Legendery Bruce Lee Life

Bruce Lee

About Bruce Lee

1940 November 27
San Francisco- In the The Year of the Dragon between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. (the hour of the dragon), Lee Jun Fan (meaning return again Lee), Bruce Lee is born at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco?s Chinatown. Lee Hoi Chuen, Bruce's father, was performing with the Cantonese Opera Company in America.
At three months old, Bruce debuts in "Golden Gate Girl" in San Francisco.
He plays role of a female baby, carried by his father.

1941 (Age 1)
Hong Kong - Bruce and his parents return to Kowloon, their family home. They move into an apartment at 218 Nathan Road, Kowloon district. The apartment is located on the second floor of a building containing a store on the first floor.

1946 (Age 6)
Hong Kong - Bruce makes his first major childhood movie in The Beginning of a Boy. He also performs in The Birth of Mankind, and My Son, Ah Cheun. During the later years of his childhood, Bruce appears in 20 more films. At this time Lee also becomes nearsighted and starts to wear glasses. (He will later wear contacts, suggested to him by a friend who is an optometrist.)

1952 (Age 12)
Hong Kong - Lee begins attending La Salle College, a Catholic Boys school.

1953 (Age 13)
Attended St. Xavier College- a high school. Hong Kong - After being beaten up in a street gang altercation, Bruce begins to take Gung-Fu lessons. He begins to train under Yip Man, master of the Wing Chun system of Gung-Fu.

1954 (Age 14)
Hong Kong - Bruce takes up cha-cha dancing.

1958 (Age 18)
Studied Wing Chun with Wong Shun Leung.
Hong Kong - Bruce wins the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. Bruce has a leading role in the film The Orphan. This is the last movie Bruce makes as a child actor. This is the only movie where Bruce does not fight. Hong Kong - Bruce enters the 1958 Boxing Championships and defeats the reigning three year champion, Gary Elms.

1959 (Age 19)
Hong Kong - Bruce's street fighting was becoming a problem. Bruce's father and mother decide that Bruce should take a three week voyage to the United States. San Francisco California, Chinatown. Lee returns to his birth-place to claim his American Citizenship. San Francisco - Seattle - With $15 from his father, and $100 from his mother, Bruce arrives in the United States, living with an old friend of his father. He works odd jobs around the various Chinese communities. Moved to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father. He lives in a room above her restaurant while working as a waiter downstairs. He eventually enrolls in Edison Technical School and earns his high school diploma. Bruce begins to teach his Martial Arts.

1961 (Age 21)
Seattle- Bruce enrolls at the University of Washington, studying Philosophy. He teaches Gung-Fu to students at school.

1963 Summer (Age 23)
Hong Kong - Bruce proposes to Amy Sanbo but is turned down. Bruce returns to Hong Kong with friend Doug Palmer for the first time since his arrival in the U.S. to visit family. He then returns to Seattle at the end of summer to continue his education.

1963 October 25 (Age 23)
Seattle - Bruce takes out Linda Emery (his future wife) for their first date. They have dinner at the Space Needle. Bruce gives notice to Ruby Chow and leaves her restaurant. He starts the first Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute.

1963 Fall (Age 23)
Seattle - Bruce moves his Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute into a building (4750 University Way) near the university campus. Wrote the book Chinese Gung Fu: The philosophical art of self defense. Lee teaches anyone of any race, (Asian Martial Arts schools would only teach people of their own race) At Garfield High School, Bruce demonstrates the "One-Inch Punch". This is the punch he would later make famous at the 64' Long Beach Internationals.

1964(Age 24)
Bruce meets Jhoon Rhee at the International Karate Championships. The two would remain good friends and Lee would use the high flashy kicks that Rhee taught him in the Green Hornet series and in the rest of his movies. While he believed that kicking a man in the head was like punching him in the foot, he knew the kicks looked good on film even if they were impractical for real self defense.
(Jhoon Rhee will invite Bruce to Washington, D.C. to appear at tournaments.)

1964 June (Age 24)
Oakland - Bruce discusses with James Yimm Lee plans to open a second Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute in Oakland, CA.

1964 Summer (Age 24)
Oakland - Plans are finalized, and Bruce leaves Seattle to start a second Jun Fan Gung-Fu school in Oakland.
James Yimm Lee is Co Instructor, the only person who ever received equal with Bruce Lee teaching status.

1964 August 2 (Age 24)
Long Beach, CA - Ed Parker, known as the Father of American Kenpo and also Elvis Presley?s body-guard and karate teacher, invites Bruce to give a demonstration. Bruce shows off his "one-inch punch," and his two-finger push-ups. At his first International Karate Championships, Jay Sebring, the hair stylist for Batman, William Dozier, a producer, who is looking to cast a part in a TV series he was developing. Sebring then gives a film of Bruce's demo to Dozier who is impressed with Bruce?s abilities. Bruce flies down to Los Angeles for a screen test.

1964 August 4 (Age 24)
Oakland - Bruce leaves for Seattle. He will propose to Linda.

1964 August 17 (Age 24)
Bruce returns to Seattle to marry Linda. They soon move to Oakland, living with his good friend and Co Instructor at the Oakland school James Lee.

1965 (Age 24)
Oakland - Several months after he begins teaching, he is challenged by, Wong Jack Man, a Gung-Fu practitioner in the Chinatown Community. They agree: If Bruce looses, he will, either close his school, or stop teaching non Asians or white ghosts; and if Jack looses, he will stop teaching all together. Jack Man thinking Lee is a blow hard, feels he will back down and delays the match. Bruce becomes angered and insists that they not wait. Wong then tries to put limitations on techniques. Bruce refuses "rules" and the two go no holds barred. Bruce begins to pound his opponent in only a couple of seconds. As Bruce pounds him, Wong attempts to run, but is caught by Bruce.
Bruce begins to beat him on the ground. Students of the other teacher attempted to step in and help their teacher, James Lee, Bruce's good friend and body builder prevents this. Later he is bothered on why the fight took so long and begins to re-evaluate his style. He is determined to fix the problems with gung fu. Jeet Kune Do (JKD), "The art of the intercepting fist" is born. JKD is an art including techniques from American Boxing, Wing Chun, and French Fencing. Bruce is signed to a one-year option for The Green Hornet. He is paid an $1800 retainer.

1965 February 1 (Age 25)
Oakland, CA - Brandon Bruce Lee is born.

1965 February 8 (Age 25)
Hong Kong - Bruce's father passes away in Hong Kong. Bruce returns to Hong Kong for his father?s funeral. As tradition dictates, in order to obtain forgiveness for not being present when his father died, Bruce crawls on his knees across the floor of the funeral home towards the casket wailing loudly and crying.

1965 May (Age 25)
Bruce uses the retainer money from the Green Hornet and flies himself, Linda, and Brandon back to Hong Kong in order to settle his father's estate affairs. While in Hong Kong, Bruce takes Brandon to see Yip Man to persuade him to perform on tape. Bruce wants to take the footage back to Seattle and show his students what the man looks like in action. Yip man declines the offer.

1965 September (Age 25)
Seattle - Bruce, Linda, Brandon return to Seattle.

1966 (Age 26)
Los Angeles - Bruce and family move to Los Angeles to an apartment on Wilshire and Gayley in Westwood.
This is where he begins working on a new TV series called The Green Hornet as Kato. The Green Hornet series starts filming and Bruce is Paid $400 per episode, where Lee perfects his famous flashy kicks taught to him by Jhoon Rhee. Bruce buys a 1966 blue Chevy Nova.
He later opens third branch of the Jun Fan Gung-Fu Institute in Los Angeles' Chinatown.

1966 September 9 (Age 26)
Los Angeles - The Green Hornet series premiers. 1967-1971 (Age 27-31) Hollywood - During this time, Bruce lands bit parts in various films and T.V. series. He also gives private lessons for up to $250 an hour to personalities Steve McQueen, James Coburn, James Garner, Lee Marvin, Roman Polanski, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Bruce meets Chuck Norris in New York at the All American Karate Championships in Washington D.C. Chuck fights Joe Lewis and wins.

1967 (Age 27)
Washington, D.C. - Bruce meets Joe Lewis at The Mayflower Hotel while both were guests at the 67' National Karate Championships. Joe is competing in the tournament and Bruce is making special appearances as Kato.

1967 February (Age 27)
Los Angeles - Bruce opens a 3rd school at 628 College Street, Los Angeles, CA. Dan Inosanto serves as assistant instructor.

1967 July 14 (Age 27)
Los Angeles - The last episode of The Green Hornet Series airs.

1969 April 19 (Age 29)
Santa Monica, CA Shannon Lee is born.

1969 (Age 29)
A scriptwriter is hired and paid $12K by Stirling Silliphant and James Coburn to write a script for the Silent Flute. (Later to be played by David Caradine) The script produced is unacceptable, and no other scriptwriter could seen to do the job. They then decide to write it themselves. 1970 (Age 30) Los Angeles - Bruce injures his sacral nerve lifting weights and experiences severe muscle spasms in his back.. Doctors told him that he would never kick again. They were wrong, but Lee suffered pain almost constantly. During the months of recovery he starts to document his training methods and his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Later published as The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

1970 (Age 30)
Hong Kong - Bruce and Brandon fly to Hong Kong and are welcomed by fans of The Green Hornet Show.
Bruce sends Unicorn to talk to Run Run Shaw on his behalf and inform Shaw that he would be willing to do a movie for him for $10K. Shaw makes counter-offer of a seven year contract and $2K per film which Bruce declines.

