Bruce Lee

Cover of Bruce Lee's (www.google.com/images)

“A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.” (Author Unknown). Bruce Lee worked hard to open doors for people to learn more about martial arts.

Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, California. His Father, Lee Hoi Chuen was a well –known Chinese opera star from Hong Kong. Bruce Lee made his film debut at just 3 months old in a movie called the Golden Gate Girl. The most interesting childhood fact about Bruce Lee is that for the most part of his life his parents dressed him up as a girl. According to Chinese superstitions, jealous demons would sometimes carry the male child away to the Netherworld. So to protect Bruce, they told everyone he was a girl, dressed him as a girl, they even sent him to an all-girls school. They did all this to make sure he was safe from harm. (Rooney). He was later to be considered the consummate strong male. Because of his great teachings and breaking of barriers within the cinematic arts, Bruce Lee should be considered an American hero.

The Tao of Bruce Lee (google.com/images)

Before he became a famous actor, he started becoming famous for his great martial arts teachings. “Lee created a new technique called Jeet Kune Do, literally meaning the art of intercepting fist, the principles of which were published in his book, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do... The martial arts are ultimately self knowledge. A punch or kick is not to knock the hell out of the guy in front, but to knock the hell out of your ego, your fear, or your hang-ups,”(Lee, Bruce (1940-1973). He did not want to teach something that everyone taught, he wanted to teach something that was all his own. All he ever did was teach his students what martial arts is really about, not that it is all about beating someone up, this made him good teacher. Bruce is a hero because all the many people he taught and inspired, his cinematic artwork, while breaking racial barriers, Bruce Lee is an amazing individual who should be considered a hero. Bruce Lee was not only known for being a great teacher he was also known for being a bit picky. He taught whoever was willing to learn regardless of ethnicity but there was more to him than his teaching style. “He chose his students intuitively; if there was anything about a prospective student he did not like, he would not accept him or her.” (Lee, Bruce (1940-1973). He was picky about what kind of students he taught. If they were not interested in learning he did not teach them. He only wanted to teach those who were willing to learn. Bruce Lee’s teachings and non-racist attitude is a huge reason why he is a hero.

Bruce Lee sparring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (google.com/images)

There have been many great heroes in our lifetime but Bruce Lee is a hero because he broke racial barriers with his new cinematic art. After struggling for a while to be an actor he finally got his first big break in 1966 when he got the role of Kato in the television series, ‘The Green Hornet.’: Roles for Asian Americans were either stereotypical and demeaning, or small and forgettable, or a combination of both. In an effort to change that, Lee helped develop the idea for the television series “Kung Fu”… When the starring role was given to David Carridine, a Caucasian American actor, Lee believed he would not find the stardom he sought in Hollywood. Convinced his Asian face would only prove to be a hindrance in the United States, Lee packed up his wife and two young children, Brandon born in 1965 and Shannon born in 1967, and returned to Hong Kong,” (Lee, Bruce (1940-1973). Bruce Lee knew that he would not get a good starring role in a movie because of his Asian ethnicity. Since he knew his acting career was not going to take off he decided to go back to Hong Kong thinking he would do better in his hometown. Once he got to Hong Kong started pouring in. He even got a starring role in first feature film, The Big Boss, “Nervous about his starring role, Lee would often go to a movie theatre unnoticed and watch the reactions of the audience … Lee needed not to have worried, as the film quickly became the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong. The film also marked an important departure in the martial arts film genre,” (Lee, Bruce (1940-1973). Bruce Lee was not willing to give up so easily and that made him successful. This also shows that Bruce Lee was able to do better in his hometown than he could in America. Bruce Lee’s determination and perseverance is just another reason why he is a hero.

Bruce Lee worked hard to open doors for people to learn more about martial arts. In summary, first off he was a great teacher because he anyone regardless of ethnicity as long as they were willing to learn and showed an interest in learning. Secondly, he broke racial barriers with new cinematic art because back then Asians did not get very good roles in movies that weren’t stereotypical, demeaning, small and forgettable, or a combination of both. But Lee’s new art made it so Asians could get a better role in a movie than before. Bruce Lee is inspirational to many because if it wasn’t for him, many great martial artists would have been without an inspiration. His followers were greats such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and many more. Bruce Lee is a hero because his perseverance and great determination, as well as for being an inspiring individual. In the end, Bruce Lee met an untimely death on July 20, 1973, he was 32 years old. Even to this day, people still wonder about how he died. However, his fans prefer to remember how he lived.

"Lee, Bruce (1940-1973)." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Ed. Terrie M. Rooney. Vol. 18. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 17 May. 2010

"Lee, Bruce (1940-1973)." DISCovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 17 May. 2010

"Lee, Bruce." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2010. Web. 18 May 2010

"Lee, Bruce (1940-1973)." UXL Biographies. Online ed. Detroit: UXL, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 17 May. 2010