Bruce Lee vs Lau Tai-Chuen reference in The Man, The Myth

[Killer Meteor]

So apparently Bruce had a private duel with Lau (a martial arts champion) that was witnessed by a police inspector who subsequently spilt the beans, judging from Bolo's account

https://popcultmaster.com/2022/08/18/tripartite/

 

Quote

He was part of the same social circle that Bolo Yeung belonged to. About the making of Enter the Dragon, Bolo spoke of a martial artist named Lau Tai-Chuen: “This fellow was the Asian boxing champion and had loudly protested Bruce Lee’s status in the martial arts world. Bruce ignored the comments for months but eventually decided enough was enough. He contacted a police chief and said, I will fight this guy if you can guarantee me that nobody else will know about it because I don’t want to give this guy publicity. Otherwise, this will never stop. The police chief agreed. Bruce and this other martial artist were contacted as to the time and place. The whole bout lasted less than 30 seconds. Bruce then pulled out his check book and wrote a check out in the fallen boxer’s name in order to pay the hospital expenses necessary to stitch the man back up. Apparently, the police chief didn’t keep the secret very private and soon word of Bruce Lee’s encounter reached me while I was on the set. I asked Bruce if the encounter was true. Bruce nodded grimly in the affirmative and told me, Keep it to yourself.”

Lau subsquently was cast by Ng See-yuen in THE BLOODY FISTS and had a brief acting career - https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=18174&display_set=eng

 

Anyway, flash forward to 1976 and BRUCE LEE: THE MAN, THE MYTH, directed by Ng See-yuen, where Bruce has a private match with a martial artist (now called Mr Chan) played by Chiu Chi-ling...a match overseen by an police official!

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Killer Meteor

[DragonClaws]

21 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

So apparently Bruce had a private duel with Lau (a martial arts champion) that was witnessed by a police inspector who subsequently spilt the beans, judging from Bolo's account

https://popcultmaster.com/2022/08/18/tripartite/

 

That Police Officer witnessed two fights at least, one in a hotel and another in a private ring set up in his own backyard. Which meant they could have total privacy, apart from those who were wlecome to witness it. Sounds a bit like the Van Damme movie Lionheart, and how he fights many people illegally to entertain the more rich and powerful fight fans/gamblers. There were rumoured to be other fights like those two aswell?, some fans have said at least 20?. I cant confirm any of this myself with anything factual, apart from the tidbits shared online. The particular fight in BLTMTM could be paying homage to anyone of those?. Maybe it was the Mongolian Wrestler who challgened him?. There are others online who know more on this area/subject, that may be able to help out. The films title says it all, but which parts are about the man and which are the perceived myth?. Mattew Polly's book does mention some of these encounters, with much better research than I can provide here.

P.S Richard Torress shared an short article from a magazine with Bolo, talking about the fight you refer to. He put this on his FB page some years ago, Bolo also talked about it in a couple of other interviews over the years. Seperate to his stories about the extra challenging BL.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by DragonClaws