Bruce Lee in non-Bruce Lee books

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Bruce Lee is mentioned in so many different books besides the books that focus on him.  I am interested in collecting and posting references in non-Bruce Lee books, especially biographies/autobiographies, possibly for a future project.  This is also a good way of organizing my notes.  But I thought a lot of other people might be interested in these as well without having to buy these books.  There is so much what I consider bad information about him that it helps to triangulate as many sources as possible.  This means that posts might/might not be true/partial true/complete fabricated lie.  Please post your entries as well.

Steve McQueen: A Biography (2011) by Marc Eliot

"While at the Whiskey [MOOIP note: a club/bar in L.A.] he met and became friendly with the actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, who was about to start work on The Green Hornet TV series and was desperate to become a big-screen action movie star.  To him, Steve had real abilities as a fighter: "He was good in that department because that son-of-a-gun has the toughness in him.  He would say [if a fight broke out], 'All right, baby, her I am.' And he would do it."  Later on, Lee would help train Steve for some of his more physical roles."  [pg. 148] [MOOIP note: the Lee quote came from The Pierre Berton Show December 1971]

"Steve eventually introduced Knatz to Bruce Lee, and when the filming was completed all three began practicing martial arts Sunday afternoons at Lee's house.  With his help, Steve eventually earned a black belt." [pg. 198]

Against All Odds My Story (2004) by Chuck Norris with Ken Abraham (no index in this)

"Four months later Bruce Lee telephoned me one morning.  He said that two pictures he had made in Hong Kong were big box-office successes.  He wanted me to be in his next film, Return of the Dragon, which he was also going to direct. "I want you to be my opponent.  We'll have a fight in the Coliseum in Rome," he crowed with excitement.  "Two gladiators in a fight to the death!  Best of all, we can choreograph it ourselves.  I promise you the fight will be the highlight of the film."

"Great," I said.  "Who wins?"

"I do," Bruce said with a laugh.  I'm the star!"

"Oh, you're going to beat up on the current world karate champion?"

"No," said Bruce.  I'm going to kill the current world karate champ."

I laughed and agreed to do the movie with Bruce.

[pg. 79]

.." Bruce Lee was waiting with a camera crew to photograph us getting off the plane.  Bruce wanted to use our arrival footage as an insert for the film.  Since Bob had come with me, Bruce decided to use him in the film too.
It had been two years since I had last seen Bruce, but he was as cordial as ever.  He was not embarrassed by male affection, and he gave us each a warm hug before he led us to a waiting car.
For the scene in the Coliseum, Bruce wanted me to look more formidable as his opponent ... he wanted me to gain at least twenty pounds."

[pg. 80]

 

[DragonClaws]

On 21/12/2016 at 11:38 PM, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Bruce Lee is mentioned in so many different books besides the books that focus on him.  I am interested in collecting and posting references in non-Bruce Lee books, especially biographies/autobiographies, possibly for a future project.  This is also a good way of organizing my notes.  But I thought a lot of other people might be interested in these as well without having to buy these books.  There is so much what I consider bad information about him that it helps to triangulate as many sources as possible.  This means that posts might/might not be true/partial true/complete fabricated lie.  Please post your entries as well.

 

This book might interest you MOOIP, cant recall if I posted this in the original thread?.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

1 minute ago, DragonClaws said:

 

This book might interest you MOOIP, cant recall if I posted this in the original thread?.

I'm not sure if you did post.  I did not have in my Shopping Thread (in Amazon) so I just added it to it.  Thanks.  I'm not sure when I'll get it, but it does look interesting.  My interest in Bruce Lee comes and goes, though I'm always trying to add more knowledge to my cinematic acumen.  Though if I ever did see it at a used books store I would pick up immediately. 

I've been reading the Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method books (on volume 4.)   These were among the first printed after his death.  They were part of Bruce Lee's second book that he put off finishing.  Technically they are Mitoshi Uyehara's books.  It is interesting to see Little take over the Lee books later on.  I'm interested in the differences between the early published ones and the later (and any possible changes; philosophy changes etc...).

[DragonClaws]

9 minutes ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

I've been reading the Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method books (on volume 4.)   These were among the first printed after his death.  They were part of Bruce Lee's second book that he put off finishing.  Technically they are Mitoshi Uyehara's books.  It is interesting to see Little take over the Lee books later on.  I'm interested in the differences between the early published ones and the later (and any possible changes; philosophy changes etc...).

If Lee had lived it would have been interesting to see if he would have released ,another book. Sadly other people have edited his work and released it as they think it should be presented. I own some of the John Little books and a couple of the older Mitoshi Uyeharas ones too.

