Legend of the Dragon
by Agam Shah
Li Jun Fan was one of the world's most revered martial artists, till he died a mysterious death 1973. Name....doesn't strike a bell? Then you will probably remember him as Bruce Lee- the name Li Jun Fan was more popularly known by.
There is an element of mystery attached to Bruce Lee's death. A swelling in his brain was cited as the reason for his death, though nobody knows how it happened. Some say the swelling was caused by the deep intensity of his training. Some feared the involvement of drugs, which was ruled out after an examination by doctors.
The explanations don't end there! Spiritualists countered that he died due to some spell cast by a martial arts cult; some practitioners believe that Bruce Lee was struck in the head by a martial artist who was jealous of his prowess. Instead of offering another explanation, I'll talk about what Bruce Lee meant to me.
To me, Bruce Lee fought in a style so surreal that it transcended all martial arts forms.
To me, Bruce Lee was such a bad actor that he could put the Oscars to shame. I couldn't even understand what he said in his movies. It was mainly Bruce's on-screen fighting abilities that left me spellbound -- so fluid that it just melted on hitting the eye.
In "Enter the Dragon," I remember him breaking one guy's jaw. He lowered his eyes, focused, harnessed all the available inner energy, cooed "waaaakkkaaooouuu," and struck with a force so massive that I could feel its raw energy beyond the TV screen. It was just exhilarating seeing him in action. What happened after he died hurts me the most.
Unwittingly, via his movies, Bruce Lee had given martial arts just the boost they needed to become popular. Result? Wannabe Bruce Lees (mostly men) joined their nearest martial arts schools with the hope to bring off somebody's head with one Karate chop. Or cut a tree with one kick to the bark.
In a sense, Bruce Lee's movies promoted the martial arts negatively - as a mindless shin-kicking, gut-spilling, chopsocky exercise that could be used if ninjas attacked you at 1:00 in the morning. His movies portrayed the martial arts as meaningless violence.
The movies failed to inject sense into the violence - they failed to incorporate the spiritual and philosophical teachings of martial arts, that translate into qualities of respect, honor, dignity, strength patience, tolerance and mannerisms that define our everyday life.
Point? During the Bruce Lee era, fans saw the martial arts not as an art, but as a sport. The martial arts are more than just violence and kicking - each kick has a meaning to it, and that meaning plays an important role in developing us physically, mentally, and spiritually. Which is what makes the martial arts such an effective and beautiful "art" form.
Infact, every martial art has a philosophy behind it, and Bruce Lee's spin on martial arts theory and philosophy is reflected in "Jeet Kune Do", an art form that he developed.
Well, the violence continues with Bruce Lee's clones, who aren't doing too much to disturb the legend's legacy. There was a Bruce Li who appeared a couple of years ago (I first thought his name was mis-spelt!) - but he disappeared from the scene as quickly as he had arrived. Jet Li, a supersonic from Hong Kong, recently showed his super lightning-fast kicks in "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Romeo Must Die".
Yet, no matter how many Bruce Li's or Jet Li's come along, Bruce Lee was, is and will always remain fresh in the memory of martial arts and artists.
Agam Shah can be reached at the following e-mail address:
katroo@gmail.com
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