Tao of Bruce Lee

[pgm316]

I’ve just finished reading the Tao of Bruce Lee by Davis Miller. It was a very enjoyable book to read, giving a lot of insight into the “real” Bruce Lee. It not only covered the things that made Bruce famous, the things most people only hear about, but a lot his bad points. How he could be a bit of a bully such as knocking out Dan Inosanto on his 24th birthday. And how he avoided to a large extent really testing himself. But I was still disappointed by the end of the book by the negative vibe it gave off. It seemed to dwell too much on a few negative points instead of balance them out with all the positives. Like his contribution to martial arts, regardless of whether he was capable of beating a 300lb bruiser.

Maybe he didn’t test himself fully, but how can any of us really test ourselves apart from wandering the streets taking on anybody that looks hard. I believe he did enough to prove he was a visionary with a superior knowledge of martial arts. And that's all I think he aimed to do!

Has anybody else read the book and got any thoughts on it? I’d still recommend it, but make your own conclusions instead of being biased by the author.


http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0077594/086162612435_z_gameiccu.jpg

[Andy Murray]

Hi pgm,

I'd actually like to pick up a copy of that. Could you possibly tell me the publisher, or reccomend a stockist?

Andy

[waya]

Andy,
Amazon.com has it. The author is Davis Miller, Publisher: Crown Pub; ASIN: 0609604775; (August 8, 2000). Runs about $6 US.

Rob

[pgm316]

Amazon is a good place, but you'd be better going to amazon.co.uk than .com or you'll get them delivered from America. Might have it in your local book store, should be less than £10.

Paul.

[waya]

lol I looked at the UK site, it's about £5.59 there. Used it is £1.25.

Rob

[pgm316]

It happened to a friend of mine, she got them delivered 3 weeks later by airmail :D

The used price isn't bad!

[waya]

LOL I had to find and copy the £ thing. I don't see it in my fonts :confused: LOL

[LilBunnyRabbit]

For some unknown reason American keyboard designers seem to think that no one ever uses the £ symbol. If anyone knows why please say so.

[Andy Murray]

Thanks Waya, I'll check it out

[waya]

ckdstudent,
Email Microsoft and ask. They design all the Windows components so it would have to come from them lol.

[Cooler]

Just go to your keyboard configuration and you can have American or English set up along with a lot more countries.

Cooler

[Acekicken]

What a great book

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Email Microsoft and ask. They design all the Windows components so it would have to come from them lol.

Nothing to do with Windows components, its whoever developed the ASCII code, americo-centric evidently.

[Acekicken]

I got fooled i was thinking Tao of Jeet Kune Do
lol

[big e]

any 1 ever read tao of jeet kune do all the way through?

[pgm316]

I sort of did big e, I wouldn't recommend that though. Its not an easy book to read, feels a bit disjointed. Once you've read the intro bit I'd recommend just reading chapters as you want to learn that topic.

[big e]

ive got it but its just like little sentances
an not a easy read

[TkdWarrior]

i just thought i share something about bruce lee
Did you know that Bruce was a pefectionist? He liked everything to be perfect. He was very hard on himself in everything he did. He didn't settle for almost.

Did you know that Bruce liked music with meaning? Songs with something to say.

Did you know Bruce could dance?! He was once a Cha-Cha king of Hong Kong!

Did you know Bruce was a cocky youngster? On the set of "The Green Hornet", he used to walk up behind people on and tap them on their shoulder, and when they would turn to look he would jump up and flick their ear lobe with his foot! Pretty skillful if you ask me. This was funny until one day one of the guys looked the other way and bruce accidently broke his jaw!

Did you know that in the scene in "Enter the Dragon" where Bruce kicks Bob Wall(the guy with the scar on his face), one of the guys who caught bob from the kick broke his arm! Bob later said "Bruce kicks like MULE!"

