Bruce Lee To Get Factual Biography

I was watching a special on Bruce Lee the other day with my son, and started thinking about what an influence he's had upon me. When I was a kid, I remember training in Kenpo Karate with a friend of mine. His instructors were both world champions, and he would go to class, then teach me every thing that he had learned. Not the best way to learn Kenpo, but it was a start. I had heard of Bruce Lee by that time, but really knew nothing about him. All that changed one day at the movies. When Game of Death came out in 1978, I went to see it with my Kenpo friend and was hooked.

It wasn't so much about the fight scenes, although the combat with Danny Inosanto is some of the most incredible ever filmed. It was more about his presence, about the way he moved and made you believe he could do anything. It was also my first exposure to the philosophical side of the martial arts, but hardly the last. I think I saw GoD five times in the next month, and I rushed right out and bought a copy of Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Soon, the walls of my room were covered with Bruce Lee posters (they were right next to the Farrah Fawcett ones), and I had read Tao cover to cover several times. There weren't a lot of JKD schools then, so it was Kenpo until I joined the Army. In the Army, I went to one of those badass schools where they teach you the ugly stuff, and was first exposed to JuJutsu. The rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, I've trained in JuJutsu and Judo, Aikido, Gracie Jiu Jitsu and even Krav Maga. One of these days, someone will open up a local JKD school and I'll be in heaven. Until then, I have his movies to interpret, his books to read and study, and his philosophy to analyze.

And then I found this story about a new Bruce Lee biography film, but this one made with the consent and input of Lee's family. Lee, of course, died 33 years ago, and his son, Brandon, 20 years later. Their combined influence on the world of martial arts can never be gauged, and I, for one, can't wait to see the the new biography.