The Legacy of Bruce Lee

The life and legacy of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee, born Lee Jun-fan (Chinese: 李振藩, pinyin: Lǐ Zhènfān, San Francisco, November 27, 1940-Hong Kong, July 20, 1973) was a prominent and charismatic martial artist, actor and American writer of Chinese origin, known as the greatest martial artist of the twentieth century. It represents the myth that managed the opening of Chinese martial arts in the West.

Bruce Lee was a philosopher, thinker and innovator applied to his art; studied the thinking of Taoists like Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, he studied philosophy at the University of Washington1 2 where he was especially interested in the thought of Hegel, Marx, Krishnamurti and Spinoza among others which applied to your lifestyle.

He started practicing formally wing chun kung fu in his teens and then created his own method of combat, Jeet Kune Do (JKD) or "the way of the intercepting fist 'which always preached that should not be taken as a simple" style "or" method "over among the many existing.

His films, interviews and mainly his charisma and influence, infected and spread the boom passion for martial arts throughout the West, generating a wave of followers throughout the world. His image endures over time and has gone down in history as the great legend of martial arts.

Childhood and youth

In the year of the dragon, and the dragon time among 5 and 8 in the morning rises in the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco, on November 27, 1940. His father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was on tour with a play Chinese Cantonese opera in the Americas; hence Bruce was born in San Francisco.

Grace Ho, mother of Bruce, Sino-German descent, [citation needed] put his boy named Lee Jun Fan, which means Protector of San Francisco, but during the first few months they called him Little Phoenix, which in Chinese is a female name. Thereby they sought to confuse the evil spirits that rob the first man after dark. Mary Glover was the nurse who put his name in English, Bruce, whose existence he did not know until twelve years later when entering a Catholic school, La Salle of Hong Kong. His mother was Catholic.

His first film appearance, as Bruce was two months old in Tears of San Francisco (Tears of San Francisco). In 1946, when Bruce had only six years was introduced in the film industry in Hong Kong through friends of the family. After a small test the small was accepted. The film was titled Birth of Mankind (The Birth of Mankind) and it was a melodramatic film that was fashionable then in Hong Kong. Bruce later shot thirteen other films of the same court; in all he figured his stage name, Li Shiu Loong, which means Little Dragon. The Kid is the only film in which he worked with his father, but curiously not involved in any scene the two together.

During his childhood, or rather his teens, Bruce was a gang member; He was engaged in fighting with other gangs, carrying guns, chains. But one day he wondered what would happen if he had the support of the band and get into a fight; then he decided to learn Wing Chun, a style of kung fu. Although his first contact with martial arts was in the hands of his own father, Li Hoi Chuen, who taught him the basics of tai chi chuan, with the sole purpose of him away from the path of violence.

Bruce knew a boy his age or slightly older, William Cheung, who always was involved in fights and never lost. One day Bruce asked why and he said it was due to his art. William proposed to learn Wing Chun and Bruce accepted. The behavior of Bruce when he first entered the Academy of Yip Man was not as respectful than should have been, especially when dealing with an Oriental boy, so Yip Man decided that Bruce was not able to learn an art like wing chun, and so notified by William Cheung. Bruce decided to return the next day with humility and respect, and Yip Man gave him a chance.

Bruce was three to four years learning Wing Chun under the tutelage of Yip Man, though it was by the hand of his student Wong Shun Leung as learned. Bruce was enrolled in the English school of San Francisco; at that time there were interscholastic tournaments since it was English schools, where Western boxing tournaments were held. Bruce decided to take part in one of them, held in the school of St. George, and won using the techniques he knew, the wing chun.

Death

The July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee goes to the apartment of actress Betty Ting Chinese to keep an appointment with producer Raymond Chow. The aim was to discuss the continuation of the movie Game of Death. While in the apartment of his friend and actress Betty Ting Pei, around 14 pm that day, Lee felt a profound and crippling headaches that made him lie on the bed. Betti, according to his version that is considered official, gave him a painkiller that plunged him into a deep unconsciousness which never return, entering into a coma. He was taken to a hospital, where he entered lifeless.

Currently still it is speculating about the causes of his death, as no one yet knows what. The most likely is that he could have died from a complication resulting from an epileptic effect only after 20 years after his death seems to have discovered medicine.

Filkins, a doctor of great prestige affirmed that the official explanation about the cause of death of Lee is wrong, as in allergic reactions to drugs are usually presented evidence as irregular swelling in the throat or respiratory failure. Instead, Filkins thinks that Lee died from a sudden unexpected death syndrome, resulting from SUDEP epilepsy syndrome that was not identified until 1995.

Lee was nearly 33 years and the doctors said that his body did not represent more than 18 to 20 biological years. Recently it has said as another cause attributable to his death was due to an aneurysm that caused the headache and eventually led to his death. His death shocked the public in Hong Kong and initially attributed false information. It has been known that before his death Lee had been strangers before fainting from which he had recovered. Lee's autopsy showed that his brain had swollen massively compressed inside the cranium.

20,000 people gathered at the front of the establishment of Funeral of Kowloon where his bronze casket, open at the top, which had cost $ 40,000. The funeral that followed was tremendous in Hong Kong; the crowd of fans was so impressive that the environment where the coffin was Lee was stifling. In the transfer of the funeral box Hong Kong to Seattle, where he was finally buried, I had to change the funeral box, as moisture or condensation, white liner that was wrapped box stained blue due to Bruce suit.

He was buried at Lake View on Capitol Hill, Seattle, USA. UU. He had with his wife Linda Emery, now known as Linda Lee Cadwell, two children, Shannon Lee and Brandon Lee. The latter died in the beginning of his artistic career during an accident filming the movie The Crow (The Crow).