Bruce Lee was able to lift a 32 kg weight. Celebrity parameters. Celebrity diets

Bruce Lee is a cult personality in the world of sports, martial arts, and cinema. A man with a huge history and a whole list of achievements. But today he became the guest of our article for a reason. We can talk about his biography endlessly. Lee's story is known throughout the world, and especially to the generation of the 80s and 90s. We are not interested in his film career, nor in his becoming a master of his own martial arts. Now people are only interested in one thing - how Bruce Lee achieved his excellent physical fitness? How did he maintain such a low body fat percentage throughout his life without the use of various diuretics, doping, or other modern “tools”? We collect interesting facts about his training and analyze all this from the point of view of modern fitness, physiology and endocrinology.

Bruce Lee had a slender physique with a minimal percentage of body fat. He did not have the enormous muscle mass of Schwarzenegger or any other bodybuilder, but at the same time, the amount of fat was truly minimal, comparable to bodybuilders at the peak of competition. Why does this attract people so much?

The fact is that bodybuilders work for months to reduce the percentage of body fat, and despite a huge number of actions, the result can only be maintained for a few days - during the competition. Bruce maintained a low body fat percentage throughout his life, until his sudden death. Well, who doesn’t want to be slim and fit these days? all year round? Do not forget about the amazing fact from Li’s biography: he did not follow exhausting diets, and in general ate like an ordinary average resident of China and America. Differences emerged due to Bruce's frequent travel. But first things first.

Sports facts about Bruce Lee

Low body fat is not Lee's only achievement. He had excellent strength indicators and good strength endurance, as evidenced by his ability to hold a 32 kg weight in front of him for 4 seconds.

Lee's weight fluctuated only in the range of 1 to 2 kg, that is, it can be called stable throughout his adult life. The achievement looks impressive, despite the huge number physical activity, high-calorie nutrition and frequent changes in the food basket due to constant travel.

The speed of strikes and reaction were at their best, and this is largely due to special training, which we will talk about below. Among Lee's physical achievements, it should be noted that he completely abandoned strength training equipment. He actively used dumbbells and kettlebells, occasionally a barbell, but never used cable, lever or block simulators, because I didn’t feel the muscles in them properly. According to his statements, the machines felt like someone was doing the exercise for him, and he was just a tool for it.

Bruce Lee's training secrets

Surely you are waiting for unique secret techniques from ancient China, which Lee learned from his eminent master Ip-Man. The reality, alas, is not so mythical. Thanks to modern knowledge of humanity in physiology, biochemistry and kinesiology, it is possible to conduct a full analysis of Bruce Lee’s training and understand what his “secret” was.

Not much of Lee's training is captured in the video archives, but some of them are recorded in full. To this we can add the stories of those who began to train with Bruce or studied Jeet Kune Do under his leadership.

A unique feature of his training is the use of negative repetitions. Of course, at that time Bruce was not aware of this training method from the world of bodybuilding. He was guided by what he learned in his historical homeland from the stories of his mentor.

Bruce has always been distinguished by his inquisitiveness and sharp mind. Having seen ancient paintings of Chinese strongmen and circus performers, he became interested in this topic. They were able to hold huge weights on their arms outstretched forward, above their heads, etc. Their strength was great, but it was not suitable for martial arts or kung fu.

Lee tried to find and create a kind of symbiosis between the training of ancient Chinese strongmen and modern methods of strength training. Thanks to the teacher, he learned that strength increases through painful static exercises. Long-term holding of light dumbbells or weights in front of you, above you, behind you and in other possible positions significantly increases strength.

So Bruce began training using statics. He took small weights and froze with them in certain poses, like a mime caught in Gym. Over time, his strength grew and he became able to hold quite heavy weights, but he did not achieve anything unusual.

Lee continued searching for his unique technique, which would allow applying strong and at the same time fast strikes. He noticed that static training greatly exhausted his nervous system. After a day of such training, he needed several days to recover. This had a bad effect on his kung fu training and life in general. He became irritable, tired, and simply dissatisfied with his lack of progress.

Thanks to an accident, he independently discovered the technique of negative repetitions. While holding a dumbbell in front of him for the next time, he was distracted by his friends. He had to constantly interrupt the approach and start it again. This continued for an hour, and the next day Bruce was shocked by severe muscle pain, which at first was mistakenly thought to be due to illness or a cold.

