"If you want to be accomplished in kung fu, you have to abandon all the dross of traditional martial arts and take the simplified, direct essence of martial arts." The martial artists you are talking about, the moves and traditional techniques they teach, are all 'organized and broken', which will only mislead people and cause them to get out of actual combat. ”
If Ma Baoguo, the "Grandmaster of a Generation", could have read this passage earlier, he probably wouldn't have rushed to the competition and slammed the opponent's fist three times with his own face, right? Unfortunately, Ma Baoguo was a little late.
This passage comes from a letter written by Bruce Lee to Takeyuki Kimura on April 18, 1966. Kimura was a disciple of Bruce Lee who had previously practiced judo but lost interest in martial arts after being injured several times. Kimura was 35 years old when he met Bruce Lee, while Bruce Lee was only 19 years old. Bruce Lee once asked his disciples not to open martial arts halls in the name of boxing, but only to teach them on a small scale, but allowed Kimura to open martial arts halls. It can be seen that Bruce Lee has great trust in Kimura and pours his heart into it.
The letter was included in Bruce Lee's Letters: Kung Fu, Performance, and Life. In the book, readers can also see a pluralistic Bruce Lee, bringing readers a new understanding.
Bruce Lee Shinsa: Kung Fu, Performance and Life by Bruce Lee, translated by Li Qian, houlang | Tianjin People's Publishing House, June 2020
The letters confirm Bruce Lee's turbulent life
Bruce Lee's life was short, but a few ups and downs. From the arduous study abroad career to the struggle for fame, to the sudden mental collapse after fame, many details are presented in the book, and many details are quite vivid.
On April 29, 1959, when bruce Lee was 18 years old and studying in the United States, on board, he wrote to his companions: "The first friend I met after getting on the ship was an Indian, and we had a good conversation. He asked me to teach him cha-cha-cha-dancing. Bruce Lee learned this dance, and after coming to the United States, he once taught dance for a living. In the letter, Bruce Lee complained: "The bar on the ship needs money to drink anything, even Coca-Cola, and I prefer to drink tap water." When taking a bath, because he did not know the adjustable water temperature, Bruce Lee "washed more and more hot, so hot that I couldn't stand it."
In the letters, the mentality of Bruce Lee at different times is conveyed in a tortuous manner.
For example, in the November 1972 "To the Kirin", Bruce Lee wrote: "When you judge your life with a pair of wise eyes, you will undoubtedly know yourself better, and understand that all things outside the body are shadows and shallow abnormalities." In other words, self-knowledge is freedom. ”
Qilin is Xiao Qilin (小麒麟), whose real name is Chen Yuanzong, has performed on the Cantonese opera stage with his father since childhood, and befriended Bruce Lee in his youth, and the two of them called themselves the "Four Tigers of Dragon City" with Yu Zai and Guang Tsai. After Gaining a certain reputation in the United States, Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong and, with the help of Chan Won-chung, performed boxing on television. Unable to accept Shaw's offer of a pay of only $2,000 per film, Bruce Lee left Hong Kong. In the later "Raptors Crossing the River", Chen Yuanzong volunteered as a martial arts instructor.
At the time of writing this letter, Bruce Lee was preparing to make "Game of Death", and was under great pressure in work, life, and relationships, and the film gave up in February of the following year. From the last sentence of "To the Unicorn": "One more sentence: Inner energy and external physical strength can guide you to achieve your lifelong wishes - to implement your responsibilities as human beings." On the surface, it is talking about martial arts, but there is no lack of "knowing that it cannot be done", as if it is written to yourself who is in a difficult situation and wants to go and stay.
Some of the letters bear witness to history.
Stills from Game of Death starring Bruce Lee.
On July 20, 1973, in To Adrian Marshall, Bruce Lee wrote: "On August 25, I will be with Linda
(Bruce Lee's wife)
We met in Los Angeles and set out to prepare for our return, hoping all the best. ”
Adrian Marshall is Bruce Lee's lawyer, and Bruce Lee wants to discuss personal income tax with him during his trip to the United States. A few hours after the letter was sent, Bruce Lee died. It was 7 days later that Marshall received the letter. Judging from the letter, Bruce Lee's itinerary to the United States was fully arranged, and it was obvious that he did not expect to die suddenly. Life is so impermanent that it is lamentable to read.
The great hero who loves his wife vs the merciless merry wanderer everywhere
It's worth noting that when it comes to Bruce Lee, his wife Linda is often overlooked.
On the one hand, Linda is An American of Irish descent, which does not fit well with the "human design" of Bruce Lee's patriot and Representative of Chinese Martial Arts. Bruce Lee, on the other hand, died, and Linda married Lee's disciple Tom. Because Tom wrote a book about Bruce Lee, Linda was dissatisfied, and the two divorced. In 1991, Linda married stockbroker James, and the marriage ended in divorce. If Linda is only seen as a supporting role for Bruce Lee, the second half of her life obviously did not add color to Bruce Lee, so people chose to ignore it collectively.
Bruce Lee had many lovers, joe before marriage
(Filipino)
, Louise, Amy
(Japanese)
After marriage, there are more legends in the anecdotal miao kexiu, Ding Pei, Li died in Ding's home, which makes people feel that Linda is dispensable.
However, in Bruce Lee's Letters: Kung Fu, Performance, and Life, at least half of the letters were addressed to Linda. For a long time, Bruce Lee wandered around in order to become famous, but repeatedly ran into a wall, and in the letter, Linda was the one who was often forced to listen to his complaints and talk.
