Bruce Lee’s Passion in Martial Arts and Entertainment Free Essay Example

Bruce Lee is a man who acted upon his destiny and was very famous for all his achievements in America and China. His determination as an actor and martial artist made him a legend throughout the world even though he died from cerebral brain swelling at the age of 32. He is considered to be the “Greatest Martial Artist of the 20th Century” because his philosophies and insightful teachings have influenced many, including myself.

Since Lee was a man who made his dreams a reality he began his film career when he was six years old, brought the art of martial arts and film to America, and he also created his own style of martial arts called Jeet Kune Do.

Bruce lee His first screen appearance was at three months old in his father’s movie (Roensch 15-18). “This was the beginning, leading to over twenty motion picture roles and steadily increasing popularity among Hong Kong audiences” (“The Bruce Lee Story” 1). Some of the movies he had made were Enter the Dragon, Fists of Fury and The Return of the Dragon.

Even though Bruce Lee died so young, he still had the acting experience because he started acting when he was young. What is Jeet Kune Do? Simply put, it’s English translation is “way of the intercepting fist. ” Bruce studies all types of fighting from American Boxing to Thai Kickboxing. His simple philosophy was rather than block a punch and hit back with two distinct motions, why not intercept and hit in one, fluid stroke.

Fluidity was the ideal. “Try and obtain a nicely-tied package of water,” Bruce would taunt. “Just like water, we must keep moving on,” Inosanto reitterates.

“For once water stops, it becomes stagnant. Water, Bruce would always give as an example, is the toughtest thing on Earth. It is virtually indestructable; it is soft, yet it can tear rocks apart. Move like water. Bruce dissected rigid classical disciplines and rebuilt them with fluid, po-mo improvements. “It’s good but it needs restructuring,” he would say. Classical techniques did not take into account the reality of street fighting. Jeet Kune Do did. It was pragmatic, reality-based, empirical- not a bunch of stances, postures and mumbo jumbo handed down from antiquity. Second, he brought the art of martial arts and film to America.

The martial arts that he brought influenced many people in the U. S (Roensch 7). He also influenced many other Asians to act these days such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan (Roensch 9). When Bruce Lee auditioned for upcoming movies, he was turned down and was rejected because he was too “oriental” (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 3). Even though he was rejected in American movies, he was still able to make movies in Hong Kong. His goal was to make five movies in Hong Kong but he ended up making four and a half movies because he died during the fifth movie (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 3).

The movie that he didn’t finish was called Game of Death. Bruce Lee practiced the nunchaku with Mr. Dan Inosanto and this also made him famous. The nunchaku is made up of two short wooden or metal rods that are connected by a short chain. Mr. Dan Inosanto was one of Bruce Lee’s closest friends that taught him the art of the nunchaku (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 1-2). Before he made the movies in Hong Kong, he made a series of shows in America called “The Green Hornet” starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 1).

Despite popularity, he wanted to be known as an actor rather than a superstar. Bruce Lee had many famous quotes in various movies and interviews. One of them was “? The word ? superstar’ really turns me off, and I’ll tell you why because the word ? star,’ is an illusion, it is something-what the public calls you. You should look upon [yourself] as an actor. I mean you would be very pleased if somebody said, ? Hey man, you’re a super actor! ‘ It is much better than ? superstar'” (Little 132).

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