Bruce Lee: artist of life

201 Pages·2018·17.169 MB·English

by  Lee, Bruce;Little, John R

BrucLee e
THE CELEBRATED LIFE
OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON

BruceL ee
THE CELEBRATED LIFE
OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON
TEXT BY BRUCE LEE
SELECTED AND EDITED BY JOHN LITTLE
Basedo n thea ward-winniWnagr nerB rosd.o cumentary
BruceL ee:I nH isO wn Wordsb y JohnL ittle
TuttlePu blishing
Boston • RutlandV,e rmont • Tokyo

Contents
Preface: Inspiration,T he Father
by ShannonL eeK easlerV II
Forew ord
by LindaL eeC adwellI X
Introduciton
by JohnL ittlxe1
C h r o Ion go oy f t h Lei fe of B r u c e xvL e e
EARLY YEARS 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HOLLYWOOD 17
. . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HONG KONG 141
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FAMILY 153
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Epilogue: BruceL ee In His Ow n
Wo rds,T he Do cum entaryFi lm
by BriaJna mieson 179
v

Preface
INS PIRA TION, THE FATHER
The term" martiaarlt c"a nb e troubliInk gn.o w that I So,m artiaarlt c anb ea rt-buitt t akeas truea rtitsot
haveg iveint s omet houghotv ert hey earsH.o w isi t rendeirtt ou s.A nyonec and rawo rd abblien p aints
art?W hen onet hinkosf a rtt,h eu suailm agesc ome orb ango n a pianoo rw ritae s toryb,u ta rtisatrse
tom ind-paintinagnsds culptuArse a. matteorf f act, interpretoefpr esr sonianls ighAtn.d thiiss w hat
when youl ooku p thed efinitoifoa nrt int hed ictionary,B ruceL eew as fort hem artiaalr tsT.he lifoef t he
thef iresxtp ositiaornesj ustth eseT.he rea rer eferences artiisstt hel ifoef s elf-examinaotfih oonn,e st
tom usicl,i teratdurraew,i nga,n do n a mores implified expressiIotni .sa lifoef p ersonaelx tremeasn,d i n
planet,h eries m entioonf t he" aestheticpallelays ing goingt oe xtrem,ew se pusha gainstth eb oundarioefs
arrangemeonftw ordsc,o lorsso,u ndss,h apesa,n d creatiaonnd c hangeI.ti sm y honesbte litehfa ti n
thel ike." examinintgh ej ourneoyfsa rtiswtes ,c anb egint o
recognitzhee n ecessiotfya rti no url iveasn dt o
Furthedre finitioof"n asr tg"o on tod escriibtea s
understatnhda tw e cana lble a rtisotfso urp assions,
"formosf h umana ctiviwthyo sec hiecfh aractiesr
whatevetrh eym ay be.
determinbeyda meaningful arrangoefem leenmte nts,"
and" anys ysteomf r uleasn dp rinciptlheastf acilitatesB rucel eew as an artiisntt het rues enseo ft hew ord.
skillheudm ana ccomplishmenMta.r"t iaarlt h as Inh ist hirty-ytewaor osn thep lanehte,p roduced
ruleasn,d i ti sh umana ctiviIttry e.q uirseksi alnld volumeosf w ritinogn a multituodfes ubjectHse.
accomplishmeBnutt.w hats trikmees herea ret he developehdi so wn systemof m artiaarlt h,e a cted
words" meaningfaunld"" human.W"h y?A rti sh uman in,ch oreographdeidr,e cteadn,dw rotef orf ilamn d
expressiaonnd i th ast heu tmosto fm eaningf ort he televisihoen w,a s theC ha-Chcah ampioonf H ong
artiAstn.d ,m artiaarlt w,h en takent oi tsd epthsi,s Konga,n dh ew as a fathear h,u sbanda, f rienadn,d
thea rto fe xpressitnhgeh umanb ody;i ti st heb aring a teacheTrh.i s ai tsa lolr defro ra nyonea,n dc ertainly