Over the course of several weeks, Bruce slowly but surely moved towards his invention, which had long been used by American bodybuilders. Lee noticed that when performing exercises in the classical manner, he did not feel a significant load, and increasing the weight did not allow him to perform the exercise correctly. At the same time, holding it for a long time was exhausting and did not give significant results.

He decided to combine the two methods into one. He lifted the weight in the classic manner - quickly, took a significant pause for 4-5 seconds, and very slowly lowered the weight back, spending another 5-6 seconds. Thus he “invented” negative repetitions. At first, Lee used negatives in only one exercise - dumbbell raises in front of him. After two months of such training, his strength and speed of punches increased dramatically. One of the reasons can safely be called negatives - a new unusual load for his muscles, which served as a new stimulus for muscle development.

All this strengthened in him the idea of fidelity to the chosen one. training plan. He decided to rest for a month, which conveniently included a trip to China and back. Upon arrival, he made himself a combat dummy, bought several weights and a small barbell with dumbbells. The number of barbell plates was small, as the main emphasis was on kettlebells and dumbbells, which featured removable components. In those days it was a very expensive purchase. However, Bruce had no regrets at all, both at the time of purchase and several months later. He had a feeling that this would play an important role in his training.

He began to actively train every day. Alternating between strength training, active cycling and walking with kung fu and the development of his own martial arts system (jeet kune do) required enormous strength and effort, but nevertheless he managed. Bruce used regular strength program, which he “invented” intuitively.

The logic was simple: it is necessary to load all the muscles, and place emphasis on the shoulders, arms and legs, so that this brings the greatest benefit in the context of martial arts. After a month of such training experience, Bruce was finally convinced that he would follow the invented tricks and nuances of the training for the rest of his life. The simplest use of negatives in his training led Lee to a number of discoveries that subsequently made it possible to leave a significant mark on the history of martial arts.

How to become like Bruce Lee?

When a person asks such a question, he is talking about a low percentage of fat and pronounced relief, and not about the historical heritage and other interesting facts of his biography. It would seem that it is enough to follow a low-calorie diet and work out in the gym, and after a few months you will become as ripped as Bruce. But in reality everything is a little more complicated.

Look at everyone losing weight. Anyone who loads the body with strength training while lacking calories rapidly loses not only total weight, but also muscle mass. There is no dryness, relief or stiffness of the muscles. The reason is simple - the body does not expel water and glycogen from the muscles due to a lack of calories. It breaks down muscles and body weight decreases.

Any actions to preserve muscle mass while losing weight will result in their gradual loss. It is almost impossible to achieve pronounced relief and vascularity. Bodybuilders drive away water and the last remnants of fat with the help of heavy artillery: they change water-salt balance, eat less salt, limit fluid intake, limit carbohydrates, etc. and so on. And all these methods are aimed only at short-term results - for 1-2 days of competition, nothing more. Next, the body takes its toll and either returns the lost fluid, or you lose muscle mass, so this method is not suitable for you and me.

Evil tongues say that Bruce Lee used various doping, stimulants and diuretics to be in such ripped shape all year round. Of course, this is not true. Standard doping does not suit him, and diuretics and various stimulants simply would not allow him to recover before each new day.

The truth is much simpler: he did not torture his body with a small amount of calories. On a calorie deficit, a person loses muscle mass - this is a fact. Some are fast and some are slow, it’s inevitable. But despite this fact, Bruce managed to maintain his shape and even improve. The secret lies in a special type of training. Negatives force you to work muscle fiber at the limit of its capabilities. When lifting a weight, 50 to 75% of the fibers are activated, while returning the weight activates 75 to 100%, depending on the weight of the weight.

Add to this a negative execution technique with a deliberate slow return of the projectile to the starting point. Muscle involvement in movement will be 100%, and this wastes a huge amount of energy. By performing absolutely all exercises in this manner, Bruce Lee unknowingly turned the entire training process into a complete waste of calories. He loaded his muscles with a huge load, not at the expense of heavy weight burdens, but due to the slow negative phase. To develop the speed of his legs and arms, he lifted weights and dumbbells as quickly as possible, but again, lowered the equipment extremely slowly.

