How the myths about Bruce Lee were created. Myths and reality in the world of martial arts
Bruce Lee is definitely key figure in our perception of martial arts. Everyone knows him. Everyone admires them. Without him, to be honest, the development of martial arts on today's scale would be impossible.
What is the meaning of his appearance? What did Bruce Lee accomplish?
The glory of the highest paid Chinese actor - yes. The glory of a capricious and eccentric person - yes. Cerebral edema - yes. What is left after it? The only book that is unedited and is a bunch of scattered notes, students who turned out to be ordinary dropouts because they did not know the classical base, and films in which he beats crowds of amateurs ... After all, he did not have a single serious opponent! Even Ji Hwangjae and Inosanto fit under him according to the script - and, by the way, only Inosanto looks like a serious opponent.
The main problem associated with Bruce Lee and his legacy is that the Chinese masters did not recognize his Jeet Kune Do as a Chinese style - and did not recognize any style at all. And because of this, the founder of the “style without styles” for some reason always got very angry, burning the Chinese for how much in vain. Why did he care so much? After all, according to the logic of things, he should have treated this at least calmly. Well, yes, this is not a style - since “style without style”. Why did he have to be so imposed by traditional shifu, whom he did not put in anything and could all with one left?
The fact is that the image of himself created by Bruce as a representative of kung fu, moreover, a SIMPLE, ordinary representative of him, was very beneficial and extremely necessary for him. His whole super-task, the whole idea of the “project” that he promoted, rested on him.
To abandon this image meant to lose the exclusivity of a representative of a great civilization, the keeper of some secret knowledge that was supposedly forbidden to be disclosed - but he, a revolutionary, boldly made public. The rejection of this image immediately lowered Bruce to the same level as many film brawlers who never rose above second or third roles. And the fact that Bruce perfectly studied the technique of taekwondo, Filipino kali, boxing, hapkido and wing chun would not interest a Western audience at all. Then there was no fashion yet - Bruce created it, created a whole layer of culture. The task was enormous, and the image of kung fu, as a magic pill for all problems, accessible to a SIMPLE guy, was one of the most important conditions.
The loss of this image would immediately mean that he did not reveal any "ancient" secrets - that is, the layman (especially the Yankees) could decide that anyone else could do the same. Bruce would have to carry all the hassle of setting up a new system, which he didn't need at all. He wanted to act in films and earn money on films, and not on teaching.
But the film image he created required precisely the halo of "kung fu" - otherwise how could he play "a simple Chinese boy”, who at the same time dealt with several styles of hand-to-hand combat, some of which were unique at that time? There are no such "simple guys".
Instead of a cute image of a village truth seeker who is forgiven a lot because of his naivety, we would get a caricature portrait of Bruce himself - an ambitious fighter who prefers to solve all problems with his fist. Moreover, he is narrow-minded, who does not like to think, which would hardly suit Bruce himself, a master of philosophy. Agree, this image would not be so popular. Most likely, Bruce would have to focus on "evil" roles, like Bolo Yang and Toshishiro Obata - excellent masters who were captured by their image.
Bruce was not happy with this situation.
What is characteristic of Bruce is the clarity of his movements, their CREDIBILITY, even if there is a noticeable bias towards purely external effects. So few people know how to move - even today, although Bruce created an entire film industry and there are plenty of craftsmen to fight on the screen.
A few words. The tendency to act rather than talk. The absence of any reflections (so familiar to Americans) about “should or not” - and not because of the hero’s stupidity, no: he’s just ready to accept any outcome of the battle, to answer for decision, even if it turns out to be false. And he expects the same from opponents: he warned the crippled American Norris in the Colosseum: do not rock the boat. And since he made his decision, he killed him without the slightest hitch. And only then he went - not to pray in church and not to hang himself, but to deal with those bastards who framed a colleague like that ....
Then, most of the fights in his performance are very fleeting. And this is correct, if we proceed from reality: having fallen under the correct strong and hard blow of a master of this level, then people do not get up, and if they do, they do not rush into a fight again. Any boxer or "street" knows this. "Final duels", as a tribute to the genre, can last a long time, but they are quite logical. And then with Van Damme, as a rule, it’s like this: first he’s in the face, he lies, then he gets up - and in response. And no attempt at care or protection. Boring. Unconvincing. Silly.
In Hong Kong action movies, as you know, the classics are "turn-based" fights, where there are a lot of unnecessary movements, waving through the air and flying on ropes. And Bruce, in addition to the naive "stencil" made by the bully's body in the wall in the "Big Boss", has everything live. Well, almost everything - maybe I didn’t notice something. That's where the credibility comes from.
