Things You Don’t Know About Bruce Lee

Lee Jun-fan born November 27, 1940, known professionally as Bruce Lee, was a Hong Kong American actor, director, martial artist, martial arts instructor and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is often credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee is considered by commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.

Enough with the intro. Now let’s get back to our discussion topic.

1. Young Bruce Lee came back to America because there was a hit out on his life.
Lee destroyed an opponent with ties to organized crime in a bout. This was a problem, so his parents sent him back to the States. He also only had $100 in his pocket. That's $800 in today's dollars, but still. Bruce ended up moving in with family friends in Seattle, Washington. He enrolled in a vocational school so he could earn a high school diploma, which would make him eligible to attend the University of Washington.
2. He made so many famous martial arts students.
During Bruce Lee's lift time he came in contact and made friends with many people that spanned from the average guy who may have been a student to popular actors of the time. Bruce's first ever student is Jessie Glover in Seattle, he trained with Lee for about 5 years sometimes more than once a day and is considered an authority on Lee's style of training..
When he began teaching his Jeet Kune Do style of martial arts, Lee only certified 4 people personally as instructors. These 4 are; James Yimm Lee, Ted Wong, Dan Inosanto and Taky Kimura. Dan Inosanto has trained most of the Jeet Kune Do instructors after Bruce Lee's death.

Inosanto certified instructors for over 30 years which gave all of them direct lineage contact with Lee through him. Inosanto and taky Kimura were allowed to teach only small groups of students after Lee's death. Other students of Bruce Lee were Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Mike Stone who all where already martial artist.
We all know about Chuck Norris being Lee's opponent in the movie Return of the Dragon in the famous coliseum fight. Norris was already an accomplished martial artist when he met Lee, having learned Tang Soo Do in Korea while in the Air Force and competing and teaching back in the U.S.A.
The actor James Coburn could be found hanging out with Lee and was one of his students. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a basketball star in the A.B.A and the N.B.A. was a student and was in Bruce Lee's Game of Death as the last of the characters that Lee fought while going up the pagoda. Steve McQueen brought his son to Bruce for martial arts instruction. Chuck Norris had also instructed his son.

3. Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen are good Friends.
Steve McQueen, aka “The King of Cool”, who died seven years after Lee, was one of the industry’s most popular leading men, especially in action films. Lee and McQueen had much in common and were thick as thieves. One of the stories you may have heard is that Lee and McQueen were both good acquaintances of Jay Sebring, the celebrity hairstylist who was tragically murdered along with Tate by Charles Manson’s followers. When Lee first relocated to California, Sebring was one of his private kung fu clients and connected him with McQueen. McQueen soon became one of Lee’s students. Slowly, they became friends. Known for toughness on and off screen, McQueen dealt with an abusive stepfather and as a teen, was part of a street gang. He learned how to fight at a young age and found himself in physical altercations when he was in the military too. According to Matthew Polly’s Bruce Lee: A Life, Lee was somewhat of a “gang leader” in school. Polly wrote Lee “offered protection to those willing to follow him.” But the ones who did admired him and Lee had a reputation for challenging other tough kids to fights. With that in mind, Lee and McQueen had similar natures and a lot in common. Per Polly, Lee said about McQueen: “It took quite a while before I got to know him. But once he accepted me as a friend, we became real close.”

4. Once he Caught up in Street Fights.
Yes, It’s true. Once he caught up in street fight. Bruce Lee took up the martial arts as a teenager to defend himself from bullies and street fighters who picked on his slight frame. After mastering many fighting techniques, he joined a street gang himself. Although urban legend says he fled Hong Kong as a result of a beating he administered to a Triad-connected teenager, more than likely Lee's parents sent him back to the US to improve his study habits (Lee was a poor and uninterested student), hoping a change of venue would keep him out of trouble.