Bruce Lee, the son of opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen, began his acting career with a minor role in the 1941 release Golden Gate Girl. He acted alongside his father in The Kid at the age of nine. He is widely credited for breaking stereotypes while giving the West its first major ‘Asian-American male hero’. Bruce Lee had died in 1973 at the age of 32.
The martial arts legend Bruce Lee developed a unique way of fighting called ‘jeet kune do’, a Cantonese term which translates as something like “the way of the stopping fist” or more poetically, “the way of the intercepting fist.”
There are many distinct styles of fighting in kung fu – hung gar, wing chun, and tai chi to name a few of the more famous ones. But the best starting point for understanding jeet kune do is realising that Bruce Lee never wanted it to be a style.
Bruce Lee’s intention was quite the opposite, in fact. He developed jeet kune do because he thought that the idea of a rigid fighting style was too limiting. Way before mixed martial arts (MMA), martial arts styles had rules and traditions that could not be broken, even if success in combat mandated otherwise.
“Jeet Kune Do favours formlessness so that it can assume all forms, and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilises all ways and is bound by none, and likewise, uses any techniques or means that serve its end,” Lee wrote in Tao of Jeet Kune Do.
Lee intended the jeet kune do practitioner to continually adapt his fighting technique to the needs of the moment while in combat, and for the practice of jeet kune do itself to be continually in flux – a philosophy of action encapsulated in his famous “be water” speech.
You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzQWYHHqvIw
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will honour the 80th birthday of his friend, late Lee, by sharing new stories about their friendship. The NBA icon and actor announced on Thursday that he would have a conversation with Lee’s daughter, Shannon, which would be posted on Friday.
The martial arts legend-Hollywood star and Abdul-Jabbar were dear friends who appeared on screen together in the classic ‘Game of Death’. “For all of my and @brucelee fans we have a very special surprise for everyone to commemorate Bruce’s 80th birthday tomorrow. For the 1st time ever, his daughter Shannon Lee & I are going to talk in-depth about her father and share some special memories,” tweeted Abdul-Jabbar.
