Bruce Lee Research Paper

Hard Fists and the Battle Call There was a man who made a promise; a man who swore to be the best; a man with ambition; a man who refused to lose; a man called Bruce Lee. Even now, after all these years, we still remember this name, and join the passion of this master’s soul. We can say that his spirit is not dead. His name has been linked in people’s words, and his image has been etched in people’s minds. From the hills and shores, we still listen to Bruce Lee’s battle call.
Childhood
Bruce Lee was born on the 27th of November, 1940 (the Chinese year of the Dragon) in the city of San Francisco. The reason that he was born there was because his father (a minor star of the Cantonese Opera Company) was touring the area at that
time (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). Often, young Bruce Lee would accompany his father to film shoots, and through his father 's connections, he was given roles in many films. Like many other Hong Kong Chinese kids, Bruce Lee spent much of his early years on the streets “as a self confessed trouble-maker” (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). During this period of his life, Bruce often found himself involved in street fights. One day Bruce was being bullied, and he then asked his parents to let him take Kung Fu lessons to defend himself. His parents agreed to pay for Kung Fu lessons from Sifu Yip Man, who was “a grand master of the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu” (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). Within only a few years, Yip Man had not only succeeded in training Bruce Lee in the physical aspects of the martial arts, but he also changed Bruce Lee 's mental focus and Lee was now becoming increasingly interested in the philosophical aspects of Kung Fu (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). However, in early 1959, Lee 's time under Yip Man came to a sad and abrupt ending. During a sparring match, a boy from the rival Kong Fu School gave Bruce a black eye. Bruce responded him by a series of devastating punches and high kicks. Although the boy escaped with only a lost tooth, his parents complained to the police and Bruce Lee soon found himself under arrest. Shortly afterwards, Lee 's parents send Bruce away from Hong Kong. And so, Bruce Lee was sent back to San Francisco, the city of his birth (Bruce Lee 's Childhood).
Family
Bruce was the third child of his parents, Lee Hou-Cheun, his father, and Gracie Lee, his mother. He had two older sisters, Phoebe and Agnes, an older brother, Peter, and a younger brother, Robert. They all lived in a small, overpopulated two room flat on “218 Nathan Road, Kowloon” (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). Bruce spent his early years with his family in Hong Kong. Later, upon arrival in the US, Lee settled in Seattle, Washington, and finished high school at Edison. He earned money giving dance lessons and waiting tables. After graduating, he entered the University of Washington, where he majored in philosophy. To support his education, Lee worked at Ruby Chow 's, a popular Seattle restaurant, living in the restaurant attic and working at night as a busboy and waiter. In spite of financial hardship, he never asked his parents for money. After a few months of restaurant life, Lee quit and began teaching Kung Fu to his fellow students. One of those students was Linda Emery, whom Lee married in 1964 (Judith S. et al). Brandon Lee (born 1965) and Shannon Lee (born 1967) were Bruce Lee 's only children (Bruce Lee). His daughter Shannon Lee is still living. She has had a few parts in some movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, Brandon Lee, Bruce 's son, died young like his father. He was killed in a shooting accident in 1993 while filming a movie (Brennan).
Accomplishments
Martial arts and street fighting, however, were not Bruce Lee 's only pastimes as a teenager.
When Bruce Lee was 14 years old he enrolled for dancing lessons and later went on to become the Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong! (Bruce Lee 's Childhood). He began his film career as an adult after graduating from the University of Washington. He appeared as the Asian houseboy Kato in the television series "The Green Hornet" in 1966 and 1967 (Brennan). Lee then returned to Hong Kong, where he gained stardom in martial arts films, such as “Fist of Fury” (1972), “The Chinese Connection” (1972), “Enter the Dragon” (1973), and “The Return of the Dragon” (1973) (Brennan). By the end of 1972, Lee was a major movie star in Asia (Bruce Lee). And also as many people know that Bruce Lee founded the martial art “Jeet Kune Do” in his early twenties, which, from the Cantonese, translates into “The Way of the Intercepting Fist” (Jeet Kune Do). Lee is without question the most influential martial arts figure in recent times, and some say ever. His methods have touched many martial arts systems, changing all for the better. It made them more self defense effective (Jeet Kune
Do).
Obstacles
In 1970, Bruce Lee 's worst nightmare became a reality when he received a massive back injury during a weight lifting session (Zia). The diagnosis was that Bruce had injured his fourth sacral nerve. Bruce was told by his doctors that not only would he be bedridden for several months, but he would never be able to practice Kung Fu again (Zia). Depressed and barely able to move, Bruce stayed at home looking after Brandon and new arrival Shannon while his wife, Linda, worked as a receptionist with an answering service. With his body almost completely out of action, Bruce decided to focus his energy on his mind and began an intensive academic self study on martial arts. Eventually his notes filled “eight, two-inch thick notebooks,” and years later these notes would be edited by Linda and published as "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do" (Zia). Bruce Lee was a strong believer in the power of the mind and refused to accept that he would be disabled for life. Sure enough, in time (six months) Bruce slowly and gradually reintroduced his body to the stresses of training again. Within one year Bruce seemed to be back to his old self- as fast, strong and flexible as ever. However, off screen and in private, he would suffer chronic back pain for the rest of his life (Zia).
End of Life For a vibrant man in such superb physical condition, Lee was obsessed with death.
He talked often of dying young. That he died a thousand deaths on the screen only seemed to emphasize his mortality. When he did die suddenly on 20 July 1973, while in the midst of filming his fifth film, “Game of Death,” rumors of foul play circulated endlessly (Judith S. et al). The official version, according to the New York Times, was that he had died in the apartment of his mistress in Hong Kong, of a “cerebral edema,” or brain swelling, after an adverse reaction to aspirin which he had been taking for a back injury. Other reports stated the Lee 's long and rigorous training schedule had literally exhausted him to death. Another theory suggested he had been given an untraceable oriental poison (Judith S. et al). Still more outrageous variations said that Lee had been given what was known in martial arts legends as the "death touch" by a rival master. Other rumors circulated that Lee had been murdered by the Chinese Mafia or greedy film producers with whom he had refused to work (Judith S. et
al). With the great sarrow, people lose Bruce Lee. A great person’s death, at all times, must be a tragedy for all humans and the world. Bruce Lee’s body is tired, and let him get some rest; but his spirit should be inherited. Everybody falls sometimes, and people need to find the strength to rise. If life is a hard game, don’t blame. It’s a chance to arise the aim. And let the spirit be brave, always fight to hold the name. No matter how bad or rough, people should not surrender. Bruce Lee used his short life struggling between the ideality and the realism for the value of life, by which he defined the essence of his life. He did prove to everybody his value, and let everyone knows his name. This is Bruce Lee, the legend.

Works Cited
Brennan, Shawn. "Lee, Bruce." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. "Bruce Lee." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale, 1998.Student Resources In Context. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. "Bruce Lee 's Childhood." Bruce Lee 's Childhood. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. "Bruce Lee." Notable Asian Americans. Ed. Helen Zia and Susan B. Gall. Detroit: Gale, 1995. Biography In Context. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. "Jeet Kune Do and the World of Bruce Lee 's Martial Art." Jeet Kune Do. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.