Against the backdrop of such training, Bruce Lee ate quite a lot, especially for a guy of his weight. He ate abundantly, nutritiously and even correctly. There were forbidden foods in the diet, but the main emphasis in the food basket was always concentrated on good carbohydrates and valuable sources of protein, but we will talk about nutrition later.

The secret of Bruce Lee's figure is the huge caloric content of the diet and the same huge waste of calories. That is, he did not use low calorie diet, which looks like 100% stress for the body. Instead, he supplied the body with abundant energy from food, and at the same time spent exactly the same, and sometimes even more.

A high activity ratio, constant employment, martial arts training, and of course, the use of negative repetitions in my strength training allowed me to build a functional physique with a minimal percentage of fat. Now you know how Lee was able to maintain his excellent ripped shape all year round, without interruption.

He simply ate a lot and spent even more. Power training and active aerobic exercise developed not so much strength as strength endurance. Glycogen accumulation, reduction subcutaneous fat and so on. made his muscles look like an anatomical atlas, which in turn was noted even by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bruce Lee workouts

There was no single training scheme, or it has not survived to this day. It is known that Bruce Lee trained in the full-body style, loading all the muscles in one workout. The overall workload was reduced to allow time for recovery. On average, it was 3-4 approaches per muscle, and 1-2 for small assistant muscle masses, such as biceps and triceps.

Between sets, Lee rests for about 2 minutes, using not a stopwatch, but an ordinary hourglass. Interesting fact: due to inaccuracy or improper assembly hourglass, they counted down 111 seconds rather than 120. So technically he rested 111 seconds between sets.

Every approach strength exercises consisted of a quick lift of the weight, a distinct pause at a critical point with tension in the target muscles, and a slow return of the projectile back in the style of negatives. The number of such repetitions was in the range from 8 to 10, no more and no less. In the final approaches, it was often necessary to work to failure, but Bruce was not embarrassed by this, he saw this as another challenge.

The list of exercises was quite simple: basic exercises, but almost everywhere Lee replaced the barbell with dumbbells or weights. He tried to perform exercises with both hands with one, one at a time. For example, he replaced the dumbbell upward press to develop the shoulders with a standing kettlebell press, first with one hand, then with the other. He performed curls for biceps alternately with dumbbells, and not simultaneously with a barbell, but you know firsthand about push-ups on one arm from his filmography.

Bruce Lee Nutrition

Lee did not have a diet as such. He was taught to eat carbohydrates in China. The main sources of carbohydrates were: rice, broccoli, some types of bread and regular table sugar. Of the proteins, Lee preferred fish and lean beef, which he most often cooked and consumed with broths. At the same time, Bruce was not afraid of the fast food that was developing in those years. As a resident of America, he actively consumed all trendy food inventions, starting with the Big Mac and ending with pizzas from various pizzerias.

Its high activity coefficient made it possible to do this without fear of losing muscle mass or, on the contrary, gaining fat. It is important to note that since childhood, Lee's parents taught him minimalism. He never ate too much, strictly listening to the signals of his body. The slightest signal of satiety was enough to stop eating.

It is safe to say that in addition to its unique physical and sporting achievements Bruce was a devotee intuitive eating, and at the same time one of the best. He ate foods of varying calorie content, and at the same time knew his calorie limit very well. Lee literally felt it. It will be extremely difficult to repeat this, especially to modern man with a huge amount of excess on grocery store shelves.

Therefore, to become like Bruce Lee, at least in terms of diet and nutrition, you will have to scrupulously count the calories burned and received. This is very difficult, which explains such a small number of people with a similar figure. In addition, not every disciplined person can maintain a high activity coefficient like Bruce Lee.

Bottom line

Bruce Lee was a unique person in the field of martial arts, but from a fitness point of view, he was not remembered for his achievements in cinema or martial arts. A low percentage of fat, muscle rigidity, definition and the absence of any strict diet - this is how Lee can be characterized.

Bruce did not delve into physiology or sports biochemistry, but at the same time he was able to independently “find” the right training plan that suited his lifestyle and ambitions. Negative reps, intense training, regular classes martial arts, yoga and philosophy - such an explosive mixture endowed him with an incredible physique. Alas, it is almost impossible to become the same as Lee using his methods. You need a more precise approach, with calorie counting and calculating training load with appropriate planning.

However, we recommend that you try to combine several types of activities. If you want to possess sculpted muscles– it is necessary to teach its functionality. This could be martial arts, running, gym, yoga and even swimming. From a physiological point of view, such training should simultaneously develop various muscle characteristics: endurance, strength, strength endurance, static force and so on.

