The Life and Career of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee is a legendary actor and talented martial artist. He lived a life full of achievement, skill, determination, and served as an inspiration to millions of people all over the world. Born in San Francisco in 1940, Lee was raised by his parents inHong Kong, China. He did not return to the United States until he was 18 years old in order to attend school and get his US Citizenship. His father was a popular actor and opera singer, and his mother was a very wealthy woman of Chinese and Germandescent who had come from a prestigious family in China. As Bruce grew older, he became fascinated with martial arts, particularly that of an art called WingChun . He did however later reject this form of martial art and most others that had well formed sets of rules and restrictions. By the time he arrived in America, Bruce already had several titles under his belt from home including high school boxing champion. His skill and talent for the martial arts was apparent not only in his academics, but in his day-to-day life as well. Once Lee enrolled in college, he took acting classes and majored in drama. This would become the starting point for his combined martial art and acting skills later on in his life.

When Bruce Lee was growing up in Hong Kong after the war ended there were a great many gangs and thugs in the streets, many of which Bruce Lee ended up fighting. He enjoyed the challenge and repeatedly took part in street fights that became more and moreviolent. It was because of these fights that Lee's parents decided it would be wise to train him in martial arts. Lee Hoi Cheun, Bruce's father was the first to teach a form of martial arts to Bruce by teaching him the fundamentals of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan. At 13 Bruce began taking classes in Wing Chun which would become one of the biggest influences to Bruce Lee's martial arts passion. Training however was difficult for Lee for reasons other then the physically demanding activity. Many students in Lee's WingChun class refused to spar with him because of his German ancestry. These students believed that the Chinese martial arts should only be taught to pure Chinese students. His dedication to his training was noticed however and he was privately trained in 1955.

In 1959, the street fights Bruce Lee had become accustomed to hadn't stopped and the police called his father saying that if the fights continued Bruce was going to end up in prison. Bruce's father decided the best course of action would be to send Bruce to America, not only to keep him out of street fighting, but also because of the belief that one of the people he had beaten was part of a familyinvolved in organized crime and may have put a contract out on his life.

After moving to America, Lee continued his high school education while working as a waiter in a restaurant. He recieved his diploma in 1960. He enrolled in college soon after and majored in Drama. It was while enrolled at the University of Washington that he met his future wife Linda Emery. They married in 1964 and had two children, Brandon and Shannon.

After dropping out of college Bruce Lee began teaching a form of martial arts he referred to as Jan Fan Gung Fu which was his approach to Wing Chun, and opened his first school for it in Seattle, Washington. After a fighting match with Wong Jack Man, Lee decided that the Wing Chun style of fighting was too restricted and impractical and instead developed Jeet Kune Do. This form of martial arts involves a more informal style of fighting, and was also known as "the style of no style". It had less rules than many other forms of martial arts, and allowed fighters to approach the ring and participate in a much more free-form manner. As time went on, Bruce Lee took part in several championship fights, met many mentors who taught him some of his famous moves, and he also became a teacher and influence to many who learned from his techniques. While he decided acting was not his destiny, a friend convinced him to audition for the television show The Green Hornet. He got the part and began taking small roles in several popular shows. Soon, these small TV appearances blossomed into full-length feature films. Lee's exposure is what helped make him a hero and an influence to millions of people.

As the years went on, Bruce Lee became an icon for the martial arts. He achieved many amazing feats, and had an extensive cult following. He was a proponent of physical fitness and his wife Linda and he promoted the use of a proper diet and of vitamin consumption. In 1973, while filming his famous movie Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee collapsed. He had planned to have dinner with a friend that night but complained of a headache during the day. When he went to dinner, a friend gave him a painkiller, and he went to rest. Later that evening he was found unresponsive in his bed, and was soon pronounced dead thereafter. Doctors claim that he had a sensitivity to a certain ingredient in painkillers but no one is absolutely sure that this was the sole cause of death. A bit of controversy surrounded his death and some claimed it may have been due to drug use. One theory even claimed he was given a "death blow" in a recent martial arts match, but no evidence was ever produced. The world lost a great champion, actor, and fighter when Bruce Lee died, but his legend still lives on today.