. He'd put it on before getting on the stationary bike. Then he'd turn the resistance up on it. He'd pedal the hell out of the bike. Sweat would pour out of him. He'd ride that bike for a series of 10 minute sessions. He felt that the sauna belt focused the heat onto his stomach and helped keep the fat off. Now maybe it worked and maybe it didn't, but you'd be hard pressed to find any fat anywhere on his body".  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce would be constantly reading through the muscle magazines and looking for new products that would help make him leaner. If he found such an item, he'd read all about it, order it, and then try it out to see if the claims made for it were true or not. If he found that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, he'd discard it and try something else. He was forever experimenting".  Bob Wall - "Every room of his house in Hong Kong had some kind of workout equipment in it, which he'd use whenever the mood overtook him. His garage, well he never had a car in his garage because it was always filled with equipment. He had a complete Marcy gym that was located just off the kitchen. Everywhere he went, even in his office, he had barbells and dumbbells. He literally trained all the time. His bodybuilding system consisted of lifting weights on a two days on, two days off type of program. However I also know that he changed things around a lot. Generally, his program consisted of three sets per exercise and usually about 15 reps. He was doing a lot of cable work at the time, when he'd pull one way and then the other way, he was into angles and he'd never do the exact same angle twice in a single workout. He was always trying to do things in a slightly different way"
Ted Wong - "Bruce would do a lot of different types of sit ups and bench presses. He was also using a technique like the Weider Heavy/Light Principle, working up to 160lbs in the bench press for three sets of 10 on his heavy days and then repping out for 20-30 reps with 100lbs on his light days. Bruce experimented successfully with partial reps, movements performed in only the strongest motion. He liked the fact that they were very explosive, sometimes he would do the bench press, using just the last 3 inches of the range of motion. It was the same range in which he would do some of his isometric exercises".  Linda Lee - "Bruce's physique reached its absolute peak during the later part of 1971. I think his physique looked just as good in '73, but he had been working really hard from '72 on. It was just one movie after another when we lived in Hong Kong. So he was having less time to do all the training he would have liked to".  Dorian Yates (Mr. Olympia) - "He used to do that thing where he'd spread his scapulas and then tense every muscle in his body, he had an incredible physique".  Jhoon Rhee - "You could show him a tremendously difficult technique that took years to perfect and the next time you saw him, he would do it better than you".
James Coburn - "Bruce and I were training out on my patio one day, we were using this giant bag for side kicks, I guess it weighed about 150lbs. Bruce looked at it and just went Bang, it shot up out into the lawn about 15ft in the air, it then busted in the middle. It was filled with little bits and pieces of rag, we were picking up bits of rag for months".  Danny Inosanto - "Bruce told me to come along with him one day to Joe Weider's store in Santa Monica to help him buy a 110lb cast iron weight set for his son Brandon. I thought this was an odd gift since Brandon was only 5 years old. Bruce bought this beautiful Weider barbell/dumbell set from Joe's store, and when we pulled into my driveway, he said "I'm just joking, Dan. I bought this for you".  Michael Gutierrez - "Bruce Lee is very hot these days. So hot in fact, that a 8x10 sheet of paper that Bruce wrote on and signed in 1969 recently went for a cool $29,000 at the Bruce Lee Estate Auction in Beverly Hills last August".  

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Released 1971 - Approx. 101 min
Starring Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien , Nora Maio,
Tony Liu and Han Ying Chieh
Directed by Lo We 

Featuring:  The lightening kicks of Bruce Lee on screen for the first time.

The setting is in Bangkok, Thailand.  Before Bruce left China to Thailand, he promised his mom that he won't get in any fights and troubles.  Strangely, some workers from the ice factory where Bruce works, vaporized.  To find out what's going on, Bruce goes to see the boss; thus, realizing that the boss is involved in this event. Then, Bruce starts a fierce battle with the boss and the gangs. 

Released 1972 - Approx. 107 mins
Starring:  Bruce Lee, Nora Miao Ker Hsiu, C H wong, Y C Han, James Tien, Robert Baker
Directed by Lo Wei

Featuring:  The 2 scenes that Bruce goes to challenge the Japanese martial art school

Setting:  In the early 1900's, Shanghai, China.Story:  Teacher Fok died in a sudden. Bruce Lee as Chan Chen, came back to Shanghai for his teacher's funeral. During the funeral, some Japanese came and pissed off Bruce's group as "Sick men of Asia".  That's why Bruce challenged the Japanese martial art school.  Later on, Bruce found out that his teacher was poisoned to death by a Japanese undercover from the Jap martial art school.  Finally, Bruce took his revenge and killed all the god damn Japanese, as a result of devoting his life to preserve the JING WU SCHOOL.  

