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    Bruce Lee Memorials

    Bruce Lee: SF vs. Shunde

    Lately there's been a wave of 'unauthorized' Bruce Lee projects. It's a big issue since unlike the estates of Elvis or Marilyn Monroe, it crosses into China where estate rights aren't necessarily upheld (the lawsuit about Jet Li's FEARLESS is a classic example). The one that's making a lot of news now is Shunde's Bruce Lee Museum.

    What's In a Name? Cash
    Bruce Lee's family tries to guard his legacy against Chinese entrepreneurs looking to turn a profit.

    By Robert W. Welkos and Don Lee, Times Staff Writers August 27, 2006
    In the southern Chinese city of Shunde, a two-hour boat ride from Hong Kong, government officials are finalizing plans to build a Bruce Lee theme park, complete with a memorial hall and a large statue of the man they call the town's favorite "son."

    Never mind that the legendary Chinese American kung fu star was born in San Francisco and visited Shunde only briefly, when he was a boy of 5. Shunde is the hometown of Lee's father and grandfather, and that was enough for local resident Wang Dechao to prod the government to plow $125,000 into opening a Bruce Lee museum in an old teashop in Shunde in 2002.

    Since then, more than 300,000 people, some paying $1 for admission, have come to see its collection of Bruce Lee's rare letters, film posters and other memorabilia. Wang, who now works for Shunde's cultural and sports authority, hopes to move the museum to the new theme park, which he says is projected to cost $19 million and open before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

    CCTV, China's national network, has plans to produce a 40-part documentary about Bruce Lee. Meanwhile, Bruce Lee's brother, Robert, is planning a movie about him, as is one of Lee's former students. They all have their sights set on completing the works by the Beijing Olympics.

    "I believe we will see another round of Bruce Lee fever," Wang said.

    Although he has been dead 33 years, Bruce Lee remains an enduringly powerful cultural figure. What if, people often ask, he hadn't died at age 32, barely a month before the release of his blockbuster film "Enter the Dragon"? Most believe that film would have catapulted him into the ranks of Hollywood's superstars. But what then?

    It's a question that his widow, Linda Cadwell, 61, often asks herself. "I think about it a lot — what he missed," Cadwell said in a recent interview. "Professionally, I'm sure he probably would have stayed in the film industry and the performing industry, but maybe not always as an actor, because he loved to write." Then, pausing, she added that this year, "He would be 66."

    When he died July 20, 1973, in Hong Kong, Lee left no will and was not a wealthy man. In those days, there weren't the movie-based action figures and video and computer games that line store shelves today. The estates of dead celebrities hadn't yet amassed the staggering licensing fees that they do today, when, say, Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe can generate millions annually. "In the early years, there really weren't things to license," Cadwell said. "There were key chains or a puppet doll that looked like Bruce," but little else.

    Now, though, Bruce Lee would seem to be a natural as a brand name advertisers and vendors could use to sell products. Mark Roesler, chairman and chief executive of CMG Worldwide, the business agent for the heirs of more than 300 dead celebrities, estimates that Bruce Lee could generate yearly licensing fees in the seven-figure range.

    Although Roesler doesn't represent Lee's estate, he sees the martial arts star's earning prospects as good. "He is an icon that is known throughout the world, and when you have someone like a Bruce Lee or a James Dean, someone who has a very strong name recognition, their myth and their legend seems to grow over the years and they can maintain a very consistent revenue source."

    Indeed, although he achieved stardom three decades ago, Lee's fame has hardly dimmed. He is still regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century, a precursor to kung fu stars such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chuck Norris. In his teens, he had formal martial arts training in Wing Chun kung fu under a master teacher in Hong Kong. Lee's style was known as Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist). He was famous for a combat technique called the "one-inch punch."

    But it was not only his skill at martial arts that won fans, Cadwell said, it was his philosophy and way of life.

    Known far and wide

    AROUND the world, his likeness has taken on a symbolic life of its own, even in places as far-flung as Mostar, Bosnia, where a life-size statue of Lee posed in a defensive fighting posture stands. The bronze statue, erected last year, serves as a symbol of healing ethnic tensions in a land that in the 1990s was racked by civil war among Muslims, Serbs and Croats.

