The Forgotten Fight of Bruce Lee

[Music] in the late fall of 1964 Wong Jack man squeezed into a brown pontiac tempest which already carried five other people the group left Chinatown in San Francisco the oldest and largest in the United States they crossed the bay over the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland and drove up to the new kung-fu school on Broadway Avenue in Oakland it was at this time only recently been opened by Bruce Lee after his move to Oakland from Seattle this visit was preceded by a war of words that had lasted several weeks the tension grew and finally the moment of truth came today's video is dedicated you guessed it - the legendary fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack man there were only seven witnesses of this meeting held behind the closed doors of Bruce's school however the events of this evening had a huge impact on the world of martial arts this battle not only influenced the formation of a man who would soon become the most famous fighter in the world but also became a key moment in the confrontation between two philosophies traditional and modern mixed martial arts the fight with Wong Jack man was a turning point for Bruce Lee after which he created a philosophy of battle ahead of his time by decades we can safely say that Bruce Lee became the forerunner of modern MMA so it is vitally important to figure out what really happened that evening the fact is that everything connected with the name of Bruce Lee has acquired legends and myths that often overshadow the truth truth which in the end is much more important than the heroic legacy of Bruce Lee Hollywood heavily contributed to the misinformation surrounding this fight in the movie the birth of the Dragon shot by george nolfi in 2017 Wong Jack man is actually a Shaolin monk who made his way to the states to help Bruce fight the Mafia this fiction is joined by the 1993 film Dragon the story of Bruce Lee in which Jason Scott Lee played the main role you may remember him from his appearances on television in that film the fight takes place in front of the secret Council of the ninja and ends with Wong's vile strike to Bruce Lee's back in fact the real story is far more interesting than all of the senseless Hollywood cliches for those that are interested we will now explore what led to this fight for those who simply want specifics about the battle timing marks will now appear on the screen so you can skip ahead to that point in the story and so we begin from Seattle to Oakland in the early 1960s the San Francisco Bay Area became home to numerous martial arts fans who arrived from South China Hong Kong and Hawaii around the same time Bruce dropped out of college and the comfortable environment he had created for himself in Seattle and moved to Oakland he went there to join his friends and associates as they improved and continued on the path of martial arts the most important of these was James Lee who was twice as old as Bruce and in his youth had a formidable reputation as a street fighter and bodybuilder in addition James was a true martial arts innovator in the United States he published his own books developed training equipment and turned his garage into a martial arts study room he introduced Bruce to his circle of friends other progressively minded martial arts fanatics including Japanese jujitsu master Wally J and the creator of American Kenpo Karate Edie Parker in general Bruce found in Oakland what he really wanted to find a unique laboratory for the study of martial arts where he can practice and discuss martial arts 24/7 among experienced fighters and like-minded people the time spent in Oakland played key milestones in Bruce's life including the creation of the only book he had ever published in his life dating in Hollywood the fight with Wong Jack man and creating the concept of Jeet Kune Do however in most bruce lee biographies minimal attention is usually paid to this time despite its formative significance continuing with that trend the film the birth of the Dragon not only erases James Lee from his storyline but also completely removes Oakland from its history transforming the action to San Francisco where Bruce's affairs were completely different [Music] Chinatown in San Francisco Bruce Lee faced a number of problems starting soon after he arrived in America in 1959 Bruce quickly became convinced that the atmosphere in the circle of martial arts fans in San Francisco was completely different from the one he was used to in Hong Kong for three decades the Wulin policy the name for the traditional Chinese martial arts community in Chinatown was defined by two representatives of the local Tong the so-called secret Chinese societies in the USA in Canada these men were Lao ban and T Wong Lao ban opened Hong Xing probably the first open school of Chinese martial arts in the United States he maintained strict discipline among his students as well as other Chinese martial arts schools in Chinatown for many years Lao ban prohibited showdowns between representatives of the various martial arts schools something that Bruce had gotten used to in Hong Kong in the 1950s