Bruce Lee with his wife Linda.
The letters prove that Bruce Lee was indeed more sentimental.
After Bruce Lee arrived in the United States, he first went to high school, and there seemed to be a relationship during the period, and in the letter, he wrote full of routine: "Recently, I often go to the movies to reassure myself and motivate myself. Next, he turned his pen sharply, hoping that the girl would go with him to accept "self-soothing, self-motivation."
During Edison Vocational School, Bruce Lee fell in love with his classmate Diana and copied a sentence from "The Mean" for her: "Eager to learn is almost known."
(Wisdom)
, practicing is almost benevolent, and knowing shame is almost courageous. ”
After marrying Linda, Bruce Lee's main way to please his wife was to "buy, buy, buy".
In his letters, Bruce Lee often said "for you."
(Referring to Linda)
Pick some clothes and tell me about your clothes
(bust, etc.)
"Tell me about your head circumference and wig size," which might also be an ingenious way to get Linda to keep writing to him. At that time, hong Kong prices were very cheap, and a set of wigs only cost 350-450 Hong Kong dollars, which was half cheaper than that of the United States.
In the letter to Linda, Bruce Lee talked more about the work, such as which role he was fighting for, who he was about to sign, and many efforts ended in failure. So why did Bruce Lee talk about things that hadn't yet succeeded? Why do you repeatedly brag about your achievements in your letters?
In a letter to Linda on June 6, 1971, Bruce Lee said, "The cover of the next issue of Black Belt magazine is me. If you have time to buy it, maybe you will find it interesting. In another letter written in 1971, Bruce Lee said: "I wrote this letter to tell you the following things: 1. 'Blind Pursuit' was a great success, and as soon as my role appeared, it immediately caused a warm response..."
The letters revealed a certain vulnerability within Bruce Lee—his particular desire to be appreciated by the closest and most trusted person, and Linda was that person. In the letter, Bruce Lee mentioned his and Linda's children so frequently and sent his son's paintings to Linda. Bruce Lee had an almost obsessive desire for warmth, which may have something to do with his father being too harsh. Bruce Lee worked so hard that he kept himself unusually busy. He always felt that he had not met his father's expectations. This sense of guilt made Bruce Lee more ambitious than ordinary people, and it also made it more difficult for him to get rid of emotional entanglement.
Thus, there were two Bruce Lee: one was a great hero who loved his wife and children, and the other was a lover who embraced left and right, and was merciful everywhere.
Bruce Lee's classic screen image.
Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy: The ultimate goal of Kung Fu is to streamline
In Bruce Lee Shinzo: Kung Fu, Performance, and Life, Bruce Lee talks about his martial arts philosophy many times, which is clearly the most fascinating part of the book. In collaboration with Takeyuki Kimura and Lee Joon-joo
(The father of Taekwondo in the United States)
, Fred Sato
(Judo)
, Li Hongxin
(Early disciple)
In correspondence with others, Bruce Lee expressed his penetrating wisdom.
June 21, 1966, in a letter to William Dozil
(Producer of the TV series "Green Hornet", Bruce Lee became famous for participating in this film)
In his letter, Bruce Lee wrote: "The ultimate goal of Kung Fu is to streamline — to express yourself to the maximum extent with the fewest moves, with the least amount of force — and the performance is much the same." ”
Addressed to Vicky in the same year
(A fan of "Green Hornet")
In the letter, Bruce Lee said: "Splitting bricks is just a stunt, not worth practicing deliberately, let alone a girl like you." The goal of the exercise should be based on real martial arts skills, if you want to smash something, use a hammer. ”
Bruce Lee with a double-cut stick.
In a letter to Takeyuki Kimura dated April 18, 1966, Bruce Lee commented on Aikido: "That's simply not realistic. There may be some masters among them, but his strength can only be reflected when he moves with the same door, and only such an opponent will cooperate with him and be swayed by the 'flowing qi' in his body. This passage is obviously also suitable for evaluating "Tai Chi Master" Yan Fang.
Although traditional martial arts have always wanted to expropriate Bruce Lee, from the letters, Bruce Lee did not trust traditional martial arts very much, and scorned luck, tricks, and divine skills. On the contrary, he pays more attention to speed, strength, and rationality, emphasizing that what is useful in actual combat is martial arts. Bruce Lee practiced tai chi in his early years and later Wing Chun, but he has always looked at things with a critical eye, which is very different from the deliberate emphasis on his being the inheritor of traditional martial arts.
Bruce Lee and Wing Chun master Ip Man.
In fact, Bruce Lee not only pays attention to the philosophy of martial arts, but also "detail control", and even trivial matters such as clothing, wooden stake making, internal furnishings of the martial arts hall, and the design of the martial arts hall logo will continue to be asked. In Hong Kong, the young Bruce Lee was a standard scum, but from the letters, he later dabbled in a wide range of books and read an astonishing amount. In a letter to Li Junjiu, he quoted a poem he had written, an excerpt from which reads:
Many people are eager to get ahead But they are afraid of failure and become mediocre However, we can do it We can be our ideal selves …… Believers, practitioners, accomplished fame And the doubtful one But it is impossible to look at it from a distance
Statue of Bruce Lee on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong.
Successful people must cross all the areas they know, even if they can't do the best, they must do their best. Bruce Lee is not a poet, not a philosopher, not a movie emperor, not even a boxing champion, but he can fuse all of this, I am afraid that Bruce Lee is the only one, so he is immortal.
Written by Tangshan
Edited by Xu Wei
Proofreading Wang Xin