But be careful, because the negative repetition technique takes too much energy from your body. nervous system. First of all, have time to recover, and getting sculpted like Bruce Lee is impossible without complete recovery of your muscles and body.

Bruce Lee - famous master martial arts, Hong Kong and American film actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. He can rightfully be called a legendary man, who, thanks to his skills, has gained a huge number of followers around the world.

Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco. His parents were Lee Hoi Chuen and Grace Lee. The head of the family is a Chinese opera actor who earned good money. According to the Chinese calendar, the boy was born in the Year of the Dragon and the Hour of the Dragon, which is why he received the name Li Xiaolong, which translates as Little Dragon. According to Chinese beliefs, children should have several names in order to protect them from evil spirits. Bruce's mother subsequently gave her son the name Li Zhenfan, which means "come back."

Bruce Lee with his parents

The couple, who live in Hong Kong, went to America for a theater tour. And when it became clear that the pregnant Grace could no longer continue the trip due to the imminent birth, she remained in San Francisco. Immediately after the birth, one of the nurses suggested calling the boy the American name Bruce: by the way, no one remembered this name before Bruce Lee moved to America.

The child grew up in Hong Kong. Incredibly, as a child, Bruce was a rather “frail” child and, despite the fact that he was interested in martial arts, he was not seriously interested in them. The guy was not particularly successful at school either.

At the age of 12, the boy was sent to college comprehensive development"La Salle". At the age of 13, Bruce began attending dance lessons, and four years later he won the cha-cha championship in Hong Kong.

When Bruce Lee turned 19 years old, he decided to move to the United States, thereby confirming the American citizenship he received by birthright. He first went to San Francisco and then to Seattle, where he got a job as a waiter in one of the local restaurants. During these years, he graduated from the Technical School and also went to study at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Washington.

Sport

As a teenager, Bruce Lee decided to master kung fu - he needed these skills to fend for himself in street fights. The parents approved of their son’s choice and sent him to master Ip Man to study the art of Wing Chun. Thanks to dancing, the guy had excellent coordination of movements, which helped him quickly master the basics of the Taijixuan technique. From that time on, Bruce Lee never stopped training. The style Bruce studied involved fighting without weapons, although he later mastered them too - the athlete was best with the nunchaku.

Lee later mastered judo, jiu-jitsu and boxing. In addition, he contributed to martial arts, having developed a new style Kung Fu called Jeet Kune Do. By the way, he taught this style at his own martial arts school, which he opened in 1961 while living in the States. The lessons were not cheap ($275 per hour), but Bruce Lee's school had one fundamental difference from similar ones educational institutions- it taught everyone, regardless of nationality, while other masters undertook to teach only Asians.

As a teacher, Bruce himself never stopped improving his kung fu skills, bringing every move to perfection. He even created his own nutrition system; later his training methods were published, which gained popularity all over the world.

Movies

Interestingly, the first time Bruce Lee starred in a film was when he was only 3 months old - it was the film “Golden Gate Girl”. Thanks to the fact that his father was connected with the world of art, the boy began to often act in films. Already in 1946, he made his debut in the film “Born of Man.” Then Bruce managed to star in two dozen films before he turned 15 years old. These roles did not bring much income or fame to the young man, although the experience he gained was enormous.

Bruce Lee (right) in The Green Hornet

During his years in the USA, Bruce Lee began acting in American television series and films, demonstrating martial arts. From 1966 to 1967 The series “The Green Hornet” was released with the actor’s participation, and a year later Lee appeared in an episode of the film “Marlowe”. He did not get the main roles, and he decided to leave America and return to Hong Kong, where the Golden Harvest film studio was then opened.

Bruce managed to negotiate with the studio director about the opportunity to star in the title role, while he himself had to stage all the action scenes. Thus, in 1971, the film “Big Boss” was released, which changed the concept of martial arts in the world of cinema. On the wave of success, the films “Fist of Fury” and “Return of the Dragon” were made - these films made Bruce Lee a super popular actor.

In 1972, Bruce Lee worked on the film Enter the Dragon, which premiered six days after his death. This picture became the last completed film with his participation.