    "Because of the fighting that had gone on there, a lot of the monuments had been destroyed," said Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, 37. "They wanted to put them back but there was a lot of disagreement about what representative … they should put up. Apparently, they could all agree on a statue of Bruce Lee. And the reason they chose him is not because he's a martial arts star, but he represents somebody who had a lot of ethnic struggle in his lifetime and overcame it. So, to them, he is a unifying force and representative of somebody who overcame that."

    That kind of enduring resonance is why Cadwell and Shannon Lee are taking steps to ensure his reputation stays intact. That means no licensing of tobacco products, alcohol or weapons bearing his image. "There's a place for weapons" in martial arts training, Cadwell said, "but not these ninja stars."

    "Basically, what we try to do is run the business with my father's legacy always in mind," said Shannon Lee, who is managing partner of Concord Moon, a Los Angeles-based limited partnership that owns all rights to Bruce Lee's name, likeness, trademarks and works. There is a satellite office in Hong Kong and there will be one soon in Beijing, so that anyone wanting to capitalize on Bruce Lee's name knows who to contact. Concord Moon's current plans for Bruce Lee-related entertainment projects include an animated television series, a CGI movie, an animated feature film, a live-action TV series, and a Broadway musical being developed by David Henry Hwang, whose "M. Butterfly" won a Tony Award in 1988 for best play.

    Shannon Lee confirmed that Concord Moon has authorized the CCTV project but has not given its approval for any theme park and has not authorized Robert Lee's plans for a biopic. However, she noted that as Bruce Lee's brother he is free to do what he wants and that the family is not squabbling.

    Li Cheng, executive director of J.A. Media in Beijing, which is producing the movie, wouldn't comment on whether Lee's widow and daughter had been consulted or whether they had authorized the production, saying only that "we don't want to film the story without his family's permission. In other words, we are open to discussing legal issues as well as suggestions on the movie."
    Shunde may claim Bruce Lee's Ancestral Home, but Lee is a S.F. native all the way.
    Gene Ching
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    Does Bruce Lee have a lower status than chickens?

    You'd think it could be parlayed into a decent tourist trap...

    Hong Kong fans fight to save Bruce Lee's last home as museum
    Posted : Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:53:00 GMT

    Hong Kong - Fans of kung fu legend Bruce Lee are campaigning to save the Hong Kong home where he spent his final years as a museum, a news report said Wednesday. The two-storey house in the city's exclusive Kowloon Tong residential district, where Lee and his family were living at the time of his death in 1973, is being sold by its owner to raise money for earthquake relief in China, the South China Morning Post reported.

    The 530-square-metre residence in Cumberland Street was expected to fetch about 13 million US dollars when bids for it and four other properties owned by entrepreneur Yu Panglin close Wednesday.

    Fans of Lee, who starred in films that include Fists of Fury and Enter the Dragon, have appealed to the Hong Kong government to buy the house as a memorial to the city's best-known movie star.

    Lee lived with his wife, Linda Lee-Cadwell, in the house, which he affectionately named the Crane's Nest. He died mysteriously at 32 at the peak of his stardom at the home of an actress friend in another part of Kowloon Tong.

    Hong Kong officials, apparently wary of Lee's hell-raising reputation, have repeatedly resisted calls to create any permanent memorial to the movie star, and his home was used five years ago as a "love hotel," where couples rented rooms at hourly rates.

    Bruce Lee Club chairman Wong Yiu-keung told the Post that it was "humiliating" that there was no proper place to commemorate the first Chinese celebrity to gain worldwide fame.

    "It is humiliating enough to have the late star's former residence being turned into a love hotel," he said. "Hong Kong has been using Bruce Lee to promote the city, but what has Hong Kong done for him?"

    Cultural critic Chip Tsao pointed out to the newspaper that Hong Kong's government was spending hundreds of millions of US dollars compensating chicken farmers after the latest bird-flu scare.

    "Does Bruce Lee have a lower status than chickens?" Tsao asked.

