Bruce Lee: the name which will never fade from the history of martial arts or from the history of movies. He came and lit up the world with his gleaming eyes, nimble feet, and his trademark nunchaku. What is the reason for his enduring popularity even after he left this world. 

1. Profile
Original Name Lee Jun Fan 
Date of Birth November 27, 1940 
Date of Death July 20, 1973 
Place of Birth San Francisco 
Family Linda Lee (wife), Brandon Lee (son), Shannon Lee (daughter) 
Style Jeet Kune Do 
Other Talents Dance: he won first place in a 1958 Cha Cha contest 
Movie Debut 1964 
Students Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Lee Marvin, Sterling Silliphant, Kareem Abdul Jabaar
 

2. Life & Movie

                    Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco. His father was an actor performing in America at the time of Lee's birth. According to one story, he was given the name Bruce by a nurse because they needed a name for his American birth certificate. When he was still a baby his family returned to Hong Kong. During his school years Bruce was quite the
prankster and never out of trouble. His parents were worried and moved him to different schools but it was no better. So frequent were these moves that his father's friends greeted him by saying, "Which school is your boy at now?"

          But Bruce practiced martial arts diligently. He had      already learned Taichi chuan from his father and at13 began to learn Kung fu. His motivation was simple. In high school he got in a fight with a scrawny classmate and was whipped soundly. He later found out that this boy was learning Kung fu. Bruce didn't like to lose and so began attending the Kung fu school regularly.
 

          In 1958 Bruce Lee returned to America and studied Philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was busy working as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant but managed to keep up his martial arts practice. And in 1964 he married Linda Emory, also a student of martial arts. They were quite poor as students and so moved to Oakland and opened a martial arts school. Then the chance of a lifetime came to him. He was advertising his school by attending every tournament he could. But in a 1964 tournament, he chose not to compete and instead demonstrated Jeet Kune Do. The response was overwhelming. He mesmorized the audience with his speed and precision and was hired by Twentieth Century Fox as their martial arts teacher. Then he was chosen for the TV series "The Green Hornet." This was his real beginning as an actor. He received a lot of attention on "The Green Hornet." He was not the leading man but he captivated viewers with his well-developed body and Asian martial arts. Thanks to this program he became known in Hollywood and became friends with Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar. And to these famous students he taught Jeet Kune Do.

          In 1971, Bruce Lee returned to make movies in Hong Kong. The reason was simple. In Hollywood, he and other Asians could not get leading roles. And he didn't care for TV. Of course, he had tested his kicks and nunchaku on "The Green Hornet," but the moves of Jeet Kune Do were too large to be presented on a little TV screen. If he were to show the true Jeet Kune Do, he thought he needed the large movie screen. Bruce Lee's predictions came true. His first Hong Kong movie, The Big Boss, was a huge success. His movies had a style all their own. The way he pointed at his opponents with single finger, his bent-kneed fighting stance, and the way he moved his feet ever so skillfully and lightly, and his incredible amount of different kicks....And the scenes where he took on 10 opponents, his flying side kick--all these were new and so much more realistic and believable than previous martial arts movies. 

     Bruce gained world-wide fame from The Big Boss and then began to build his legend. The movie following The Big Boss was Fists of Fury and can be called his masterpiece. Here we saw him wipe his nose as he faught with nunchaku, and we also first saw him scowl and scream after delivering the final blow to an opponent. Fists of Fury was also a huge hit and elevated his status as an actor. The next year he guaranteed his position with Way of the Dragon. It was the first Hong Kong movie filmed on location in Italy and it introduced Chuck Norris as a new action star. In 1973 Warner Brothers contacted him to film Enter the Dragon. It was a hit all over the world. It sent him into the ranks of world stardom. Screaming he took on tens of opponents alone and seeing such charisma no one could stop talking about it. But, the first Asian superstar, Bruce Lee, died mysteriousy during the filming of his next movie, Game of Death. Regrettably he was only 32 years old.

