Master Bruce Lee

Bruce "Jun Fan" Lee was born in the hour of the dragon on the year of the dragon, November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, California. "Jun Fan" translates to "return again", his parents named him this with the hope he would return to America. At three months of age Bruce was taken to Hong Kong, but one day they would get their wish.

Bruce's father, Lee Hoi Chuen was a popular and famous artist of the Cantonese Opera - performance was in the blood. By the age of six Bruce had some small acting roles and he developed a great interest in making films. In his early teens he began studying the martial art of Wing Chun , the only Martial Art he qualified in, with grandmaster Ip Man, whom he continued to learn from until Ip Man's death in 1972. Himself and other students of Ip Man won matches against other martial artists, developing a reputation for Wing Chun in Hong Kong. In 1958 he won the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship, then left for America the next year.

Believing that strengthening the mind was important as well, Bruce majored in philosophy at the University of Washington. Meanwhile he continued his martial arts training and taught Wing Chun, but changed the name as he had not totally completed the Wing Chun system. To stop disrespect for not being fully finished, Bruce made a style he named "Jeet Kune Do" -- The way of intercepting the fist --. Though he disliked to call it a style or a system "...only self-awareness and self-expression. A live person is not a dead product of 'this' style or 'that' style, he is an individual..."

Hollywood producer, William Dozier, noticed Bruce Lee at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Tournament where he was giving a demonstration. The next day Bruce was hired as the new "Chinese James Bond" for a new TV series. This fell through, but led to a role in the television show The Green Hornet. This developed into more work in Hollywood where he appeared in Marlowe, the TV series Longstreet, Blondie and The Wrecking Crew. He was very conscious of not playing stereotypical roles of "hopping pigtailed chinamen" and made a major impact on how Chinese were portrayed on western television.

Bruce returned to Hong Kong with his wife and two children to work with film maker Raymond Chow. He signed a two movie contract for "The Big Boss" (known as "Fists of Fury" in North America) and "Fist of Fury" (known as "The Chinese Connection" in North America) each broke all previously known box office records in Hong Kong and gained a wide western following. He then made his directorial debut in "The Way of the Dragon" which blew all previous records out of the water. Tragically it was to be the last film he completed, as the finishing touches were being made on "Enter the Dragon". He died in 1973 leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire people throughout the world to pursue martial arts.

The style of fighting Bruce Lee used in his movies was one he developed especially for film. He didn't believe that violence should be the theme of movies, but also recognized that violence could not be ignored. "I don't call the fighting in my films 'violent', I call it 'action'. An action film borders between fantasy and reality. If I were to be completely realistic in my films, you would call me a violent, bloody man. I would simply destroy my opponent by tearing his guts out. I wouldn't do it so artistically." Recognized and idolized mainly for his fighting skills, it was these very skills and his dedication to breaking through conceptions to find the truth that made him the legend that he was and still is. Through martial arts he knew himself and stayed humane and true to himself despite the fame that came with his movies. He remains a symbol of the knowledge of self that a person can achieve when they apply themselves and are willing to leave behind their ideas of who they are or what they think they know. "Marshal art is ultimately an athletic expression of the dynamic human body. More important yet is the person who is there expressing his own soul."