Bruce Lee

To me a hero is someone that inspires you to do something; they are skillful, intelligent, and fearless. My hero is Bruce Lee because he inspires me to become a talented fighter. Bruce accomplished many things in his life including many physical feats. Growing up he was very determined and he pushed himself very hard and that's why I look up to him as a hero.

Bruce Lee was born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, California, United States. Bruce Lee's Cantonese name was Jun Fan, but at his birth he was also given the English name Bruce because it seemed appropriate. However he was never called Bruce until he enrolled at la Sale College (actually a high school) at twelve years old. Lee initially had his birth name be Li Yuen Kam but a conflict with his grandfather made him change it to Jun Fan. Lee Jun Fan was during the hour of the dragon (between 6-8AM) His dad was Lee Hoi-Chuen who was Chinese and his mom Grace was also Chinese and Catholic.

Bruce Lee went to La Salle College at twelve years old and then enrolled at St. Francis Xavier's college. In 1959 when Bruce was 18 he got into a fight and was badly beaten by his opponent, also getting into trouble with the police. Hoi-Chuen was concerned about Bruce's safety so he sent him to the United States to live with one of his father's friends. Lee left with $100 and the boxing title of his school. After living in San Francisco, he moved to Seattle to work for his father's friend Ruby Chow. In 1959 Lee finished his high school education and got his diploma from Edison Technical School. Lee also enrolled at the university if Washington and studied drama, philosophy, and psychology. Bruce also met his wife there who he would then marry in 1964.

Bruce Lee stated teaching Martial Arts in the United States in 1959. Bruce originally trained in Wing Chun Gung Fu. What he called Jun Fan Gung Fu (means Bruce's Gung Fu) which is a modified approach to Wing Chun. Lee then taught his friends starting with his Judo Practitioner Jesse Glover, who also became Bruce's first assistant instructor. Bruce also improved his own kicking method by using the directness of Wing Chun and the power of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu.

Bruce Lee also has a different fighting style made in 1965. Lee went up against Wong Jack Man and influenced Bruce's philosophy because he thought the fight lasted too long and he didn't fight up to his potential. Bruce wanted to develop a fighting system that would work on the street. That's when Lee made Jeet Kun Do (name suggested by Dan Insato) which means "way of the intercepting fist". Lee only certified three people to teach Jeet Kun Do; Dan Insato, James Yin Lee, and Taky Kimure.

One of the most interesting techniques made by Jun Fan was the one inch punch. At the invitation of Ed Parker, Lee appeared in 1964 Long Beach Karate Championships and performed the one inch punch. Jun Fan stood upright with his right foot forward and his right arm was roughly an inch away form his opponents chest and without retracting his right arm he delivered the force while maintain posture sending his opponent backwards into the chair eventually falling because of gravity. His volunteer was Bob Baker of Stockton, California. "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again because last time he did it I had to stay home from work because of the pain."

Lee felt that many Martial Artists of his day did not spend enough time on physical conditioning, but Bruce included all elements of fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardio endurance, and flexibility. He tried traditional bodybuilding to build his body muscles or mass. He admonishes the mental preparation needed. At 24 years old he could perform 70lbs-80lbs of bicep curls for three sets of eight repetitions along with squats, pushups, reverse curls, concentration curls, and French presses. It later resulted in putting Bruce a little over 160lbs. Bruce eventually concluded that "A stronger muscle is a bigger muscle." A conclusion he later disputed. Bruce forever experimented with his training routines to maximize his abilities. Although Lee believed that the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscle groups for a Martial Artist because virtually every movement includes abdominal work, perhaps more importantly the abs are like a shell protecting the ribs and vital organs.

According to Linda Lee, soon after he moved into the United States Lee started taking nutrition very seriously. Bruce developed an interest in health foods, high protein drinks and food, and vitamins and minerals supplements. Bruce concluded that in order to achieve a high performance body one couldn't eat junk food and if one fueled themselves with "the wrong fuel," one's body would become sloppy and sluggish. Bruce also considered baked goods to be extra calories that did nothing for the body. Lee also became high dietary supplements including vitamin c, Lecithin granules, Bee pollen, Rose hips (liquid) wheat germ oil, and much more. Bruce always preferred to eat Asian food because he loved the variety of them.

Lee's phenomenal fitness meant he was capable of performing many exceptional physical feats. The following are documented and supported be reliable sources. Lee's striking speed from three feet with his hands down by his side reached five hundredths of a second, so in movies they had to slow him down because his movements were too fast to be filmed at 24fps. In speed demonstrations Lee could snatch a dime off a person's hand before they could close it and leave a penny behind. Lee could perform push ups with only his thumbs and do one handed push ups with his thumb and index finger. Lee could use one finger to leave dramatic indentations on a piece on pine wood. Lee could cause a 300lb bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a side kick. Also Bruce could thrust his fingers through unopened cans of coca-cola before cans were made of aluminum.

Bruce Lee died at 32 years old. It started on May 10th, 1973, when Lee collapsed in Golden Harvest studios while dubbing work for Enter the Dragon. Suffering from full-body seizures and cerebral edema (which is an excess accumulation of the spaces of the brain.) Bruce was rushed to the hospital where he was released because the doctors reduced the swelling.

"On July 20th 1973 Lee was in Hong Kong, due to have dinner with former James Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a movie. According to his wife Linda Lee, Bruce met producer Raymond Chow at 2pm to discuss the making of the movie Game of Death. They worked until 4pm and then they left to go to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting a taiwanese actress. The three went over the script and Chow left to go to a meeting. A short time later, Lee complained of a headache, and Betty gave him a analgesic (painkiller), Equastic which contained both aspirin and a muscle relaxant. around 7:30pm he went to lie down for a nap. Lee didn't turn up at dinner so Chow went to the Apartment to wake him up. Lee was dead by the time he reached the hospital."