          Bruce Lee left us with one unfinished and five complete movies. After his death he was flattered by a ton of pretenders, and Jackie Chan and Jet Lee later continued his grand tradition but they lacked his charisma. In some ways, Bruce Lee is the first and last true martial arts moviestar. On his grave is written: "Bruce Lee, Founder of Jeet Kune Do." He rests not as an imitator of Peking Opera but as the founder of a new martial art. 

Learning All that is Necessary for Combat : What is Jeet Kune Do?
          It is Jeet Kune Do, a new martial art that Bruce himself had created, that was displayed splendidly on the screen by him. Jeet Kune Do is actually not a completely new martial art, but the one into which he put together various practical techniques from all kinds of martial arts in the world, on the base of Chinese kwonbups(military arts) he had learned from his childhood. In 1967, in an interview with the international martial art magazine called `Black Belt', he explained Jeet Kune Do as follows: "At 13, I could find out some limitations of Youngchoon Kung fu, that I've learned from master Yupmoon, and I have made an martial art of a new style, and it is Jeet Kune Do into which only strong points are integrated from all kinds of martial arts I've learned by now. Ironically, it was not in the Dojang(gym) but on the sickbed that he completed Jeet Kune Do, the martial art for actual fighting, in a systematic way. While he had his back injured and was ill in bed for 6 months in 1970, he started to write a book, planning to finish it by 1971. His wife Linda wrote to his dictation, and, everything about martial arts that he had been using was recorded through picures and description in it. The materials were all notes that he had written at odd moments, about experiences both from more than 2000 books that he'd read and from actual fighting. The title of the book is nothing else but "Jeet Kune Do". It was an overture to the mythtic of Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee, He Learned All of China's Representative Martial Arts
          As Jeet Kune Do was devised by Bruce, so all kinds of martial arts are mixed up which he himself had learned. And it is based on Chinese martial arts, of course. Since he was still a baby walking clumsy, he had learned and practiced Taegeukkwon, a sort of Naega kwonbup, from his father, Lee, Hae-chun. Taegeukkwon is known to have been established at the close of the 17th century, having developed among Chin family, who had lived together around Chinga-gu, Haanam-sung, China. It is a martial art that mainly stresses on Kigong. Growing up, he kept going further, practicing 'Tangnangkwon', 'Konglyukkwon', and 'Youngchoonkwon'. 'Tangnangkwon'(which was devised after a praying mantis catching a locust, and whose main technique is 'younhwan danta', looking similar to one-two-straight in boxing), 'Taegeukkwon' and 'Konglykkwon' are popular kwonbups belonging to the North School, and 'Youngchoonkwon' is the representative kwonbup of the South School. What divides kwonbups into two schools is the characteristics that have developed in a distinct way under the geological environment of Yangtsu river, one of the main rivers in China, dividing the country into the north and the south. For the North School, the postures are broad, and bopups(steps or walking) are rather light, and on the other hand, for the South School, the postures are narrow and jumping is seldom required. Besides, 'Tangnangkwon', 'Konglyukkwon', and 'Youngchoonkwon' are Waega kwonbups, fundamentally focused on muscle power and physical skill, but Taegeukkwon is a traditional Naega kwonbup, stressing on Naegong and Kigong. By these things, he was able to absorb arts from both schools as well as from both Naega and Waega(internal and external) kwonbups. 