Jackie Chan does everything himself, which requires considerable experience, solid training and excellent practice, not to mention advanced thinking. At the same time, if Jackie sometimes uses "strings", he tries to make them INDIRECT, which cannot be said about other luminaries of Hong Kong cinema, in which the "string" is the most important and practically the main part of the trick. Here is Jet Li: - although he is a good actor and an indisputable master, he constantly strives to cheat: either he will violate the laws of gravity, or he will break through the wall ... Against the backdrop of excellent technology and good acting work this is such a sharp falsehood that it reduces the cheekbones. HOOL!!! This not only does not help the film, but also spoils the whole effect. And he, with perseverance, worthy of where best use, everything flies and flies on its strings. By the way, the plots in traditional Hong Kong films are usually not brilliant either. That is, the plot, since, in my opinion, they have one at all. Although there are simply delightful exceptions: Razor, aka Blade, aka Tao, and Chinese Ghost Story. And Bruce, remaining within the genre, still tried to somehow diversify the plot.
In my opinion, "Way of the Dragon", where he guards a Chinese restaurant, is the best of his films. And if you want a good movie with good fights and a good Samo Hoon, then watch The Sacrifice. Which class! And the plot is not quite standard, and funny, and the technique is quite real, and fights every two minutes - but at the same time they fit quite logically into the plot, without setting teeth on edge.
I wish you a pleasant viewing.
1. Bruce was too fast for the camera
Bruce Lee could strike in 0.05 seconds from a distance of 1m and in 0.08 seconds from a meter and a half. On ordinary film (24 frames per second), such a blow was not visible - on one frame Bruce is standing, and on the next he is already standing again, but the opponent is writhing in pain. So on the first takes of the Green Hornet, rivals magically scattered around Bruce, who was standing almost motionless, which did not suit the producers in any way.
While action videos are usually sped up for dynamism, the directors asked Bruce to beat slower and filmed him with cutting-edge technology at the time at 32 frames per second and then slowed it down. And even so, all that has been achieved is very blurry movements.
2. Bruce could do two-finger push-ups half a hundred times.
On numerous occasions, Bruce Lee publicly demonstrated 50 push-ups on one arm, resting on the floor only with his thumb and forefinger, simply because he could.
Pulling up 50 times on two fingers of one hand was not a problem for him either.
Bruce could hold a 32-kg kettlebell in an outstretched hand for several seconds.
3. Bruce could hold the press for half an hour in any position
Bruce Lee could hold his legs in a corner in an emphasis on his hands for 30 minutes or more, and the dragon flag exercise was named after him:
4. Almost every day, Bruce did over 8,000 exercises.
His daily allowance included 5,000 punches, 2,000 sidekicks, 360 waist twists, 100 sit-up twists, 200 leaning twists, 100 leg raises. and 200 pull-ups of the knees to the chest (frog kick). And that's not counting the workouts!
Even when Bruce was not training, he often performed various exercises in Everyday life- during the day, for example, when watching TV. He was a fan of abdominal training.
5. Bruce was too strong for a punching bag.
With one side kick, Bruce Lee could break a standard 150 lb (68 kg) punching bag, so the training bags were made to order for him - twice as heavy (300 lb) and with a metal base. Rumor has it that Bruce could send even such a pear to the ceiling with one side kick.
6. Bruce could deliver a crushing blow from a distance of 3 cm
In 1964, Bruce Lee was invited to the karate championship in Log Beach, California to demonstrate his famous One Inch Punch.
Bob Baker - The man in the video then asked Bruce not to do any more demonstrations as he had to stay at home the next day due to unbearable pain in the chest.
7. Bruce could send a man flying with one punch.
Bruce was so much stronger ordinary people that almost never beat in full force, but there are cases when he kicked an assistant who held his training shield into flight.
And once he displaced a guy's shoulder with what he called a "light slap."
His punch was unblockable - he punched the US karate champion (Vic Moore) after he warned him about it... Of course, the punch was not full force because then he would not be able to repeat it 8 times.
8. Bruce never lost a fight...
…except one. Bruce Lee lost a fight only once in his life: when he was 13 years old. It was this defeat that prompted him to study the martial art. After the other students found out that Bruce was not a full-blooded Chinese, they demanded that he stop training with them. The teacher had to deal with him individually.
After that, Bruce really did not lose a single fight, as in street fighting as well as in international competitions. Moreover, few people even managed to hit him. He had his fastest fight in 1962, knocking out his opponent in 11 seconds with 15 punches and one kick.