    A statue to Lee was erected a few years ago along the Victoria Harbour waterfront after years of pressure from his fans in Hong Kong and overseas.

    However, his childhood residence and the Golden Harvest studio, where he filmed his most famous movies, have been demolished.
    Gene Ching
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    Bruce Lee Memorials

    Quote Originally Posted by MartialDev View Post
    MartialDev , so if you say that the Tao of JKD was never authorized by Bruce Lee , then was it published for monetary gains ? What about the drawings in his book and his notes , and the way he wrote about his JKD ? Was that his work too ? Because I have a copy of that book , and I just happen to read your topic post on the BL memorials . So what is really true about BL ?

    Because to me bruce lee his life in general is filled with alot of controversies , although to me he definetely was a great martial artist no doubt about that , but he was able to change the way people think about the martial arts to the way he thought about the martial arts in general .

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    from that link in martial dev quote:

    "Although Bruce Lee’s name and photo appear on the cover, dedicated fans know that he did actually write Tao of Jeet Kune Do—at least not in its current form. "

    is the bold underline word a typo??
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

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    Quote Originally Posted by lance View Post
    MartialDev , so if you say that the Tao of JKD was never authorized by Bruce Lee , then was it published for monetary gains ? What about the drawings in his book and his notes , and the way he wrote about his JKD ? Was that his work too ? Because I have a copy of that book , and I just happen to read your topic post on the BL memorials . So what is really true about BL ?

    Because to me bruce lee his life in general is filled with alot of controversies , although to me he definetely was a great martial artist no doubt about that , but he was able to change the way people think about the martial arts to the way he thought about the martial arts in general .
    It was published posthumously, and initially without Linda's permission as well. The notes were originally intended for Brandon when he grew up.

  7. #7

    Bruce Lee Memorials

    i think bruce lee has more fightin experience than chuck norris does

    so bruce lee.... mid diff

    Spoiler:

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    Another Bruce watch

    Meister Watches Presents Official Bruce Lee SE Racer Collab
    By Armando Vargas / Published 01/30/15




    Meister teams up with Bruce Lee Enterprises for an exclusive Bruce Lee edition Racer timepiece. The 45mm watch is re-envisioned with yellow and red accents throughout, complete with a black carbon fiber dial and black tumble leather band. Precise timekeeping is ensured thanks to a 6-hand Seiko VD53 Quartz Chronograph Movement and timer.

    The team at Meister had this to say about the collaboration, "Bruce Lee was unconventional, adaptable to change, and always strived to better himself. He battled industry giants and conquered both social and physical barriers to find personal evolution and success. At Meister, we share Lee’s values and are building our path to success as we take on the giants in our own industry."

    The Bruce Lee SE Racer is limited to 500 pieces worldwide and available for purchase on Meister's online store for $280 USD. All orders placed online come with a complimentary pair of sunglasses.
    This one is a little too understated for my tastes. If I was going to rock a Bruce watch, I'd want a louder gaudier one.
    Gene Ching
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    I finally moved out all of those Bruce Lee Statue posts here to another thread.

    Bruce-Lee-Statues

    It was harder than I thought as there were a lot of overlapping posts. But it's done and that'll make things a little tidier around here.
    Gene Ching
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    Bruce's Graceland

    Maybe Paul Simon will write a song about it.

    Tycoon to turn Bruce Lee's last home into museum
    Mon Jul 7, 2008 12:56pm BST

    HONG KONG (Reuters) - The billionaire owner of Bruce Lee's final home hopes to build a museum to the martial arts legend, giving in to public calls to prevent the sale of the luxury house in a northern Hong Kong suburb for millions of dollars.

    Philanthropist hotel and real estate tycoon Yu Panglin, 86, had put Lee's two-storey, 5,699 square-foot town house in an upscale, leafy Kowloon suburb up for sale but changed his mind, giving in to fans' desire for the site to be preserved.

    Yu told reporters on Monday he would donate the property to Hong Kong's government for use as a museum, unveiling a plan to expand the site into a memorial to a global icon. He would also raise capital for the site and all future profits would go to charity.

