The most unusual applications have been found by man in the shells of mollusks. Interesting facts about cephalopods. Octopus color vision
Bruce Lee (Eng. Bruce Lee); baby name - Li Xiaolong (Chinese 李小龙, English Li Xiao Long, Russian "Little Dragon"), adult name - Li Zhenfan (Chinese 李振藩, English Lee Jun Fan); born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco - died July 20, 1973 in Hong Kong - a legend in the field of Chinese martial arts, Hong Kong and American film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, director of action scenes and philosopher.
- Name at birth: Li Xiaolong
- Occupation: martial artist, popularizer of Chinese martial arts abroad, philosopher and good family man.
- Date of Birth: November 27, 1940
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA
- Citizenship: USA, Hong Kong
- Date of death: July 20, 1973 (aged 32)
- A place of death: Hong Kong
- Father: Lee Hoi Chen
- Mother: Grace Lee
- Spouse: Linda Lee Cadwell
- Children: Brandon Lee (1965-1993), Shannon Lee
- Height: 171 cm
- The weight: 64 kg
- According to the zodiac: Sagittarius
- Chinese horoscope: The Dragon
He began acting in films since childhood, in total he starred in 36 films.
He popularized oriental martial arts in Western countries in the second half of the 20th century. He became widely known in the field of martial arts and caused many imitators in film and television. More than 30 films have been made about the life and work of Bruce Lee in the world.
Bruce Lee lay leaning over on sofa cushions, and a desperately wailing woman shook him, beat him on the cheeks, rubbed his temples with ammonia. He was asleep, but she couldn't wake him up. The doctor who ran into the room immediately realized that the Kung Fu master was no longer in this world. They immediately called my wife: she gasped, clutched her heart ...
At 7:30 p.m., Bruce complained of a headache, Betty gave him one of her Equagesic (a home remedy for headaches), and Lee lay down to take a nap on her bed. And at 23:00, shocking news was announced in the press- famous film actor and director, popularizer and reformer of Chinese martial arts, the most trained person in the world Bruce Lee dies suddenly at the age of 32.
bruce lee prologue
More than a hundred years ago, Great Britain took the Kowloon Peninsula from the Chinese Empire. That war was called "opium war"; it was short, cruel and absolutely hopeless for the Chinese armed with crossbows and axes. The city of Hong Kong arose on the peninsula - a center built up with snow-white European mansions and a native outskirts smelling through with stale fish and spicy local cuisine.
In 1942, the Japanese captured Hong Kong and staged a grandiose massacre, then the British returned their colony; after Mao won in China, refugees poured into the city ...
Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco in the year of the Dragon and at the hour of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar (between 6 and 8 am) during the tour of parents in America - comedian of the Cantonese Chinese Opera Lee Hoi Chen and his wife Grace Lee. Grace Lee's mother had Eurasian roots (she was half German), her father was Chinese.
When the boy grew up, he was given a name Lee Yen Kam - "never sitting still"; after the first filming, the name appeared Lee Sui Lung - "little dragon". And on the birth certificate issued by the San Francisco Chinese Hospital, the name was Bruce Lee.
The most interesting thing is that for a long time everyone around considered Bruce Lee a girl and called Baby Phoenix!
Why this happened, you need to go deep into the history of the Bruce Lee family. P The first son died, and they decided that they had somehow angered the gods; in China, they believe that the second child in the family should be a girl, and Grace and Li adopted the daughter of a poor man. Then their son Peter was born, then Grace became pregnant again and could not find a place for herself from anxiety: according to Chinese beliefs, the second son is also in danger.
Newborn Bruce had his ears pierced and was called by his maiden name- it seemed that the evil spirits were deceived and the evil spirits knew for sure that Grace had given birth to a girl: mother and father spent a lot of effort to confuse them, and even gave the child a girly nickname Baby Phoenix.
