Uploaded: Tue, Jul 3, 2018, 11:01 pm
Pleasanton Preps: Bodybuilder leaves a legacy of achieving 'excellence against all odds'
Celebration of life for Allen Joe, who influenced martial arts great Bruce Lee
Linda Lee Caldwell (fourth from right), the wife of Bruce Lee, spoke at the Celebration of Life for Allen Joe. Here she stands with the Joe family. (Photo courtesy of Bob Gomez)
by Dennis Miller / Pleasanton Weekly
A Celebration of Life was held June 9 at Vic's All-Star Kitchen in Pleasanton for Allen Joe -- an East Bay man with a devoted family and connections that run deep in the martial arts community, including a long friendship with icon Bruce Lee.
The two became friends during Lee's younger years, when they met in Seattle before Lee moved to the Bay Area. It was Joe that got the martial arts legend into body building and, according to relatives, he gave Lee his first set of weights.
Joe is responsible for teaching Lee all aspects of body conditioning, well before it became popular.
Joe passed on April 2 of this year, just short of his 95th birthday, but the family, including niece Pam Carleton of Pleasanton and nephew Bob Gomez of Fremont, wanted to have the celebration to give members of the martial arts community an opportunity to pay their respect to Joe.
Joe got into body building when he was young after being bullied. After seeing a Charles Atlas ad, Joe took the sport to a new level as he became the first Asian-American to win the title of Mr. Northern California Bodybuilding Champion in 1946.
Along the way, Joe also became close friends with legendary fitness guru Jack LaLanne.
Recently a book was published called "The Last of the Four Musketeers: Allen Joe's Life and Friendship with Bruce Lee."
In a review of the book on Amazon.com, Bruce Lee's wife, Linda Lee Caldwell -- who attended Joe's Celebration of Life -- said, "I know Allen's story will help people better understand Bruce Lee's story -- the story of achieving excellence against all odds. That is what this book is about."
Joe was close with Lee's children as well, and daughter Shannon Lee shared the following in promotion of the book.
"There are certain friends of my father I have gotten to know throughout my life that hold their friendship with my father in such a place of pure love," said Lee, who is the chairman of the Bruce Lee Foundation. "Their radiance blesses me every time I see them. Uncle Allen is one such friend. Thank you, Allen, for being such a bright light in my life."
Another in attendance at the Celebration included former KPIX sportscaster Rick Quan, who showed his documentary "No Ordinary Joe."
Following is an excerpt from the documentary sent to me from Gomez.
"Allen Joe was not just a mentor and friend to martial arts legend Bruce Lee, he was also the first Chinese American bodybuilding champion. Allen learned from and worked out with fitness legends like Jack LaLanne, four-time Mr. Universe Tommy Kono and Steve Reeves, who played Hercules in Hollywood movies. After being bullied at school, Allen turned his life around through diet and exercise. His impressive physique gave him confidence and help attract the love of his life, Annie, a woman he was married to for more than 72 years." Gomez raved about his uncle.
"Allen Joe preferred to be called 'Uncle' not Grandmaster," said Gomez. "It meant more to him to be family than a title. Not that he wasn't proud of being a student of Bruce Lee; it's just that Uncle Allen was a very humble man. Plus throwing around titles creates drama and politics and he never liked that part of the martial arts."
Gomez said Joe stayed true to his friendship with Lee right until the end.
"Uncle Allen was also a board member of the Bruce Lee Foundation," said Gomez. "His last wish, in regard to the foundation and the ideal that go along with it, is as follows. While in the hospital he told this to me, Brian Kula Fung and Harry Mok -- that our generation needs to continue to keep Bruce Lee's memory, legacy, philosophies and ideals alive. Uncle Allen would always remind us that, 'Health is Wealth.'"
Editor's note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact Miller or submit local high school sports scores, game highlights and photographs for his weekly Pleasanton Preps column, email him at
acesmag@aol.com.
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