    The tycoon wished to retain the house as it was, while expanding the property to 30,000 square feet to include a library, a martial arts centre and a movie house to showcase Lee's martial arts philosophy, according to Yu's appointed property consultant.

    "If you just do it small scale, you cannot attract tourism and attract people," said Michael Choi, the consultant.

    Lee, who died under mysterious circumstances in 1973 aged 32, starred in such kung fu classics as "Fist of Fury", "Game of Death" and "Enter the Dragon".

    Revered both by martial arts adherents and movie buffs the world over for popularising the kung fu cinematic genre, Lee also helped usher in a golden age of Hong Kong film in the 1960s.

    His fans were delighted by the news, having lobbied the Hong Kong government for years for a museum on hopes the site could prove as big a draw as memorial sites to other stars such as the Beatles Story in Liverpool and Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Tennessee.

    Hong Kong newspapers had reported Yu had received an offer of as much as HK$105 million (6.8 million pounds) for the house, which he turned down

    "The greatest difficulty has been overcome now that Mr. Yu has donated such a generous gift to the people of Hong Kong," said Wong Yiu-keung, the Chairman of Hong Kong's Bruce Lee Club.

    "From a tourism point of view, if you have this Bruce Lee museum it will attract a lot of visitors to Hong Kong."

    But Yu's plan will require government cooperation. He intends to send a proposal to Hong Kong's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau next week, seeking permission to re-classify the site from residential to commercial usage.

    Yu will go ahead and sell the house if the government objected to his plan, his consultants said.

    "Bruce Lee has brought so much glory to Hong Kong, so I can't see any reason for the government opposing this," Wong said.

    In response, the Hong Kong tourism board said it "welcomes all initiatives that support the promotion of Hong Kong as a tourist destination."
    Gene Ching
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    More on HK

    Follow the link for a nice pic of an HK Bruce Lee statue.

    Kung Fu Travel: Intercepting Fist Saves Bruce Lee's Home
    Where: Kowloon, Hong Kong
    7/07/2008 at 2:00 PM

    Here's a kick-ass museum plan: A real estate tycoon is bowing to pressure from Bruce Lee fans and seeks to turn the martial arts star's last home into a memorial instead of selling it.

    If Yu Panglin's rezoning proposal is approved, the two-story townhouse in Kowloon could become a 30,000-square-foot museum, including training centers and, of course, a movie theater to show Lee's greatest hits like "Fist of Fury" and "Enter the Dragon." Yu reportedly fielded offers of as much as $13 million for the house, but says he will help raise the capital to build and run the museum before donating it to the city.

    Don't want to wait? The American-based Bruce Lee Foundation, which has been raising money for a permanent Lee museum, is sponsoring a Bruce Lee Festival in Seattle July 18-20 with the Seattle Art Museum, including a memorial service at his nearby tomb.
    Gene Ching
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    a $50 million Bruce Lee museum in Seattle

    "Lee the grandfather of mixed martial arts."

    SAM event one of many tributes to Bruce Lee
    By Tan Vinh
    Seattle Times staff reporter

    A THREE-DAY BRUCE LEE TRIBUTE will be Friday-Sunday at the Seattle

    Art Museum to commemorate the 35th anniversaries of his death and his groundbreaking movie, "Enter the Dragon."

    A screening of the film along with memorabilia and props also will be on display. Lee's wife, Linda Lee Caldwell; his daughter Shannon Lee; and Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), are scheduled to attend. The family also will unveil its proposal to build a $50 million Bruce Lee museum in Seattle.

    The event is sponsored by the Bruce Lee Foundation and the UFC.

    Because, apparently, the world's appetite for all things Bruce Lee knows no limits, there will be Bruce Lee, the musical, coming to Broadway.

    But not before a 50-part Lee documentary airs in China after the Summer Olympics. Or the Lee documentary the History Channel has scheduled for next year. Or a Lee cartoon in development.

    Dozens of other Lee projects are in the works, including a proposal to raise $50 million to build a museum in Seattle, where Lee lived from 1959-64.