Childhood Bruce Lee
Hong Kong where Bruce Lee lived. The Hong Kong, in which Bruce Lee spent his childhood, was at the junction between the front facade of the city and the quarters of the poor. This Hong Kong is a labyrinth of lanes teeming with life. These lanes meander between peeling walls of residential buildings, crowded shops and restaurants, beckoning passers-by with screaming neon signs. They are filled with trucks, taxis and rickshaws.
The local atmosphere, consisting of a complex mixture of smells of exotic dishes and no less exotic garbage (in various phases of decay), sticky fumes and heavy stuffiness, changes little over the years. While Hong Kong is exciting, it can also be exhausting. In Hong Kong you can find everything but peace and quiet.
The boy grew up and did not give rest to the whole quarter: there has never been a second such bully in Hong Kong. He rushed around the city, made friends with anyone, climbed trees and garbage dumps, pulled apples and pears from the stalls of local street vendors and did not obey his parents, and this is a great sin for the Chinese who honor old age.
He has acted in films since his birth: at the age of 3 months, Bruce Lee starred in his first film - “Golden Gate Girl” (the role of a little baby girl), in age 6 - “The Origin of Humanity”.
There was a misconception that Bruce Lee never filmed with his father, but this is not true.. In childhood and adolescence, Bruce Lee was frail, starred in films as a “difficult” child or a cocky orphan street hooligan.
About Bruce Lee's father
Bruce's father also did not differ in family virtues.. He was a good actor and an excellent fellow, he was loved by friends and women, and he doted on them. But Lee Hoi Chen spent money on anything but children.
“I smoke opium so that I can sing with a softer voice,” Li Hoi Chun often said. Hoi Chun was also a gambling addict, which is why his bosom buddies enjoyed the man's company and generosity just as much as his family members. He was a comic actor at the Hong Kong Canton Opera, which is essentially an operetta theater rather than a classical opera (unlike the Peking Opera). And he did well enough to afford a few apartments.
By Hong Kong standards, Lee was a wealthy man ( he owned several apartments that he rented out), but the way the family lived would horrify a Russian bum. The large hall, with a refrigerator at the back, served alternately as a dining room, a living room, and a bedroom. A large table at which they ate, played and read; the only room in which Lee, Grace, their children, grandparents, several servants and a huge German Shepherd named Bobby, Bruce's favorite dog, slept under his bed; a fan under the ceiling, sadly chasing hot air ...
Water was supplied to the house once a week for several hours., and she was recruited into everything that was at hand. The Lee family showered like a cat, smearing water on his face, snorting and splashing - they didn’t know what a bath was in the house, and forty-degree heat in Hong Kong was in the order of things ...
The Lee family's apartment in an old house on Nathan Road was on the 2nd floor above some shops. A narrow staircase led to a front door without doors, where the homeless made their makeshift dwellings. But the landing on the second floor was securely protected by a strong double door, reinforced with steel beams and equipped with a peephole.
The beds were made of iron and covered with hard mattresses. In addition to the dining room, the apartment consisted of two smaller rooms. One of them contained two bunk beds. Another room, overlooking Nathan Road, had a verandah, adorned with many potted plants and, at one time, a cage of chickens.
His father sometimes took Bruce with him to the opera. There the boy met Sue Ki Lun, known among his friends as "The Unicorn". His father was also an operatic artist. And although the Unicorn was three years older than Lee, a friendship arose between the boys. They fought and fenced with bamboo swords. Bruce Lee played the role of Robin Hood, and although his opponent was older and stronger, Bruce never put up with defeat and fought until the Unicorn gave up. Years later, the Unicorn recalled how Bruce repeatedly got into trouble due to constant fights. Mr. Li often taught his son a lesson by hitting him on the head with all his might.
In Chinese families, there is usually a gap between father and children.. For a father, respect is much more important than filial love. To maintain his position in the family, the father does not indulge his children. Keeping a distance is the price that fathers pay for maintaining their own authority.
