Bruce Lee, The Greatest Martial Arts Action Hero

By Clint Leung

Before Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude VanDamme, there was Bruce Lee. In a way, it is a real shame thatmany of today's generation of action film fans have never beenexposed to Bruce Lee because he was perhaps the greatest martialarts action hero of all time. His martial arts on film may nothave been as fancy as say Jackie Chan's or Jet Li's but his onscreen ferocity and charisma are unequalled. Even more importantwas the impact on martial arts that Bruce Lee had which stillendures today even over 30 years since his passing.

Bruce Lee always considered himself a martial artist first andan actor second. As a martial artist, he was way ahead of histime in developing his own style of martial arts he called jeetkune do. His martial arts incorporated the most practicaltechniques from various combative disciplines as he moved awayfrom the traditional and classical techniques. His martial artsabilities were real and respected by other prominent martialartists like Jhoon Rhee, Chuck Norris, Ed Parker and Joe Lewis.His name was inducted into the prestigious Black Belt Hall ofFame twice, once while he was alive and the other after hisdeath. These are honors that no other martial arts action herohas ever come close to. Martial arts schools in North Americaenjoyed a huge growth in enrollment because of Bruce Lee.

North America got an early glimpse of Bruce Lee when he playedKato in the Green Hornet television series and a bit role in themovie

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Marlowe. He went to Hong Kong and made a few films likeFists of Fury (called the Big Boss in the Asia market) and theChinese Connection which made him a huge star in Asia. Bruce Leealso wrote, directed and starred in his own movie productioncalled the Way of the Dragon which featured perhaps one of thegreatest martial arts fight scenes ever. This scene took placein the Roman Coliseum and was with Chuck Norris which gaveNorris his first film start. It was Enter the Dragon that brokehim to North America. Unfortunately, he died tragically at theage of 32 in 1973 before he was able to witness the success ofthat movie. At the time of Lee's death, he had completed thefight scenes for another movie called Game of Death whichfeatured basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabar, who was actuallyone of his martial arts students. Other students of Bruce Leeincluded actors Steve McQueen and James Coburn. Game of Deathwas completed with look-alike actors later on.

One of the most significant contributions Bruce Lee made is thathe opened the door for other Asians in the entertainmentindustry worldwide. He was the first Asian to achieve anysignificant success in the North American entertainment scene.He became a star in North America and the rest of the world byplaying heroes rather than past stereotype roles for Asians suchas like servants, gangsters, laundry workers or other 'pigtailcoolie' characters. On an even greater scale, Bruce Lee gaveAsians, particularly the Chinese people worldwide, a reason tobe proud. Bruce Lee influenced them to be confident in pushingforward to achieve their goals no matter what field they werein.

About the author:Clint Leung is a lifelong martial artist with over 32 years oftraining experience in kung fu, tae kwon do, karate, kickboxingand martial arts weaponry. He has won Canadian and worldchampionship titles (NASKA, NBL and WSKF). He is also owner ofFree Spirit Activewear (http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com) ,an online retailer and designer of premium martial artsactivewear. Free Spirit Activewear has martial arts infoarticles.