Words On The Dragon - Articles, Interviews, Videos & Pod-Cast's

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Here's Part 1 of great article by Billy Potts, about Bruce Lee Seatle year's.

 

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Lee made his first tentative steps into working life. “Now I am really on my own. Since the day I stepped into this country, I didn’t spend any money from my father,” he wrote in 1960 to Hawkins Cheung, a fellow student of Ip Man, the legendary kung fu master. “Now I am working as a waiter for a part-time job after school. I’m telling you it’s tough, boy! I always have a heck of a time!” 

 

Young Bruce Lee, Part I: Street Brawling and Cha-Cha Dancing in Seattle - (Billly Potts)

Link- https://zolimacitymag.com/young-bruce-lee-part-i-street-brawling-and-cha-cha-dancing-in-seattle-chinatown/

 

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Over the past year, Lee has been refashioned in a number of ways: In Cinemax’s Warrior, as the protagonist of his own television concept, realized at last; in Ip Man 4: The Finale, as a youthful embodiment of how kung fu’s traditional barriers of entry were broken; infamously, in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as a jive-talking prop; and, in the recent ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Be Water, as the product of enduring discrimination across two worlds.

 

What It Means to Understand Bruce Lee - (Danny Chau)

- The martial-arts legend looms so large in pop culture that the mundane details of his life feel like a rare treat.

Link- https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/06/be-water-and-difficulty-understanding-bruce-lee/613234/

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

In the following interview, John Little says he heard a story about Ip Man training somebody to challenge Bruce Lee?. Was this why the late actor didnt attend his mentors funeral?.

 

 

 

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Can anyone translate this recent article published by the Hong Kong Chronicles?.

 

Link- https://www.hkchronicles.org.hk/香港志/⼤事記/允文允武李小龍與金庸

 

相見歡，李小龍(左)與鄒文懷(右)，後方向後望者為著名小說家倪匡。(收藏家吳貴龍先生提供)

[Cognoscente]

If you want to choose a person who can best represent Hong Kong, different people will have different answers. However, if you want to ask a foreigner who has never been to Hong Kong before, let him name a Chinese he knows, or Chinese Kung Fu, Bruce Lee! (中国功夫，李小龙﹗)

Collector Wu Guilong can be said to be my year-end acquaintance. Although our two collections have different interests, the addiction of collecting is the lifeblood of cultural and historical heritage, and we spare no effort to overcome the difficulties of limited storage space in order to collect what we like. Everyone’s historical collection is the same. Wu Guilong mainly collects stamps, bus tickets and old photos, but one of his favorite objects is Bruce Lee, the martial arts star who happens to have the word "dragon" with him.

Bruce Lee, formerly known as Li Zhenfan, was born in San Francisco, USA in 1940. He is the son of Li Haiquan, an ugly student of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. When he was young, he studied in Hong Kong and learned Wing Chun from Ip Man, which became the basis of martial arts from Jeet Kune Do. In 1970, Bruce Lee, who was frustrated while developing in Hollywood in the United States, was invited by Hong Kong Jiahe Film Company Zou Wenhuai to return to Hong Kong to star in his first Kung Fu film "Big Brother Tangshan" after returning to Hong Kong. The film was released in 1971, and the cumulative box office revenue reached 3 million Hong Kong dollars, a record for the Hong Kong box office at the time.
 

On the evening of November 6, 1971, Jiahe Company held a celebration banquet for "Big Brother Tangshan" at the Cuiyuan Restaurant. Bruce Lee (middle) took a photo with the actor Miao Kexiu (left) and Yi Yi (right) who played the heroine Qiaomei. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

 

Meet each other, Bruce Lee (left) and Zou Wenhuai (right), and the one looking back is the famous novelist Ni Kuang. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