    The Lee family will release details of its ambitious fundraising campaign this weekend, during a three-day tribute starting Friday at the Seattle Art Museum to commemorate his passing 35 years ago this week.

    The event also marks the 35th anniversary of his groundbreaking movie, "Enter the Dragon."

    Lee died a few weeks before the film was released, but you would think his passing was recent by the surge of interest lately.

    Last year, more than 1,000 University of Washington students backed a petition to build a Lee memorial on campus.

    These days, young mixed-martial-arts fans often hear fighters cite Lee as an idol or a role model. And the resurgence of old kung-fu flicks also has fed the Lee frenzy.

    Lee's appeal (Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century) always has been complex, even contradictory.

    Lee became famous by killing people on screen, yet he was honored with the Ethnic Multicultural Academy Legend Award in London in 2004, the same humanitarian media award given to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. In 2005, Bosnia erected a life-size Lee statue as a peace symbol in light of ethnic tensions.

    "Bruce was so much more than just a bad-ass ... that's why people go back to his story again and again," said Seattle's Charles R. Cross, a biographer of Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix who is researching Lee for a possible book.

    Lee was born in San Francisco and grew up in Hong Kong, but Seattle has always claimed him as one of its own. He attended Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill and then the University of Washington, where he studied philosophy for three years and married Linda Emery (Garfield grad '63).

    Lee, who ran a martial-arts studio in the University District, landed the role of Kato on TV's "The Green Hornet" in 1966, which helped propel him to movie stardom.

    On screen, he was charismatic. His kung-fu moves seemed less structured, less rigid than traditional martial arts. It looked like modern dance. He bounced around like a boxer and made screeching noises with his punches. The young crowd ate it up.

    But before his Hollywood career took off, he died July 20, 1973, from cerebral edema from an allergic reaction, perhaps to painkillers. He was 32.

    "He died looking great," said Cross. "He never got old or fat like Elvis. That is part of the reason for his enduring legacy. Bruce Lee with his shirt off ... 90 percent of people in the world know what that image looks like."

    Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White, who will be in Seattle for the tribute, calls Lee the grandfather of mixed martial arts.

    But his influence runs deeper, said Cross and UW assistant professor Chris Hamm, who teaches a martial-arts film course in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature.

    Lee overcame illness in his youth and racism throughout his life. He often was credited with introducing the mainstream to martial arts. And he had a cultlike following for his philosophy on life and affirmations.

    The themes that resonated with the first generation of Lee fans still ring true among today's young followers, said his daughter, Shannon Lee, who runs the Bruce Lee Foundation and Bruce Lee Enterprises in Los Angeles.

    Sure, he looked great fighting, but fans connected to him because "he played the underdog and was seen like that in his life," she said.

    "It's not just his martial-art skills but the strides he made for us socially as a person of color," said former UW student Jamil Suleman, 24, of Redmond, who is lobbying the university to build a Lee memorial garden.

    Perry Lee, no relation to the superstar, recalls growing up in Seattle in the 1960s and not seeing any Asian faces like his on television — other than Hop Sing, the Cartwrights' cook on "Bonanza." So when Bruce Lee came along, thousands of Asian Americans in the Northwest became fans, said Lee, 60, of Renton who has collected thousands of items of the late superstar's memorabilia.

    Lee mania has created a new flood of projects, including the musical "Bruce Lee: Journey to the West," scheduled for 2010 with David Henry Hwang writing the book, Seattle's Bartlett Sher directing and David Yazbek ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels") writing the lyrics.

    This weekend at the tribute, Lee's daughter and his wife, Linda Lee Caldwell, will unveil sketches for the Lee museum, which will include his writings, props and his signature weapon, the nunchaku.

    The family has not found a location or detailed how the $50 million will be raised, but Lee's wife said the proposed museum will be in Seattle for the same reason her husband was buried here, at Lake View Cemetery (their son, Brandon, is buried alongside). Lee "mentioned that some day, he would like to return to Seattle. It would be his ideal place to live," she said.
    Gene Ching
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    China fever is Bruce Lee fever.