Studying Bruce Lee
The children grew up - Bruce and his brothers were sent to a Jesuit college. The Jesuits had been doing missionary work in China for several centuries and knew more about the natives than anyone else, but even they could not cope with Bruce Lee.
Small, thin, nimble, he could not sit still, did not want to puzzle over arithmetic and English grammar, and experienced great pleasure only when he managed to break someone's nose.
Bruce's mom paid the tuition every month, and then the school called her asking why Bruce wasn't attending classes. In the end, she and Bruce came to an agreement that he could skip classes (since he really doesn’t like school so much), but he must inform her where he goes to play so that his mother can always find him. After this conversation, Bruce continued to miss classes, but always informed his mother about where to look for him. A few years passed, and Bruce Lee was kicked out of school.
In him lived a great craving for self-affirmation, street showdowns exalted him in their own eyes. He was frail, evasive and absolutely fearless: even the fact that the oncoming boy looked at him the wrong way, sighed the wrong way, spat in the wrong place, or apologized insufficiently respectfully could serve as a pretext for a fight.
Bruce did not pay attention to the height and weight of his enemies, and they beat him twice a day.
Lee Hoi Chen, of course, was not an exemplary father, but bruises on his son's face and always torn clothes got on his nerves. Lee Hoi Chen did not give money to children out of principle, but when Bruce asked to pay for his Kungfu lessons, he unexpectedly agreed- he had at least a faint hope that this disgrace would someday end.
Mother's memories of the character of Bruce Lee
“Bruce’s character didn’t change,” his mother later said. He repeated the same mistakes. Time and time again, I got frustrated with him. One day I asked him how he thought about making a living while continuing to behave in the same spirit. To this he replied: "One day I will become a famous film actor." I scolded him and explained that the lives of famous artists were not at all as pleasant as it might seem from the outside, and that they did not lead a completely normal existence. I said to Bruce, “You don’t even know how to behave like a human being. How can you expect to become a famous movie actor?”
She told how she suddenly noticed that Bruce was peering into the distance from the window of the room. Then he jumped out into the street like lightning and ran somewhere. When she went to the window, she saw Bruce helping the blind man across the road. He then explained that he had to help the man, who looked so confused and desperate to wait for anyone's help.
Did Bruce Lee wear glasses at 6 and sleepwalk?
Sister Agnes gave him the name "Little Dragon", which stuck to Bruce for the rest of his life. She says that from early childhood, Bruce considered himself "special" and was going to do something extraordinary in his life. She remembers his nightmares and sleepwalking.
The rest of the family knew him by the affectionate name of Mo Si Tong, or "Never Sitting Still." This characteristic corresponded exactly to him. If Bruce was quiet even for a moment, everyone feared that he was ill. He only then stopped running, jumping and chatting when he huddled with a book in the far corner and completely immersed himself in reading. Sometimes he read until late at night. The mother believes that this was the cause of his early myopia. From the age of six, Bruce began to wear glasses.
Pranks Bruce Lee
Young Bruce loved pranks, and couldn't help laughing as the intended victim was ready to be hooked. He started with simple pranks, like tricks with caustic powder and "electroshock", but soon the jokes became much more intricate.
Once he rearranged all the furniture in the room to confuse the cleaner. On another occasion, he persuaded his brother Robert to imagine himself as a submarine and look up from his jacket sleeve as if through a periscope. When his brother agreed to this game, Bruce "fired a side torpedo" and poured a full pitcher of water into his sleeve.
But he didn't always get away with it. Other "jokes" were not so funny. One day he pushed his sister Phoebe into the pool. She caught him and held him with his head under water until he swore not to do that again. After this incident, Bruce did not approach the pool.