"Big Brother Tangshan" started Jiahe's famous hall, with Bruce Lee in front of the scene and director Luo Wei behind the scenes. According to Luo Wei’s dictation and Qianyi’s transcript of "Forty Years in the Film Industry", Luo Wei, who was originally the director of Shaw Brothers, originally paid 16,000 Hong Kong dollars for each film. He also came from Shaw Brothers Jiahe boss Zou Wenhuaihui. Knowing the heroes, Lo Wei passed the file with a reward of HK$50,000 for each movie. Luo Wei didn't open his eyes to Qian. He pointed out that Zou Wenhuai invited him to join Shaw Brothers at the time. Without Zou Wenhuai, Luo Wei would not have his position in the film world at that time. Therefore, his joining Jiahe can be said to be an act of knowledge and grace. However, at that time, Jiahe was invented and lacked actors and props, so it could only recruit new people by posting in the newspaper. The final candidate was Miao Kexiu, a 17-year-old typist who was considered to be "fat toot" by the staff only based on his photos and almost missed the selection. Luo Wei described her as "Princess Jiahe picked out from under the stage!"

Miao Kexiu was originally named Chen Yongxian, and her stage name was given to her by the martial arts master Jin Yong during the Jiahe era. The English name of Jiahe (Harvest) means Miao, and Miao Kexiu means more and more beautiful.
 

Miao Kexiu and Jin Yong (right), a master of martial arts novels, had a very happy conversation. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

The screenwriters of the movies "Big Brother Tangshan" and "Jing Wu Men" are well-known writer Ni Kuang, but when "Big Brother Tangshan" was filmed, both Luo Wei and Bruce Lee made some changes to the script, and Ni Kuangyin had a contract with Shaw Brothers. , It requested that Ni Kuang’s name should not be listed on the movie list.
 

Rowe, "Forty Years in the Movie Circle". (Cai Sixing Collection)

On March 21, 1972, Bruce Lee was photographed in the open-air parking lot on the top floor of Ocean Terminal (now the "Ocean View" location in Harbour City) to shoot promotional photos for the Golden Harvest movie. He, Miao Kexiu and Yi Yi boarded the Swire luxury cruise ship "Coral Princess" and took a series of classic photos. The shipping view was opened to the public on October 23, 2017. There is a plaque introducing Bruce Lee's deeds. Friends who are interested can blow the sea breeze and reminisce about the old martial arts star Bruce Lee. The most impressive scene of Bruce Lee in the movie should be Chen Zhen, played by Bruce Lee in "Jing Wu Men", who saw the wooden sign "Dogs and Chinese are not allowed" in front of Huangpu Park, and was also favored by the gatekeeper and the Japanese. The provocation eventually aroused national indignation and destroyed the wooden sign.
 

Bruce Lee walks the catwalk in the parking lot of Ocean Terminal, with the Hong Kong Hotel opened in 1969 in the background. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

 

Bruce Lee leans on a railing and looks into the distance. To the left is the Star Walk built by Fok Yingdong and Stanley Ho and completed in 1967, and to the right is the Tsim Sha Tsui Railway Station building that was later demolished in 1976. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

Wu is no second, and literary is no first. If you want to talk about the works that best represent Hong Kong literature, it can be said that everyone has different speakers. However, if you insist on reflecting the national integrity, Jin Yong's martial arts novels can be said to be the epitome. In the past, the Chinese language and culture subjects of the Hong Kong preparatory course chose Jin Yong's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" as one of the reading materials for the book report. Although he was not lucky enough to arrange "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" as the subject of his book report during his reading years, Mr. Jin Yong wrote fourteen novels "The Flying Snow Shoots the White Deer, The Laughing Man Relies on the Bi Yuan", which was used in high school. Read it several times from start to finish. Perhaps some readers like Jin Yong's writing of various martial arts moves, or the martial arts system that he inherited from the traditional Chinese martial arts system and integrated it. Personally, I am even more attracted to Guo Jing, the "big chivalrous man". Guo Jing’s martial arts may not be the highest in Jin Yong’s novels, but he is full of "awe-inspiring aura" as Mencius said. Even though he grew up in the Mongolian desert since he was a child, he never forgets his identity as a Song citizen, knowing that Genghis Khan will invade the Song Dynasty south. Guo Jing refused to follow. This has become one of the foundations for Huang Rong, who looks clumsy but can subdue Huang Rong, who is smart.
 

