Bruce Lee; 1940 - 1973

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Bruce Lee 1940 - 1973

• The Little Dragon- even if you have never heard
  of Bruce Lee, or even if you have but are
  unfamiliar with his movies, you will probably
  have watched and enjoyed many films or TV
  programmes that might not of been made had it not
  been for his influence. Can you think of any
  examples?

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Bruce Lee

• If you thought of everything from Hong Kong
  Fooey, to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to
  the Rush Hour or Matrix films, Jackie Chan or
  Jet Li, then you are still only scratching the
  surface of how important Bruce Lee was in
  bringing a whole new type of movie experience to
  Western audiences.
• Can you think of any film stars, or films and TV
  where the martial arts are practised? If so, they
  probably all owe some debt to Bruce Lee.

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Bruce Lee what could he do?

• Lee could spring a 235 lb (107 kg) opponent
  15 feet (4.6 metres) away with a 1 inch punch.
• Lee could snatch a dime off a persons open hand,
  then replace it with a dollar before they could
  close their palm.
• Lee could perform push-ups using only his thumbs.
  
• Lee could throw grains of rice up into the air
  and catch them using only chopsticks.
• Lee could thrust his hands through unopened cans
  of Coca Cola.
• Lee could break wooden boards 6 inches thick.
• Lee recommended a food high in nutrition. For
  instance, he supplemented his diet with vitamins,
  bee pollen and chocolate-flavoured protein
  tablets!

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Bruce Lee

• Im not a master, Im a student master.
• If someone comes at you with a sword, run if you
  can. Kung fu doesn't always work.
• Bruce Lees first breakthrough film was The Big
  Boss (1971). He had tried his luck in the US,
  but had managed only smaller roles in programmes
  such as Batman and the Green Hornet. But The
  Big Boss made him a star throughout Asia.
• His second movie, Fists of Fury (1972), firmly
• established him as an Asian superstar, and
  the third,
• Way of the Dragon (1972), led to his first
  US Hollywood
• movie, Enter the Dragon (1973).
• Lee seemed quicker than all the other martial
  arts stars,
• he also had the film-star looks and the
  charisma to
• break box-office records around the world.
• Kung fu films were here to stay!

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Bruce Lee

• Bruce Lee died, July 20th 1973. His brain had
  swollen to many times its real size. He was only
  32 years old.
• At the time, he was making Game of Death,' a
  film that involved Lee taking on various martial
  arts experts on his way to solving a criminal
  mystery
• During his short life, he also trained many film
  stars in the martial arts (developing his own
  style, Jeet Kune Do what Lee called the art of
  fighting without fighting.)
• Stars such as James Coburn, Steve McQueen
• and David Carradine all learned a great deal
  
• from him.
• Later, his son Brandon Lee became a star in
• his own right. During the filming of The
  Crow,
• Brandon was tragically
• killed by a bullet which was meant to have
  been a dummy.

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Bruce Lee

• Now look at these clips from You Tube, and see
  for yourself what all the fuss was about. Enjoy!

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