1971 February (Age 31)
India - Bruce, James Coburn, Stirling Silliphant fly to India to scout locations for The Silent Flute. They spend one month searching but are forced to call off the search as Coburn backs out of the project. This trip gives Bruce the idea for Game of Death, where a fighter, mastering in several techniques, will go from one level to the next in a temple: the first level (the level of weaponry), the second level (the level of the nine degree black belt), and the third level ( "The level of the unknown.")

1971 (Age 31)
Hong Kong. - Bruce takes a short trip back to Hong Kong to arrange for his mother to live in the U.S. Unknowingly to him, he had become a superstar for The Green Hornet was one of the most popular TV shows in Hong Kong. Later, he is approached by Raymond Chow, owner of a new production company, and offered the lead role in a new film called The Big Boss. Bruce accepts. Bruce is supplied with small apartment at 2 Man Wan Road - Kowloon, HK. Brandon attends La Salle College. The same school Bruce attended only 15 years before. Bruce is interviewed by Canadian talk show host Pierre Berton for a TV program being filmed in Hong Kong.

1971 July (Age 31) Thailand - Filming begins for The Big Boss (released in the U.S. as Fists of Fury). The Big Boss opens in Hong Kong to great reviews and mobs of fans. Proceeds to gross more than $3.5 million in little than three weeks.

1971 December 7 (Age 31)
Hong Kong - Bruce receives telegram, notifying him that he had not been chosen for the part in the upcoming series, The Warrior. This series was later released as Kung-Fu, staring David Caradine, as the studios felt that the American public would not accept an Asian in a leading role on television. Kung Fu aired as ABC-TVs Movie of the Week on February 21, 1972.

1972 (Age 32)
Hong Kong - Fist of Fury (released in the U.S. as The Chinese Connection) is released. It grosses more than The Big Boss and further establishes Bruce as a Hong Kong superstar. Bruce gets a larger budget, a larger salary, and more power of directing in this film. Bruce begins work on Game of Death and films several fight scenes including Dan Inosanto and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bruce appears on Hong Kong's TVB channel for a hurricane disaster relief benefit. In a demo Bruce performs, he breaks 4 out of 5 boards, one of which is hanging in the air with a line of string. Brandon even performs and breaks a board with a sidekick!

1972 (Age 32)
Rome, Italy - Location shots are made for Bruce's third film The Way of the Dragon (released in the U.S. as The Return of the Dragon). This time Bruce gets almost complete control the movie, which he writes, directs, and stars. Chuck Norris is Bruce's adversary in the final fight scene. Again, this film surpasses all records set by his previous two films.

1972 December 30 (Age 32)
Oakland ? James Yimm Lee, dies of Black Lung disease from his years of welding.

1973 February (Age 33)
Hong Kong - Bruce gets his chance at American stardom as filming of Enter the Dragon begins while Game of Death is put on hold. It is the first-ever production between the U.S. and Hong Kong film industries. On February 20, Bruce is guest of honor at St. Francis Xavier's school for Sports Day ceremonies.

1973(Age 33)
Bruce orders all three of his Jeet Kune Do schools closed in six months. He did not approve of some teaching methods in his absence and he felt others were taking advantage of him in some way. Hong Kong - Filming of Enter the Dragon is completed. Bruce is at Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong dubbing his voice for "Enter The Dragon". The air conditioners had been turned off, so the microphones won't pick them up. The temperature soared. Bruce takes a break looping lines to go to the bathroom and splash water on his face.
In he bathroom, he passes out on the bathroom floor. He revives twenty minutes later just as assistant sent to find out what was keeping him walks in and discovers him on the ground. He tries to conceal his collapse by acting as though he has dropped his glasses on the floor and is searching for them and is helped up by the assistant. As they are walking back to the dubbing room, Bruce collapses again and is rushed to a nearby hospital.

1973 July 10 (Age 33)
Hong Kong - Bruce Lee is walking through the Golden Harvest Studios and overhears Lo Wei in a nearby room bad mouthing him. He confronts Lo Wei who retreats and summons the local police. When the police arrive Lo Wei falsely accuses Bruce of threatened him with a knife concealed in his belt buckle. He further insists that Bruce sign a statement that he will not harm him. Bruce signs the statement to get Lo Wei off his back although Lo Wei lied to the police and Bruce never had a knife nor threatened to kill him. That same day, Bruce appears on the Hong Kong TV show, Enjoy Yourself Tonight with host Ho Sho Shin. Bruce alludes to his problems with director Lo Wei, but does not mention him by name. Bruce is asked to display his physical prowess and demonstrates his abilities. Bruce demonstrates a technique and Shin is knocked across the stage.

1973 July 16 (Age 33)
Hong Kong - Heavy rains fall caused by a typhoon off the coast of Hong Kong. Bruce makes a $200 phone call to speak to Unicorn in his hotel room, who is filming a movie in Manila. Bruce tells Unicorn that he is worried about the many headaches he is experiencing.

1973 July 20 (Age 33)
Hong Kong - Early that morning Bruce types a letter to his attorney, Adrian Marshall, detailing business ventures he wants to discuss on his upcoming trip to Los Angeles. Bruce had tickets already set to return to the US for a publicity tour and was scheduled to appear on the Johnny Carson show. Raymond Chow goes by Bruce's house and the two discuss plans for their upcoming movie Game of Death. Linda kisses Bruce good-bye and says she is going out to run some errands and will see him later that night. Raymond and Bruce visit Betty Ting Pei at her apartment to discuss her role in Game of Death. That evening plans had been made for them all to meet George Lazenby over dinner and enlist him for a part. Bruce explains that he has a headache, takes a prescription pain killer offered by Betty, and lies down on her bed to rest prior to dinner. Raymond Chow departs and says that he will meet them later. Raymond Chow and George Lazenby meet at a restaurant and await Bruce and Betty's arrival, but the two never show up. At 9:00 p.m. Chow receives a call from Betty; she said that she has tried to wake Bruce up but he won't come to. Betty summons her personal physician who fails to revive Bruce and who has Bruce taken to the hospital. Bruce does not revive and is pronounced dead. Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). Doctors declared the death of Bruce Lee as "death by misadventure." The premier of Enter the Dragon was pushed back by four days due to the actors death.

1973 July 25(Age 33)
Hong Kong - A funeral ceremony is held for in Hong Kong over 25,000 people were in attendance.
Bruce is dressed in the Hifu he wore in Enter the Dragon.

1973 July 30 (Age 32)
After a smaller second ceremony in Seattle, Washington at Butterworth Funeral Home on East Pine Street, Bruce Lee is buried at Lake View Cemetery. His pallbearers included Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, Peter Chin, and Robert Lee his brother.

1973 August 24
Hollywood California- Enter The Dragon premiers at Graumann's Chinese Theater.

After Bruce Lee?s Death

Tao of Jeet Kune Do published.
Main Chinese Gung Fu Associations grant Lee their highest honor, the title and rank of Sijo Founder of Jeet Kune Do.
Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

To pay your respects to Bruce or Brandon Lee:

Lakeview Cemetery
1554 15th. Ave. E
Seattle, WA

(about two miles northeast of downtown Seattle) Specific Interment Location: lot 276, east side of circular driveway in center of cemetery. GPS coordinates: 47.6333, -122.3158 (hddd.dddd)

206-322-1582 Lakeview Office

Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do is the systemized personification of the Bruce Lee fighting self defense system. It is a dynamic martial arts system designed to mold and blend with the individual martial artist. It has no strict rules, it has no strict disciplines. It's basic philosophy says to use what works. To mold the art to fit your body type and skills.

Much of Jeet Kune Do incorporates the training regimen used in Wing Chun Kung Fu (A Southern Chinese Martial Arts System), Kick Boxing, Filipino Martial Arts, and Kenpo.

Jeet Kune Do, The Street Fighting Philosophy

"Use no way as a way, No limitation as a limitation."...Bruce Lee

Jeet Kune Do's fighting system was the first "FREE-FORM" martial art to ever be brought to martial arts. JKD is the martial art created by Bruce Lee. It is a simplistic systm that allow the fighter to to be creative in his own expressiont of JKD.

The expression of JKD is like DNA, similar to all humans but not exactly the same from person to person. The are as many expressions of Jeet Kune Do as there are practicioners. They all abide by the basic structure and guide lines set by Bruce Lee, but each adds his one individual twist to his form of Jeet Kune Do.

You cannot put JKD in to a catagory like Tae Kwan Do for instance, you can say that they are feet fighters, but what is the Jeet Kune Do street fighter what is he, HE IS THE UNKNOWN.

Jeet Kune Do--the literal translation is "way of the intercepting fist"--was conceived by Bruce Lee in 1967. Unlike many other martial arts, there are neither a series of rules nor classification of techniques which constitutes a distinct Jeet Kune Do (JKD) method of fighting. JKD is unbound; JKD is freedom. It possesses everything, yet in itself is possessed by nothing. Those who understand JKD are primarily interested in its powers of liberation when JKD is used as a mirror for self-examination.