Bruce Lee - the birth of a legend
In 1954, Bruce Lee begins to take cha-cha-cha dance lessons, and after 4 years he wins the cha-cha-cha dance championship in Hong Kong, plays the main role in the film "Orphan" and participates in inter-school boxing competitions (defeats Gary Elms, who held the title for three years). Then he decided to seriously take up Kung Fu. His first kung fu teacher recalled that Bruce came to him and said: “Teacher, I know that you are excellent at kung fu - and I am the best cha-cha-cha dancer. So let's exchange knowledge: you will teach me kung fu technique, and I will teach you to dance cha-cha-cha.” Bruce turned out to be very talented, he literally mastered the movements of the Taijiquan technique in just 3 days of classes, the basic training of which usually takes weeks. Since then, Bruce never left his kung fu classes for a long time and constantly trained.
Bruce Lee the baby name is Li Xiaolong (Chinese 李小龙, English Li Xiao Long, Russian Little Dragon), the adult name is Li Zhenfan (Chinese 李振藩, English Lee Jun Fan). Born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco - died July 20, 1973 in Hong Kong. Chinese martial artist, Hong Kong and American film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, fight scene director and philosopher.
He began acting in films since childhood, in total he starred in 36 films.
He popularized oriental martial arts in Western countries in the second half of the 20th century. He became widely known in the field of martial arts and caused many imitators in film and television. About 30 films have been made about the life and work of Bruce Lee in the world.
He was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco in the year of the Dragon and the hour of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar (between 6 and 8 am) during the American tour of his parents, comedian of the Cantonese Chinese opera Li Hoi Chen and his wife Grace Li. Grace Lee's mother had Eurasian roots (she was half German), her father was Chinese.
He began acting in films since childhood, in Hong Kong: at the age of 3 months, Bruce Lee starred in his first film - “Golden Gate of a Girl” (the role of a little baby girl), at the age of 6 years - “The Birth of Humankind”. There was a misconception that Bruce Lee never filmed with his father, but this is not true. In childhood and adolescence, Bruce Lee was rather frail, in films he mainly starred in the roles of a “difficult” child or a cocky street orphan. Like many young people, Bruce was interested in martial arts from childhood, but he did not take them seriously, and at school he did not differ with special zeal.
In 1954, Bruce Lee begins to take cha-cha-cha dance lessons, and after 4 years he wins the cha-cha-cha dance championship in Hong Kong, plays the main role in the film "Orphan" and participates in inter-school boxing competitions (defeats Gary Elms, who held the title for three years). Then he decided to take kung fu seriously. His first kung fu teacher recalled that Bruce came to him and said: “Teacher, I know that you are excellent at kung fu - and I am the best cha-cha-cha dancer. So let's exchange our knowledge: you will teach me kung fu technique, and I will teach you to dance cha-cha-cha. Bruce turned out to be very talented, he literally mastered the movements of the Taijiquan technique in just 3 days of classes, the basic training of which usually takes weeks. Since then, Bruce never left his kung fu classes for a long time and constantly trained.
His main style of kung fu then became the style of wing chun, which he studied in Hong Kong from 1956 with master Ip Man. Bruce Lee made a significant contribution to the popularization of this style and took part in several films about him (for example, "Fist of Fury"). This style emphasizes unarmed combat, although Lee has mastered weapons as well. He was especially good with the nunchaku. Later, he also studied judo, jiu-jitsu and boxing. And then Lee developed his style of kung fu called Jeet Kune Do.
At the age of 19, in order to confirm his birthright American citizenship, Bruce Lee went to the United States, first to San Francisco, then to Seattle to Ruby Chow (an acquaintance of his father who kept a restaurant), who took him to work as a waiter. There he studied art, graduated from the Edison Technical School, entered the University of Washington at the Faculty of Philosophy, where he met his future wife (since 1964), Linda Lee Cadwell, who was then 17 years old. Linda bore him two children: son Brandon (1965-1993) and daughter Shannon (born 1969).
Bruce began acting in the United States in television series, demonstrating martial arts. He became popular, his students began to appear, among which were many famous people, such as the famous basketball player, NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (later Kareem and Bruce staged an impressive fight scene in the movie "Game of Death").