9. Bruce was a great boxer, dancer and poet
In 1958, Bruce Lee won two tournaments at once - the Hong Kong Cha-cha championship and the boxing championship. Poetry was his secret passion. According to experts, he produced very good poems.
10. Bruce could pierce an unopened can of Cola with his fingers.
And in those days, the layer of aluminum from which the container was made was much thicker than today.
He could also break a board 15 cm thick.
11. Bruce could break a light bulb with his foot, hanging at a height of ~ 2.5 meters
Which he demonstrated in the film "The Way of the Dragon", where he knocked out a light bulb in a jump.
12. Bruce could catch a grain of rice with his chopsticks.
Trying to develop his reflexes more, Bruce Lee trained to catch a grain of rice in flight with chopsticks.
13. Bruce could light a match with nunchucks
Bruce Lee pasted the chirkalo off matchbox to the nunchucks and could deliver such an accurate blow that they carefully struck a match and set fire to it. By the way, the assistant held a match in his teeth.
14. Bruce could change the coin in your hand faster than you can make a fist.
Bruce Lee was so fast that, standing a meter away from a person, he could ask him to hold a coin in his palm and, as soon as he notices movement, hold it in his fist. Everyone with whom he did this trick, unclenching his fist, was already holding another coin.
15. Bruce Lee was stronger than Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris was one of Bruce Lee's students, his friend and one of those who carried his coffin at the funeral in Seattle. Bruce "defeated" Chuck in the movie Way of the Dragon, and when Chuck Norris was asked who would win in a death match, he replied: "Bruce, of course, no one can beat him."
16. Bruce Lee starred in only 5 Hollywood films.
17. Bruceploitation Phenomenon
A short career as a film actor spawned the "Bruceploitation" phenomenon, a wave of cheap B-movies with actors who looked like Bruce. A total of 168 such fakes were counted.
18. In 1970, Bruce Lee suffered a back injury that made it impossible to play sports anymore.
He trained with a 45-kg kettlebell without warming up and ended up in the hospital with a pinched spine. The doctors said that at best Bruce would be able to drive ordinary life without serious exertion and that for six months he will learn to walk again. Soon he left the hospital on his own two feet and became even stronger and faster than before.
19. Bruce Lee was a fan of The Great Gum - the most invincible wrestler in the world.
The career spanned 50 years.
20. A statue of Bruce Lee was erected in Mostar, Bosnia,
because he was a hero who was loved by all the ethnic groups that lived in the city. The statue was later destroyed by vandals.
21. Bruce Lee was a big fan of Muhammad Ali
and used free time to watch his fights on film.
22. Bruce Lee was a quarter German (his mother is half German).
23. Bruce Lee's secret hobby was writing poetry.
and he was actually quite a good poet.
___________________________________
Three years later, on May 10, 1973, when an unusual allergic reaction in the brain to painkillers ended the life of the one-of-a-kind superman - Bruce Lee. By the way, real video footage of Bruce Lee lying in a coffin was included in his latest film - Game of Death (Game of Death), where Bruce's character allegedly staged his death.
This is how Bruce Lee's grave looks today in Seattle, where he is buried next to his son, Brandon Lee, who also died during mysterious circumstances on the set of The Crow.
18:10 / 11.01.2011 Showbiz
The whole truth about Bruce Lee (PHOTOS)
Bruce Lee is a great master martial arts, American and Hong Kong film actor, as well as film director, director of action scenes, producer and screenwriter. Bruce Lee would have turned 70 on November 27, 2010. Let's remember this man, because it was he who popularized oriental martial arts in Western countries in the second half of the 20th century.
A cultural icon, a martial arts legend and a movie star, it's all about Bruce Lee. His meteoric rise to international fame was interrupted sudden death at the age of 32. Born November 27, 1940 at the Jackson Street Hospital, Bruce Lee would have turned 70 in 2010.
The Lee family returned to Hong Kong when Bruce was only three months old. It was there that Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun Kung Fu, which would later become the basis of his own style martial arts. His fighting qualities plus a few acting lessons were the foundational factors that made him a star. Performing art came easily to him, and by the age of 18 he had already appeared in 20 Hong Kong films. He first appeared on screen as Cheng in the 1950 film Little Cheng.
Lee's passion for performing arts came from his father, Lee Hong Chen (left), a well-known Chinese opera singer and a Cantonese actor.