Silat Seni Gayong was formulated and founded by Mahaguru Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman bin Uda Mohd Hashim. He was of bugis decent born in 1915 and was the great-grandson of Daeng Kuning, commonly known as Panglima Hitam. Meor Abdul Rahman began learning the knowledge of silat at the age of twelve from his grandfather Tuan Syed Zainal Syed Idris Al-Attas. Syed Zainal is one of the warriors who fought against the British colonialism of the 19th century, in Pahang. Syed Zainal inherited his silat knowledge from Daeng Ambok Solok, a bugis warrior residing in Jambi Sumatra at that time.

For three years, Meor Abdul Rahman trained and learned with other students of Syed Zanial. At 19, Meor Abdul Rahman successfully achieved the understanding and the 'selok-belok' (the ins and outs), the art of seni gayong. However, his grandfather did not perform the "ritual of authorisation" of silat gayong on him, as he had foreseen in a prophecy that Meor Abdul Rahman will have this ritual performed on him by a greater (unseen) warrior.

In 1936, the "ritual of authorisation" was performed on Mahaguru Meor Abdul Rahman by none other than the legendary Hang Tuah. Needless to say, this was an incident on the meta-physical (spiritual) level. Some stories report that the whole ceremony took place in a kind of "dream". This incident occurred on a large black rock by the river at Hutan Menam (now Southern Thailand). All the secrets and knowledge of Silat were transmitted to him and he was given the trust to teach and spread Silat Seni Gayong to the best of his ability.

Meor Abdul Rahman was given the title Panglima Sendo (invincible warrior), by his Royal Highness Sultan Alang Iskandar, after demonstrating his skills and ability to the royal court and dignitaries. The Sultan was so impressed and pleased by Meor Abdul Rahman that he took him as his adopted son. Meor Abdul Rahman stayed at the palace until the Sultan's death in 1938.

In 1938, Meor Abdul Rahman moved to Singapore looking for work. There he found work at the British Royal Signal Corp Barrack, Killman, Woodland. From there he later became the un-armed combat instructor to the British soldiers. When the Japanese army attacked Singapore in 1942, Meor Abdul Rahman escaped with his family to Pulau Sudong (island south of Singapore). He underwent much hardship and trials before finally being allowed to reside there. Being a "lawless" island, Silat Seni Gayong was much needed for the protection of one self and the community; therefore the art was re-introduced to the community.
When Meor Abdul Rahman successfully saved the population of Pulau Sudong from the "Japanese threat", Silat Gayong was 'accepted' by the population, and taught throughout the island. Meor Abdul Rahman and his family then returned to Taiping, Perak.

In 1943 Meor Abdul Rahman was captured and imprisoned by the occupying Japanese Army. He was charged with treason against the Imperial Army and was sentenced to death by hanging. (This followed an incident in which Mahaguru 'fought off' a Japanese officer who had made rude advances towards his wife.)
On the day of the execution Meor Abdul Rahman, bravely and against the odds, 'overpowered' his armed captors. For fear of further losses, the Japanese authorities released him. Soon after however, the Japanese managed to 'force' him to become one of their own soldiers.

When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Meor Abdul Rahman and his family migrated yet again to Pulau Sudong. He was offered to become the 'Headman' of the island. During these years, Silat Seni Gayong spread to the neighbouring islands including those in Indonesian territories.

The year 1947 saw the appointment of Meor Abdul Rahman as an investigator with the Crime Investigation Department in Singapore. In this year too, he was awarded the 'King George VI' medal, an honour from the British Government, for his service in fighting the Japanese occupation of Singapore. In 1948 he actively spread Silat gayong throughout Singapore and on to the Malay Peninsula. After retiring from the police force, Meor Abdul Rahman established the first Silat Gayong Training School, at Lorong Fatimah, Woodland, Singapore. It was here that the early teachers or gurulatih of Gayong underwent their training.

In 1959, Meor Abdul Rahman met Dato' Onn bin Ja'afar, the founder of UMNO (United Malay National Organization), who offered himself to be a disciple of Silat Gayong. Dato' Onn suggested that Silat Gayong should be registered legally as an organization. Efforts began to register Silat Gayong and finally in 1963, this silat was officially registered as 'Pertubohan Silat Seni Gayong Malaya' with the registration number, 361. PSSGM is the first silat ever to be registered in Malaya.
After its registration, Silat Gayong continued to develop even more. From Singapore, Gayong spread to Johor. Meanwhile, in the north of the peninsula, Gayong spread on the effort of Meor Abdul Aziz, the elder brother of Meor Abdul Rahman and other 'gurulatih' sent from Singapore. Tengku Laksamana Kedah, on the royal command of Sultan Badlishah of Kedah had invited Silat Seni Gayong for a Command Performance in 1957.

The Silat Seni Gayong Training School was moved from Singapore to Kota Sarang Semut, Kedah, when the Mahaguru moved there in 1964.

In 1970, Silat Seni Gayong was invited by the Malaysian Government to be part of the National Entourage for The '70 Expo in Osaka, Japan. The Mahaguru and En. Razali Salleh (The Secretary General PSSGM then) accompanied two Gayong exponents, Che'gu Mustapha Kamal and Che'gu Mohd. Norsaii ,for the performances at the Expo, for two weeks. The Silat Demonstration was received with much encouraging enthusiasm and even 'surprised The Emperor Of Japan.
The Silat demonstration was also widely publicised by the media networks in Japan.

And yet again, in 1971, The Silat Seni Gayong Training School moved to Air Kuning, Taiping Perak, when the Mahaguru moved there. Mahaguru Meor Abdul Rahman was then awarded the highest honour, The Dato' Paduka Cura Simanja Kini, by Sultan Idris Shah, the sultan of Perak. In this year as well, Silat Seni Gayong was introduced to the Malaysian Armed Forces. 87 personnel from the rank and file of the military underwent an intensive Silat Gayong training for six months at a military camp in Taiping. Upon completion, they were given authorization as teachers or Gurulatih of Silat Gayong and this Silat was taken to all the military camps in the country.

Silat Seni Gayong was then introduced to The Royal Malaysian Police in 1973. A similar intensive training course was held for 48 police personnel from the lower ranks. Similarly, upon graduating, they were ordered to spread Silat Seni Gayong to all the Police training schools in Malaysia.

In 1978, Mohammed Moncef Abdullah returned to his home in Tunisia, after acquiring the knowledge of Silat Seni Gayong in Malaysia. He is now responsible for propagating Silat Gayong in the Middle East. His students have been to Malaysia in the early 1990's to further their training in Silat Seni Gayong.

In Western Australia Silat Gayong is being taught by Jan de Jong, an expert in the martial arts specializing on the Japanese systems. He had studied Silat Seni Gayong from Mahaguru Meor Abdul Rahman himself during the mid 80's.

Che'gu Sulaiman Shariff and Che'gu Sheikh Shamsudin of Gayong America is responsible for promoting Silat Gayong in the USA from the early 1990's, although before that, Che'gu Shaharudin Abd. Hamid had introduced Seni Gayong to a few known martial artists there.

Che'gu Mufti Ansari brought Silat Seni Gayong to Europe in the late 1980's. In the United Kingdom, Silat Gayong was taught by Che'gu Adlin from Negeri Sembilan. Beginning from middle of the year 2000, Gayong UK was formed and headed by Ketua Khalifah Tuan Haji Ariffin Mahidin.

In July 2000, Silat Seni Gayong was established on the island of Mauritius by Che'gu Ridzuan Abdul Razak with blessings from Che'gu Siti Kalsom Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman. To date, two Gayong centres have been opened there.

Mahaguru Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman passed away and returned to Devine Presence on the 23rd of June 1991. According to the Will of The Mahaguru, after him, no one of his successors shall be titled 'Mahaguru'. Silat Seni Gayong would from then on be administered by a Board of Trustees, comprising of members who are trustworthy and strong on the 'cause' of Silat Seni Gayong. Before blowing his last breath, Dato' Mahaguru then appointed his daughter Che'gu Siti Kalsom as Trustee I, and Che'gu Mohd. Razali Salleh as Trustee II of Silat Seni Gayong Malaysia and the World.

US Silat Champ

American Joel Champ has come to Malaysia to earn his 3rd degree black belt in silat

HE may be from suburban Chicago, Illinois, but 32-year-old American Navy Master at Arms Joel Champ is a master at silat, a form of martial arts that hails from the Malay Archipelago.

I would say that silat has an attitude about it and an approach to self-preservation that stands out ..."

After 12 years of training, Champ is now ready to move from second degree black belt to third degree black belt. And this can only be done in silat’s spiritual home – Malaysia.

Champ’s journey to learn from reclusive practitioners of silat in Malaysia is captured in the National Geographic documentary, Fight Masters – Silat: The Deadly Art, which premieres Aug 31 on the National Geographic Channel (Astro channel 553) at 9pm.

The American picked up the finer points of this art form from Shiekh Shamsuddin Salim (or Cikgu Sam), the founder of The Silat Seni Gayong Federation of the United States. Cikgu Sam holds the rank of Harimau Pelangi Cula Sakti (black belt) in the Gayong Malaysia hierarchy and carries the title Ketua Kalifah (Chief Caliph).