Bruce opened his own martial arts school, where he began teaching Jeet Kune Do, his own style of kung fu, which Bruce Lee developed and perfected until his death. Bruce Lee's private lessons cost about $275 an hour, which was quite expensive and could ensure Lee's financial independence for years to come. But he never got the main roles in the cinema, which upset him terribly. Out of frustration in 1971, Bruce Lee decided to leave the United States and return with his family to Hong Kong.
At that time, a new film studio, Golden Harvest, opened in Hong Kong (later to become very famous). Bruce Lee persuaded studio director Raymond Chow to give him the lead role in The Big Boss and allow him to direct the fight scenes himself. The risk was justified - the film was an unprecedented success. Bruce Lee literally turned the idea of martial arts in cinema. His polished fast movements, naturalistic battle scenes and bloody outcomes appealed to Asian audiences, and then this wave was transmitted to viewers around the world. Chou entrusted Lee to direct two more films (Fist of Fury and Return of the Dragon), this time with solid budgets. The films were even more successful and made Lee a superstar.
Bruce Lee trained all the time. He constantly improved his skills in kung fu, developed his own style of jeet kune do, tried to bring something new to the existing fighting techniques.
He also developed his own nutrition system, paid great attention to general athletic training and exercises in the gym. He developed his body magnificently and published his training methods and exercises, which became very famous. Lee also subjected himself to enormous stress for experimental purposes, even testing himself with electric shocks. At the same time, Bruce Lee devoted a lot of time to filming, trying to bring his every movement on the screen to perfection. Lee was ambitious and very demanding of himself. But, despite his on-screen image, he was very polite and courteous in communication, very respectful of others.
Bruce Lee's height was 171 cm. Some sources mistakenly indicate 168 cm.
Bruce learned about the nunchaku from the legendary karate master Hidehiko "Hidi" Ochiyai, whom he met at the Los Angeles center of the Young Men's Christian Association in the mid-1960s.
Virtually none of the computer and video games of the fighting genre is complete without a character inspired by Bruce - Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat, Marshall Lowe (Tekken 1-2, 4-6) and his son Forest Lowe (Tekken 3 - Tekken Tag Tournament) from Tekken, Dragon from World Heroes, Fei Long from Street Fighter, Zhen Li from Dead or Alive, Maxi from Soul Calibur and the game of the same name, released exclusively on Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, - Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior (Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior), Lee Sin from League of Legends.
Filmography of Bruce Lee:
1941 - Golden Gate Girl - Child
1946 - Born of Man
1948 - Dream of wealth
1949 - Say Xi in Yam Lee's dreams
1950 - Baby Chung
1951 - Child (/ My son Ah Chung)
1951 - Early childhood
1953 - Conductor of Light
1953 - It's the father's fault
1953 - In the face of destruction
1953 - Mother's tears
1953 - Countless Homes
1955 - Love
1955 - Love (part 2)
1955 - Tragedy of an orphan
1955 - Faithful wife
1955 - Song of the Orphan
1955 - We owe this to our children
1955 - Smart Guys Fool Around
1956 - Too late for a divorce
1957 - Storm
1957 - Dear Girl
1958 - Sirota Ah Sun
1966-1967 - Green Hornet - Kato
1968 - Marlow - episode
1971 - Big Boss - Zheng Chaoan
1972 - Fist of Fury - Chen Zhen
1972 - Way of the Dragon - Tan Lung
1973 - Enter the Dragon - Lee
1978 - Game of Death - Billy Lo
1981 - Tower of Death - Billy Lo.
Despite the fact that 43 years have passed since the death of Bruce Lee, he still remains a very famous and popular personality. Here are 25 little-known facts that will help you learn more about what kind of person the idol of millions of people around the world was.
1. Real Dragon
Bruce Lee was born on the Chinese calendar in the year of the Dragon, the Day of the Dragon and the hour of the Dragon. No wonder his nickname was "Little Dragon".