In 1959, Lee returned to America to become a citizen and study philosophy at the University of Washington. During his training, Lee began teaching kung fu, or gun fu as he called it, as a part-time job. As a result, he decided to devote himself entirely to martial arts and opened several schools. However, Lee's penchant for performances and his natural charisma indicated that Hollywood would inevitably be subdued.
Lee's breakthrough came with the role of Kato in the television adaptation of the Green Hornet comic. Although Kato - minor character, Lee's amazing talent in martial arts immediately came into the spotlight. The popularity of his character Kato became so incredible that when the film hit Hong Kong, it was called The Kato Show.
At the heart of his martial arts was a system and philosophy that he developed himself and called Jeet Kune Do, or the Way of the Preemptive Fist. This art form can be described as "style without style" because it various forms and styles combined with traditional martial arts. As Bruce Lee himself said, in this type of martial arts you need to be "shapeless, like water."
In 1972, Bruce Lee invited reigning karate champion Chuck Norris to shoot the movie Return of the Dragon. When Norris asked him who would win the final fight, Lee replied that it was obvious. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Norris recalled how he approached Bruce Lee and asked, "so you're going to beat the reigning world karate champion?" "No, I'm going to kill the reigning karate champion," Lee replied.
Lee was not only an actor in Return of the Dragon, he also acted as a screenwriter and director.
While filming Game of Death, Lee received an offer from Warner Bros. become a producer and star in another film - Enter the Dragon.
"Enter the Dragon" was both a critical and audience success, and Lee became a star international level. However, the film's success was overshadowed - six days before the film's release, Lee died from complications after taking the painkiller "Equagesic".
Lee's last film, The Game of Death, was filmed after his death - partly with previously filmed material, partly with understudies. The film showcased Bruce Lee's talent for Jeet Kune Do against the backdrop of masters such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left).
Despite the fact that 43 years have passed since the death of Bruce Lee, he still remains very famous and popular personality. There are 25 more waiting for you little known facts, which will help you learn more about what kind of person the idol of millions of people around the world was.
1. Real Dragon
Bruce Lee was born on the Chinese calendar in the year of the Dragon, the Day of the Dragon and the hour of the Dragon. No wonder his nickname was "Little Dragon".
2. Not exactly Chinese
Bruce Lee's grandfather was a full-blooded German, meaning Lee was technically part European. It was because of this (that he was not a "pure" Chinese) that he was not accepted into many kung fu schools in the 1950s.
3. Criminal past
In his youth, Lee was the leader of a gang. He was a member of the Junction Street Tigers.
4. Life is like a movie
This may seem a little strange, but early life Lee was very similar to what is shown in the films with his participation. In a nutshell, the guy got into a fight with the son of a triad boss in Hong Kong, so his father sent him "out of harm's way" to the United States the very next day.
5. $100 and "cha-cha-cha"
He left for Seattle in 1958 with $100 in his pocket. While on board a ship bound for America, he gave cha-cha lessons to first-class passengers to earn money.
6. Phenomenal professional memory
He was able to name every karate-related term and execute every technique with amazing accuracy. At the same time, he never officially taught Japanese martial art to everyone.
7. Vision and style of Wing Chun
Lee had poor eyesight. This was one of the reasons why he appreciated Wing Chun's contact style, where he could rely more on tactile sensations than sight.
8. Favorite activity
Bruce Lee's favorite pastime (other than martial arts, of course) was reading. He had an extensive library of over two thousand books and read daily.
9. Bruce Lee - a participant in real fights
Contrary to popular belief that Lee never competed in actual combat, he became the Hong Kong boxing champion by knocking out all of his opponents, including British boxer Gary Elmes. He also defeated famed martial artist and teacher Wong Jack Man in 1965.
10. Bank finger
Bruce Lee punched cans with his fingers in the days when they were not made of soft aluminum. At the same time, he received many cuts, so the master often walked with a band-aid on his fingers.
11. Man of the century
Time magazine named Bruce Lee one of the 100 most influential people XX century. A few years later, in 2014, the Houston Boxing Hall of Fame recognized Bruce as the greatest fighter ever made in a movie. Lee was selected by Goldsea Asian American Daily as one of the "100 Most Inspirational Asian Americans of All Time". He finished second, behind only Senator Daniel Inoue.
12. Phenomenal abilities
He weighed a maximum of 72 kilograms. At the time of his death, his weight was 67 kilograms. He was capable of doing push-ups with a 115 kg person on his back. He could also do push-ups with just one finger. And UFC President Dana White considers Bruce Lee "the father of mixed martial arts."