Did you know that also in the scene mentioned above, Bruce was so fast that the camera had to be slown down just so you could actually see what he was doing! If you look at the flags in the back ground you can see when the scene was slown down.

Did you know that often when Linda(Bruce's wife) would come home from grocery shopping or with a friend, Bruce would leep out of a bush etc, and scream doing a kick or some other kind of move, really freaking out linda's friend! I guess she got use to this sort of thing, but I wonder how long it took her friends?!

Did you know Bruce considered his on screen character to be nothing like him in the sense of being a person slow to anger. He said he was much more quick to anger than his on screen character.

Did you know Bruce could do push ups on his thumbs?! He could even do one arm push ups just using his thumb and pointer finger!

Did you know Bruce didn't drink or smoke?

Did you know Bruce was one of the first people to mix styles? He realized that no ONE style could ever be superior, but by taking what is useful in and rejecting what is useless in many styles could make for a better well rounded style. Thus his concepts in "Jeet Kune Do".

Did you know that people would often approach Bruce on the street or where ever he was and would tap their foot, which signifies challenging a fight? He was challenged almost everwhere he went. I guess when you hold the title of the worlds greatest martial artist, there is always going to be someone out there to see how good you really are.

Did you know Bruce spoke with a very down to earth type of attitude. He would often use "man" in his sentences, like "be like water man." Kind of neat to know he wasn't a strict talking master like often portrayed in martial arts movies. He was actually a pretty cool guy.

Did you know on the set of "Enter the Dragon", Bruce was challenged by one of the crew members and faught him. Bruce played with the guy for a bit until the guys started to really try to hurt Bruce, and that's when he had enough. He ran this guy up a wall with fury and put him to shame in seconds! After words, Bruce told the guy to get back to work.

Did you know Linda once said "Bruce never hurt me when sparring, but he sure did let it known that a woman was no match for a man in a fight." Not that bruce was a shovanist, he just implied that in an average fight a woman did not match up against a man.

Did you know Bruce loved to read? He had his own personal library with literally hundreds of book he read!

Did you know that Jackie Chan got a lot of his breaks from Bruce Lee? He did a lot of stunt work in Game of Death and was even an extra in Enter the Dragon! Next time your watching Enter the Dragon, pay attention to the part of the movie when Bruce puts the Cobra in the communications room, which sounds an alarm followed by guards. Well watch for the guard who comes up behind Bruce and tries to put him in a bear hug from behind! Look familiar?
. Lee used to play Mahjong (a Chinese gambling game, a more complicated version of Dominoes) with Shaw Brothers' actor
David Blood Brothers Chiang. While planning to make his directorial debut, Chiang wanted to use the exterior of Bruce's house in Cumberland Road. He spent the 20th of July, the day of Lee's death, looking for Bruce. As this was in the pre-mobile phone/pager era, he couldn't find Lee. It was he who told the press that Bruce Lee definitely didn't die at home.

2. Contrary to popular belief, Lee did have "real" fights with other martial artists. These prearranged duels, called "Bei Mo", were popular in Hong Kong at that time. Bruce's most memorable encounter was with a Mongolian wrestler named Lau Dai Chun. The fight took place at the home of a police detective. It only lasted a few seconds. Bruce knocked the guy out with one kick to the head.

3. The filming of The Big Boss was delayed when actor/stuntman
Lam Ching Ying, later of Mr Vampire fame, was arrested for fighting in Hong Kong.

4. After Lee's death, Betty Ting Pei married to
Charles Heung Wah Keung, the head of Win's Film Co., who played "Mr. Dragon" in, God Of Gamblers and had a daughter with him. They subsequently divorced.

5. When The Star newspaper film reviewer, Terry Geary, criticized Lee's acting, Bruce, always ultrasensitive about press coverage, called him to complain, asking why, if he was such a bad actor, he was getting paid so much per film.

6. Bruce Lee's house at 41, Cumberland Road was called "Mui Hok Siu Juk", which means "Plum Crane, Little Bamboo". There was a plaque outside the house with this name on it.

