Horatio Algiers
10-19-2001, 08:39 PM
Bruce Lee MMA connection?
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I have a question first of all. Who is the asian girl that was in the majority of his(Bruce Lee's) films. She plays Mei-Ling in Enter The Dragon but I remember her also in Return of the Dragon and also The Chinese Connection if I'm not mistaken. Was she related to him somehow, friend, lover etc? Seems odd to me that she has bit rolls in all his films which seem geared to show Asian women that Bruce has dynamic attraction.
I got to wondering if Bruce's obsession for fame was inversely correlated to the MMA craze today. If you watch the movie, the entire thing is written as if a showcase for each martial artist fighting abililty. The advantage of this being that it furthers each of their individual careers, be it action star(Jim Kelly), Martial artists/buisnessmanBob Wall), or international film star(Bruce Lee) who of course gets top billing it being his vehicle of stardom and a great opportunity to showcase his own unique fighting system. This will not only appease the tradtionalists as they can see his philosophical insight(which is also ironic as Bruce was a philosophy Major in college), as well as show the practical applications of his developed style of no style. It seems Ironic to me then that the film was a initially hit everywhere except his home country Hong Kong. MMA seems a sport not a self defense applications of one's style showcase although that is a natural by prodct of it.
To elaborate, the purpose of the training is to compete at an expert level. Dedication to this produces a prize fighter who fights others of his caliber to win a purse. From this comes fame and success which like a successful film/martial arts showcase does for it's actors. The Gracies success in the MMA format propelled the system of BJJ and their name with it. The popularity of the system following this is marked by the success and number of schools around nowadays.
I'm not calling MMA a scripted event either. It isn't Extreme Professional wrestling. I see it personally as a more extreme boxing, but not having as dignified a place yet in the run of marketable fighting sports. The top dawg of this being American Boxing as reflected by it's prize money.
Getting back to my original point. I believe Bruce at a relatively early age decided he was going to be the biggest star he couild be. this being his modus operandi he finds film and excells in it. His fighting unfamiliar to the U.S. as Karate was prior to it being brought back here by returning marines or Taekwondo which has aside from it's marketability been able to showcase it beauty in the Olympics by people who are the cream of their crop. Bruce however was without question in terrific physical shape as most action stars are nowadays (Arnold, Sylvestor young Bruce Willis). Trying to become the first Asian international superstar would be a handicap during his era however so different routs would need to be taken. My god am I rambling....
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I have a question first of all. Who is the asian girl that was in the majority of his(Bruce Lee's) films. She plays Mei-Ling in Enter The Dragon but I remember her also in Return of the Dragon and also The Chinese Connection if I'm not mistaken. Was she related to him somehow, friend, lover etc? Seems odd to me that she has bit rolls in all his films which seem geared to show Asian women that Bruce has dynamic attraction.
I got to wondering if Bruce's obsession for fame was inversely correlated to the MMA craze today. If you watch the movie, the entire thing is written as if a showcase for each martial artist fighting abililty. The advantage of this being that it furthers each of their individual careers, be it action star(Jim Kelly), Martial artists/buisnessmanBob Wall), or international film star(Bruce Lee) who of course gets top billing it being his vehicle of stardom and a great opportunity to showcase his own unique fighting system. This will not only appease the tradtionalists as they can see his philosophical insight(which is also ironic as Bruce was a philosophy Major in college), as well as show the practical applications of his developed style of no style. It seems Ironic to me then that the film was a initially hit everywhere except his home country Hong Kong. MMA seems a sport not a self defense applications of one's style showcase although that is a natural by prodct of it.
To elaborate, the purpose of the training is to compete at an expert level. Dedication to this produces a prize fighter who fights others of his caliber to win a purse. From this comes fame and success which like a successful film/martial arts showcase does for it's actors. The Gracies success in the MMA format propelled the system of BJJ and their name with it. The popularity of the system following this is marked by the success and number of schools around nowadays.
I'm not calling MMA a scripted event either. It isn't Extreme Professional wrestling. I see it personally as a more extreme boxing, but not having as dignified a place yet in the run of marketable fighting sports. The top dawg of this being American Boxing as reflected by it's prize money.
Getting back to my original point. I believe Bruce at a relatively early age decided he was going to be the biggest star he couild be. this being his modus operandi he finds film and excells in it. His fighting unfamiliar to the U.S. as Karate was prior to it being brought back here by returning marines or Taekwondo which has aside from it's marketability been able to showcase it beauty in the Olympics by people who are the cream of their crop. Bruce however was without question in terrific physical shape as most action stars are nowadays (Arnold, Sylvestor young Bruce Willis). Trying to become the first Asian international superstar would be a handicap during his era however so different routs would need to be taken. My god am I rambling....