[Cognoscente]

It's too bad that Bruce didn't live long enough to write a memoir.


Famous Enough: A Hollywood Memoir (May 2, 2014) by Diane McBain (subject) and Michael Gregg Michaud (Author)

"Bruce Lee was quite a marvel. He later became a big film star, but then, he was playing second string to Van. He was very polite and quiet on the set, often retiring to his dressing room to read a book, but he also wowed us with incredible demonstrations of his Karate skills. He playfully kicked cigarettes and cigars out of the mouths of trembling crew members. He had been a martial arts instructor, and even at his young age of twenty-five, seemed very self-assured. He'd take his shirt off to limber up and stretch outside the soundstage. He was lean and muscular and walked with a dancer's grace. Still, I didn't pay much attention to him, he was so unassuming."

"One scene called for Robin to fight with Kato. The scene was rehearsed for hours, first with stand-ins and then with Burt Ward and Bruce Lee. Both young men knew each other off the set and had sparred and trained with each other before. Bruce decided to play a joke on Burt. Poor Burt was the only person not in on the prank. When they got ready to do a final run-through, Bruce became very serious. His eyes narrowed and he circled Burt like a stalking animal. He actually got in Burt's face, unblinking and threatening. Burt didn't know what was going on. He began to stammer - This is not real, you know; we're just shooting this. Bruce wouldn't back down."

"When the director got the actors in position, Burt was trying to prepare for the worst. Suddenly, Bruce jumped back, stuck out his tongue, and cracked: Robin's a chicken! Burt looked more relieved than amused, but the rest of us fell to the floor laughing."

My Husband, My Friend (1986) by Neile Adams McQueen


"I arrived in Greenwood with Bruce Lee two weeks after the company set up shop. Bruce was a sight (this was about two years before he became a household name by way of his Hong Kong-made Karate-Kung Fu movies). He went everywhere in his Karate outfit and people thought he was my bodyguard. Before Steve left for location, Bruce had come over to visit and give him a refresher course in Kung Fu."

"I liked Bruce; he was a really good influence on Steve because he believed in clean living. No cigarettes, no drugs, no caffeine, and plenty of good health food and vitamins. Taking care of his body was a top priority for Bruce, while Steve seemed intent on abusing his. Oh, he did take vitamins and he did work out, but he smoked like a fiend, drank his coffee with three sugars, and most serious, he was now heavily indulging in drugs. Connections abounded in this industry. Drugs could be had at a moment's notice. Except for a handful of people, everyone seemed to be indulging and everyone was eager to please a movie star."

Edited June 11, 2021 by Cognoscente

[Cognoscente]

Will (2021) by Will Smith.

Will quotes Bruce Lee as saying: "It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war."

Will talks about Eric Lewis: "While in a mental hospital, Bruce Lee had spiritually visited him and told him to use the piano to fight his demons. ELEW, as he's known, developed a martial arts style of piano playing."

[Cognoscente]

Giant Steps (1985) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Peter Knobler.

Bruce was a brilliant and unconventional martial artist, a total pragmatist. In many of the traditions the martial arts were used to develop character as well as prowess, but Bruce felt that was another job completely and concentrated entirely on aspects of fighting. Through training for combat, he believed, character would evolve.

Bruce Lee was an innovator; he had little use for the traditions. Many martial arts teachers enjoy the esteem of a system that supports them because of their continuity, though their teachings may be discredited. Bruce was a young man; he could out-fight the old masters, and he could out-argue them on paper. In a practical demonstration he could pinpoint glaring weaknesses in their fighting style, and in lectures he continually revealed big holes in their philosophical theories. He pared down what he saw as the cute, inessential mannerisms that had crept into the teachings, techniques that did not give you any real advantage in a real fight. He described it as “learning how to swim on land,” all these elaborate little movements you can learn that may be lovely but don’t help you to swim. He had no patience for such uselessness.

As a result, Bruce made a lot of enemies. On a TV panel show in Hong Kong, he once told me, a master had said “Look, I’m going to get into my stance, and you can’t push me over,” as if to prove a point. The man took his stance; Bruce walked over and punched him in the mouth to show him that the stance didn’t mean anything, that fighting had nothing to do with parlor tricks.

Bruce and I were invited to observe a martial arts demonstration by a school he didn’t have much to do with. When the display was over, Bruce spoke briefly to the class, was very polite. Wished everybody good luck, told them they were very hard-working and dedicated. When we got outside he said, “Those guys are turkeys. If it was necessary, all you’d have to do is watch my back, and we’d kick them all in the ass.”

