Village Journals
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Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
BRUCE BIO- THE EARLY YEARS
Bruce Lee: the early years
On the morning of November 27, 1940 (in the Chinese year of the Dragon), Sai Fon(little phoenix) was born in San Francisco. Almost a year prior, Sai Fon?s parents had lost a son during pregnancy, so this time to confuse the evil spirits, they decided to give him a girl's nickname "Little Phoenix". They even pierced his ears.
His mother, Grace later renamed him Jun Fun, which means ?returns again?. She knew that one day he would go back to his birth place.
An American name had not been planned but the father, at the time, was performing a popular Chinese opera in New York. So it was one of the Hospital employees who thought of the name Bruce for official records. The mother concurred and from then on it was Bruce Lee. Out of all the names they gave, Bruce would be the one that stuck.
Grace being half German is important, because it had direct implications on Bruce?s life. I will discuss those issues later.
Bruce?s childhood was spent mostly on the streets of Hong Kong. Coming from a large family and busy household, he wasn?t always missed. This left Bruce ample time to cause mischief and mayhem, something his parents would have to sort out later. He took delight in cutting class to hang out with friends and play practical jokes on unsuspecting people. When his mother would scold him he would resort by saying that one day he would be a famous movie star.
Bruce was, in fact, no stranger to the world of acting. He made his first appearance at only three months old on a film called Golden Gate Girl. His first professional role however came at the age of six in the film The Birth of Mankind. These early roles consisted mainly of playing orphans and street urchins. As he grew older the roles became that of rebels and delinquents, highly influenced by Hollywood films.
He had done no less than twenty films, and had already become a child star by the age of 18. There are some interesting points about his early work. Firstly his acting skills were improving with every film. He had not become the Bruce Lee that most people imagine, when his name is mentioned. So he couldn?t rely purely on fight choreography or action scenes. Secondly many gestures that have become trademark signatures were making an appearance, like the admonishing finger and wiping the nose with the thumb.
As much as he liked acting, he also liked fighting. So much so that he had become a leader of a gang that was formed around anti-British sentiments. They went by the name of The Tigers of Junction Street. As Hong Kong was still under British rule, the police carried no weapons. Fights were mainly hand-to-hand affairs, but still could escalate to bloody affairs. Bruce?s gang were not as tough as he would like them to have been. On one occasion they came worse off in a gang fight, which led Bruce to seek martial arts tuition. His parents were not pleased to send Bruce to learn martial arts, but they weren?t too keen to keep him indoors all day either. They finally conceded.
This was not Bruce?s first introduction to martial arts. His father had shown him some Tai Chi. However the slow movements and spiritual aspects were not what he was after. Enter William Cheung, a notorious street fighter who helped prove Wing Chun's effectiveness in numerous Hong Kong challenge fights. Bruce hearing of this reputation asked William to take him to the same school that he trained at. William refused at first, but through his persistence he finally agreed to take him to Yip Man.
Yip Man was delighted to take Bruce on as he was a celebrity at the time and took to the training with an obsessive enthusiasm.
The Wing Chun style is based on the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. No telegraphing or wide circular movements are used. The economy and directness of movement is what appealed to Bruce. His skills excelled at such a fast rate that the other students began to complain. They thought they were not learning as fast, even though they attended the school longer.
Yip Man knew Bruce was hot headed and was mainly learning for street fights, but he tried to teach him the finer aspects of Wing Chun. In fact he advised Bruce at one point to stop training and contemplate on why form was so important.
Yip man was a respected figure, who shunned western clothing and refused to pose for photographs. More importantly he believed that Wing Chun should only be taught to the Chinese and not westerners. This is an important point, especially regarding Bruce?s mixed race heritage. A few students brought this to Yip Man?s attention, who was willing to look past it, as he had grown to like Bruce very much. However there were threats of students leaving the school, and also people were unwilling to train with Bruce, so he left on his own accord. Yip Man did however make one of his senior students, Wong Sheun Leung, train Bruce so he could continue his Wing Chun. He remained friends with William Cheung, who would train with Bruce every day, till he left for America.
Bruce claimed his right for American citizenship mainly to escape the problems he had caused for himself. His mother realised he had more of a chance in America where he could make a fresh start. If he lingered in Hong Kong he would be heading for prison. Bruce at first seemed daunted by the idea of emigrating, but on his parents insistence decided it may be a better option.
As he was leaving his father called him back, when he began to turn and walk towards him, his father waved him away again. He was enacting an old Chinese tradition, where even though the son was going far, he would be compelled to return for his father?s funeral.
In April 1959, with only a hundred and fifteen dollars in his pocket, he made the three week journey to San Francisco.
TO BE CONTINUED
On the morning of November 27, 1940 (in the Chinese year of the Dragon), Sai Fon(little phoenix) was born in San Francisco. Almost a year prior, Sai Fon?s parents had lost a son during pregnancy, so this time to confuse the evil spirits, they decided to give him a girl's nickname "Little Phoenix". They even pierced his ears.
His mother, Grace later renamed him Jun Fun, which means ?returns again?. She knew that one day he would go back to his birth place.
An American name had not been planned but the father, at the time, was performing a popular Chinese opera in New York. So it was one of the Hospital employees who thought of the name Bruce for official records. The mother concurred and from then on it was Bruce Lee. Out of all the names they gave, Bruce would be the one that stuck.
