Martial Arts,the traditional system of Combat practice is widely spread across the world in various places and forms.Believed to have originated in ancient China,about 4000 years ago,during the Xia Dynasty,it has slowly and steadily spread it's wings to various parts of the world,including Europe and Asia.Derived from a Latin word,it generally means "Arts of Mars",where Mars is the Roman god of war.
Various forms of martial arts originating from various places,have slowly become the subject of interest of many people,spread across the globe,both for practicing and research purpose.The dominance of martial arts is also seen in the films and media industry,specially the Hong-Kong and Hollywood movie industries.
If we follow the recent trend,various martial artists and martial arts practitioners,have joined the film industry and are successful in establishing themselves as actors also.Scott Adkins,Jean Claudde Van Damme,Donnie Yen,Wesley Snipes,Yuen Biao,Sammo Hung,Cung Le,Don "The Dragon" Wilson,Mark Dacascos,Dolph Lungdren,Michael Jai White,Jason Statham and Matt Mullins are certain names from this never ending list.Jackie Chan,the famous actor,martial artist and stuntman who originated from Hong-Kong film industry, and made a timely crossover to Hollywood,is at present the highest earning actor in the world.
Female martial arts actresses like Moon Lee,Cynthia Rothrock,Cynthia Khan,Anna Ranoso,Lucy Liu and Tanit Phoenix have also proved their versatility in acting.
In Bollywood also,actors like Akshay Kumar,John Abraham,Hrithik Roshan,Vidyut Jamwal,Sushant Singh Rajput,Pooja Gupta,Neetu Chandra and Isha Koppikar are trained martial artists.
However,in this article,I would not like focus on the aspects of collaboration between Movies and Martial Arts, but would like to throw some light on the man,who was the first to collaborate them.The famous martial artist,who was the first to act in as well as direct movies of martial arts genre,and who was solely responsible for this innovative collaboration is none other than the legendary Bruce Lee.
Born on 27th November,1940,Bruce Lee,was a Chinese American martial Artist,Hong-Kong action film actor,martial arts instructor,philosopher and an occasional film maker.He is the founder of "Jeet Kune Do",a rigorous and hybrid form of martial arts,widely accepted throughout the world.He is widely considered by critics,media and other commentators to be the most influential martial artist of all time as well as a pop culture icon of the 20th Century.Some of his famous movies like Fist Of Fury(1972),Way Of The Dragon (1972),Enter The Dragon(1973) and The Game Of Death(1978) have a classical cult following.He had always portrayed Chinese Nationalism in his films.
Lee's father,Lee Hoi-Chuen was one of the leading film actors of that time.So,Lee grew up in a privileged environment.But in spite of that,Lee was involved in several street fights,which prompted his parents to get him trained in martial arts.Although,the initial beginning was slow,the largest influence that came on his learning of martial arts was the study of Wing-Chun Kung Fu,by the legendary teacher Yip Man.Slowly but steadily,Bruce lee,became very skilled in the art of Wing-Chun. However,he became involved in more and more street fights,which forced his parents to send him to San Francisco,U.S.A.
In March,1961,Lee had enrolled himself in the University Of Washington,where he met his future wife Linda Emery,and they married in 1964.
In 1967,after filming one season of "The Green Hornet",Lee found himself out of work,and opened the Jun Fan Institute Of Gung Fu. After a controversial match with Wong Jack Man,Bruce changed his philosophy on martial arts and founded "Jeet Kune Do",in order to improve his style of fighting and make it more fast and effective.
The details of the fight can be seen in book,entitled as "Showdown in Oakland".The following link may be helpful:
Although,the above fight is regarded as the most important fight in lee's life,Bruce lee had also been involved in a large number of other fights.He had defeated three times Hong-Kong inter school boxing champion via Knockout.In one of his fights,he had broken the arm of his opponent,as a result of which police had to be called.He had also defeated a judo expert,in just 11 seconds,with 15 punches and 1 kick.
The acting career of Lee,started with his role as "Kato",in the TV Series "The Green Hornet",alongside actor Van Williams.
He had also been the fight choreographer for many following films and had played small roles in others. However,not pleased with his roles in United States,he moved back to Hong-Kong,where he got his first break as the lead role in the movie "The Big Boss(1971)".The film was a major box-office success.Then following the success,more successful movies followed,establishing him as one of the most prominent lead actors of Hong-Kong.One of the most famous movie of lee was "Enter The Dragon",which was a major box-office success,breaking all previous records set by him.His last unfinished film was "Game Of Death".
On 26th July,1973,6 days before release of "Enter the Dragon",Bruce Lee died.The death of Bruce Lee is mysterious,and has been termed as "Death By Misadventure".Many theories were later speculated about his death,including a curse on his family,or a murder involving Triads,a Chinese underground crime society.Black Belt magazine concluded his death to be as a result of "The Touch Of Death",which he had received several weeks before his death.
Bruce Lee had always been a fitness enthusiastic and believed in regular practices to attain perfection.The following pictures demonstrate his fitness:
He was also a reputed philosopher.Some of his famous quotations are:
1)If you love life,don't waste time,for time is what life is made up of.
2)Mistakes are always forgivable,if one has the courage to admit them.
3)Knowledge will give you power,but character respect.
4)A quick temper will make a fool of you,soon enough.
5)As you think,so shall you become.
Refer to the following link for more:
Various facts about Bruce lee,are also predominant in various places of the world.The following link may be helpful:
After the death of Bruce Lee,there evolved a large gap in Hong-Kong film industry,a gap that can never be fulfilled,not even today.Bruce lee was and is the legendary martial artist,who will always be remembered for his valuable contribution to cinema as well as martial arts.He is "Immortal".
For more information on Bruce Lee,the following link may be helpful:
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