Thank you Kerry. And I’m loving all this knowledge on Bruce. What a legend, isn’t he? This might be a good excuse to go down the rabbit hole of research: but did anyone really ever figured out how exactly he died?
Studying Bruce Lee’s life is a journey worthy of the time and effort. His daughter Shannon currently controls the family business and is, though she was a mere toddler when he passed-away, the most truthfully reliable source of all things related to her dad. Soon after his passing, Shannon’s mother, Linda Lee, wrote a book titled “The Man Only I Knew”. There’s fresh and factual details, many painful, that’s not commonly included in the current state of his lore. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend it. Look up Shannon Lee on Amazon and IG, she recently published Be Water My Friend, she’s an incredibly gifted writer, just like both of her parents.
Hey Nick- Good point on Bruce. I have heard that there are others whose skills surpass his (which is hard for me to imagine), but then again I don't know martial arts. Which do you practice? I heard judo is surprisingly tough. And yes, as far as your Greek name, I'll bet the added cred would be nice. Did you ever learn what the original Greek name your dad has?
Bruce was born Li Jun-Fan, Li was changed to Lee to westernize the spelling.
“... others whose skills surpass his (which is hard for me to imagine), ...” It’s hard to imagine (because you’re obviously smart) and very much not likely. There’s only one sharpest-point on any needle, as relates to the martial arts, Bruce is still it, by skill, accomplishment, perpetual global influence and legacy, or any other relevant measure.
It’s very likely—there’s a lot of very high level people out there who you’ll never hear of or meet, especially if you’re not fluent in Chinese and travelling in the mainland. Bruce was a great practitioner, but would have been a nobody to most people in the West were it not for great marketing skills, PR abilities, and a successful Hollywood career. These things have been extensively written about in actual academic detail by martial arts historians like Ellis Amdur. I’m pretty sure both Wang Shu Jin and Morihei Ueshiba, among others, would have kicked the crap out of him, adjusting a bit in age and meeting place and time, among many others.
Ah, I never got this notification, I think because you replied to yourself, the original post, and not me?
My longtime art is aikido, but I’ve practiced various Chinese martial arts as well. Judo and aikido both come from Classical Japanese martial arts, aka Budo and Koryu. Arts aren’t tough; people are—speaking of Bruce Lee, it’s the same reason that the number of well known modern disciples of JKD, the art Bruce made, since his demise is…roughly 0. Because it was simply the natural fusion of one man’s idiosyncratic training, which he realized through his own distinct training and brawling. Fusion insights tend not to be passed down very well.
Currently, I’m on my own fusion path, you could say, and I’ve also done some teaching over the 20+ years since I started training.
My current inspiration is following a guy’s methods by the name of Dan Harden. He started in Classical Japanese arts, but then branched out to internal Chinese principles (which I think every great martial artist finds themselves going to as the source, after awhile). He is one of the greatest martial artists I’ve ever experienced touching. And he actually teaches what he does. He would probably be a fascinating person to interview on some level, but wouldn’t likely agree to it. Advanced martial artists tend to be a bit of a prickly bunch. When I went to his seminar, he referenced Bruce Lee’s 1 inch punch, and said to me, “how about a 0 inch punch?” Laid his hand on my chest, and sent a wave of energy through whole body motion from
The ground up into me that sent me back flying 3 feet. This is what we call Real Aiki.
I felt something similar in the past from the founder of my aikido style, and wrote an essay about my experience with him, it’s #2 on this page:
Great entry, I really like your conceptual frameworks. I think our minds work in some inversely parallel double helix sorta ways.
Of course, like many successful American personalities, Bruce was not his name, his real name was: Lee Jun-fan (李振藩). Like many HK people since the British takeover, he adopted a secondary English name, which is how he became known in the west. He was surely great, but too bad he died so young, I don’t think he really reached his potential actually, I have practiced with people beyond his skill level, I’m pretty sure, because they had a few more decades under their belt.
As a musician as well as a martial artist, I’ve also thought about these things in the past, especially as my dad’s dad came to New York on a boat in 1910 at the age of 16–his surname was a very unwieldy Greek one, but he changed it to a generic Germanic one, for reasons I was never told or understood, to fit in I guess. I could probably gain some kind of cred or identity by changing it back or using it..but at this point my fake real name is me, and it’s just a name after all, so does it really matter, in the end? It’s all just symbols.
