Lee Jun Fan, better known as Bruce Lee was a martial arts teacher and actor, born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, California. Although little is known about his life as a teacher, since his stardom was largely due to the fact that he made films that impressed more than one of them because of the speed and precision of his movements, in this space we will emphasize the life of this great teacher who died at a very early age and in a very unconventional way.
The master
I don't want to sound like Confucius or anyone like that, I want people to recognize me for being the man I am.
-Bruce Lee
Bruce's philosophical interest began when he was trained in wing chun with the master ipman, being this already a legend with respect to martial arts, of first impact he did not like Bruce very much as this was a bit problematic, Bruce at that time was involved in many street fights is more than anything else was in a band.
When I saw the attitude of the young Bruce the master ipman said that he was not qualified to learn the art of wing chun since I consider this attitude disrespectful and more so in the case of a young oriental, the next day Bruce returned with a better attitude, more respectful and less self-centered, seeing this the teacher accepted it in his academy and here he would forge one of his best students and the most famous too.
"I was a misplaced boy looking for fights.... We used chains and pens with knives hidden inside."
-Bruce Lee
Bruce spent three or four years training wing chun under the tutelage of ip-man, although some of the time he was also training he was also taught by one of his best students, ipman would become one of the most influential people to read on the philosophical point and vision of life, ipman would lead him to the interest of the philosophical teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and other great philosophical thinkers. As a result Bruce's mind became distilled from the wisdom of such teachers it would forge the principles on which he would base his own martial art.
"Life is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning."
-Bruce Lee
On April 29, 1959, at the age of 18, Bruce left for the United States, because despite the teachings of the ip-man master, the problems and fights followed Bruce and his family decided that it would be best for him to go after the American dream, and he left Hong Kong. Bruce didn't think about starting a martial arts school or even less about being an actor, he focused on finishing high school, graduating in 1960 and enrolling in the University of Washington, where he enrolled in the faculty of philosophy, drama and psychology in 1961, financing his dishwasher expenses and also taught martial arts in a borrowed garage, he later managed to get a doctorate.
In 1963 he married Linda Emery, a young woman he met when he was teaching in the borrowed garage. That same year he also founded his first martial arts school in Seattle, Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Intitude, where he taught Kung Fu and Wing Chun.
Although not everything was going well in his life of reading, in those days there was a lot of racist behavior from the Americans towards the Orientals, so much so that he got into some fights in the university for that very reason, so the opening of his school was very controversial because the Chinese were also forbidden to teach any martial art to people who were not of Chinese origin, so Bruce was again involved in threats and intimidations from the American mafias and from the Chinese community that were governed by a strong code.
"Learn the principle, respect the principle, and dissolve the principle."
-Bruce Lee
Here it would be an important point for Bruce Lee's life as he was not only not teaching martial arts but also developing his own fighting style which he called Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist) with the foundation of'being must be like water' using water as an example as it is totally flexible, his institute reached popularity in a very short time, Bruce was dedicated to teaching and also gave exhibitions of his great skills as proof of how effective his style was, Although this did not please many of the Chinese community as they said that Jeet Kune Do was just a vulgar combination of kung fu and wing chun using its principles, although it is true that Jeet Kune Do has its bases in these styles, Bruce defines it as the martial art par excellence since it adapts and focuses on effectiveness, is the basis for him to practice it and make it part of his life, taking everything good, effective and apply it to bring it to perfect execution.
Bruce reads in his final performance
Many defended and supported this new movement that Bruce was carrying, but others did not support him instead they hated him, so much so that they persecuted and pressured him to weaken.
It was known that Bruce was involved in arranged fights in which he had to attend because he had no choice but to go, because they threatened his family and also to destroy his school, it is said that some of these fights were duels to the death in which Bruce was forced to participate, although there is no documentation of these since it is said that Bruce himself destroyed all the evidence.
A fighter with a great sense of honor
By 1964 the Shaolin style wrestler Wong Jack Man and the traditional Chinese community challenged him in a duel that would be scheduled for December of that same year, Bruce with his dominant style which was the wing chun ( as he was still developing the Jeet Kune Do) accepted the challenge immediately, being the agreement that if Bruce lost, he would stop teaching martial arts to people who were not of Chinese origin, besides he would also have to close his school, if Bruce won, he would have the acceptance of teaching martial arts to anyone on the planet....As a result Bruce was victorious in that duel and with it his benefits. In this duel Bruce would realize the limitations of his current style of Wing chun, so this served as a basis for the development of the Jeet Kune Do but initially called it as Jun Fan Gung Fu (the Kung Fu of Bruce Lee) what a few years later would be officially made as Jeet Kune Do, this duel would forge the path of this great master and begin the legend.
"If you think something's impossible, you'll make it impossible."
-Bruce Lee
With his young success in his career Bruce continued to impress many people with his epic moves, his great skills and his teachings, one of the most famous being the one-inch fist, which brought down a man at a very short distance, showing how explosive and powerful that technique was.
Although one of Bruce's worst nightmares would occur in 1970, during a weightlifting session he had a back injury which, according to the doctors' diagnoses, Bruce had to give up the movements he was so accustomed to doing and being bedridden, This largely destroyed Bruce's spirit while he dedicated himself to keeping an eye on his son, his wife worked as a receptionist, yet Bruce refused to remain like this all his life, thus focusing on mental power and began an intensive study of the martial arts field. He filled a large number of notebooks with his notes on study and the power of the mind.
With a slow and miraculous recovery, Bruce was now fully recovered within a year, to the amazement of his doctors they did not believe it, he returned to the martial arts field and again dazzled the spectators with his amazing movements, although he had to suffer with chronic back pain for life, but that did not prevent Bruce from continuing with his artistic career and as a teacher.
So much was Bruce's mental concentration that sometimes in the film shootings in which he worked, he had to rest because he said that he couldn't stand the pain anymore and that with hours gone by the effects of the pills he took for the pain, no one could explain how he could endure so much pain and still move as he moved, it seemed he had nothing at all, but he was a man after all and sometimes he reached his limits but he was certainly not an ordinary man.
"Choose to be positive. You have that choice, you own his attitude."
Bruce Lee
Despite his successful career, Bruce's life would end on July 20, 1973 at the tender age of 32, leaving a great void and some incomplete projects, some theories say he was killed for bringing martial arts to the other side of the world, That is why the traditional Chinese community retaliated against him despite having won that duel, others say that he was killed by the mafia by refusing to fight, although the official death was by cerebral edema... may have given more to future generations but left a great legacy which makes him one of the most influential people of the twentieth century.
Perhaps in the end it will be Bruce Lee's philosophy that is most important from a historical perspective. Bruce has influenced generations since his death with his concepts of liberation from classical thinking, adaptation to adversity, economy of action and willingness to learn. These are concepts that will greatly benefit people of all doctrines, disciplines and vocations.
After all, any kind of knowledge implies self-knowledge.
-Bruce Lee