Way of the Dragon

Last night I Am Bruce Lee premiered on SPIKE, yes, I am a woman who likes the shows on what is usually known for being a rather masculine network. My favorite show on this particular network is Deadliest Warrior. Being a somewhat of a history buff, I have enjoyed this show. 

In the year of the he, the little dragon was born, Lee Jun-fan  November 27 1940, but we knew him a Bruce Lee.

   

His philosophies were  a dichotomy, the light and the dark and how they must live in harmony within us all, never letting one or the other side rise to prominence. He was a steadfast believer that there must be no racism, sexism, or classism in this world after growing up in Japanese occupied Hong Kong and being bullied as a child by the other occupiers of Hong Kong’s children. He was an exceptional bully’s bully! 

Growing up as the only girl in my neighborhood if I wanted to play with the other kids, the boys, I had to play what they wanted to play, the Green Hornet and Batman were on at the time they would always want to be Britt Reid or Batman or Robin. I Only wanted to be Kato, I started dancing when I was 3 and would mimic the moves that Bruce would use as Kato, as best a 5 year old could. I was as far away from looking like Bruce Lee as just about anyone could except we shared the same haircut, I had a shock of bright red hair with a cowlick with a mind of it’s own.

The only Bruce Lee movie my dad ever took me to was Enter the Dragon, and only because he was so important to me. I cried the for hours, knowing that we would never see another Bruce Lee movie because he passed away six days before the release of the movie.

His philosophies were ahead of their time. A faultless mixture of eastern and western theories, the esoteric, and how it all they all related to the fight. Whether the fight was with words, fists or one’s self and whether or when one needed to use one or the other. On my birthday in 1975, the present I received from my Dad was a The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, a first release, it was released 4 days before my birthday, and he had ordered it 6 months previously. Lost now to the inevitable sock in the dryer syndrome it was my favorite book, I would read it at school and everywhere i could it was always in my purse or book bag. Over and over I read it.

Over my fifty years of life I often think what the world lost when we lost Bruce. We know we lost a loving father, a beloved husband and a warrior for the oppressed.

I always think of Bruce when I think there may be some kind of conflict and again I mimic but in my mind, I am a smaller woman but like Bruce I would never back down, he inspired me there is of course NO HONOR in being a coward. 

It's been nearly 40 years since he passed away but I think of him often and fondly. We lost a great gift to the world when we lost the 135 pound Lethal weapon.

Thank You Shannon for sharing this wonderful tribute to your Daddy.