Very interesting, well-written piece - the first section drew me right in .. as well musings on the impact of names .. may I suggest the piece might be more effective if you separated these out into shorter pieces? And prompted comments at the end? I almost didn’t get to the Einstein/etc part bc of the bridge between it and the personal story....
Hey Ethan- thanks for reading and welcome to our newsletter. :) I’m always open to making the post better. Which part of the post did you get up to before the bridge?
Hi Thalia - All subjective of course ... I loved the first part then 2/3 it seemed to turn philosophical, without a hook or transition to the next piece? the next two sections were clearly related. but felt to me like separate thoughts.
Generally I’ve found ppl respond better to more complex pieces if they’re cut into stand alone chapters, and then sent out in sequence over a bit of time? I find (not always but mostly) in-piece illustrations and comment tabs distract from the story ... but thank you and I will keep reading your pieces!
Hey Marco- Thanks for dropping by. If you're Italian-Mexican-Venezuelan American, then you're covered as far as good food is concerned. Can't honestly say I've found good Venezuelan restaurants though. Any recommendations?
I’m sure she would do it for free! That’s actually a fun idea for a video, maybe I’ll record her making them and post in on my Substack as a special feature
Thanks, Liz. Did the teacher just burp? Liz doesn’t seem to be a particularly difficult name? But then again who am I talking. My name is impossible 😂.
Thank you Kerry. And I’m loving all this knowledge on Bruce. What a legend, isn’t he? This might be a good excuse to go down the rabbit hole of research: but did anyone really ever figured out how exactly he died?
No, it’s one of those points of utter cryptic mystery which will never be resolved.
Studying Bruce Lee’s life is a journey worthy of the time and effort. His daughter Shannon currently controls the family business and is, though she was a mere toddler when he passed-away, the most truthfully reliable source of all things related to her dad. Soon after his passing, Shannon’s mother, Linda Lee, wrote a book titled “The Man Only I Knew”. There’s fresh and factual details, many painful, that’s not commonly included in the current state of his lore. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend it. Look up Shannon Lee on Amazon and IG, she recently published Be Water My Friend, she’s an incredibly gifted writer, just like both of her parents.
I reckon Don Inosanto would be a much better source of info via direct experience.
Hey Nick- Good point on Bruce. I have heard that there are others whose skills surpass his (which is hard for me to imagine), but then again I don't know martial arts. Which do you practice? I heard judo is surprisingly tough. And yes, as far as your Greek name, I'll bet the added cred would be nice. Did you ever learn what the original Greek name your dad has?
Bruce was born Li Jun-Fan, Li was changed to Lee to westernize the spelling.
“... others whose skills surpass his (which is hard for me to imagine), ...” It’s hard to imagine (because you’re obviously smart) and very much not likely. There’s only one sharpest-point on any needle, as relates to the martial arts, Bruce is still it, by skill, accomplishment, perpetual global influence and legacy, or any other relevant measure.
Enjoying your writing, good stuff 🙂
It’s very likely—there’s a lot of very high level people out there who you’ll never hear of or meet, especially if you’re not fluent in Chinese and travelling in the mainland. Bruce was a great practitioner, but would have been a nobody to most people in the West were it not for great marketing skills, PR abilities, and a successful Hollywood career. These things have been extensively written about in actual academic detail by martial arts historians like Ellis Amdur. I’m pretty sure both Wang Shu Jin and Morihei Ueshiba, among others, would have kicked the crap out of him, adjusting a bit in age and meeting place and time, among many others.
Ah, I never got this notification, I think because you replied to yourself, the original post, and not me?
My longtime art is aikido, but I’ve practiced various Chinese martial arts as well. Judo and aikido both come from Classical Japanese martial arts, aka Budo and Koryu. Arts aren’t tough; people are—speaking of Bruce Lee, it’s the same reason that the number of well known modern disciples of JKD, the art Bruce made, since his demise is…roughly 0. Because it was simply the natural fusion of one man’s idiosyncratic training, which he realized through his own distinct training and brawling. Fusion insights tend not to be passed down very well.
Currently, I’m on my own fusion path, you could say, and I’ve also done some teaching over the 20+ years since I started training.