He studied under the late Datuk Meor Abdul Rahman, the legendary mahaguru of silat who established the Malaysian Silat Art of Seni Gayong, the first officially recognised silat system by the Malaysian government.

A computer analyst by profession, Cikgu Sam has been living in Chicago since 1984 and conducts silat classes in his spare time.He was introduced to Champ’s father at his martial arts school in Lisle, a suburb of Chicago.

"When my father found out about his silat background, he asked Cikgu Sam to come teach at his school," said Champ in an email interview. "Cikgu Sam is one of the greatest teachers and an amazing pesilat. I feel he embodies all the qualities of a true modern-day silat warrior. He is a man of honour and is very humble and true to his word.

"He is a family man and a great friend. He has always openly shared his culture and vast knowledge of Silat Seni Gayong with me and because of him, many doors have been opened for me. I’m in his debt."

Champ and his older brother were exposed to martial arts at a young age at his father’s martial arts school. The boys would watch their father teach hapkido and they, eventually, took it up.

"That was the old school of hard knocks, losing teeth and bleeding in training. When I met Cikgu Sam at my dad’s school and watched him teach silat, I was very impressed by what I saw. It was deadly and unorthodox from other things I have been exposed to and it seemed to blend a bit of everything I had done in the past."

At 1.8m tall, Champ experienced some difficulties perfecting certain moves. "I’m taller than most practitioners of silat or pesilat. It was only an issue when the techniques involve very low stances – you try and match the person you are training with and that can pose an issue when your height is an issue and you’re taller than the rest."

In Champ’s opinion, silat isn’t that different from other forms of martial arts. "Different arts may emphasise on certain aspects more than others (such as grappling, kicking, weapons, etc). [But] all are physically so close to each other [that] it is best to recognise similarities.

"I would say that silat has an attitude about it and an approach to self-preservation that stands out, but I feel that [it] is because of years of [fighting] invading forces from various nations ....

"When a people is colonised, or when others attempt to colonise them, they will naturally develop an art form that is deadly with elements of stealth and hidden trickery. They will also incorporate elements of their environment and spiritual aspects to help them in their defence.

"That being said, I also will physically compare [silat] to a blend of Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu, escrima and kung fu. That is my style of silat – Silat Seni Gayong."

This is not the first time Champ has been to Malaysia. "I have always been treated more like family than like a guest. Cikgu Sam’s family has always been so kind and PSSGM (Persatuan Seni Silat Gayong Malaysia) welcomes us with smiles, food, and excellent training every time we come to Malaysia.

"I would like to go out and see more of the silat scene in Malaysia. I only have been exposed to Silat Seni Gayong and Silat Melayu Lok 9."

Champ personally believes that it is good that people are taking up martial arts. "I do think though that the Malay people and Malay youth should take a vested interest in silat.

"There is such a beautiful and powerful treasure in silat and it must be preserved! I would like to see it preserved by the people where the art has its origins and roots."

Silat In Illinois United States

Silat in Illinois

Gayong classes in Illinois are currently conducted by Cikgu (teacher) Sheikh Shamsuddin, also known as Sam. He is ranked Harimau Pelangi Cula Sakti (black belt) in the Gayong Malaysia hierarchy and carries the title Ketua Kalifah (Chief of Caliph). He has also studied other martial arts such as Hapkido and Aikido. He has given several seminars with other known self-defense practitioners such as Cikgu Majid Mat Isa and Cikgu Kahar from Malaysia, Cikgu Ariffin Mahidin (Gayong from London, England), Guru William De Thouars (Kuntao Silat) and Victor De Thouars (Serak Silat), Guru Jim Ingram (Mustika Kuwitang Silat), Guru Dr. Andre KnutGraichen, Guru Wayne Welsh, Hapkido instructor Randy Stigall and Hanshi Bruce Juchnik (Kempo).

Four senior students of Sam are also helping him spreading Gayong within United States; Joel Champ, Jennifer Para, Danial Snyder and Neel Tummala. Cikgu Joel Champ is ranked Harimau Pelangi Cula Sakti in the Gayong Malaysia hierarchy and currently carries the title Khalifah Muda (Young Califh) given by cikgu Siti Kalsom in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. He has also studied other martial arts such as Hapkido, Kempo, Kuntao Silat, Kick Boxing and the Philippines Arnis stick fighting. He has also trained Gayong under the guidance of cikgu Majid, Kahar Redza, Jazwan and Malik in Kuala Lumpur. Joel has also given several silat seminars together with Sam in various locations within United States. He has written and published several articles on Silat Seni Gayong with the local martial art magazines as well as martial art magazine "Seni Beladiri" in Malaysia. Joel is an adopted son of cikgu Siti Kalsom Meor Rahman.

Jennifer Para, Daniel Snyder and Neel Tummala have also traveled to Malaysia and trained Gayong under the guidance of cikgu Kahar Redza, cikgu Jazwan and cikgu Malik. Jennifer and Daniel are an adopted daughter and son of Siti Kalsom Meor Rahman. Neel Tummala is an adopted brother of Siti Kalsom.

Malaysia Greatest Martial Art ( Silat Seni Gayong )

Introduction

Silat is a Malay word which means martial arts. Malay silat is a generic term for many Malaysian martial arts. There are at least 150 known Malay silats in Malaysia. Most popular ones are Silat Gayong (pronounced Guy Yoog), Silat Cekak, Silat Sendeng, Silat Keris Lok 9 and Silat Gayong Fatani. There is also another silat style called silat Melayu. This silat is considered as the oldest Malay silat.

Silat Gayong, or correctly referred to as Silat Seni Gayong, is a Malay art of self-defense; a fighting art, the art of stopping wars. The art is not merely about self-defense, it is also for the development of the self (belajar mengenal diri); becoming a better person so that you may serve humanity. It is a great way to develop and increase physical fitness, flexibility, mental conditioning, discipline and self-confidence. The philosophy of Gayong is strongly related to the Malay Adat Istiadat (Malay cultures and traditions), morals, adab (respect) and the teaching of religion. Religion is the inspiration, motivation and guidance for high quality behavior. It is a mark of peace and harmony.

Gayong art has been passed down from generation to generation; from the Hulubalang Gayong to Tengku Panglima Hitam (Daeing Kuning), to Syed Zainal Idris Al-Atas, to Daeing Uda Mat Hashim, to Meor Abdul Aziz and Dato Meor Abdul Rahman (see picture on text book). Today, several practitioners have been entrusted to share the art with mankind. These include Abdul Majid Mat Isa, Siti Kalsom Meor Rahman, Razali Salleh, Hussain Kaslan, Awang Daud, Ahmad Lazim, Mat Nanyang and BadirulZaman.

There are other Gayong practitioners dedicated to spreading the art of Gayong; Kahar Redza, Ismail Jantan, Mufti Ansari, Safiah Mohd Noor, Mustapa Kamal, Sani Morni, Rasul Abdul Ghani, Faid Musa, Azhar Abbas, Zainal Ishak, Rahim Hussain, Ariffin Mahidin, Ibrahim Yatim, Idris Abdul Rahaman, Jaafar Jamaludin, Hamzah Ahmad, Selamat Mat Raji, Mohd Anuar Hamid, Jebat Majid,.... and many more.

Gayong is widely practiced in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Due to different opinions and styles of managing a very large organization, Gayong carries many different names; Gayong Malaysia, Gayong Pusaka, Gayong Warisan and Gayong PASAK. Regardless of whatever names Gayong may carry, they all agreed on one thing...... that the Grand Master of Gayong will always be Dato Meor Abdul Rahman . Now, Gayong is slowly spreading into Europe and the Western world.

Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris

When you think of Chuck Norris, you either immediately think action movie star (recalling his numerous feature films) or television star, for his long-running CBS television series, "Walker, Texas Ranger."

But prior to that, Chuck was a martial arts star, winning many martial arts championships including being a six-time undefeated World Professional MiddleWeight Karate Champion. Chuck was also a renowned teacher in the martial arts. Some of his students were Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley and Donnie & Marie Osmond.

From 1964 to 1968, Chuck won many State, National, and International amateur karate titles. In 1968, Chuck fought and won the World Professional MiddleWeight Karate championships by defeating the World's Top Fighters. He held that title until 1974 when he retired undefeated.

In 1968, Chuck was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Fighter of the Year. In 1975, he was inducted as Instructor of the Year and in 1977, Chuck received the honor of Man of the Year.

Chuck is also founder and President of United Fighting Arts Federation with over 2,300 black belts all over the world.

In 1997, Chuck achieved another milestone in his life by being the first man ever in the Western Hemisphere to be awarded an 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Kwon Do system. This was a first in 4,500 years of tradition.

Chuck's intense drive and determination extended beyond his martial arts and acting career. He became an offshore powerboat racer with speeds of 140 miles per hour. In 1991, Chuck with his team and sponsor "Popeye Chicken" won the World Off Shore Powerboat championships. Then he went on to setting a new world record by racing a 38 foot Scarab boat 605 miles across the Great Lakes, from Chicago to Detroit, in 12 hours and 8 minutes.