in which challenging each other's skills to fight among rival martial arts schools was commonplace t Wong came to San Francisco from China in the early 1940s as a junior member of the Tong he often kept order in the Forbidden City nightclubs his school was called Kinmen which can be translated as healthy citizen club like Lao ban T Wong demanded strict discipline from his students rumors of wild customs prevailing in Hong Kong in which China's century-old traditions were violated as well as the formidable reputation of Wing Chun students proceeded the appearance of Bruce Lee in San Francisco Bruce Lee spent 10 years studying Wing Chun with the legendary Yip Man of Hong Kong the economical fast and direct style of Wing Chun preached an attack on the center line in combination with short punches and kicks at close range the style had a reputation for being practical and effective which was of paramount importance in the streets of post-war Hong Kong immediately after his arrival in San Francisco Bruce Lee attended La ban school when Bruce arrived at Hong zing he did not know anything about the rules in San Francisco says Sam Lu Yi who was one of Lao bands senior students at that time at this moment seven or eight students attended the lesson he tried several of our exercises and stated that Wing Chun is better naturally the martial arts teacher took him out of the hall right after that all the doors in Chinatown closed for Bruce these conflicts only increased over time as Bruce Lee was not shy about criticizing the traditional schools approach to the study of martial arts in a book published by James Lee Bruce dismantled and mercilessly criticized the techniques from T Wong's books published a little earlier naturally these insults did not go unnoticed therefore the opinion of T Wong who called Bruce a dissident with bad manners was shared by the vast majority of Chinese martial arts communities in Chinatown and so it happened at just the right moment Wong Jack man arrived into San Francisco he quickly gained a reputation as a well-educated young man who respected the traditions and authority of his elders and at the same time he was a great fighter he became the first representative of the northern Shaolin styles in Chinatown and impressed everyone with their demonstration in many ways the style was the exact opposite of Wing Chun sweeping kicks and kicks from long distances in combination with acrobatic elements Chinatown accepted Wong as unconditionally as it had rejected Bruce Lee dissident at the beginning of 1964 Bruce significantly strengthened his early criticism of the ineffective styles and techniques and began giving demonstration lectures in which he proved the superiority of his new methods over swimmers who learned to swim on land and who practice classic turbidity in contrast he called his approach scientific street fighting as a rule at these lectures Bruce demonstrated techniques of other styles and then he took them apart piece by piece methodically explaining why this would not work in street fighting it is no coincidence that one of the styles that he liked to disassemble and criticize in front of a large audience was northern Shaolin at the first famous long beach martial arts tournament hosted by Ed Parker Bruce annoyed many participants after criticizing many traditional practices such as the Kiba dachi or the Baba horse stance he just came and started criticizing people explains Barney Scullin who was 18 years old at the time of the tournament although Bruce's appearance at the Long Beach Tournament is often portrayed as a triumphal success many of the participants do not hide the fact that they at the time considered him an impudent person Clarence Lee with more than a half-century experience recalls guys practically stood in line to fight with Bruce Lee after his demonstration on Long Beach in the summer of 1964 Bruce Lee accompanied Hong Kong actress Diane Chang Chun ven the Chinese Marilyn Monroe of the time on her promotional tour of the u.s. West Coast to support her latest film this led them to the Sun Singh cinema located in the heart of Chinatown San Francisco naturally Bruce could not miss such an opportunity to make his demonstration which further enraged the representatives of Chinese martial arts in San Francisco in this demonstration Bruce called traditional Chinese martial arts old toothless tigers naturally such a hint could not help the touch Lao ban in T Hwa it was an insult to two highly respected members of the Chinese community made by an arrogant of start at this point a confrontation was inevitable given that several years before that the martial arts community in Seattle challenged Bruce for much smaller statements Japanese karate ha yo'ii genic achi challenged Bruce during a similar demonstration in which Bruce criticized karate yo Ichi pursued Bruce for several weeks when they finally got together in a duel Bruce literally destroyed yuuichi by conducting a series of quick punches and ending the fight with a knockout kick the whole battle lasted 11 seconds and yo Ichi was hospitalized with a fractured skull it is strange that this meeting is