7. Lee's Cantonese nickname was "Saam Gerk Lee". Three Legs Lee. It was a reference to his kicking skills, and to his alleged sexual prowess!

8. Bruce's Japanese style garden featured expensive "ginseng grass", specially imported from Japan. He did most of his own gardening, mowing the lawn barefoot.

9. None of the Lee brothers, Pete, Bruce and Robert, could crouch down on their heels because of a genetic defect. One of their legs was longer than the other. However, after training himself to balance, Bruce managed to accomplish this.

10. Bruce's poor eyesight meant that he would often narrow avoid being hit by Hong Kong's crazy drivers as he crossed the street. After one such near miss, he engaged in an angry altercation with a truck driver, which ended with Lee grabbing the other man by the nose.

11. In The Way Of The Dragon Bruce whistles a tune as he and Nora Miao walk up the stairs to the apartment, and again when he goes to the boss' headquarters, If you see the Cantonese version, you hear him whistle the tune Siu Lay Fei Do, which was a popular tune at that time. Originally, the films weren't released in Cantonese, but Mandarin. In that version of the film had him whistle another tune,
Gum Ting Wui Gah, which was a famous Mandarin song. They had to change it as that song had been banned in Taiwan, because it was to depressing!

12. Assistant cameraman Charles Lowe shot some Super 8 footage of Bruce on the set of The Way Of The Dragon. The extras used to bring instruments and have jam sessions during their lunch hour. Bruce used to dance the Cha-Cha. In one sequence, he's dancing and swinging his double nanchukus. Someone borrowed the film from Lowe and never returned it.

[TkdWarrior]

some more
Here are some of the amazing feats that Bruce Lee has accomplished.

1. Bruce's striking speed from 3 feet away was five hundredths of a second.

2. Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks.

3. Bruce did press ups using only 2 fingers.

4. Bruce could thrust his fingers through unopened cans of Coca-Cola. (This was when soft drinks cans were made of steel much thicker than today's aluminium cans)

5. Bruce was able to explode 100lb bags with a simple sidekick.

6. Bruce would ride for 45 minutes (10 Miles) on a stationary bike, when he'd finished, a huge pool of sweat was beneath him.

7. Bruce once caved in a protective headgear made from heavy steel rods, rods that had previously withstood several blows from a sledgehammer.

8. Bruce's last movie "Enter the Dragon" was made for a modest $600,000 in 1973. To date, is has grossed over $300,000,000.

[Obi-Wan]

Thanks TKD, a very interesting read!

[big e]

where ya get them from?

[Cain]

http://www.bruceleedivinewind.cjb.net

Anyways Bruce used to do push-ups on only one hand and 2 fingers
|Cain|

[TkdWarrior]

self constructed ;) lol j/k
i found somewhere n forgot the stupid link...:( sorry mate i don't hav now...but watever i had i shared with u... hav fun...
i hav seen thread by Yoda i hav seen that article before but when i think about Bruce it just give me more power to my training...wat's the harm??i live by legends ;)
-TkdWarrior-

[big e]

'must be love, love, love
duh duh '
sorry had to burst into a song

[Phoenix]

"...2. Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks. ..."

Somebody made this up. Technically impossible

[YODA]

Originally posted by Phoenix
"...2. Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks. ..."

Somebody made this up. Technically impossible


You think? LOL!

I heard he could fire lightning bolts out of his ass & leap tall buildings too :D

Bwaaahahaha....................

[morphus]

Wad u mean....u mean he couldn't??? LOL:D

[Andy Murray]

I actually bought this book last year. I wasn't enjoying it, and subsequently lost it for a while. I found it recently, and finished reading it.

It didn't rock my world, in fact the first half is more about the Authors teenage angst than Bruce Lee, but there are some interesting snippets I haven't come across before.