Another film in which the idol of millions managed to star, “Game of Death”: Bruce starred in only 28 minutes of the film. It was released in 1978; filming had to be completed without the participation of the actor, having involved a similar person in the filming.

Personal life

In 1964, Bruce Lee married Linda Emery. He met his future wife during his own lectures - a 17-year-old student attended kung fu classes. The couple had two children in their marriage. In 1965, Linda gave Bruce a son, who was named Brandon, and four years later the couple had a daughter, Shannon.

Unfortunately, the fate of Bruce Lee's son was tragic. followed in his father's footsteps and became an actor and martial artist. In 1993, he died right on the set - the pistol from which they shot at the actor in the frame accidentally turned out to be loaded with a live cartridge.

Death

At the age of 33, Bruce Lee died unexpectedly. Death occurred on July 20, 1973; this event came as a shock to all of Hong Kong, as well as fans of the star around the world.

According to the official version, death was caused by cerebral edema. The cause of the swelling was allegedly a headache pill taken by the actor. Bruce's body was transported and buried in Seattle.

Fans did not want to believe in such an absurd death of their idol, which led to the birth of a lot of rumors about how exactly Lee died. One of these versions spoke in favor of the murder of the actor by another master who did not want him to teach martial arts to Europeans and Americans. However, such rumors were not confirmed.

Filmography

"Orphan"
"Love"
"It's my father's fault"
"Faithful wife"
"Game of Death"
"The path of Dragon"
"Fist of fury"
"Storm"
"Big boss"
"Tower of Death"

It is impossible not to mention such a great athlete as Bruce Lee, despite the fact that he is not a bodybuilder, he is still included in our biography section. Rapidity, speed reaction, incredible power and strength, endurance and moral, these are the qualities that the greatest master possessed kung Fu Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, USA, from childhood he was distinguished by his fighting character, he often fought, and always defended his interests. Father— Lee Hong Chuen, played in Chinese opera, mother— Grace Lee is German by birth. Bruce's parents didn't give him any money, but they lived very poorly. poor. And then one day, Bruce asked his father for money workout in kung fu, then they were gladly given to him, since Bruce’s fights, the locals who were always beaten, the yard boys were fed up with Bruce, and the parents really wanted to direct their son’s energy in the right direction.

Bruce is trained by a great kung fu master Ip Man since 1956, which marks Bruce as the brightest and best student.

wing chun- this is the tough and aggressive style of kung fu that Bruce Lee chooses, demonstrating this style in the film " Fist of fury».

Soon, having reached unprecedented heights in kung fu, Bruce decides to create his own style Jeet Kune Do, which combines all styles into a single whole, while the main goal of the style is to neutralize the enemy as quickly as possible, without making a single extra movement.

Bruce Lee - Way of the Dragon

Bruce Lee understands that you can’t feed yourself with kung fu alone, and then he decides to study intensively in English, mathematics and philosophy, for admission to higher school T. Edison, and successfully graduated from it in 1960.

Bruce Lee and his wife and child

And already in 1961 he began his first teaching at the University of Washington, where he met his future wife, a 17-year-old student, Linda Emerly, which will support him in everything throughout the rest of his life.

Bruce Lee is about to give birth children, 1965 – son, actor Brandon Lee, who died tragically in 1993 and daughter— Shannon Lee, 1969

Having settled a little in America in 1963, Bruce Lee opened his own school martial arts.

Chinese martial arts schools forbade training foreigners and Europeans, which is why he began to develop Problems, begin to send Bruce letters with threats and reprisals, trying to influence the closure of the school. But as you know, Bruce Lee was not used to retreating from difficulties, so he always trains those people whom he considers necessary to train, and not those people whom he dictates Chinese community. It’s a shame, but his first coach, Ip Man, didn’t train him either Europeans.

Bruce Lee and his wife (Linda Emerly)

Filming

From 1967-1971 Bruce Lee acted in large numbers films where he demonstrates his greatest physical abilities. At that time, the 24-frame camera simply did not have time to capture his blows, since the speed of Bruce’s blow was very high, and because of this it was necessary to use 32 frame shooting.

Movie " Big boss"Bruce Lee brought fame throughout the world in 1971; now almost everyone begins to recognize him on the streets.

Bruce Lee in the movies

Strength Bruce Lee

It is worth noting that Bruce Lee always took his training process , and considered training, a strong body as a "way self-expression" For example, he could easily hold a weight weighing 32 kg at arm's length for 20 seconds.