2. Not exactly Chinese
Bruce Lee's grandfather was a full-blooded German, meaning Lee was technically part European. It was because of this (that he was not a "pure" Chinese) that he was not accepted into many kung fu schools in the 1950s.
3. Criminal past
In his youth, Lee was the leader of a gang. He was a member of the Junction Street Tigers.
4. Life is like a movie
It may seem a little strange, but Lee's early life was very similar to what is shown in the films with his participation. In a nutshell, the guy got into a fight with the son of a triad boss in Hong Kong, so his father sent him "out of harm's way" to the United States the very next day.
5. $100 and "cha-cha-cha"
He left for Seattle in 1958 with $100 in his pocket. While on board a ship bound for America, he gave cha-cha lessons to first-class passengers to earn money.
6. Phenomenal professional memory
He was able to name every karate-related term and execute every technique with amazing accuracy. At the same time, he never officially taught Japanese martial art to everyone.
7. Vision and style of Wing Chun
Lee had poor eyesight. This was one of the reasons why he appreciated Wing Chun's contact style, where he could rely more on tactile sensations than sight.
8. Favorite activity
Bruce Lee's favorite pastime (other than martial arts, of course) was reading. He had an extensive library of over two thousand books and read daily.
9. Bruce Lee - a participant in real fights
Contrary to popular belief that Lee never competed in actual combat, he became the Hong Kong boxing champion by knocking out all of his opponents, including British boxer Gary Elmes. He also defeated famed martial artist and teacher Wong Jack Man in 1965.
10. Bank finger
Bruce Lee punched cans with his fingers in the days when they were not made of soft aluminum. At the same time, he received many cuts, so the master often walked with a band-aid on his fingers.
11. Man of the century
Time magazine named Bruce Lee one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A few years later, in 2014, the Houston Boxing Hall of Fame recognized Bruce as the greatest fighter ever made in a movie. Lee was selected by Goldsea Asian American Daily as one of the "100 Most Inspirational Asian Americans of All Time". He finished second, behind only Senator Daniel Inouye.
12. Phenomenal abilities
He weighed a maximum of 72 kilograms. At the time of his death, his weight was 67 kilograms. He was capable of doing push-ups with a 115 kg person on his back. He could also do push-ups with just one finger. And UFC President Dana White considers Bruce Lee "the father of mixed martial arts."
13. Lee's Technique in the Nintendo Game Series
In Nintendo's popular Pokemon game series, the Hitmonlee monster's combat moves are based on Lee's real-life technique.
14. Statue of the "little dragon"
On the occasion of Bruce Lee's 65th birthday (November 27, 2005), a shirtless bronze statue of a "little dragon" was erected in Hong Kong.
15. Phenomenal abilities
Bruce Lee has developed an amazing trick that can be found on YouTube to demonstrate his speed. The man held the coin in his open palm and suddenly clenched his fist. During this time, Lee managed to replace the coin with another.
16. One inch punch
17. Favorite music
In his first and only meeting with composer Lalo Shifrin (they worked together on Enter the Dragon), Bruce admitted that he often whistled the theme song to the 1966 Mission: Impossible TV series.
18. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris
Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, Lee was never Chuck Norris' teacher. They trained together, in fact they were friends, but they were not a teacher and a student. However, he was the one who gave Norris his first film job, but it wasn't in Way of the Dragon as many people believe. In fact, it happened when Lee was the stunt coordinator for a movie called Wrecking Crew.
19. Phenomenal speed
Cameramen had to shoot Lee's fight scenes at thirty-two frames per second instead of the usual twenty-four. The answer to this is simple - Bruce was so fast that cameras with normal shooting speed simply did not have time to detect his movements.
At the height of his fame, Lee was constantly challenged by huge numbers of people in public places. He even had to carry a 367 Magnum pistol with him.
21. Phobia of Bruce Lee
