Bruce Lee - Part II

by
College Directory Columnist

May 7, 2010

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Before returning to the United States, with $15 from his father, and $100 from his mother, Bruce Lee had defeated the reigning three years High School Box Champion, Gary Elms, and had won the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship while in Hong Kong.

After living in San Francisco for several months, with an old friend of his father's and working odd jobs around the various Chinese communities, he moved to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow. Ruby's husband was a co-worker and also a friend of his father. Bruce lived in a room above her restaurant while working as a waiter downstairs.

It was during this time he began teaching Martial Art skills in backyards and city parks, which soon lead him to film and television roles.

He called what he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally Bruce Lee's Kung Fu). It was basically his approach to Wing Chun. Lee opened his first martial arts school, named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, in Seattle.

Bruce Lee was the founder of the Jeet Kune Do which core concepts are derived from Wing Chun. Jeet Kune Do emblem is a registered trade mark held by the Bruce Lee Estate.

The Chinese characters around the Taijitu symbol indicate: "Using no way as way" & "Having no limitation as limitation" The arrows represent the endless interaction between yang and yin.

At the Age of 21 Bruce enrolled at the University of Washington, and there is a controversy about in which career he majored.

According to the information given by the University of Washington's alumni association, he didn't major in philosophy, he did it in drama. They consider he most likely also studied philosophy, psychology, among other subjects. But Lee himself and many others claimed the contrary.

Although Bruce Lee is best known as a martial artist he attended the University of Washington from 1960 to 1963 and left before graduating, but it was at the University of Washington where Bruce met who was meant to be his wife Linda Emery, a United States' American teacher. Bruce married her in August 1964. They had two children, Brandon Lee (1965-1993) and Shannon Lee (*1969).

In the 1970s his films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, increasing and improving all over the world the interest in Chinese martial arts.

Bruce Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world. He still remains very popular among Asian people, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism through his films.