A well-known corner, for the press, he could hold as many as 30 minutes, and counted the muscles abdominals shield against blows. For example, one of Bruce Lee’s arsenal of exercises is throwing a stuffed man from a height onto his abs. sand ball.

Fingers Bruce Lee's were so strong that he could pierce a steel can with them. cola(previously it was made of thick-walled steel sheet, unlike the current thin-walled aluminum ones), and he could easily pull yourself up holding on to the crossbar with only one little finger.

Bruce Lee always improved his body, tested it on himself overload human body, truly greatest man, which has collected seemingly incompatible qualities, like flexibility, strength and endurance. Bruce Lee's grave (his son Brandon Lee is buried nearby)

Bruce Lee's death covered secret, and it is still not reliably known from what exactly he died, but one thing is known for sure, the great athlete Bruce Lee has passed away, from whom a lot can and should be learned.

I would like to end the biography of Bruce Lee with his words:

« Empty your mind, become formless, incorporeal, like water. When you pour water into a cup, it becomes a cup; when you pour water into a teapot, it takes the shape of a teapot. Water can flow, or it can destroy. Be water my friend»

A legendary man, Bruce Lee founded his own fighting style, which is called the “Way of the Leading Fist.” His body is not only strong, but also fast. There were a lot of rumors about him, and for good reason: during training, he demonstrated to his students what can only be called miracles. In addition, he could easily do push-ups on one hand, two fingers. And at one of the airports, he, Bruce Lee, with his short stature for a man and light weight, was noticed carrying a suitcase weighing 100 kg! Aren't they miracles?

What is Bruce Lee's height and weight?

He weighed only 64 kg, and Bruce was short in height - only 171 cm. How did such a short man always manage to defeat his opponent? – According to him, the fight should last no more than 5 seconds. He always won and went towards his goal. During training, he did not spare either himself or his devoted students.

Bruce was incredibly strong and fast. His combat tactics were to inflict as many blows as possible on his opponent in a short period of time. What can I say, but business card The legendary Lee had sharpness and strength.

Bruce Lee's height, weight, biceps size, and other physical parameters

“To defeat my enemy, I do not need a knife. The body is my weapon,” the great teacher repeatedly stated. He wanted to achieve unprecedented skill, and he succeeded thanks to grueling hours of training. He could practice the same movements for a long time on a wooden doll called a “mook zhonge.”

Bruce Lee developed muscle strength and endurance of cardio-vascular system. According to data from 1965, the volume of his waist, upper part, was 77 cm, lower - 67 cm.

Before training exercises chest volume is 100 cm, and when inhaling - 107 cm.

After training volume chest the great master of martial arts is equal to 110 cm in a calm state, and 113 cm when inhaling.

So, the neck volume at rest is 39 cm, after training – 41 cm.

As for the size of the biceps, the left one before training is 34 cm, after it is 34.5 cm, the right one in the first case is 35.3 cm, in the last case it is 37 cm. In addition, the left forearm at rest is 28.1 cm, after training exercises – 30.8 cm. Right forearm before training – 29 cm, after – 31 cm.

Read also

8 facts about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the long-awaited premiere of Quentin Tarantino
The 25 most influential people in history according to the Pantheon project

The left wrist in the case of “before” – 16 cm, “after” – 18 cm. The right one at first is 17.5 cm, after training – 18.5 cm.

The right thigh is 55 cm. Then it is 58 cm, and the left one is first 53.3 cm, then 57 cm.

Bruce Lee

Master of martial arts, American and Hong Kong film actor, director, producer, screenwriter, philosopher.

Born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco (California, USA), in the family of Chinese opera actor Lee Hoi Chen and half-Chinese, half-German Grace Lee.

Strictly speaking, he is Li Jan Fan (translated from Chinese as “come back”: the child was born in San Francisco, and the mother wanted her son to return to America again). When the boy grew up, he was given the name Li Yen Kam (“ never sitting still"): after the first filming, the name Li Sui Lung ("little dragon") appeared. And on the birth certificate issued at the Chinese hospital in San Francisco, the name Bruce Lee was written.