My current inspiration is following a guy’s methods by the name of Dan Harden. He started in Classical Japanese arts, but then branched out to internal Chinese principles (which I think every great martial artist finds themselves going to as the source, after awhile). He is one of the greatest martial artists I’ve ever experienced touching. And he actually teaches what he does. He would probably be a fascinating person to interview on some level, but wouldn’t likely agree to it. Advanced martial artists tend to be a bit of a prickly bunch. When I went to his seminar, he referenced Bruce Lee’s 1 inch punch, and said to me, “how about a 0 inch punch?” Laid his hand on my chest, and sent a wave of energy through whole body motion from
The ground up into me that sent me back flying 3 feet. This is what we call Real Aiki.
I felt something similar in the past from the founder of my aikido style, and wrote an essay about my experience with him, it’s #2 on this page:
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25253
My Greek family name is Anagnostopoulos.
Great entry, I really like your conceptual frameworks. I think our minds work in some inversely parallel double helix sorta ways.
Of course, like many successful American personalities, Bruce was not his name, his real name was: Lee Jun-fan (李振藩). Like many HK people since the British takeover, he adopted a secondary English name, which is how he became known in the west. He was surely great, but too bad he died so young, I don’t think he really reached his potential actually, I have practiced with people beyond his skill level, I’m pretty sure, because they had a few more decades under their belt.
As a musician as well as a martial artist, I’ve also thought about these things in the past, especially as my dad’s dad came to New York on a boat in 1910 at the age of 16–his surname was a very unwieldy Greek one, but he changed it to a generic Germanic one, for reasons I was never told or understood, to fit in I guess. I could probably gain some kind of cred or identity by changing it back or using it..but at this point my fake real name is me, and it’s just a name after all, so does it really matter, in the end? It’s all just symbols.
Very interesting, well-written piece - the first section drew me right in .. as well musings on the impact of names .. may I suggest the piece might be more effective if you separated these out into shorter pieces? And prompted comments at the end? I almost didn’t get to the Einstein/etc part bc of the bridge between it and the personal story....
Lol. Kids really are something aren’t they. 🤦🏻♀️
Ah yes! I think I remember seeing her book! I love the water analogy. It really hits home … Anything else that stood out in that book to you, Kerry?
Hey Ethan- thanks for reading and welcome to our newsletter. :) I’m always open to making the post better. Which part of the post did you get up to before the bridge?
Hi Thalia - All subjective of course ... I loved the first part then 2/3 it seemed to turn philosophical, without a hook or transition to the next piece? the next two sections were clearly related. but felt to me like separate thoughts.
Generally I’ve found ppl respond better to more complex pieces if they’re cut into stand alone chapters, and then sent out in sequence over a bit of time? I find (not always but mostly) in-piece illustrations and comment tabs distract from the story ... but thank you and I will keep reading your pieces!
Great insight Ethan- Looking forward to more.
Love it!!!!
Thanks Caroline. Which part did you enjoy? 🙏🏻
Thinking lots about the idea of a joke being an honest lie....what a quote.
Yeah—nothing really is funny unless we sense there’s some element of truth in it, that we’d usually have to “hide” and lie about afterwards…
FYI:
http://www.jodo.net/blog/bruce-lee-vs-donn-draeger-september-2010
so glad you gave me a follow, i just found your lovely page!
Hey Marco- Thanks for dropping by. If you're Italian-Mexican-Venezuelan American, then you're covered as far as good food is concerned. Can't honestly say I've found good Venezuelan restaurants though. Any recommendations?
Miami is the best I’ve had, outside of my abuelas kitchen
Get me with your abuela. I'll wash her feet to get her recipe :)
I’m sure she would do it for free! That’s actually a fun idea for a video, maybe I’ll record her making them and post in on my Substack as a special feature
Definitely wouldn’t mind it :)
Gotta go to where people know how to make a good arepa :)
Best ones I ever had were in San Francisco and around.
Happen to remember where in SF?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bctbjyWfbDKoSr7L8?g_st=ic
Lovely piece. My friends called me "Burp" in high school because a teacher had trouble pronouncing my name. It stuck in a big way.
Thanks, Liz. Did the teacher just burp? Liz doesn’t seem to be a particularly difficult name? But then again who am I talking. My name is impossible 😂.
It became Eliza"burp" LOL.
I just subscribed to your Substack! I love your global lit Project
Thank you! I’ve subscribed to yours too! Looking forward to more recommendations!