Grace being half German is important, because it had direct implications on Bruce?s life. I will discuss those issues later.
Bruce?s childhood was spent mostly on the streets of Hong Kong. Coming from a large family and busy household, he wasn?t always missed. This left Bruce ample time to cause mischief and mayhem, something his parents would have to sort out later. He took delight in cutting class to hang out with friends and play practical jokes on unsuspecting people. When his mother would scold him he would resort by saying that one day he would be a famous movie star.
Bruce was, in fact, no stranger to the world of acting. He made his first appearance at only three months old on a film called Golden Gate Girl. His first professional role however came at the age of six in the film The Birth of Mankind. These early roles consisted mainly of playing orphans and street urchins. As he grew older the roles became that of rebels and delinquents, highly influenced by Hollywood films.
He had done no less than twenty films, and had already become a child star by the age of 18. There are some interesting points about his early work. Firstly his acting skills were improving with every film. He had not become the Bruce Lee that most people imagine, when his name is mentioned. So he couldn?t rely purely on fight choreography or action scenes. Secondly many gestures that have become trademark signatures were making an appearance, like the admonishing finger and wiping the nose with the thumb.
As much as he liked acting, he also liked fighting. So much so that he had become a leader of a gang that was formed around anti-British sentiments. They went by the name of The Tigers of Junction Street. As Hong Kong was still under British rule, the police carried no weapons. Fights were mainly hand-to-hand affairs, but still could escalate to bloody affairs. Bruce?s gang were not as tough as he would like them to have been. On one occasion they came worse off in a gang fight, which led Bruce to seek martial arts tuition. His parents were not pleased to send Bruce to learn martial arts, but they weren?t too keen to keep him indoors all day either. They finally conceded.
This was not Bruce?s first introduction to martial arts. His father had shown him some Tai Chi. However the slow movements and spiritual aspects were not what he was after. Enter William Cheung, a notorious street fighter who helped prove Wing Chun's effectiveness in numerous Hong Kong challenge fights. Bruce hearing of this reputation asked William to take him to the same school that he trained at. William refused at first, but through his persistence he finally agreed to take him to Yip Man.
Yip Man was delighted to take Bruce on as he was a celebrity at the time and took to the training with an obsessive enthusiasm.
The Wing Chun style is based on the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. No telegraphing or wide circular movements are used. The economy and directness of movement is what appealed to Bruce. His skills excelled at such a fast rate that the other students began to complain. They thought they were not learning as fast, even though they attended the school longer.
Yip Man knew Bruce was hot headed and was mainly learning for street fights, but he tried to teach him the finer aspects of Wing Chun. In fact he advised Bruce at one point to stop training and contemplate on why form was so important.
Yip man was a respected figure, who shunned western clothing and refused to pose for photographs. More importantly he believed that Wing Chun should only be taught to the Chinese and not westerners. This is an important point, especially regarding Bruce?s mixed race heritage. A few students brought this to Yip Man?s attention, who was willing to look past it, as he had grown to like Bruce very much. However there were threats of students leaving the school, and also people were unwilling to train with Bruce, so he left on his own accord. Yip Man did however make one of his senior students, Wong Sheun Leung, train Bruce so he could continue his Wing Chun. He remained friends with William Cheung, who would train with Bruce every day, till he left for America.
Bruce claimed his right for American citizenship mainly to escape the problems he had caused for himself. His mother realised he had more of a chance in America where he could make a fresh start. If he lingered in Hong Kong he would be heading for prison. Bruce at first seemed daunted by the idea of emigrating, but on his parents insistence decided it may be a better option.
As he was leaving his father called him back, when he began to turn and walk towards him, his father waved him away again. He was enacting an old Chinese tradition, where even though the son was going far, he would be compelled to return for his father?s funeral.
In April 1959, with only a hundred and fifteen dollars in his pocket, he made the three week journey to San Francisco.
TO BE CONTINUED
Comments on this journal
I forgot to mention he was a keen fencer also, even using the way they fight later for JKD. Fencers put their lead side forward, as opposed to western boxing were u put your weakest side forward to set up jabs. He use the lead side principle for JKD.
He also, before leaving for USA proposed to his girlfriend at the time, Amy Chan, who refused.
I suppose the anti-brit sentiments came from the colonial power that Britain had at the time. There was the Boxer rebellion which you may have heard of. Bruce would infact take trips to the local British school, where kids of diplomats and other officials would go to, and start fights with them. His weapon of choice would be the handle and chain from a toilet flush.It could easily be concealed as a belt.
The anti-western sentiment is still strong in martial arts, especially wing chun. They say that what is taught in schools here, is a much watered down system from its original. Westerners will never be able to come into the inner-circle of kung fu- something that Bruce wasnt allowed to enter. He found a way round that...i'll explain later.
His racial background is very important, because it explains various events in his life that most people don't know about. People know that Yip Man was his teacher, but he stopped teaching him, which led to bruce seeking instruction elsewhere. He would trade what he knew with what they knew. He actually traded his cha-cha skills with one teacher to learn Northern Style kung fu. His background would also lead to problems in the US, when he started teaching to others. I'll dwell on that in the later parts.