Not everyone believed that Bruce Lee was actually a boy. The evil spirits knew for sure that Grace had given birth to a girl: the mother and father spent a lot of effort trying to confuse them, and even gave the child the girlish nickname Baby Phoenix. Their first son died, and they decided that they had somehow angered the gods; in China they believe that the second child in a family should be a girl, and Grace and Lee adopted a poor man’s daughter. Then their son Peter was born, then Grace became pregnant again and was restless with worry: according to Chinese beliefs, the second son is also in danger. The newborn Bruce Lee had his ears pierced and was called by his maiden name - it seemed that the evil spirits had been deceived.

Bruce Lee grew up and haunted the entire block: there was no other Skoda like it in Hong Kong. Bruce Lee ran around the city, made friends with just anyone, stole apples from street vendors' stalls and did not listen to his parents - a great sin for the Chinese who respect old age. However, Bruce Lee's father was also not distinguished by family virtues. He was a good actor and a great guy, his friends and women loved him, and he doted on them - Lee Hoi Chen spent money on anything, just not on children. By Hong Kong standards, Lee was a wealthy man (he owned several apartments that he rented out), but the way the family lived would have horrified an unemployed Chicagoan. A large table where they ate, played and read; a single room in which Lee, Grace, their children, grandparents, several servants and a huge German shepherd slept; a fan under the ceiling, sadly moving hot air... Water was supplied to the house once a week for several hours, and it was filled into all the bowls. The Lee family took a cat-style shower, smearing water over their faces, snorting and splashing - they didn’t know what a bath was in the house, and the forty-degree heat in Hong Kong was par for the course... But everyone who lived under this roof was holy We are convinced that such comfort can only be found in the governor’s palace: most of the Chinese huddled in cramped, miserable shacks.

The children grew up, and they had to be taught - Bruce Lee and his brothers were sent to a Jesuit college. The Jesuits had been engaged in missionary work in China for several centuries and knew more about the aborigines than anyone else, but even they could not cope with Bruce Lee.

Small, thin, nimble, Bruce Lee could not sit still, did not want to rack his brains over arithmetic and English grammar, and experienced great pleasure only when he managed to bloody someone’s nose. Bruce Lee's former class teacher, brother Henry, remembering him many years later, assured that he was an unusual child - lively, receptive, smart. He had to be treated very gently, to occupy his imagination all the time - then he behaved like a good boy... Apparently, Brother Henry rarely succeeded in this: several years passed, and Bruce Lee was kicked out of the Jesuit school.

Bruce Lee had a huge desire for self-affirmation; street fights elevated him in his own eyes. He was frail, evasive and absolutely fearless: a reason for a fight could even be the fact that the boy he met looked at him the wrong way, sighed the wrong way, spat in the wrong place, or didn’t apologize respectfully enough. Bruce Lee did not pay attention to the height and weight of his enemies, and they beat him twice a day. Li Hoi Chen, of course, was not an exemplary father, but the bruises on his son’s face and his constantly torn clothes got on his nerves. The wailing Grace washed the abrasions and darned the torn shirt, and Lee lectured Bruce Lee every evening: in the end, he was immensely tired of it. Lee Hoi Chen did not give money to the children out of principle, but when Bruce Lee asked to pay for his kung fu lessons, he unexpectedly agreed to himself - he had at least a faint hope that this disgrace would someday end.

Bruce Lee chose tough and aggressive Wing Chun - according to legend, the creator of the style was a nun who lived in the 15th century. (She invented it when she watched a fight between a snake and a crane.) The nun taught it to the girl Yum Wing Chun, who taught it to her future husband, he also had students... So the turn came to Yip Men, a former police inspector in the city of Nam Hoe, fled to Hong Kong from the troops of Mao Tse-tung. In Hong Kong, Ip Man opened his own school and made a living by turning street thugs like Bruce Lee into real fighters.

Running for five kilometers and hundreds of push-ups, endless blows on a sandbag, acrobatics, full-contact fighting, when the enemy’s fist hits your unprotected ribs with all his strength... Training at Ip Man’s school shackled his body in impenetrable muscle armor , taught almost perfect fighting techniques. Bruce tried it on his classmates, and the results were more than satisfactory.

Soon his parents sent him to another school - where it turned out that classes with Ip Man were beneficial for the child. He, of course, did not become an excellent student, but the senseless mischief that plagued the Jesuit fathers greatly diminished. Young Li no longer had the strength to play pranks: after practicing Wing Chun, every bone ached - ease came only in the fifth year.