    This is coattailing on the Olympics too. Click the links for pix.
    Bruce Lee Remembered 35 Years on
    2008-07-20 18:45:33

    From cinemas to museums, Chinese fans are marking the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death in various ways.

    A weeklong screening of Lee's best-known films kicked off at the Kingdom Garden Movie Station in Beijing on Sunday, the Beijing News reported.

    Films to be screened include "Way of the Dragon," "The Chinese Connection," and Lee's last work, "Game of Death."

    In Hong Kong, where Lee was raised, an exhibit opened Friday featuring 800 items about the action legend, including movie posters, magazine covers and books, the Associated Press reported. Headlining the opening ceremony was Danny Chan, who plays Lee in the new TV series "Legend of Bruce Lee," produced by China Central Television.

    Many Chinese Web sites, including the portal Sina.com.cn, have launched online specials paying homage to the star.

    Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32. The exact details of his death are still controversial.
    Exhibit marks Bruce Lee's death
    2008-07-18 14:51:58 GMT 2008-07-18 22:51:58 (Beijing Time)

    HONG KONG - Bruce Lee fans are marking the 35th anniversary of his death with an exhibit featuring movie posters, magazine covers and books about the action star.

    Also among the 800 items on display are letters written by Lee that detail his life in the U.S., where he attended college and taught kung fu before returning to Hong Kong.

    Danny Chan, who plays Lee in an upcoming Chinese TV series, attended the opening ceremony of the exhibit Friday, organized by the Hong Kong-based Bruce Lee Club.

    Chan said he hopes the exhibit will improve public understanding of Lee.

    "A lot of people like Bruce Lee but know very little about him," he said.

    Lee died July 20, 1973, at 32 from swelling of the brain.

    He was known for movies in which he portrayed characters who defended the Chinese and the working class from oppressors. His credits include "The Chinese Connection," "Return of the Dragon" and "Enter the Dragon."

    Talks are also ongoing about turning Lee's former home in Hong Kong into a museum. The philanthropist who owns the two-story house has offered to donate the property and has lobbied the government to help convert it into a museum.
    Gene Ching
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    Anyone in Seattle see this?

    Anyone here on the forum see this?
    Bruce: Undefeated 35 Years Later
    International Examiner, News feature, Diem Ly, Posted: Jul 27, 2008

    He was convinced of his place in the world, yet broke down barriers and forced his way into history. He was arrogant but tirelessly improved on his skills. Bruce Lee may have been a complex figure, but his massive iconic status has not dimmed nor has it wavered in its significance to Asian Americans today. For some, Bruce Lee is a deeply important character to learn from. For others, he’s the hero they most identified with and one of the coolest Asian Americans ever. No matter what your reverence of him, Bruce Lee is etched in history and lives on as a measure of what each of us are capable of achieving.

    Few believe in Bruce Lee’s legendary status more than a Seattle man who shares the martial artist’s surname: Perry Lee (no relation to Bruce Lee). Perry boasts one of the largest collections of Bruce Lee memorabilia in the world. And soon, he’ll share it in an unprecedented Seattle event. The Bruce Lee Foundation, founded by Bruce Lee’s widow, Linda Lee and his daughter Shannon Lee, is sponsoring an event commemorating the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s landmark film “Enter the Dragon (1973)” and honor his passing the same year. The Foundation along with Perry, are working together to organize the July 18-20 event. Organizers are planning Bruce Lee film screenings, exhibitions, and martial arts demonstrations by Lee’s former students. Perry says the Foundation will announce the launch and location of an official Bruce Lee Museum, expected to be in Seattle. The Foundation is also collaborating on an international scale with China, which idolizes the martial artist, to build the first Bruce Lee amusement park in China and preserve the icon’s final home in Hong Kong into a museum and memorial to the star.

    The event’s aim is to preserve Lee’s legacy and inspire others through his short, but remarkable life.
    “Bruce Lee was one of those rare individuals,” says Perry Lee in an interview with the IE. “A combination of intellect, foresight, incredible physical attributes, and artist ability. People like that come every 10,000 years. He was a real innovator.”