Released 1973 - Approx. 99 mins
Starring:  Bruce lee, Shih Kien, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall and  Bolo Yeung
Directed by Robert Clouse

Featuring:  Bruce, the first time as the main character in Hollywood films

Story:  Shaolin student Bruce was asked to cooperate with the FBI to investigate on a drug island controlled by  Shih Kein.  Unfortunately, Bruce was captured as he's doing his spying.  One thing for sure, Bruce is mightier than Shih.  Finally, Bruce and Shih have a great fight at the end of the film and the FBI came to bust up the operation. 

Released 1973 - Approx. 88 minutes
Starring: Bruce Lee, Chuch Norris, Nora Miao Ker Hsiu
Directed by: Bruce Lee

Featuring: Fight with Chuck Noris

Bruce Lee wrote and directed Return of the Dragon, his third film, a mix of hard-edged kung fu and goofy humor. Once again he plays the country boy who travels to a foreign land, in this case Italy, where his restaurant-owning cousins face trouble from the local syndicate. Their strong-arm tactics have driven customers away and now threaten the family, but Lee refuses to buckle under their pressure and takes them on in a series of impressive confrontations. The film ends with a memorable showdown with world-champion karate artist Chuck Norris in the Roman Colosseum (though much of it is staged in a rather cheap studio set), a brutal, almost inhuman battle that revels in the intense punishment taken by the combatants. 

Released 1978 - Approx. 95 mins
Starring:  Bruce Lee, Gig Young, Dan Inosanto, Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Dean Jagger,
Colleen Camp and Hugh O'Brian
Directed by Robert Clouse

Featuring:  Bruce VS Dan Inosanto & Kareem Abdul Jabaar

Bruce Lee died after shooting only a few scenes of his ambitious Game of Death, but that didn't stop greedy producers from finishing and releasing "Lee's last film," even if he's doubled for most of it. Lee planned an ambitious expression of his fighting philosophy, and his story culminates in the rigorous challenge of the "Game of Death," in which combatants take on successively greater and greater masters as they fight their way to the top of a tower. 

• Green Hornet - Pilot and Promos
• Bruce Lee in Green Hornet I - "The Green Hornet" (Asian re-mix)
• Bruce Lee in Green Hornet II - "Fury Of The Dragon" (Asian re-mix)
• Green Hornet Strikes Again
• Green Hornet #1 (episodes 01-04)
• Green Hornet #2 (episodes 05-08)
• Green Hornet #3 (episodes 09-12)
• Green Hornet #4 (episodes 13-16)
• Green Hornet #5 (episodes 17-20)
• Green Hornet #6 (episodes 21-24)
• Green Hornet #7 (episodes 25-26 + Batman "Piece Of The Action" I & II)(All Green Hornet episodes are commercial free)

 Other:

• Bruce Lee - A Warrior's Journey (2002 documentary)
• "Bruce Lee - The Legend" (1984 documentary) 
• "The Green Hornet Tape" (featuring 3 episodes, Batman clip, interviews (Van Williams on Entertainment Tonight) and 3 trailers + Bruce Lee's screen test) 
• "Bruce Lee - The Beginning" (first screen test, + featured appearances in four Green Hornet TV shows) 
• A&E Original Biography + "Piece Of The Action" (Batman & Robin vs. The Green Hornet) 
• "Bruce Lee - The Curse Of The Dragon" (fight scenes, interviews, Brandon, home movies, tournament, and funeral footage) 
• "Bruce Lee's Biography - The Man, The Myth" (An action-filled kung fu movie telling the story of Bruce Lee) 
• "The Real Bruce Lee" (includes rare footage from: "The Little Dragon", "The Bad Boy", "Carnival", and "Orphan Sam") 
• Longstreet - "Way Of The Intercepting Fist" (pilot) 
• Bruce and Brandon Lee Compilation I (E! News Update and Los Angeles Eyewitness News report on Brandon's death, "Dragon" opening, Bruce's Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, behind the scenes footage with Bob Wall, and Fred Weintraub, E! News Week In Review, Hard Copy "The Curse Of The Crow" exclusive home video from the movie set) 
• Bruce and Brandon Lee compilation II ("Crime Wave", "The Ray Is For Killing", Batman clip, Black Beauty profile, Van Williams "Where Are They Now?", Green Hornet trailers, "Marlowe" clips, behind the scenes "Enter The Dragon", childhood movie clips "Kid Cheung", "The Bad Boy", "Carnival", and "Orphan Sam", funeral footage, clip from "The Tennant", FX clip, E! Entertainment report on Brandon's death "Haunted Hollywood") 
• A&E Biography (updated) + Unsolved Mysteries (Bruce and Brandon's deaths) 
• "Fist Of Bruce Lee" starring Bruce Lee (1978) 
• "Bruce and Dragon Fist" starring Bruce Le (1979)