The cover of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" published by Sanyu Book Stationery Company. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

Jin Yong’s first martial arts novel "Book and Sword Encounter Record" was serialized in the "New Evening News" on February 8, 1955, and Liang Yusheng, who was with him, was serialized in the publication department of "New Evening News" on January 20, 1954. The novel "Dragon and Tiger Fighting in Beijing". It can be said that the two of Jin Liang are very bright for a while, and they developed the new genre of Hong Kong martial arts novels. Jin Yong’s other martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was serialized in the "Hong Kong Commercial Daily" from 1957 to 1959. During this period, Sanyu Books and Stationery Co., Ltd. collected and published one volume every time it had accumulated five times. Published 16 volumes, which has become one of Jin Yong's old novels pursued by collectors from Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas.

The first movie adapted from Jin Yong’s martial arts novels was "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" starring Cao Dahua (playing Guo Jing), Rong Xiaoyi (playing Huang Yaoshi’s wife and Huang Rong). The first episode was released in 1958 and was filmed by Emei Films. Produced by the company. Based on the calculation of the first seven-day public screening from October 23 to 29 of that year alone, the total number of screenings reached 200 and the audience number was 135,839. Cao Dahua is known as the "iron man in the silver altar," and he has always played a decent role, which happens to be in harmony with Guo Jing. As for the first TV series adapted from Jin Yong's martial arts novels, it was also "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", which premiered on April 12, 1976 by Jiayi TV.
 

1958 "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" play bridge. (Provided by collector Wu Guilong)

[DragonClaws]

13 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

If you want to choose a person who can best represent Hong Kong, different people will have different answers. However, if you want to ask a foreigner who has never been to Hong Kong before, let him name a Chinese he knows, or Chinese Kung Fu, Bruce Lee! (中国功夫，李小龙﹗)

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to translate the article @Cognoscente, and welcome to the forums.

 

13 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

On March 21, 1972, Bruce Lee was photographed in the open-air parking lot on the top floor of Ocean Terminal (now the "Ocean View" location in Harbour City) to shoot promotional photos for the Golden Harvest movie.

 

So the well known Ocean Terminal car park photos were for a Golden Harvest promotional shoot, Wu Ngan said the pictures were for a Hong Kong newspaper/magazine.

 

@Chu Liu Hsiang and @ShawAngela, might be interested in the section regarding Legend of The Condor Heroes and other related novels.

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

Very interesting. Thanks for the translation, and WELCOME to the forum @Cognoscente!!

[Cognoscente]

Thanks, and you're welcome. According to the below French blog, the photo shoot was a costume test for Yellow Faced Tiger.

http://flutesilencieuse.canalblog.com/archives/2008/01/14/7558045.html

The photos can be seen in the March `73 issue of Golden Movie News.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-12-Golden-Movie-News-Bruce-Lee-Wang-Yu-Sam-Hui-Nora-Miao-Maria-Yi/224040962979

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9 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

Thanks, and you're welcome. According to the below French blog, the photo shoot was a costume test for Yellow Faced Tiger.

 

Thats a cool blog I've visited a number of times, but I didnt know about the Ocesn Terminal carpark photos being a costume test for Yellow Faced Tiger.

[Cognoscente]

Bearing in mind that the French blogger was referring to what would have been the third collaboration between Lo and Lee (A Man Called Tiger). The confusion is understandable since Lo would later use the yellow title for Slaughter in San Francisco.

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On 4/1/2021 at 1:48 AM, Cognoscente said:

Bearing in mind that the French blogger was referring to what would have been the third collaboration between Lo and Lee (A Man Called Tiger).

 

Looks like Bruce Lee was on board with doing the film under Lo Wie direction, at least to start with?. If he was willing to do a photo shoot in costume with Maria Yi.

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You mentioned that the first time you saw an Aikido demo was with Bruce Lee. What did he think about Aikido? 

Well, if I remember clearly, he thought the system was good for dealing with grabs and that it had some powerful joint locks, but he felt it wouldn’t do well against someone who is punching and kicking. He thought the falling techniques were great.

 

Dan Inosanto: On Bruce Lee and Aikido - by Josh Gold

Link- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjtjuyotZnwAhXOTMAKHdByAvkQFjAAegQIAxAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Faikidojournal.com%2F2021%2F04%2F21%2Fdan-inosanto-on-bruce-lee-and-aikido%2F&usg=AOvVaw0WbhaF9T-1aqZQmIcWAPOd

 

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