    Many know the Bruce Lee saga. For those who don’t, and there aren’t many of you, here’s your Bruce Lee 101.
    Bruce Lee was born Jun Fan on Nov. 27, 1940, in San Francisco, CA. The man history would later call “The Dragon”, was born in the year and hour of the dragon, an auspicious sign for the baby boy. A few months later the family returned to Hong Kong.

    The soon-to-be martial art star began kung fu lessons at age 13. It’s widely known Bruce Lee spent his teen years in a gang, fighting Hong Kong street thugs. By the age of 18, his parents decided to send the troublemaker to America to stay with a Seattle family friend, Ruby Chow. Chow would later become a well-known and controversial Asian American figure. In the meantime, she owned a restaurant in Seattle’s Chinatown and hired Bruce as a busboy. He stayed in a small living space above the restaurant and started his new life with $100 in his pocket.

    Bruce practiced his philosophy of martial art style anywhere he could clear a space. He practiced at HoHo Restaurant, in the basement of the Four Seas Restaurant, and opened a king fu studio on University Way in the UW district. At the studio, Lee taught anyone willing to learn, even non-Asians—a sour point for many community members at the time.
    Lee later married one of his students, Linda Emery, and moved to Oakland, California, where a larger martial arts community thrived. He opened another studio and founded his marital art form Jeet June Do. It was in California Lee sought to make his dreams come true and become the first Asian superstar. He’d solidify his goal in a 1969 affirmation statement promising himself he will be the “first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States,” Lee wrote. “I will achieve world fame … I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.”

    But before stardom, someone would have to discover him.

    In a 1964 demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee captured the attention of a Hollywood insider who raved about Lee’s performance to television producer William Dozier who was seeking an Asian actor for a new series, “Number One Son.” Executives dropped the series, but casting directors approached Lee to fill the role of the sidekick “Kato” for a new television series, “The Green Hornet”. Kato stole the show and Lee was a hit. American audiences were blown away by the never-before seen fighting style. Viewers in Hong Kong loved the show and Lee began his rise on two continents. But, Bruce Lee wanted a say in his work and suggested ideas for new shows to studio executives. One idea revolved around a Shaolin priest who resolved issues without a gun. Executives liked the concept, but eventually gave the leading role to Caucasian actor David Carradine.

    Outraged but focused, Lee pushed on. The success of “The Green Hornet” opened the door to his now legendary film roles in “Fists of Fury (1971)”, “The Chinese Connection (1972)”, “Return of the Dragon (1972)”, “Enter the Dragon (1973)”, and a film released post-mortem, “Game of Death (1978)”.

    Bruce Lee fulfilled the destiny he prophesized years earlier and entered into the realm of superstardom. He died on July 20, 1973 under circumstances still under controversy.
    When asked what set Bruce Lee apart from other successful Asian Americans throughout history, Perry says Lee’s “X-factor” was his image and drive. He says, with all due respect, 1960s Seattle politician Wing Luke (and namesake for the Seattle Asian museum) never look so cool changing the face of the Asian American identity.

    “Bruce knew how to style. He was that image of cool when no one knew Asians could be,” says Perry. “Our image of Asians at the time was Hop Sing (the Chinese cook on the television show “Bonanza”). Bruce hated that. He said he didn’t want to wear a pigtail.”

    Lee’s other undeniable and unquenchable trait was his drive.
    “He was fanatical about being the best,” says Perry. “[Others] might have the skills, but not the hunger … He was driven by an incredible intensity to succeed.”

    Even as a teen on the streets of Seattle’s Chinatown/ID, Bruce Lee knew he was a leader, an innovator, and a pioneer. But, often, that confidence grated on some people’s nerves who preferred humility and deference of character.

    “He didn’t have a lot of money, but he was arrogant,” describes Perry. “He was 18 or 19 when he was telling the older people they were doing things wrong [in martial arts]. You just didn’t do that, you know.”

    Lee was known as a practical joker, a flirt, a flashy dresser, and a Cha Cha dancing champion. But the martial artist never wavered in his intense desire for greatness.