• Bruce Lee's striking speed from 2 feet away was five hundredths of a second.
• Bruce did one-hand push ups using only 2 fingers.
• Bruce was able to break a 150lb bag with a sidekick.
• Bruce would ride for 45 minutes (10 Miles) on a stationary bike, sweating profusely afterwards. Bruce's last movie Enter the Dragon was made for US$850,000 in 1973 ($3.74 million in 2005 currency.
• To date, Enter the Dragon has grossed over $90,000,000. (IMDB.com
• Bruce was able to hold a 125-pound barbell at arms length in front of him (with elbows locked) for several seconds

Bruce Lee is a household name and, although he died relatively young, the legacy he left simply by being really good at punching people is astounding. Now there are many oft-repeated facts about the supposed almost superhuman abilities of Mr. Lee, and a simple Google search for his name leads to dozens of people questioning the veracity of them. So here are some tales of Bruce Lee’s superpowers, backed up with books. Knowledge is power. Top 10 Amazing Facts about Bruce Lee that show he may have been the next step in human evolution.

10.) The Dragon Flag

Bruce Lee was fanatical about fitness; according to his widow Linda Lee, there was never a moment Bruce wasn’t working out (the guy would watch TV doing full splits). Of all the muscles in the body, Lee was most concerned with building up his core, as he believed that the core (stomach area) is used in almost all movement, hence was greatly important to martial arts.

Is his quest to improve his core strength, Lee invented something now known as the Dragon Flag, in his honor. If you couldn’t guess already, it’s considered one of the most difficult core exercises out there. Because Lee didn’t mess around. Stallone may have brought the move to peoples attention in Rocky 4, but Lee took it to another level, reportedly being able to support his entire frame on the edge of a bench, with only his shoulders touching anything, all while the rest of his body remained perfectly rigid and horizontal to the ground.Just imagine for a second that you’d been scheduled to fight Lee, and heard all of these rumors about him, only to see him floating in mid air. You’d run away from that set so fast that you’d explode through time to the premiere of the movie in which he kicks your ass.

9.) Catching Rice with Chopsticks

Remember that scene in the Karate Kid where Pat Morita tries to catch a fly with chopsticks, but then Daniel (Ralph Macchio) does it? Yeah, Bruce Lee topped that. It was reported that Bruce was so keen to increase his reflexes, that he would throw rice into the air and try to catch it on the way down. Because being able to react to a small piece of rice travelling straight down is clearly the best way to prepare for large men trying to punch you. Martial arts!

Although seemingly impractical, the sheer amount of dexterity and skill required for such a feat meant that his hands had to be permanently balled into fists near women, so their hips wouldn’t detach themselves from their body, and instinctively run towards him. Probably.

8.) He was too strong for regular Heavy Bags

In his time, Lee used a multitude of custom-built exercise machines that were usually created just for him by a close friend, James Lee. Some of them were made due to requests from Lee himself; others were built out of sheer necessity. Lee’s heavy bag is an example of the latter.

Coming from an unknown source, Lee’s custom heavy bag literally taunted others with its immense size. Normal heavy bags clock in at around 70 pounds, with some clocking in at a much meatier 150. Lee’s weighed THREE-HUNDRED POUNDS. And it was filled with friggin’ metal. Not because he was showing off, but because he literally couldn’t use a lighter, non-metallic one without breaking it. There are conflicted, and often confused, stories that claim Lee was able to kick a heavy bag clear through the ceiling. Though he may not have ever done that, he did give a guy whiplash by kicking one too hard. Seriously.

7.)  Two-Fingered Pushups. One-Armed Pullups

How many push-ups could you do right now? If the answer is anything other than “so many the Earth will think I’m trying to mate with it,” you’re just not up to the standards of Bruce Lee. In his younger days, Lee reportedly liked to show off while training. And one of his favorite tricks was two-fingered push ups. It’s exactly what it sounds like, and Bruce did them for no other reason than to show that he could. What’s your party trick? Bet it seems kind of sucky now, doesn’t it?Bruce’s immense strength wasn’t just limited to his fingers either; he was also able to do one-armed pull-ups, with some sources claiming he was able to bust out 50 like it wasn't even a big deal. Of course, this ability wasn’t unique to Bruce, but the fact he did it simply because he could kind of makes you proud to live in a world where his biceps existed.