But now Bruce Lee has calmed down. He became the king of the school - he was always accompanied by a respectful retinue on the street. Having dealt with his classmates, Bruce Lee took on the English boys: they constantly fought with the little Chinese and, as a rule, beat them in vain. The British were much larger, and they taught boxing in their schools, but knees to the chin, foreheads to the nose and elbows to the ear turned out to be a crushing surprise for them. One after another, the rulers of the seas went into a deep knockdown, and with each black eye and bloody nose, the authority of Bruce Lee grew: in Hong Kong they well remembered the “Opium War”, the plunder of Beijing and the inscriptions “Dogs and Chinese are prohibited”, which had recently disappeared from the central parts of the city.

Life smiled on Bruce Lee, and by the age of eighteen he felt almost happy. When he was very young, his father taught him to dance, and now he has won the Hong Kong Cha-Cha Championship and played several child roles in action films. Nobody argued with him on the street. In his free time from fighting and training, Bruce Lee took dance lessons. Now he looked like a dandy - carefully licked and greased hair, an immaculately ironed black suit (he ironed it himself, not trusting his mother), a narrow tie with an even knot. Either a student at a missionary school or a dancer from a variety show, he is an ideal target for a street hooligan looking to have fun.

On the streets of Hong Kong, mama's boys were treated unkindly. It was nice to spit on a patent leather shoe, and it was nice to tug on a tie. But after this, the impudent person received a sau-do - Bruce Lee’s favorite blow, when the edge of the palm, hardened by many hours of training, falls on the attacker’s throat. One fine day, he treated it to three members of the Hong Kong Triad, two of whom were hospitalized.

The oldest of the Asian criminal communities, the Triad existed for hundreds of years: having emerged as a secret society fighting the Manchu conquerors, it eventually switched to drug trafficking. Those who joined it were bound by mutual responsibility: the society demanded absolute loyalty from its people, and in return provided them with protection. If people from the “Triad” began to be beaten on the streets with impunity, the power and prestige of the clan would not be worth a penny. Bruce Lee now had to die - quickly and as painfully as possible. He, who was born in San Francisco, was saved by the fact that he was considered a US citizen - his mother packed up her things in one evening, bought a ticket on the ship and sent Bruce to America to live with friends. Grace Lee, frightened to death, did not even suspect that she was sending her son towards wealth and fame.

Seventy years ago the first batch of Chinese were brought to the United States. America was rapidly becoming covered in a network railways, for their construction, cheap labor was needed - poor, hardworking and unrequited Asians were ideally suited for this. The best argument in dialogue with them was considered to be a right-wing hook: poor peasants from remote Chinese villages, who had never studied martial arts, endured such treatment with Confucian long-suffering. Time passed, morals softened, but the lot of American Chinese remained laundries and cheap restaurants - Bruce Lee got a job in one of them.

Bruce Lee soon became a movie star. This happened, in general, by accident: television producer William Dozier was looking for an actor for a role in a new series, and a man who studied with Bruce happened to be nearby - and the role went to him. Then he was given a new role and then passed over for an American actor. Bruce Lee was worried - it seemed to him that his film career was not working out, but when he arrived in Hong Kong, his fellow countrymen were ready to carry him in their arms. It turned out that he was wildly popular at home - in hometown Li Jan Fan returned in the aura of an American movie star and at the same time a warrior who defeated the “white devils.”

Wife: Linda Lee Cadwell.
Son - actor Brandon Lee (1965-1993).
Daughter - Shannon (1969).

Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973 at the age of 33 in Hong Kong.
The actor was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Bruce Lee died suddenly after taking a headache pill before finishing his next film, Game of Death. An autopsy showed the brain swelling was caused by a hypersensitive reaction to a headache pill. His death was a shock to all of Hong Kong - no one could imagine that this man, who spent days and nights improving his body, could die. After his death, rumors began to spread that he had died in his mistress's bed, but they were not confirmed. Bruce Lee's funeral turned into a citywide, and then all-Asian, mourning. Thousands of friends and fans came to pay their last respects to him. Bruce Lee's body was then flown to Seattle, where his family said goodbye and where he was buried. Martial arts lovers in Seattle still go to pay homage to Bruce Lee's grave. And his last film was completed five years later with the help of doubles, was a huge success and caused new wave interest in kung fu and oriental martial arts.