In 1988, Chuck wrote his autobiography, "The Secret of Inner Strength", for Little Brown Publishing, which became a New York Times Best Seller. He followed up a few years later with a second book, "The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems", also with Little Brown Publishing.

Chuck was asked how he would like to be remembered. Chuck's answer was as a Humanitarian. He has gotten a good start by:

1. Being the spokesperson for United Way, doing an eight-minute commercial, which helped bring in over two billion dollars.

2. Veterans Administration spokesperson visiting over 12 V.A. hospitals and speaking with World War II, Korean and Vietnam War Veterans including one from World War I.

3. Winning the 1998 Epiphany award on Walker, Texas Ranger for the best Christian program.

4. The Jewish Humanitarian Man of the Year Award.

5. Actively involved with the Make A Wish Foundation for 20 years by making dreams come true for terminally ill children.

6. BMI Music Television Award for Walker, Texas Ranger theme song, "Eyes of a Ranger".

7. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.

8. Commissioned Police Officer for Terrell, Texas.

9. Motivational speaker for many Christian ministries, such as T.D. Jakes Ministry, Trinity Broadcasting, and Bill Glass Crusade.

But Chuck thinks his most rewarding accomplishment was the creation of his Kick Drugs Out of America Foundation. With the help of President George Bush, Chuck implemented a program teaching the martial arts to 150 high-risk children at M C Williams Middle School in Houston, Texas, as part of the school curriculum. The program was so successful in helping these kids raise their self-esteem and instilling discipline and respect, as well as getting them out of gangs, that the program is now in 30 schools with over 4,200 young boys and girls actively participating.

Jean Claude Van Damme

Jean Claude Van Damme
Jean Claude Van Damme was born October 18, 1960, to Eugene and Elaina Van Varenberg in Sint-Agatha, Belgium.

Jean Claude studied martial arts since he was 12 years old, when his father took him to train under Claude Goetz. Jean Claude's study of the martial arts was intense - he went on to become a member of karate Team Belgium, and eventually won the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship.

Always ambitious and a motivated entrepreneur, Jean Claude opened the California Gym while still in his teens. Then, in 1982, Jean Claude moved to Hollywood to pursue his goal of becoming a star. His big break came when he performed a spin kick in front of producer Menahem Golan, CEO of Menahem Pictures, outside of a Hollywood restaurant.

GGolan was so impressed by Jean Claude's ability, he hire him for 1987's martial arts classic, BLOODSPORT -- still a favorite among martial arts/action fans.

Jean Claude's superb athleticism, attained through years of karate, ballet and bodybuilding training, has made him an acclaimed, international action star.

During his career, Jean Claude has been nominated three times (1992, 1993, & 1994) for an MTV Movie Award, in the Most Desirable Male category, and was nominated for Best Actor by the Video Premier Awards for his dual role in 2001's REPLICANT.

Jean Claude is currently working on his latest film, WAKE OF DEATH, which is being shot in England and South Africa.

Jean Claude is married to bodybuilding champion, Gladys Portugues, and he has three children, Kristopher, Bianca and Nicolas.




MUSCLES FROM BRUSSELS BIO-BYTES
Appeared in the music video and sang in the choir for the song, VOICES THAT CARE
Appeared in The Smithereens TIME WON'T LET ME music video
Appear in a print advertisement for the Gap
Appeared in Megadeth's CRUSH 'EM music video
Hosted the 1996 World Music Awards
Appeared in Bob Sinclair's KISS MY EYES music video, doing the tango.
Was Chuck Norris' personal trainer
Worked with legendary director, John Woo (HARD TARGET, 1993)
Has writing credits for THE ORDER (2001), DOUBLE IMPACT (1991), & LIONHEART (1990)
Has producer credits for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN (1999), DESERT HEAT (1998), LEGIONNAIRE (1998), & DOUBLE IMPACT (1991)
Has director credits for THE QUEST (1996)

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on April 7th, 1954. His parents, Charles and Lee-lee Chan named him Chan Kong-sang which means "born in Hong Kong." Jackie weighed 12 pounds when he was born and his mother required surgery to deliver him. Jackie's parents were so poor that they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor.
Although Jackie's parents were poor, they had steady jobs at the French embassy in Hong Kong. Charles was a cook and Lee-lee was a housekeeper. Together, the Chan family lived on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. When Jackie was young, his father would wake him early in the morning and together they would practice kung fu. Charles Chan believed that learning kung fu would help build Jackie's character, teaching him patience, strength, and courage.
When Jackie was seven years old Charles took a job as the head cook at the American embassy in Australia. He felt that it would be best for Jackie to stay behind in Hong Kong to learn a skill and so enrolled him in the China Drama Academy where Jackie would live for the next 10 years of his life.
During Jackie's time at the school, he learned martial arts, acrobatics, singing, and acting. The school was meant to prepare boys for a life in the Peking Opera. Chinese opera was very different from any other kind of opera. It included singing, tumbling, and acrobatics as well as martial arts skills and acting. Students at the school were severely disciplined and were beaten if they disobeyed or made mistakes. It was a very harsh and difficult life but Jackie had nowhere else to go, so he stayed. He rarely saw his parents for many years.
While at the China Academy, Jackie made his acting debut at age eight in the Cantonese movie "Seven Little Valiant Fighters: Big and Little Wong Tin Bar." He later teamed with other opera students in a performance group called "The Seven Little Fortunes." Fellow actors Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao were also members. Years later the three would work together and become known as The Three Brothers. As Jackie got older he worked as a stuntman and an extra in the Hong Kong film industry.
When Jackie was 17, he graduated from the China Drama Academy. Unfortunately the Chinese opera was no longer very popular, so Jackie and his classmates had to find other work. This was difficult because at the school they were never taught how to read or write. The only work available to them was unskilled labor or stunt work. Each year many movies were made in Hong Kong and there was always a need for young, strong stuntmen. Jackie was extraordinarily athletic and inventive, and soon gained a reputation for being fearless; Jackie Chan would try anything. Soon he was in demand.
Over the next few years, Jackie worked as a stuntman, but when the Hong Kong movie industry began to fail, he was forced to go to Australia to live with his parents. He worked in a restaurant and on a construction site. It was there that he got the name "Jackie." A worker named Jack had trouble pronouncing "Kong-sang" and started calling Jackie "little Jack." That soon became Jackie and the name stuck.
Jackie was very unhappy in Australia. The construction work was difficult and boring. His salvation came in the form of a telegram from a man named Willie Chan. Willie Chan worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and was looking for someone to star in a new movie being made by Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong producer/director. Willie had seen Jackie at work as a stuntman and had been impressed. Jackie called Willie and they talked. Jackie didn't know it but Willie would end up becoming his best friend and manager. Soon Jackie was on his way back to Hong Kong to star in "New Fist of Fury." It was 1976 and Jackie Chan was 21 years old.
Once Jackie got back to Hong Kong, Willie Chan took control over Jackie's career. To this day Jackie is quick to point out that he owes his success to Willie. However, the movies that Jackie made for Lo Wei were not very successful. The problem was that Jackie's talents were not being used properly. It was only when Jackie was able to contribute his own ideas that he became a star. He brought humor to martial arts movies; his first success was "Snake in Eagle's Shadow." This was followed by "Drunken Master" (another blockbuster) and Jackie's first ever directing job, "Fearless Hyena." All were big hits.
Jackie was becoming a huge success in Asia. Unfortunately, it would be many years before the same could be said of his popularity in America. After a series of lukewarm receptions in the U.S., mostly due to miscasting, Jackie left the States and focused his attention on making movies in Hong Kong. It would be 10 years before he returned to make Rumble in the Bronx, the movie that introduced Jackie to American audiences and secured him a place in their hearts (and their box office). Rumble was followed by the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon series which put Jackie on the Hollywood A List.
Despite his Hollywood successes, Jackie became frustrated by the lack of varied roles for Asian actors and his own inability to control certain aspects of the filming in America. He continued to try, however, making The Tuxedo, The Medallion, and Around the World in 80 Days, none of which was the blockbuster that Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon had been.
Jackie's lifelong devotion to fitness has served him well as he continues to do stunt work and action sequences in his films. In recent years, Jackie's focus has shifted and he is trying new genres of film fantasy, drama, romance and is spending more and more time on his charity work. He takes his work as Ambassador for UNICEF/UNAIDS very seriously and spends all his spare time working tirelessly for children, the elderly, and those in need. He continues to make films in Hong Kong, including the blockbuster drama New Police Story in 2004.
Jackie has been married to Lin Feng-Jiao since 1982 and has a son, actor-singer Jaycee Chan. To learn more about Jackie you can read his biography, I Am Jackie Chan.

Kasunagi - Legendary Japanese Sword

Kusanagi (Grasscutter) is a legendary Japanese sword, as important to Japan's history as Excalibur is of Britain's. It is a powerful sword like the Katana.

The history of this sword extends into legend when the Japanese god, Susano-O-No-Mikoto encountered a grieving family headed by Ashi-Na-Zuchi. Upon inquiry, the elder told that his family was ravaged by the fearsome 8-headed serpent of Koshi who consumed seven of the family's eight daughters and the creature was coming for his final daughter, Kushi-Nada-Hime. Susano proceeded forward to investigate tne creature, and after an abortive encounter he returned with a plan to defeat it. In return, he asked for Kushi-Nada-Hime's hand in marriage which was agreed. Transforming her temporarily into a comb to have her company during the battle, he detailed his plan.