6.)  The One-Inch Punch

This is one of Lee’s more famous feats, and it’s no surprise why. Lee was able to summon so much power in his arms, that he could knock a fully grown adult male over from less than an inch away. That’s a feat so impressive that scientists poked around in martial artists’ brains, just to see how such a thing was even possible. There’s even rare footage of Lee doing the one-inch punch on a wooden board, presumably just so trees watching at home would know their place. And there are stories about him using it on inner city school kids, because Bruce valued teaching the next generation. Lesson one: don’t mess with him.

5.)  You Literally Couldn’t Punch Him

Bruce Lee, being a huge star who was famous for being really, really good at fighting people, naturally spent a lot of his time being challenged to street fights, because people in the ’70s were shockingly stupid.The fights almost always ended the same way: with Bruce shrugging them off, because fighting random passers-by served no purpose. Sometimes though, the challengers just plain insisted, and thus Bruce had to get nasty. In his life, there were three verified times Lee was challenged to a fight, and none of his opponents could even land a single hit on him’ he was simply too fast. When he was challenged on the set of Enter the Dragon, Bruce took apart his opponent by deftly avoiding every blow, and by locking him against a wall. He then stood him up, and give him a lesson.Admittedly, I fail to see the logic in teaching a guy who starts random street fights how to better beat people up. I won’t question it though, purely because I’ll be dead one day and I’ll have to justify my decision to Lee and his ghost army.

4.)  He Could Grab A Coin Out Of Your Hand, And Replace It With Another Coin

Lee’s speed is so legendary that most cheetahs have a photo of him on their walls, and Usain Bolt has to watch his movies in slow motion.One of Lee’s most impressive feats of speed, was his ability to snatch a coin from your hand. The usual protocol would be Lee placing a coin in your hand, after which he’d stand a few feet away. He’d then instruct you to close your palm as soon as you saw him move.

When you saw the blur of movement that was Bruce Lee, you’d snap your hand shut and feel a round object. Your smugness would only last so long though, since your next sight would be Lee smiling while holding your coin, leaving you to open your own hand and see a different coin that Lee had placed there in less than a second. This was usually the last thing most fans saw before their heads exploded out of frustration. It’s no surprise that Lee died young; he clearly experienced time at twice the rate normal people do.

3.)  He Was Too Fast For Cameras Of The Time To Film

It’s an oft-repeated fact that Lee’s movements were too fast for cameras to film, so they had to slow down the footage. Well, there’s some truth to that. For some reason though, people seem to miss out the coolest part.When this problem first arose, Lee was on the set of the Green Hornet, where he noted that all of the fight scenes simply showed him standing still while people fell over in front of him. For some reason the show’s producer didn’t like the idea of a sidekick with magical mind powers, so he asked Lee to slow down, which he did, which produced a blur instead. Lee was so fast, that he had to slow down to first be seen as a blur. This is the first time that sentence has been used about something other than an overweight person eating.

2.)  He Once Dislocated A Guy’s Shoulder, With A Slap

If you’re going to claim someone has superhuman powers, it makes sense to show them completely outclassing a regular person. Because this is Bruce Lee though, how about we have him outclass a highly trained martial artist instead?As noted, Bruce required special training equipment that could cope with his power. On occasion though, he would spar and train with people stupid enough to stand within kicking distance of Bruce Lee. That distance, by the way, was also known as any country Bruce Lee was currently in. In one such case, it’s noted that Bruce dislocated a guy’s arm during training. When confronted, Bruce became genuinely confused since according to him, “it was more of a slap than a punch.” Just read that back; Bruce was so much stronger than regular people, he could dislocate their shoulders with something he considered a light slap. Holy crap, what happened when he actually hit someone with full force? Well…

1.)  His Kicks Literally Sent People Flying Through The Air

For all his strength and training, Bruce Lee rarely ever showed his true power. Mainly because, as shown, he was capable of injuring people just by standing too close to them.However, Bruce did have one trick he liked to use. One of Lee’s most treasured possessions was his training shield, which he reportedly took everywhere with him. One of his favorite “pranks” was to have people hold this shield and let him kick them. During the time he was alive, these were words that undertakers had pre-inscribed on tombstones, just in case. The amount of power he put into each kick varied, but it’s noted that he could easily lift people into the air with one of his blows.

When you’re able to make other people escape Earth’s gravity, simply by kicking them, it’s only a matter of time until God takes notice, and brings you to Heaven to serve as his personal bodyguard.