Black Belt Hall of Fame
Bruce Lee
1972
Jeet Kune Do Award
One of the budo worlds most dynamic personalities, Bruce Lee has promoted the martial arts not only through excellent practice but also through the mass media. Both as an American TV actor and as Hong Kong's most popular movie star, the founder of jeet kune do gung-fu has taken advantage of a rare opportunity to accurately present the martial arts to the general public.
Son of a chinese opera star Lee Hoi Chuen, Bruce (whose given name is Lee Jung Fan) was born in San Francisco in 1940 and was raised in Hong Kong. He began studying gung-fu as a youngster and trained under wing chun exponent Yip Man before creating his own style. At 18, he returned to the US and started teaching his art while studying philosophy at University of Washington.
He eventually settled in Los Angeles with this wife and son and was spotted during a karate tournament demonstration by a Hollywood producer. After a cram course in acting, Lee was thrust into a regular television role as "Kato" of the Green Hornet. On that program, he frequently displayed his martial art skills, and as a result, spurred a sudden US interest in budo.
When the series was canceled, Lee continued to teach jeet kune do and also to appear in occasional television and movie parts . In the fall of 1971, he guest-starred in the initial segment of the Longstreet series. The episode was built around the philosophical as well as the physical aspects of jeet kune do, giving viewers what was perhaps their first look at the "other side" of the Oriental fighting arts. He also appeared in later segments of Longstreet but declined an offer to become a regular member of the cast when the finger of opportunity beckoned from Hong Kong.
Returning with his family to the scene of his boyhood, Lee became the biggest box-office star in the history of Hong Kong. Each of his first two pictures broke the record for gross receipts previously held by The Sound of Music.
Although fortune has indeed been kind to Bruce Lee, the 32-year old budo practitioner has not basked alone in the spotlight at the expense of the martial arts. Rather, his insistence on authenticity on the screen, has brought the arts into the spotlight with him.