He instructed the preparation of 8 vats of rice-beer to be put on individual platforms positioned behind a fence with 8 gates. The monster took the bait and put each of its heads through each of the gates. With the necessary distraction provided, Susano attacked and slew the beast. He decapitated each of the heads and then proceeded to the tails. In the fourth tails, he discovered a great sword inside the body with Susan-o which he called Murakakumo-No-Tsurugi (Sword-of-the-village-of-the-clustering-clouds) which he presented to the god, Amaterasu to settle an old grievance.

Generations later in the reign of the 12th emperor, Keiko, the sword was given to the great warrior, Yamato-Dake as part of a pair of gifts given by his aunt, Yamato-Hime, to protect his nephew in peril.

These gifts came in handy when Yamato-Dake was lured onto an open grassland during a hunting expedition by a treacherous Daimyo. The lord, had fiery arrows fired to ignite the grass to trap Yamato-Dake in the field and have him burn to death and killed the warrior's horse to prevent his escape. Desperately, Yamato-Dake used Murakakumo-No-Tsurugi to cut back the grass to remove fuel from the fire, but in doing so, he discovered that the sword enabled him to control the wind around to make it move in the direction he swung. Taking advantage of the magic, Yamato-Dake used his other gift, fire strikers, to enlarge the fire in the direction of the lord and his men and used the winds controlled by the sword to sweep the blaze toward them to kill them. In triumph, Yamato-Dake renamed Murakakumo-No-Tsurugi as Kusanagi (Grasscutter) to commemorate his narrow escape and victory.

Eventually, Yamato-Dake married and fell in battle with a monster after ignoring his wife's advice to take Kusanagi with him.

Eventually, the sword came into the possession of the emperor until the Battle of Dannoura, a naval battle that ended in the defeat of the forces of the child Emperor, Antoku at the hands of Minomoto Yoshitsune. Upon hearing of the defeat, the emperor's grandmother led the Emporer and his entourage to commit suicide in the waters of the strait along with three important artifacts which included Kusanagi. Although the enemy managed to stop a handful of them and recovered two of the three items of the Emperor, Kusanagi was never found.

The 10th Emporer, Sujin, ordered the fashioning of a replica of Kusanagi and was placed at the Temple of Atsuta.

GrandMaster IP Man - Father Of Modern Wing Chun Kung Fu

Wing Chun is a very unique and scientific form of martial arts. Wing Chun's specialty is in close contact combat, using quick punches and kicks with a tight defence, coordinated through agile stances and fotwork for a quick advance. The effectiveness of Wing Chun is achieved by well coordinated attacks with simultaneous defence and vise versa. The student must learn to deliver the correct amount of energy, whilst staying relaxed when possible.

Wing Chun is sometimes referred to as Ving Tsun, Wing Chun Kung Fu (or Gong Fu), Wing Chun Boxing, or even Wing Chun Kuen (fighting) amongst some other names. This is because Chinese text does not translate precisely into Western letters or even western speech. However the name is not the important thing. The most important thing is that the Wing Chun student learns an effective form self defence and fighting. Wing Chun is Kung Fu. Kung Fu roughly means time and effort and originally referred to any skill painstakingly developed. Recently Kung Fu has become synonymous with martial arts.

Unique to Wing Chun is "Chi Sau" (or Chi Sao), a form of training to help develop and put into practice your techniques and theories you learn during your training. Chi Sau teaches and help you to develop, responsive reflex, position, how to overcome your opponents strength, correct usage of energy and taking advantage of the shortest possible distance between you and your opponent.

The principles, theories and techniques of Wing Chun are founded on the three hand form and the wooden dummy"Sil Lim Tau" (little idea), "Chum Kiu" (bridge seeking), "Biu Gee" (thrusting fingers). Then the serious of students will learn "Muk Yan Ghong" (wooden dummy), "Luk Dim Boon Gaun" (six & a half point pole) and finally "Bart Cham Dao" (eight cutting double knives).

Pictured top left is Grandmaster Ip Man (sometimes referred to as Yip Man), in the only known photograph of him wearing a suit. Ip Man taught many famous martial artists including the late Bruce Lee. To the right, Ip Man's sons Grandmasters Ip Chun and Ip Ching, and their student, Samuel Kwok.

It was Ip Man's dream to make the Chinese martial art Wing Chun, a well respected fighting system around the world, and through tuition by his sons, Samuel Kwok has played his part over the last twenty five years. Sam Kwok has helped bring Wing Chun to the forefront of Martial arts practice today. Grandmaster Kwok has wrote a couple of great Wing Chun Books and made many Wing Chun Videos and DVDs which help students across the world improve their Wing Chun. There are many Wing Chun schools and instructors up and down the United Kingdom, as well as across Europe, in Denmark, Germany, South Africa, Australia and the United States to name a few. Many of the Sifu's at these schools owe a great deal of their understanding of the art to the influence of Samuel 's teaching of traditional Ip Man Wing Chun.

Martial Art Legend - Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee Bio
Bruce Jun Fan Lee was born in the hour of the Dragon, between 6 and 8 a.m., in the year of the Dragon on November 27, 1940 at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Franciscos Chinatown. Today, a plaque in the hospital's entry commemorates the place of his birth. Bruce’s birth, in the hour and the year of the Dragon, is a powerful symbol in Chinese astrology. It would be a strong omen of the powerful life that was to be lived by Bruce Lee and the explosive impact his life would have on countless others.
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Bruce was the fourth child born to Lee Hoi Chuen and his wife Grace Ho. He had two older sisters, Phoebe and Agnes, an older brother, Peter, and a younger brother, Robert. Lee Hoi Chuen was, by profession, a comedian in the Chinese opera and an actor in Cantonese films. At the time Bruce was born, Mr. and Mrs. Lee were on tour with the opera company in the United States. Thus, it was fortuitous for Bruce's future that his birth took place in America, as he would return 18 years later to claim his birthright of American citizenship.
Bruce's parents gave him the name “Jun Fan.� Since it is Chinese custom to put the surname first, Bruce's full name is written Lee Jun Fan. The true meaning of Jun Fan deserves an explanation as it, too, would foretell the journey of the newly born Lee son. Literally, JUN means to arouse to the active state or make prosperous.