Bruce learned Taekwondo from Lee, Joon-gu, 'Father of American Taekwondo'
          His arts are mostly coming from Youngchoonkwon, though. Most hand techniques of Jeet Kune Do were of Youngchoonkwon, and in kicking techniques are held the basics of Youngchoonkwon and Taegeukkwon. The hand techniques look like boxing, but you'll know that those are of Youngchoonkwon, for right-handed people will stand in woocheuk sunbang (forward in the right side). And you will use jikkwon(straight fists) for fists. The jikkwon, like Jungkwon in Taekwondo, refers to letting the back of the hand go sideways, not upward, and it goes really fast. In addition, the same may be said of the boongchu technique in Jeet Kune Do. This refers to TeungChumuk(back fist), basically, punching with one hand, with the other blocking arms of the opponent. This is also the basic fist technique of Youngchoon. It was Taekwondo that exerted great influence on him, other than Youngchoonkwon. Bruce Lee was attracted to Taekwondo, for the Chinese martial arts he had practiced are weak in kicking techniques, though they are quite strong in hand techniques and body motions, and, on the other hand, Taekwondo displayed the greatest kicking techniques at that time. So Bruce learned Taekwondo from Lee, Joon-gu, 'Father of American Taekwondo', who had been active in the USA at that time, and Bruce taught him hand techniques that he had got. (Bruce learned Taekwondo from Lee, Joon-gu, who had run a gym at that time, and since then Bruce stayed closely acquainted with him for a long time.)
          Anyway, his arts were limited on the Chinese ones, before he went over to America. However, after he went there, he was influenced by new martial arts from other countries, for example, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Karate, Judo, boxing, Kumdo, Savate(French boxing), and wrestling. Bruce tried to learn everything that he thought to be necessary for actual fighting, and he digested them all. 

Trading Attacking Power for the Cha Cha Cha
          Since he always kept in touch with various martial arts, something fun used to happen to him whenever he learned a new technique. Something funny happened while he learned Kongnyukkwon, the representative martial art of the North School. Bruce learned it from So, Han-saeng, and So, Han-saeng demanded that Bruce pay for his teaching. After pondering over it for a while, he decided to teach cha cha. Bruce was so excellent in this dancing that he could win a grand prix in the British Colony Chacha Contest, and so he taught it to So, Han-saeng. It was really unbelievable that he was indebted to dancing, when he learned one of the representative Chinese martial arts. 

Jeet Kune Do, a living martial art for actual fighting. Jeet Kune Do is mainly actual-fighting oriented, the most prominent characteristic of it. Jeet Kune Do targets on defeating the opponent in the most suitable way, regardless of the type of arts, whatever situation you may face in the real fights. In a word, it is the most realistic art. So it is sometimes criticized that it is only for winning fights.
           Actually Bruce said, "Kung fu is for fighters, not for monks. Some meditation or breaking some pieces of bricks have nothing to do with Kung fu. Kung fu for defense only is just like swimming out of the water," Likewise, Jeet Kune Do is such an aggressive and exceptional martial art. Since it is mainly for actual fights, Jeet Kune Do has no fixed forms. Normally martial arts put much importance on the stance, but Jeet Kune Do has no formalized stance. Only does it have powerful and fast hand and foot techniques, needed for real fighting. It doesn't matter whether you stretch out your right hand or you shout loudly or anything. The most important is to take the most comfortable stance. Therefore, Jeet Kune Do teaches you to take what is necessary and, also to throw away what is not. That is, all that you need in Jeet Kune Do is mix up your strengths with necessary techniques. 
            Besides, Jeet Kune Do has no fouls. Kongsudo or Karate mostly focuses on the upper attacks, but Jeet Kune Do focuses on the lower body, targetting its attacks on Nangshim(the genital), knees, and shins. Self-identification is also very important; you need to understand yourself first. You need to use your own training methods, like using all techniques that you know and wearing all protecting gears, and then need to improve your skills with some practical fighting techniques. To sum up, Jeet Kune Do is both a comprehensive martial art and an artistic military science, seeking to win the actual fights. Therefore, it excludes Dalyouns(practicing alone), a typical method of training of the other arts, and it stresses on free sparring, with glove and protectors on. Even when he practiced, he put the most focus on strengthening muscles and power of fists and feet, using all kinds of instruments, and sometimes he used a wooden effigy for practice of punching or kicking. Bruce also adopted ChungGyoung(a way of developing good reflexes by having wrists touch each other, used in Youngchoonkwon, or Taegeukkwon) really often, and it became the very basic to make it possible for him to both defend and attack at the same time.