13. Lee's Technique in the Nintendo Game Series
In the popular series pokemon games from Nintendo, the Hitmonlee monster's fighting moves are based on Li's real-life technique.
14. Statue" little dragon"
On the occasion of Bruce Lee's 65th birthday (November 27, 2005), a shirtless bronze statue of a "little dragon" was erected in Hong Kong.
15. Phenomenal abilities
Bruce Lee has developed an amazing trick that can be found on YouTube to demonstrate his speed. The man held the coin in his open palm and suddenly clenched his fist. During this time, Lee managed to replace the coin with another.
16. One inch punch
17. Favorite music
In his first and only meeting with composer Lalo Shifrin (they worked together on Enter the Dragon), Bruce admitted that he often whistled the theme song to the 1966 Mission: Impossible TV series.
18. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris
Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, Lee was never Chuck Norris' teacher. They trained together, in fact they were friends, but they were not a teacher and a student. However, he was the one who gave Norris his first film job, but it wasn't in Way of the Dragon as many people believe. In fact, it happened when Lee was the stunt coordinator for a movie called Wrecking Crew.
19. Phenomenal speed
Cameramen had to shoot Lee's fight scenes at thirty-two frames per second instead of the usual twenty-four. The answer to this is simple - Bruce was so fast that cameras with normal shooting speed simply did not have time to detect his movements.
At the height of his fame, Lee was constantly challenged great amount people in public places. He even had to carry a 367 Magnum pistol with him.
21. Phobia of Bruce Lee
Yes, I expected a lot from this movie, but alas ....
So far I've looked at a lot documentaries about Bruce Lee, filmed about him after his death.
I studied his biography well enough to be aware of all the nuances of Lee's life.
And what do we see in this Legend…. ?
Little truth, a lot of nonsense. If the viewer watched only this hack, then he may have the opinion that the great Bruce Lee was a simple average person.
But he was no ordinary person. Bruce was always improving, reading books and taking ideas from them. Lee worked a lot on himself, on the creation of a universal wrestling, was himself a current, lifted weights, ran a lot and we can say that his whole life was a continuous training.
The way this movie shows how Bruce got hurt, too complete lie, he hurt himself when he lifted the barbell without a good warm-up, just like that.
The director of this film is Bruce's daughter, Shannon Lee. She, as we can see, does not do a quality job, did not want to tell truthfully about her father.
Aunt Shannon decided to make a bigger dough for famous name his father, sorry.
Although how can she remember something about him when she was then a child. The film based on the book of her mother and wife Bruce is even more truthful, although there are also flaws in the veracity and reliability of the actions.
The actor who played the main character, that is, Bruce Lee himself, well conveyed the behavior of the real Bruce Lee. The way he looks down on the enemy, anger, bulging eyes - all this I liked. The real Bruce did exactly the same.
But the way Lee is shown when he is at home, he came and lay down on the sofa does not match the facts.
Well, of course, everyone has the right to rest, but Bruce does not a common person as we remember, that's why he studied at home, reading a book, and pumped a dumbbell with his other hand and changed them after a while.
Even when Lee ate in the kitchen, he held a spoon with one hand, holding a chair in the other extended from the table.
Also from his students you can hear a couple interesting stories. For example, once Bruce was flying in an airplane and all the time he held a notebook in one hand, and beat him with the other, alternately changing hands. One passenger didn't like it and asked Lee not to do it. To which he reacted.
Bruce apologized for the noise and said that he should always be in shape and continued.
Another story was told by Dan Inosanto, a friend and student of Bruce. One day, they decided to go out to dinner together at a restaurant.
They got into Bruce's Porsche and drove off. At all the traffic lights where there were stops, Bruce put a makiwara (something like a punching bag) between his legs and beat until the traffic light turned green and they drove on.
Here's what Wikipedia says about Makiwara (巻藁, "rolled straw") - a punching machine, which is a bundle of straw attached to an elastic board dug into the ground. It is used in contact martial arts and archery.
Even at home, Bruce watched TV on the floor, shook the press and played with his son at the same time.
Li spent little time with his family, and even in those moments he was mentally not with them, but somewhere far away. This made itself felt when, after his death, his son Brandon ended up in a juvenile colony.
The owner was not great either, he couldn’t even hammer a nail at home to hang a picture, he invited friends about they did everything, his wife recalled.
But since he became a LEGEND and an ICON of martial arts, many moments are trying not to be remembered. After all ideal people does not happen, but a LEGEND cannot have flaws or flaws.
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