It was a common middle name used by Hong Kong Chinese boys in those days, understandably because China and the Chinese people were very vulnerable at that time, and everyone, including Bruce’s parents, wanted the "sleeping lion of the East" to wake up. The FAN syllable refers to the Chinese name for San Francisco, but its true meaning is "fence of a garden" or "bordering subordinate countries of a big country." During the period of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), many Chinese immigrated to Hawaii and San Francisco as laborers, and the implication became that the United States was FAN of the Great Ching Empire.
Thus the true meaning of Bruce's name--JUN FAN--was "to arouse and make FAN (the United States) prosperous." The gut feeling of many Chinese at that time, who felt suppressed by and inferior to foreign powers, was that they wished to outshine the more superior countries and regain the Golden Age of China. Bruce's parents wanted Bruce to have his name shine and shake the foreign countries, which he certainly succeeded in doing.
The English name, BRUCE, was given to the baby boy by a nurse in the Jackson Street Hospital although he was never to use this name until he entered secondary school and began his study of the English language. The story goes that on the first day of English class, the students were asked to write down their English names, and Bruce, not knowing his name, copied the name of the student next to him. His family almost never used the name Bruce, especially in his growing up years when his nickname in the family was "SAI FON," which literally means Little Peacock. This is a girl's nickname, but in being applied to Bruce, it had a serious purpose. The first-born child of Mr. and Mrs. Lee had been a boy who did not survive infancy. Their belief was that if the gods did not favor the birth of a male child, the babe might be taken away. Thus, the name, Little Peacock, was used as a ruse to fool the gods into thinking that Bruce was a girl. It was a term of great affection within the family circle.
At the age of three months, Lee Hoi Chuen, his wife Grace and baby Bruce returned to Hong Kong where Bruce would be raised until the age of 18. Probably because of the long ocean voyage and the change in climates, Bruce was not a strong child in his very early years, a condition that would change when he took up the study of
gung fu at the age of 13. (Bruce always spelled his Chinese martial art as GUNG FU, which is the Cantonese pronunciation of the more commonly spelled Kung Fu, a Mandarin pronunciation.) Bruce's most prominent memory of his early years was the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese during the World War II years (1941-1945). The residence of the Lee family was a flat at 218 Nathan Road in Kowloon directly across the street from the military encampment of the Japanese. Bruce's mother often told the story of young Bruce, less than 5
years old, leaning precariously off the balcony of their home raising his fist to the Japanese Zeros circling above.
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Another nickname the family often applied to Bruce was "Mo Si Ting" which means "never sits still" and aptly described his personality.
The Japanese occupation was Bruce's first prescient memory, but Hong Kong had been a British Crown Colony since the late 1800's. The English returned to power at the end of the war. It is not hard to see why young Bruce would have rebellious feelings toward foreign usurpation of his homeland. In his teenage years Bruce was exposed to the common practice of unfriendly taunting by English school boys who appeared to feel superior to the Chinese. It is not surprising that Bruce and his friends retaliated by returning the taunts and sometimes getting into fights with the English boys. This atmosphere laid the background for Bruce to begin his study of martial arts.
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At the age of 13, Bruce was introduced to Master Yip Man, a teacher of the Wing Chun style of gung fu. For five years Bruce studied diligently and became very proficient. He greatly revered Yip Man as a master teacher and wise man and frequently visited with him in later years. When he first took up gung fu, he used his new skills to pummel his adversaries, but it did not take long for Bruce to learn that the real value of martial arts training is that the skills of physical combat instill confidence to the point that one does not feel the constant need to defend one's honor through fighting.
In high school, Bruce, now no longer a weak child, was beginning to hone his body through hard training.
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One of his accomplishments was winning an interschool Boxing Championship against an English student in which the Marquis of Queensbury rules were followed and no kicking was allowed. Given the graceful movements, which would later be spectacularly displayed in his films, it is no surprise that Bruce was also a terrific dancer, and in 1958 he won the Hong Kong Cha Cha Championship. He studied dancing as assiduously as he did gung fu, keeping a notebook in which he had noted 108 different cha cha steps. It is easy to see that Bruce possessed the traits of self-discipline and hard work which would later hold him in good stead, even though at this stage he was not among the best academic students in the class.
In addition to his studies, gung fu and dancing, Bruce had another side interest during his school years. He was a child actor under the tutelage of his father who must have known from an early age that Bruce had a streak of showmanship. Bruce's very first role was as a babe in arms as he was carried onto the stage. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 films. In those days movie making was not particularly glamorous or remunerative in Hong Kong, but Bruce loved acting. His mother often told stories of how Bruce was impossible to wake up to go to school, but just a tap on the shoulder at midnight would rouse him from his bed to go to the film studio. Movies were most often made at night in Hong Kong in order to minimize the sounds of the city. (See Filmography) At the age of 18, Bruce was looking for new vistas in his life, as were his parents who were discouraged that Bruce had not made more progress academically. It was common practice for high school graduates to go overseas to attend colleges, but that required excellent grades. Bruce’s brother and sister had come to the United States on student visas for their higher education. Although Bruce had not formally graduated from high school, and was more interested in gung fu, dancing and acting, his family decided that it was time for him to return to the land of his birth and find his future there. In April of 1959, with $100 in his pocket, Bruce boarded a steamship in the American Presidents Line and began his voyage to San Francisco. His passage was in the lower decks of the ship, but it didn’t take long for Bruce to be invited up to the first class accommodations to teach the passengers the cha cha. Landing in San Francisco, Bruce was armed with the knowledge that his dancing abilities might provide him a living, so his first job was as a dance instructor. One of his first students was Bob Lee, brother of James Y. Lee, who would become Bruce’s great friend, colleague in the martial arts, and eventually partner and Assistant Instructor of the Oakland Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.
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Bruce did not stay long in San Francisco, but traveled to Seattle where a family friend, Ruby Chow, had a restaurant and had promised Bruce a job and living quarters above the restaurant. By now Bruce had left his acting and dancing passions behind and was intent on furthering his education. He enrolled at Edison Technical School where he fulfilled the requirements for the equivalent of high school graduation and then enrolled at the University of Washington. Typical of his personality traits, he attacked learning colloquial English as he had his martial arts training. Not content to speak like a foreigner, he applied himself to learning idiosyncrasies of speech.
His library contained numerous books, underlined and dog-eared on common English idiomatic phrases. Although he never quite lost the hint of an English accent when speaking, his ability to turn a phrase or “be cool� was amazing for one who did not speak a word of the language until the age of 12. Bruce’s written English skills exceeded his spoken language abilities at first because he had been well tutored in the King’s proper English prose in Hong Kong. When his wife-to-be met him at the University of Washington, he easily edited her English papers for correct grammar and syntax.
At the university, Bruce majored in philosophy. His passion for gung fu inspired a desire to delve into the philosophical underpinnings of the arts. Many of his written essays during those years would relate philosophical principles to certain martial arts techniques. For instance, he wrote often about the principles of yin and yang and how they could translate into hard and soft physical movements. In this way he was completing his education as a true martial artist in the time-honored Chinese sense of one whose knowledge encompasses the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the arts.
In the three years that Bruce studied at the university, he supported himself by teaching gung fu, having by this time given up working in the restaurant, stuffing newspapers or various other odd jobs. He and a few of his new friends would meet in parking lots, garages or any open space and play around with gung fu techniques. In the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, “gung fu� was an unknown term; in fact, the only physical art that might be listed in the yellow pages was Judo. Even the name “karate� was not a familiar term. The small group of friends was intrigued by this art called gung fu. One of the first students in this group was Jesse Glover who continues to teach some of Bruce’s early techniques to this day. It was during this period that Bruce and Taky Kimura became friends.
Not only would Taky become Bruce’s gung fu student and the first Assistant Instructor he ever had, but the friendship forged between the two men was a source of love and strength for both of them. Taky Kimura has continued to be Bruce’s staunch supporter, devoting endless hours to preserving his art and philosophy throughout the 30 years since Bruce’s passing.
The small circle of friends that Bruce had made encouraged him to open a real school of gung fu and charge a nominal sum for teaching in order to support himself while attending school. Renting a small basement room with a half door entry from 8th Street in Seattle’s Chinatown, Bruce decided to call his school the Jun Fan Gung Fu
Institute. In 1963, having established a dedicated group of students and having given numerous demonstrations at the university, Bruce thought he might attract more students by opening a larger school at 4750 University Way where he also lived in a small room in the back of the kwoon.
One of his students in 1963 was a freshman at the University of Washington, Linda Emery. Linda knew who Bruce was from his guest lectures in Chinese philosophy at Garfield High School, and in the summer after graduating, at the urging of her Chinese girlfriend, SueAnn Kay, Linda started taking gung fu lessons. It wasn’t long before the instructor became more interesting than the lessons. Bruce and Linda were married in 1964. By this time, Bruce had decided to make a career out of teaching gung fu. His plan involved opening a number of schools around the country and training assistant instructors to teach in his absence. Leaving his Seattle school in
the hands of Taky Kimura, Bruce and Linda moved to Oakland where Bruce opened his second school with JamesLee. The two men had formed a friendship over the years with each traveling frequently between Seattle and Oakland. James was a gung fu man from way back, but when he saw Bruce’s stuff he was so impressed that he wanted to join with him in starting a school. Thus the second branch of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute was founded.
Having now been in the United States for five years, Bruce had left behind any thought of acting as a career, and devoted himself completely to his choice of martial arts as a profession. Up to this time Bruce’s gung fu consisted mostly of wing chun techniques and theory he had learned from Yip Man. Gradually though, because of his burgeoning interest in the philosophy of martial arts and his desire for self improvement, he was expanding his repertoire. A particular incident accelerated his process of self-exploration. In 1964 Bruce was challenged by some gung fu men from San Francisco who objected to his teaching of non-Chinese students. Bruce accepted the challenge and the men arrived at the kwoon in Oakland on the appointed day for the face off. The terms were that if Bruce were defeated he would stop teaching the non Chinese. It was a short fight with the gung fu man from The City giving up when Bruce had him pinned to the floor after about three minutes. The significance of this fight was that Bruce was extremely disappointed in his own performance. Even though he had won, he was winded and discouraged about his inability to put the man away in under three minutes. This marked a turning point for Bruce in his exploration of his martial art and the enhancement of his physical fitness. Thus began the evolution of
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Jeet Kune Do.
Just as Bruce was cementing his plans to expand his martial arts schools, fate stepped in to move his life in another direction. In the preceding years Bruce had made the acquaintance of Ed Parker, widely regarded as the father of American Kenpo. In August of 1964, Ed invited Bruce to Long Beach, CA to give a demonstration at his
First International Karate Tournament. Bruce’s exhibition was spectacular. He used Taky as his partner and demonstrated his blindfolded chi sao techniques. At one point he used a member of the audience to show the power of his one-inch punch. Such was Bruce’s charisma that he spoke conversationally, injecting humor into his
comments while at the same time emphatically demonstrating his power, precision and speed.
A member of the audience was Jay Sebring, a well-known hair stylist to the stars. As fate would have it, the following week, Jay was styling the hair of William Dozier, an established producer. Mr. Dozier mentioned to Jay that he was looking for an actor to play the part of Charlie Chan’s son in a series to be entitled, “Number One
Son.� Jay told the producer about having seen this spectacular young Chinese man giving a gung fu demonstration just a few nights before. Mr. Dozier obtained a copy of the film that was taken at Ed Parker’s tournament. The next week he called Bruce at home in Oakland and invited him to come to Los Angeles for a screen test.
Bruce’s screen test was impressive, but in the meantime plans for “Number One Son� had been scuttled. Mr. Dozier was now immersed in the production of the “Batman� TV series, but still he wanted to hang onto Bruce. The plan was that if Batman was successful for more than one season, then Dozier wanted to capitalize on the popularity of another comic book character, “The Green Hornet� with Bruce playing the part of Kato. To keep Bruce from signing with someone else, Mr. Dozier paid him an $1,800 option for one year.
About this time things were changing in Bruce’s personal life as well. His own number one son, Brandon Bruce Lee, was born February 1, 1965. One week later Bruce’s father, Lee Hoi Chuen, died in Hong Kong. Bruce was pleased that his father had known about the birth of the first grandchild in the Lee family. Given these events and the arrival of the lump sum option money, Bruce decided it was time to make a trip to Hong Kong to visit his mother and introduce the family to both Linda and Brandon. They stayed in the family flat on Nathan Road for four months. While there Bruce was able to “play gung fu� with Master Yip Man and the students of the wing chun
school.
Upon leaving Hong Kong, Bruce and his family traveled to Seattle where they stayed with Linda’s family for another four months. During this time Bruce spent a great deal of time with Taky and the students at the Seattle school. After Seattle, the family moved back to James Lee’s house in Oakland for several months before making the move to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he got better acquainted with Dan Inosanto whom he had known through Ed Parker. It was not long before Bruce opened his third gung fu school with Dan as his assistant instructor During this entire year of traveling and working closely with his best gung fu colleagues, Bruce was going through a period of intense self-exploration. Bruce was always a goal setter. However, he was never obstinate about his goals and if the wind changed, he could steer his life on a different course. He was in a period of transition at this time, deciding whether to make acting his career or continue on the path of opening nationwide schools of gung fu. His decision was to focus on acting and see if he could turn it into a productive career. He often said his passion was pursuit of the martial arts, but his career choice was filmmaking.
The chief reason that Bruce turned his attention to acting was that he had lost interest in spreading his way of martial arts in a wide scale manner. He had begun to see that if his schools became more numerous, he would lose control of the quality of the teaching. Bruce loved to teach gung fu, and he loved his students. Countless hours
were spent in his backyard or in the kwoon, one on one with students. They were like members of the family. His love for his martial arts was not something he wanted to turn into a business.
In 1966, production started on “The Green Hornet.� The filming lasted for six months, the series for one season, and that was the end of it. Bruce’s take home pay was $313 a week, which seemed like a lot of money at the time. When they first started filming, the cameras were not able to record the fight scenes clearly because of Bruce’s speed. They asked him to slow down to capture the action. Bruce’s gung fu moves thrilled audiences, and the series became a sought-after collector item in later years. Bruce maintained a friendship with Van Williams who played the part of Britt Reid.
The years between 1967 and 1971 were lean years for the Lee family. Bruce worked hard at furthering his acting career and did get some roles in a few TV series and films. (See Filmography) To support the family, Bruce taught private lessons in Jeet Kune Do, often to people in the entertainment industry. Some of his clients included
Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Stirling Silliphant, Sy Weintraub, Ted Ashley, Joe Hyams, James Garner and others.
A great blessing was the arrival of a daughter, Shannon Emery Lee, on April 19, 1969. She brought great joy into the Lee household and soon had her daddy around her little finger.
During this time Bruce continued the process he had started in Oakland in 1964, the evolution of his way of martial arts, which he called Jeet Kune Do, “The Way of The Intercepting Fist.� He read and wrote extensively his thoughts about physical combat, the psychology of fighting, the philosophical roots of martial arts, and about motivation, self-actualization and liberation of the individual. Thanks to this period in his life, which was at times frustrating, we know more about the mind of Bruce Lee through his writings.
Bruce was devoted to physical culture and trained devotedly. In addition to actual sparring with his students, he believed in strenuous aerobic workouts and weight training. His abdominal and forearm workouts were particularly intense. There was rarely a time when Bruce was doing nothing—in fact, he was often seen reading a
book, doing forearm curls and watching a boxing film at the same time. He also paid strict attention to his food consumption and took vitamins and Chinese herbs at times. It was actually his zealousness that led to an injury that was to become a chronic source of pain for the rest of his life. On a day in 1970, without warming up,
something he always did, Bruce picked up a 125-pound barbell and did a “good morning� exercise. That consists of resting the barbell on one’s shoulders and bending straight over at the waist. After much pain and many tests, it was determined that he had sustained an injury to the fourth sacral nerve. He was ordered to complete bed rest and told that undoubtedly he would never do gung fu again. For the next six months, Bruce stayed in bed. It was an extremely frustrating, depressing and painful time, and a time to redefine goals. It was also during this time that he did a great deal of the writing that has been preserved. After several months, Bruce instituted his own recovery program and began walking, gingerly at first, and gradually built up his strength. He was determined that he would do his beloved gung fu again. As can be seen by his later films, he did recover full use of his body, but he constantly had to take measures like icing, massage and rest to take care of his back.
Bruce was always imagining story ideas. One of the projects he had been working on was the idea of a television series set in the Old West, featuring an Eastern monk who roamed the countryside solving problems. He pitched the idea at Warner Bros. and it was enthusiastically received. The producers talked at great length to Bruce about the proposed series always with the intent that Bruce would play the role of the Eastern wise man. In the end, the role was not offered to Bruce; instead it went to David Carradine. The series was “Kung Fu.� The studio claimed that a Chinese man was not a bankable star at that time. Hugely disappointed, Bruce sought other ways to break down the studio doors.
Along with two of his students, Stirling Silliphant, the famed writer, and actor, James Coburn, Bruce collaborated on a script for which he wrote the original story line. The three of them met weekly to refine the script. It was to be called “The Silent Flute.� Again, Warner Bros. was interested and sent the three to India to look
for locations. Unfortunately the right locations could not be found, the studio backed off, and the project was put on the back burner. Thwarted again in his effort to make a go of his acting career, Bruce devised a new approach to his goal.
In 1970, when Bruce was getting his strength back from his back injury, he took a trip to Hong Kong with son Brandon, age five. He was surprised when he was greeted as “Kato,� the local boy who had been on American TV.
He was asked to appear on TV talk shows. He was not aware that Hong Kong film producers were viewing him with interest. In 1971, about the time that “The Silent Flute� failed to materialize, Hong Kong producer Raymond Chow contacted Bruce to interest him in doing two films for Golden Harvest. Bruce decided to do it, reasoning that if he couldn’t enter the front door of the American studios, he would go to Hong Kong, establish himself there and come back in through the side door.
In the summer of 1971, Bruce left Los Angeles to fly to Hong Kong, then on to Thailand for the making of “The Big Boss,� later called “Fists of Fury.� Between Hong Kong and Thailand, producer Run Run Shaw attempted to intercede and woo Bruce away from Golden Harvest. But Bruce had signed a deal so he stayed with Raymond Chow. Bruce’s family did not accompany him on this trip because the village where the film was made was not suitable for small children. It was also felt that if this film was not a hit, Bruce might be back in L.A. sooner than expected. Although the working conditions were difficult, and the production quality substandard to what Bruce was accustomed, “The Big Boss� was a huge success. The premier took place at midnight, as was Hong Kong custom. Chinese audiences are infamous for expressing their emotions during films—both positive and negative.
The entire cast and production team were very nervous, no one more so than Bruce. At the end of the showing, the entire audience was silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers and hailed their new hero who was viewing from the back of the theater.
In September of 1971, with filming set to commence on the second of the contractual films, Bruce moved his family over to Hong Kong and prepared to sell their Los Angeles home. “Fist of Fury,� also called “Chinese Connection� was an even bigger success than the first film breaking all-time box office records. Now that Bruce
had completed his contract with Golden Harvest, and had become a bankable commodity, he could begin to have more input into the quality of his films. For the third film, he formed a partnership with Raymond Chow, called bruce lee foundation

