By Gene Ching
In my memory, ‘Bruce’ Leung Siu-lung is the only person who ever rejected our offer to be on the cover of Kung Fu Tai Chi. Most clamor for the opportunity, but not Leung. That alone is testament to his character and humility. It is a singular honor.
We met Leung in 2019 at the Eagle Claw Cup International Wushu Tai Chi Invitational (a.k.a. NCCCAF Martial Arts Tournament) where he was an honored guest. He graciously agreed to stop by Kung Fu Tai Chi headquarters later for an interview and a photo shoot. That produced my article ‘From Bruce to the Beast and Beyond’ in our penultimate pandemic issue, WINTER 2020. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to expand that article into a cover story. His story was so fascinating and there were many points from that interview that could’ve been expanded. He was a perfect candidate for a cover. But when we asked him, he demurred, saying that it would be too hard to negotiate with his contractual obligations. In retrospect, I think that was his way of saving face, his chivalrous tactic to politely refuse our ask. Why would anyone who was contractually connected to him not want him to be on the cover of a U.S. newsstand magazine?
The world knows him as Bruce Leung, one of the many Bruce Lee ‘clones’ that were promoted in the wake of Bruce Lee. He was also highly recognized as the Beast, the ultimate villain and master of toad style from Kung Fu Hustle (2004). But it was the Bruce moniker that stuck with him, despite his attempt to shake it off.
There were several action stars that forged their careers on being Bruce Lee ‘clones,’ so much so that 2024 saw the release of an insightful documentary about several of the ‘clones’ titled Enter the Clones of Bruce Lee including Leung. No other celebrity than Bruce Lee has an entire cinematic genre dedicated to knock off grindhouse movies hoping to capitalize on his legend. Brucesploitation encompasses hundreds of films.
However, being a Bruce Lee ‘clone’ was never Leung’s intention. He was a victim of circumstance… and timing. Leung had too many coincidences with Lee. They were both connected to Shunde, China. That’s where Leung was born and where Lee’s family came from. They both practiced Wing Chun, among other styles. Most significantly, they both named Siu-lung, which means ‘little dragon’ in Cantonese. It was a nickname for Bruce Lee. For Leung, it was part of his martial family. His Bei Pai Kung Fu master was Leung Siu-chung, and in deference to his master, he took “Siu” as part of his name. It’s akin to Jackie Chan’s master Yu Jim-yuen. Yu’s pupils adopted the Yuen name, like Yuen Biao, Yuen Woo-ping, Yuen Wah and many more (Jackie was named Yuen Lo, but he forsook that name for his own).
L-R: Gene Ching, Lily Lau, Leung Siu-lung, Gigi Oh, Bên Zhang, Jonny Oh
In truth, Leung only played ‘Bruce Lee’ a few times within his 85-film credited legacy. He wanted to adopt the Biblical name David, not Bruce, but Bruce stuck. Leung was a talented martial artist in his own right, long before he was stereotyped as a ‘clone,’ although one of the few times he did play Lee was in the weirdest Brucesploitation film of all, Dragon Lives Again (1975).
Leung survived several real street fights back when he was an unruly youth. He faced off against the Hong Kong triads that controlled the film industry back in the day and had forearm parry scars to show for it. His career also survived getting cancelled in Taiwan after a political misstep when he travelled to mainland China for a project (Taiwan and mainland China were very much at odds back then… still are). Kung Fu Hustle marked his comeback after a sixteen-year hiatus from that cancelation.
Leung was 68 years old when he visited KFTC Headquarters. A few days earlier at the tournament, he pulled off a spectacular prank stunt. When he was shaking hands with one of the local VIPs, he acted like that dignitary flipped him. He launched his body into a forward flip, catching good air and landing squarely on his back like a breakdancing suicide drop. No warmup. No padded mat. No injury whatsoever. It was a clean fall, worthy of any young fall guy stuntman, and truly admirable for a man of 68.
If you haven’t seen Kung Fu Hustle or Dragon Lives Again, both films are worth your intention for entirely different reasons. And while these may be the films Leung is most remembered for, I plan to watch Gallants (2010) again. That was one of my favorite films from that year, and the subject of our JAN+FEB 2012 cover story. That featured Leung’s co-star in Gallants, another legendary actor, the great Chan Koon Tai.
When it comes to martial arts mastery, Leung Siu-lung was the real thing. When it comes to Brucesploitation, he was close enough to pretend.
AUTHOR:
Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips.
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