I suppose it depends what you want from Bruce.

Do you want to keep the guy on a pedestal forever more?

Do you want to use him as a positive role model in your life?

Or do you want to see him stripped of godhood?

The book kind of covers all the angles, or at least it did for me!

[pesilat]

Originally posted by pgm316
How he could be a bit of a bully such as knocking out Dan Inosanto on his 24th birthday.

When Guro Dan tells the story, he says it was part of Bruce's sense of humor ... not his being a bully. When Dan came to from being knocked out, Bruce was standing over him with a birthday cake and singing him happy birthday.

And how he avoided to a large extent really testing himself.

Wow ... according to everything I've heard, Bruce was *constantly* testing himself and trying to perfect himself.

Mike

[Cain]

Oh man, I hav'nt read that book, but lemme get this rite b'fore anyone thinks Bruce is some kind of a supernatural god -

Bruce Lee was human

Bruce Lee had trained harder than anyone else that ever existed on this planet

That's wat made him special

That's why he had that extraordinary power

That's why he had that extraordinary speed

That's why he had that extraordinary high level of fitness

Reason - hard work and passion for his art, not some magic

|Cain|

[pgm316]

Originally posted by Phoenix
"...2. Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks. ..."

Somebody made this up. Technically impossible

And what use would that be :confused:

I'm good at flipping beer mats if that counts for anything :D

[tang_sou_dao]

i was reading this and it said he didnt smoke when he died marijuana was found in his body

[Andy Murray]

More than one way to take Drugs.

[Greg-VT]

He chewed the root, tang.

As for rice thing.... yea sure. I can do that. It's not impossible. Really.

[Greg-VT]

I've been trying to find this book for months now.
Could any of the Aus members please let me know if they have seen it available... online or otherwise.

tah.

[Knight_Errant]

Maybe Bruce liked his tea...

[pgm316]

It'll be on Amazon.com if you don't mind paying the airmail?

[Greg-VT]

Yea I had a look there. Might be a last resort. I don't have a credit card so that may pose a little problem, seeing as they arn't based in Aus.

I might do the rounds tomorrow.

Thanks anyway mate.

So is it good book? Um, what should be asking is.. Is it worth the effort?

[pgm316]

I enjoyed it, I hate recommending stuff though! ;)

It won't teach you about MA's at all, and for the first half of the book you feel its more about the author, but it was strangely adictive in a story book type way. And seeing BL through the eyes of the author.

[Greg-VT]

Ah well Looks like I'm busy tomorrow then! :D
I'm sure some book store will have it around somewhere. :D

There was a Biography I read on Bruce Lee by a guy named Bruce Thomas. It was like that.. I could'nt put it down.

[pleoid_ort]

TkdWarrior did you know that after bruce lee developed his own style he realised that it was based on strength not technique and eventually went back and offered yipman money to teach him again!

[Kwajman]

I think what you want to get from bruce you get, he wasn't perfect. In regards to not smoking, well he smoked marijuana, that was pretty common knowledge, and the rice and chopsticks thing? Come on now, I like the response of shooting fire out his butt and leaping buildings. He was a great martial artist, but he was a fallible human being, just like everyone else.

[Yama Tombo]

Yeah I have to agree with kwajman about being a fallible. And lets not forget the only reaon why Bruce Lee was the best martial artist is his love for Martial Arts.

And for marijuana I'm not to sure of that, I've heard he died an allergenic reaction from pain killer given to him by some woman he knew.

And exploding a punching bag with a sidekick?? I heard he could kick one up to the ceil with a sidekick.

And I seen some of Bruce Lee's footage of him doing that, but he did from a short distance with a side cross leg approach when he did it. Though it may have done it from a distance, that's still amazing to able to send a punching bag to the ceiling.
But aside from that, exploding a punching bag maybe true.

[Poop-Loops]

Bruce knocked the guy out with one kick to the head.

Damn straight.

PL