Concord Productions. Not only did Bruce write “The Way of the Dragon,� also called “Return of the Dragon,� but he directed and produced it as well. Once again, the film broke records and now, Hollywood was listening.
In the fall of 1972, Bruce began filming “The Game of Death,� a story he once again envisioned. The filming was interrupted by the culmination of a deal with Warner Bros. to make the first ever Hong Kong-American coproduction. The deal was facilitated mainly by Bruce’s personal relationship with Warner Bros. president, Ted
Ashley and by Bruce’s successes in Hong Kong. It was an exciting moment and a turning point in Hong Kong’s film industry. “The Game of Death� was put on hold to make way for the filming of “Enter the Dragon.�
Filming “Enter the Dragon� was not an easy undertaking. The American cast and crew and their Chinese counterparts experienced language problems and production difficulties. It was a stressful time for Bruce too as he wanted the film to be especially good and well accepted by Western audiences.
“Enter the Dragon� was due to premier at Hollywood’s Chinese theater in August of 1973. Unfortunately, Bruce would not live to see the opening of his film, nor would he experience the accumulated success of more than thirty years of all his films’ popularity.
On July 20, 1973, Bruce had a minor headache. He was offered a prescription painkiller called Equagesic.
After taking the pill, he went to lie down and lapsed into a coma. He was unable to be revived. Extensive forensic pathology was done to determine the cause of his death, which was not immediately apparent. A nine-day coroner’s inquest was held with testimony given by renowned pathologists flown in from around the world. The
determination was that Bruce had a hypersensitive reaction to an ingredient in the pain medication that caused a swelling of the fluid on the brain, resulting in a coma and death.
The world lost a brilliant star and an evolved human being that day. His spirit remains an inspiration to untold numbers of people around the world.