The Man Who Made Dedication Sexy: Remembering Legend Bruce Lee

‘EMPTY YOUR MIND, BE FORMLESS, SHAPELESS LIKE WATER’

There is a story that, in the 1970s, a student make himself entangled in trouble when greeting his unlucky math tutor with a foot flailing, looks like a kung-fu kick, together with a yell intending to threaten the opponent. Of course, he had to apologise, explain and got punished for his action. Even though, there is a reason behind that kick.

He watched a movie, again and again, exactly is 3 times; that movie named Enter the Dragon.

For readers have not yet know the movie Enter the Dragon, that movie influenced and changed an entire generation. However, the content is entirely predictable in the modern movie era. But it is not a big deal. The important thing is that people keep returning to watch Enter the Dragon. There was the excitement for the audience in their 40s, 50s, and could be 60s when discovering something like “bouncing lightly on the balls of their feet”, or performing the high sidekick followed by lifting themselves up till their feet do not touch the floor.

Li Jun Fan, as known as Bruce Lee. He was born in 1940 (San Francisco) and grew up in Kowloon (Hong Kong). He was a student of Seattle Central Community College; his major was philosophy and drama. He was a star in Chinese martial art movies. His reputation was spread to the world after the movie Enter the Dragon was released. Unfortunately, he did not have a chance to see what he contributed to the world; he passed away at 32.

A serious investigation happened, his body was too hypersensitive to an ingredient in Equagesic, his painkiller, and an adverse reaction was confirmed to cause the death of the legend. Nevertheless, as the era Internet had not come yet, Bruce Lee's death still a doubt for most people in many years. Some of his movies were finished after his death. Even the star was dead, but there is no doubt that the image of a legend with excellent skills still alive.

The story about Bruce Lee kept evolving from a master martial art to a myth about a legend. There is a rumour that Bruce Lee could perform a punch so fast that cameras - being able to record 24 frames per second - cannot capture. Furthermore, the most well-known skill of Bruce Lee is “one-inch punch”, and someone said that it could kill a person. The number of Bruce Lee's myth was added with a video which was supposed to be a table tennis match of Bruce Lee with a man; the point is Bruce Lee used a nan-chaku, not a racquet.

Unfortunately, myths have been recovered, and the truths have made some people disappointed. However, the real stories about Bruce Lee are still impressive. There is a truth that, until now, many people still believe in most of the myths.

There is the fact that Bruce Lee himself build up his legend. On the one hand, he kept his way as a narcissist and middling self-publicist; on the other side, he owned amazing focus ability, commitment, and discipline. He was a big star, but he is self-awareness that the root of his stardom is from his martial art ability.

Behind the reason for his movement from China to the USA, some people believe that it was because he fought against the boy of a gangster in Hong Kong and he must run away to the USA. But there was the most likely reason that his parent wanted him to stay away from street gangs. Days fighting on the street built his gaze to life. Bruce Lee believed in different practical aspects of self-protection, and he threw away the mysticism and flowery philosophy that he learned from traditional schools. Despite being taught philosophy, he was the one who made typical Oriental quotation like:“Flow like the water”.

One of the most important legacies of Bruce Lee is bringing Oriental martial art to the world and made it popular. The famous writer Conan Doyle mentioned the term "baritsu' in his work but what he really wanted to mention was “jujitsu”. It took a hundred year till teenagers could distinguish the differences among versions of Oriental martial art such as tae kwon do, aikido, kungfu, wushu, and karate. In just 5 years, since the time movies that Bruce Lee starred were released in the English language, those had significant contributions to the awareness of people about Oriental martial art. But it was a long-term development.

In 1959, addition to playing in martial art films, Bruce Lee also taught martial arts in San Francisco and Seattle. Hollywood had not seen his footprints for years. Even though, he still contributed by choreographing some action scenes and creating plots. Some of his students are celebrities and close partners, including James Coburn, Chuck Norris, and John Saxon. However, the is no clue that Bruce Lee would return to his film career.

The vast change happened in 1964 when they organised the Long Island Karate Championship. Bruce Lee showed his appeal in stunning physical condition when performing push-ups with just two fingers and demonstrating unique skill, “one-inch punch”. His abilities were noticed. He put a very first step to fame when appearing in a TV series named The Green Hornet, his played Kato. Nevertheless, he had not received any starring role until 1970 after returning to Hong Kong and realising that most audiences love Kato than Hornet.

Bruce Lee had his first starring role in a movie of Golden Harvest, The Big Boss; the film gained significant success at that time. After the second movie that he starred, Bruce Lee became a big star. Everything goes further after Enter the Dragon released; he became an international star and a phenomenon in the entertainment industry. The time had come. If the Beatles had found Mahesh Maharishi, Enter the Dragon had brought Oriental martial arts to the world.

Bruce Lee in movies was usually a strong Asian, mystic, and enigmatic weight training, using protein drinks and vitamin supplements were what he believed in real life. His stunning abs were the aspiration of numerous people, but it worth to say that his legacy was His washboard abs were aspirational, but he also made dedication sexy. That may be his greatest legacy.

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