    “He had an incredible ability to focus,” says Perry. “He never wasted a minute. While he was talking to you, he’d be stretching his legs against a wall and curling his arms with a barbell.” Perry said in one instance, on a flight with James Coburn, a film industry colleague and fellow marital arts trainer, Lee whipped out a small bean bag and proceeded to chop it repeatedly—even while talking to Coburn.

    Perry says Lee wrote down goals and kept meticulous records of his training. Even while recovering from an injury that partially paralyzed his back and doctors said he may never practice martial arts again, Lee still worked out, recorded his reps, and made more goals.

    As both an American-born Chinese and one who grew up in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee was in a unique position for success in the film industry.

    “Bruce Lee was able to bridge the East and Western culture,” says Perry. “He understood what [American] people wanted.”
    Few people know the uniquely Asian icon carried Caucasian blood.
    Through his grandmother’s marriage to a German man, Bruce is a quarter Caucasian.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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    But, it was not only his connection or savvy of American audiences that earned Bruce Lee success. It’s said, behind every great man, is a great …

    “Linda was a part of that success,” says Perry. “She was Caucasian, but she had some Asian characteristics. She stood by him. A Chinese wife wouldn’t have put up with him. They would’ve expected him to go out and get a real job and quit this crazy business to become a movie star.”

    Out of what seems like a fearless existence, did Bruce Lee fear anything? Yes, himself, Perry says. He remembers Lee’s fear of facing an opponent like himself—but better.

    “Bruce was always worried that a bigger or faster version of himself would fight him. You know, he. wasn’t that tall or big.” In another conversation with Perry, he says, Bruce knew he wasn’t Superman. Bruce Lee used to say that if he was walking down a dark alley and someone jumped him, ‘You’d get to me.’ The difference with Bruce Lee—what he did worked. He backed up his words with action and success. And if success didn’t come as he expected, he’d work harder and force it to come to him.

    But, why would a character so inspiring and resilient, not elicit others to emerge as great or greater today in terms of martial arts or Asian American superstardom?

    “The conditions were ripe for Bruce,” says Perry. “For there to be another Bruce Lee, you have to be hungry. He had an intense drive to succeed. Nowadays, people are packing [carrying guns]. Back then, you fought as gentlemen with your fists.”

    Perry believes there’s a decline in Bruce Lee’s popularity among youth today. He suggests this is due to many factors. More Asian role models exist today than they did in the 60s and 70s, Perry explains. Also, mounting materialism among API youth focus attention on material success rather than inspiration. And, he says, the honor to learn the art of fighting has diminished as people take up guns and fight from a distance. He says the appreciation for what Bruce Lee achieved as a martial artist and Asian American has lost some of its poignancy.

    “If you like baseball—you got Ichiro,” says Perry. “If you like basketball—you got Yao Ming. Nowadays, it’s not to be like Bruce, but to be financially secure.” But what Perry fears most is losing Bruce Lee’s legacy, his message, and his teachings.

    “He was more than a martial artist. He was an innovator. So now people are forgetting what he had to do to blaze a trail,” says Perry.

    The founder of Jeet Kune Do, the actor of films breaking the racial barrier, and the personality that drove the man to greatness, was first and foremost a man. And that may be why we find him so fascinating. We see ourselves in his drive to make something out of nothing and in a remarkable character—what we’re capable of achieving. Bruce Lee would have been 68 years old this year.

    “To hell with circumstances—I make opportunities.” –The Dragon.

    The Bruce Lee Foundation 35th Anniversary Celebration at the Seattle Museum of Art is from July 18-20, 2008. The event includes an exclusive Friday preview night, a tour of the Bruce Lee exhibit with Linda and Shannon Lee, martial arts seminars and demonstrations, and discussion with JKD instructors. A public screening for “Enter the Dragon” will be Saturday night for $10/per person. On Sunday, a cemetery memorial will be held ($20) while organizers will serve a celebration luncheon at the New Hong Kong Restaurant ($50). An inclusive package for all events is $285.00 To register for the event, please contact the Bruce Lee Foundation at info@bruceleefoundation.org.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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