Bruce developed a revolutionary movement that he called the Six-Inch Punch. Teachings through the ages held that a blow with the front or lead fist was not very powerful; it had to travel from the rear area to the front in order to gain enough power to score a point or do any damage. Bruce said, “Why eliminate a valuable weapon? Why not use every source of power available?” He planted both feet and taught himself how to deliver a truly punishing bow that, through his concentration and technique, summoned his full chi and travelled like a piston only six inches from his body to his opponent’s. When he demonstrated it on me, I became an immediate believer. His wife, more than a hundred pounds lighter than I was, hit me with it and rocked me.

I brought my friend Malek up there once. Malek played ball at UCLA and can definitely handle himself, and for a while, as they sparred, he held his own. He danced and moved, and Bruce didn’t touch him. But the longer it took Bruce to get through, the more his face hardened. Malek was concentrating so hard, was so intimidated by Bruce’s dead glare that before he knew what had happened he had been backed into a wall, and Bruce was all over him. Malek also wonders how Bruce managed his spinning back kick. Bruce, he swears, jumped up, took his right foot up past Malek’s face, then caught him a solid shot from the other direction with the same foot. And then landed. How he did it Malek, doesn’t know.

I met Bruce when he was first developing his fighting style, but it wasn’t really obvious to me that I was working with someone who was going to become a martial arts immortal. Bruce was, during this whole time, my friend, and I think we allowed each other to become close because I was as prominent in my field as he was in his. There wasn’t any real competition, no clash of egos, and Bruce needed friends. Bruce quite righty thought of himself as a strong person. He never showed any sign of weakness in his fighting persona, and he refused to show any vulnerability in his personality.

I was over at his house one afternoon. We’d just finished working out; it was sunny and warm, and Bruce said, “Hey, I have to go and drop something off at a friend of mine’s house.”

“I might go with you, I offered.”
“You want a ride.”
“Yeah,” I said, “where is it? Is it far away?”
“No,” he said, “it’s near Lobertson.”

He meant Robertson, an avenue off Venice Boulevard, but maybe two or three times a year his Chinese accent would sneak through. Bruce’s face went cold. Like when he was stalking Malek. He thought I was going to mock him and, friend or no friend, he wanted to fight me. I saw him begin to coil, and I grabbed him and hugged him, and we began to laugh. I couldn’t tell anybody, of course; it was the kind of confidence that cements a friendship, but as I let go he punched me on the arm, real hard, just to let me know he was still Bruce Lee.

[eelecurb01]

Sterling Silliphant: Fingers of God (2013) by Nate Segaloff

"Stirling Silliphant did embellish from time to time, like meeting me in 1969" Tiana Alexandra countered. "It was not possible, as I did not meet Bruce Lee until the '70s and had not heard of Silliphant, although I loved "In the Heat of the Night". I met Stirling Silliphant in Beverly Hills, where I only met Bruce when he invited me to join him for the famed Ed Parker Long Beach Tournament. Bruce never did like me at first" she added, "because he said, "I don't like girls who want to be tough, who want to beat up men". And I was telling him, "No, I'm doing it for the exercise".  

Edited May 6, 2022 by eelecurb01
spelling

[eelecurb01]

Sharon Farrell: "Hollywood Princess" from Sioux City, Iowa (2013) by Sharon Farrell

"The first time I met Bruce was on the studio lot where we were filming "Marlowe". When the day's shooting had finished, he followed me to where I had parked my car on the lot. He just stood there grinning at me like a little kid. I didn't even know we were going to be working on the same film, or that he was James Garner's trainer, the star of the film, and of my next film "The Reivers", Steve McQueen. I just thought he was cute and harmless enough to flirt with. I thought I couldn't possibly get into trouble with this funny little character". 

P.S. this book has some pretty sordid details about her affairs with Bruce, Steve McQueen, Che Guevara and about 50 other dudes. 

 

[Cognoscente]

Dervish Dust: The Life and Words of James Coburn (2021) by Robyn L. Coburn

Lee and Coburn reconciled, and it was not long after this that Lee went to him for advice, which turned out to be a crucial professional turning point. "I actually talked him out of doing the television series Kung Fu. Bruce was not an actor; he was a martial artist, and he always let his ego take him on that trip, and you can't have an ego and be an actor. You've got to sublimate that thing down there. I knew if he took on the character in Kung Fu, his career would be over. His talent was as a martial artist. I suggested he go back to China and do those films that were just perfect for him, that made him such a huge star. He really wanted to do television."

I said "Man, don't do it. Television limits you."

"I can act." he told me.

"Well, you can well enough, but the films will show off your art more."

"He thought about it, and thought about it, and finally decided to go back and make those Southeast Asian films. And he became Bruce Lee, Martial Artist.”