Bruce Lee, the Legend Page #2

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David, what's wrong with you? Mr. Chan

was merely offering to help us out.

We're from a poor family.

My sister will marry

a working man.

Cooking meals, washing clothes,

bearing children--

these are what

she'll be doing.

Any thoughts of

going to school...

or marrying a wealthy man

will bring her disappointment.

That's only one way

of looking at it. I think--

- Chan, I'm warning you.

- Warning?

Yes. If I see anyone from your family

seeing my sister...

or coming to my neighborhood,

I'm going to kill him!

David!

Are you out of your mind?

Mr. Chan,

you'd better excuse us.

All right.

Mr. Wong, I know you

dislike me very much.

However, I still want

to be your friend.

Uh, let's shake hands.

I don't follow foreign habits.

It is quite likely that Bruce would have

returned to San Francisco anyway...

as he needed to do so by the time he was

1 8 to confirm his American citizenship.

But the fact that things

were hotting up...

in his constant confrontations

with rival street gangs...

and his mother having to stand guarantor

for him to avoid police prosecution...

probably hastened his departure.

Bruce Lee took the next steamer

to the city of his birth.

On the way, he made extra money

giving dance lessons.

From San Francisco,

he moved quickly to Seattle.

A Chinese restaurant

called Ruby Chow's...

provided him with accommodation

in return for work.

He served in the restaurant

and lived in the attic.

Once established,

a dramatic change occurred.

He enrolled in high school,

and the school dropout...

became a diligent student.

He still practiced Gung Fu passionately,

but no longer on other people.

Graduating from high school,

he went to university

to study philosophy.

His art teacher still treasures

two of the drawings...

he did at the time.

Bruce was a good student.

His work with me

was always very ambitious.

I've no doubt he was the same

in all his classes.

For the ambitious Bruce Lee,

it wasn't enough

to be a good martial artist.

He had to be the best.

He taught Gung Fu

to a group of fellow students,

one of whom was a 1 9-year-old girl

called Linda Emery.

They were married and moved

into this small, but comfortable house.

The former bully

and man about town...

became the ideal husband and father

to Brandon, and later Shannon.

A Gung Fu demonstration

at Long Beach in 1 964...

turned out to be one of the most

important events in Bruce Lee's life.

It was seen by an acquaintance

of a television producer...

who was looking for someone to

play Charlie Chan's number-one son

in a proposed series.

A screen test of Bruce

was arranged.

Tell us your name,

age and where you were born.

My last name is Lee.

Bruce Lee.

I was born in San Francisco in 1 940.

I'm 2 4 right now.

And you worked in motion pictures

in Hong Kong?

Yes, since I was around 6.

When did you

leave Hong Kong?

1 959, when I was 1 8.

I see. Now look over to me,

Bruce, as we talk.

- You just had a baby boy.

- Yeah.

- You've lost some sleep

over it, have you?

- Three nights.

What time do they shoot pictures

in Hong Kong?

It's mostly

in the morning...

because it's kind of noisy

in Hong Kong.

Around three million people

there and so...

every time when

they have a picture,

it's mostly around 1 2 a.m.

to 5 a.m. in the morning.

Look directly into the camera.

Directly at it.

Now give me a 3/ 4 this way.

And hold it.

Give me a profile that way,

all the way.

Hold it.

Now come back to a profile

on the other side.

Hold that.

Give me a 3/ 4 on that side.

And then give me

right into the camera again.

Now the camera

will pull back.

First show me the movements...

in a classical Chinese theater.

- Classical Chinese theater?

- What we talked about in the office.

How they walk and move.

Well, in Chinese opera,

they have the warrior

and the scholar.

The way the warrior walk

will be something like this--

walking this way, straight,

come out, bend, straight,

and then walk out again.

An ordinary scholar would

be just like a female,

a weakling, 90 pounds.

He'll be just walking,

like a girl,

real shoulder up

and everything.

By the way they walk, you can

immediately tell who they are.

Right.

What character they represent.

Show some Gung Fu movements.

It is hard to show it alone,

but I will try to do my best.

One of the fellows

will walk in.

Yeah. Come on,

get in there.

Although accidents do happen--

There are various kinds

of strikes.

It depends on where you hit

and what weapon you will be using.

To the eyes,

you would use fingers.

Don't worry. I won't--

To the eyes,

or straight at the face.

From the waist,

everything up.

Let's move this gentleman this way--

So you're doing it more

into the camera. Okay, swell.

And then

there is an arm strike...

using the waist again

into a back flip.

Let's have the assistant director

back up just a ways.

Okay, go ahead. Continue.

Of course,

Gung Fu is very sneaky.

The Chinese,

they always hit low.

From high,

go back to the groin.

Turn the other way.

Okay.

Is this what you wanted?

These are just natural reactions.

Natural reactions.

Cheat into the camera a little bit.

Show us again.

There is a finger jab.

There is the punch.

There is the back fist

and then low.

Of course, then they use leg.

Straight at the groin or come up.

If I can back up,

they start from here

and then come back.

- All right.

- He looks kind of worried.

For various reasons,

the series was never produced,

but it led to the role of Kato

in the series The Green Hornet.

While the show was not

an overwhelming success--

it lasted 30 1 /2-hour episodes--

Bruce received favorable reviews...

and was probably

more popular than the star.

He had a small part in Marlowe

with james Garner.

And then came Longstreet.

- I'll be kicking.

- Ready.

1 , 2, 3!

Hii, hii, hii!

Are you all right?

That guy's fantastic!

What is this thing you do?

In Cantonese,jeet Kune Do,

the way of

the intercepting fist.

Intercepting fist?

Or foot.

Touch me anywhere you can.

You see? To reach me,

you must move to me.

Your attack offers me an opportunity

to intercept you.

In this case,

I'm using my longest weapon--

my side kick-- against

the nearest target, your kneecap.

This can be compared to your left jab in

boxing, except it's much more damaging.

I see.

Speaking of a left jab--

Oh!

This time I intercept

your emotional tenseness.

By now, Bruce Lee's jeet Kune Do classes

were so famous,

he could charge $27 5 an hour.

Even then, he could

pick and choose his students,

students like

Kareem Abdul-jabbar,

Steve McQueen and james Coburn.

However, Bruce Lee's

overriding ambition was Hollywood.

But Hollywood

was not responding.

The movie roles

were not forthcoming.

It was a bitter disappointment

when he was passed up...

for the lead

in the TV series Kung Fu.

He returned once again

to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, 1 97 0.

Apart from

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