usually hushed up as insignificant although in reality it's an indicative example of Bruce's future The Forgotten fight why did Wong Jack man challenge Bruce now we come to the most interesting part of the story there is a theory that he simply wanted to make a name for himself and advertise his school which he opened in Chinatown in San Francisco local Tai Chi Chuan master David Qin claims that this is exactly what Wang said when he signed the call which was then delivered to Bruce Lee however many believe that Wang was pushed to make the decision sending him like a new kid at school at the main troublemaker but who were the five guys who went to Oakland with Wong Jack man next to Wang set David chin and Chan bald head Jung to representatives of the Tai Chi Club which had appeared in Chinatown in the 1930s in the back seat were a trio of dubious men who were not directly related to the Wulin Ronald Yaya Wu who earned his nickname for constant chatter Martin Wong and Raymond Fong as Wong Jack man later admitted they were brought along for numbers none of those in the car was a student of team Wong or Lao ban but there were two representatives of the Tai Chi Chuan Club in it as Lao bans senior student Louie recalls the school's code forbade participation in such actions if you break into someone else's room this is not good regardless of whether you lose or win this is not good when Wong Jack man arrived in Oakland there were only two witnesses near Bruce Lee his wife Linda who was at the moment in her eighth month of pregnancy and his most faithful friend and colleague James Lee having a lot of experience with showdowns James carried a loaded gun in case the situation got out of hand there were nine people in the room three of whom are alive today Wong Jack man never talked about this incident Linda Lee and David chin who were on the opposite sides of the conflict tell the same story the battle was fast and furious the fighters moved around the room it all looked rude chaotic and did not look like a movie at first Bruce managed to punch Wong's temple but Wong was stood the blow and began to dodge Bruce's attack unable to defeat the enemy in a few seconds as with the last time in Seattle Bruce had to chase Wong around the room eventually tiring him however it was precisely Bruce's furious advance that led to his victory long stumbled over a small step and fell to the floor Bruce rushed at him and shouted in the Cantonese dialect are you giving up and began to shower him with blows at that moment Wong said he was surrendering and the fight was over David chin recalls it all lasted no more than seven minutes subsequently this fight has grown to epic proportions rumours that Bruce had punched the wall with Wong's head or that Wong had already defeated Bruce when the cops arrived were just a few examples among many probably the most absurd exaggeration was the film the birth of the Dragon in which the battle lasted more than 20 minutes however Bruce Lee himself learned a valuable lesson from this story that made him reconsider many of his beliefs after a year with absolutely no reservation and preaching the effectiveness of his technique in comparison with others the collision with Wong man forced him to reconsider both his technique and physical training which actually turned out to be not so good the good news was that it was at this moment when Bruce began the formation of his new system jeet kune do-- he had already begun to synthesize many of the things that had influenced him in the recent years from the practicality of street fighter James Lee to the innovations of Wally J causing him to form an integrated system suitable for his personality Bruce also included elements of Wing Chun fencing boxing and wrestling based on the philosophical approach of Zen in the jeet kune do-- in this picture bruce lee back row in the center with his students in the james lee garage back row third from left in 1965 during the time spent by bruce in oakland the foundations of his martial arts were laid although this period remains rather unknown even after thoroughly studying his biography today Bruce Lee is often called the father of MMA not just because he mixed styles the mixing of styles is already going on before his time but first of all because of the fact that he emphasized the effectiveness of technology and its constant evolution he learned this lesson in particular from his collision with Wong Jack man in conclusion let us cite the words of David chin who despite supporting Wong at the time now says what Bruce said then turned out to be true I did not agree with him at the time but he was right if you liked the video or you want more stories about Bruce Lee press the like button and please leave a comment see you next time [Music]

Channel: The World of Boxing!

Views: 7,808,049

Rating: 4.8109012 out of 5

Keywords: Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man, Bruce Lee, Fight, Best, Greatest, Martial Arts, Fights, Actor, Scenes, Chuck Norris, Game of Death, Chinese, China, Kung Fu

Id: BG-E7SuNT1o

Length: 17min 21sec (1041 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 09 2019