ofo ne'isn dividsuoaull -aasl glr eaatr ts houlbde . we alhla veo uro wn pursuitbsu,ti na na ppreciation
vii
ofa ltlh iasc complishmewnet c,a nb ecomei nspired. Herei nt hespea gesi sa no riginatAonrd.,a sy ou
And,a lhle a ccomplishdeidr ectilnyf luencaendd wilsle ei,n a dventuriinngt toh er ealmo fi ndividual
culminatiendh isu nderstandoifnh gi sa rta nd, thoughtth,e o riginabtroirn guss c losetrot he
ultimatehliym,s elf. commonplacet;h ei ndividucallo,s etrou sa llB.r uce
Lees aid",Iw antt ot hinokf m yselafs a human
Thisb ooki st hel iterarreya lizatoifto hne
beingI.t"s oundss os implea,n d,t ruliyt,i sA.n d
documentaBrryu ceL ee:I nH isO wn WordsT.h e
maybei ns trivifnogrt hissi mplteh infgi rasntd
filims a beautifcuoll laogfes tatemeanntd e xample.
foremoshte,s howsu st hep atho fo uri ndividual
It'asn a mazintgh infgo rw orda ndd eedt ow alk
journey.
sog racefuhlalnyd i nh and.I ti sm y sincehroep et hat
int himse dium,y ou,t her eadecra,n b e touched Growinugp asB ruceL ee'dsa ught,e rhIa veo ften
imperceptiibfnl oyt d ramaticablyl tyh eb eautoyf a beend auntebdy thee xamplsee tf ortfho rm e
lifter ullyi veadn ds culpted-evae wro rki np rogress. tof olloBwu.t ,a sI g rowo lderIf, i nad greater
understandoifnt gh ed edicatioofbn u ta man and
then ecessiftoyrm e tod o buto net hingf:o llow
thep atho fm y own journeayn dl ivien t hef low
ofl ifes'tsr eam.
-ShannonL eeK easler
viii
Foreword
A greamta nyy earhsa vep assesdi ncmey husband As Iw atchetdh ef ilomf B rucet,h em an,n ott he
Brucdei edi n1 973A.t firsmty, d evastatiwoans actort,e arcsa met om y eyesa,n dI was transported
completHea.d i tn otb eenf ort het wos malplr oducts backt ot hatt imew heno url ivewse ref ulolf d reams
ofo uru nionB,r andoann dS hannont,h ew oundm ay comingt rueL.i stenitnogB ruceex preshsi mself
havec onsumedm e.B utt hew heelo fl ifceo ntinued honestalnyd o penlayb outh isb elovepdh ilosopohfy
itsr elentlteusrsn inagn di nt hen extt wod ecadeosu r martiaarlt sh,i sa ctincga reehri,s f amilhyi,s f uture,
childrgerne ws tronhga,p pya,n dc ompetentto was,f ora fewm inutesli,k neo thinhga de ver
encounttehre w orld. changed.
Brucem'esm oryh ase nlargemdy hearatn de nabled Buto fc oursoen, July2 0,1 973w,i thB ruce's death,
me tof inad ricahn dr ewardinligf Iet.h adb eena changed idh appenW.h aty oua ref ortunattoes eeo f
longt imeh,o wevers,i ncIe r ecallBerdu cev'os iceh,i s Brucien t hef ilamn di nt hirse latveodl umei st he
laughh,i se xpressiohnissg, e sturetsh,ev eryr eal essencoef B rucea,n dt hent herwea s no moreA. few
Bructeh aIt k newa ndl ovedI.n J ohnL ittlber'isl liant yearasg o,o urs onB randolne ftto j oihni sf athearn,d
pieceB,r uceL ee:I nH isO wn Wordsm,y Brucies withh ist ragipca ssintgh eries b uto nec hillde ftto
vividallyi vaeg aina,l mosats i fh ei si nt her oom, carroyn .W e aren ota loneh,o weverf,o ri nt hel ast
sor eatlh aIt c oulidm aginhee w as actually twenty-fyievaer Bsr ucel'esg achya se ndureadn do ur
speakintgom e. memoriehsa veb eene nrichbeydt hes torioefsh ow
Brucea'rts andp hilosophhayv ei nfluenctehdel ives
ofs om anya lalr ountdh ew orld.
ix