A Possible Cause of the Death of Bruce Lee

The Tragic End of the Little Dragon

I remember when Bruce Lee Died. It was a shock that went through the soul. Here was an icon,the best martial artist in the world, in perfect physical condition…dead.

How? Why? What happened?

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Interestingly, one of the first theories I heard as to the cause of his death came from a friend who was studying Tai Chi Chuan. The one word summation was: balance. And, the one sentence explanation was Bruce Lee was lacking balance.

I tucked this opinion away, collected facts, but it was literally decades before I matured enough as a martial artist to understand, and to accept, this opinion over the facts.

Let me say, before I continue, that I like facts. It could be said that only fools deal in opinions, and in most cases, this would be correct.

The person offering this opinion, however, was basing his opinion not on the facts of Bruce’s death, but upon the facts of the martial arts. It wasn’t until I was firmly matrixed in my approach to the martial arts that I understood this.

One of the facts that I continuously came across was that Bruce had an allergic reaction to marijuana, which was in tea he had drunk.

This is interesting, I have never read a study on this, is there marijuana in Chinese tea?

Another fact I came across is that Bruce had, again, an allergic reaction, this time to aspirin. But I think that the aspirin was given to him after he complained of a headache. And, I know it’s possible, but I just don’t hear of a lot of people, or any people, dying of allergic reactions to aspirin. Doesn’t mean it’s not possible, but…hmmm.

And, the third of these ‘facts,’ Bruce had a reduced fat content in his body. Now this is dangerous. And this could result in death. And this has much more substantiation in fact than the previous two theories.

Mind you, in saying this I realize that it is still opinion, and the only real fact we have is that we will never know. But this one fact, considered in light of the theory of ‘balance,’ really resonates with me. What was Bruce Lee doing that would result in a loss of balance, and which could possibly result in death? For the answer to that let’s consider how the martial arts are accumulated.

In matrixing one isolates the specific arts, and simplifies them to workable levels, and does not mix martial arts. In matrixing one studies the smaller pieces of the individual martial arts until they (eventually) blend into a larger and comprehensive whole.

Bruce, on the other hand, was doing a hybrid of the martial arts; he was doing, for one specific example, Wing Chun and Boxing.

I know, there was a lot more, he had 26 different arts at one count.

But consider the differences between just those two martial arts. Wing Chun controls the centerline and works on straight punches. Boxing moves laterally and has roundish punches.

Yes, a simplification, but bear with, for there are different concepts of chi power here.

In boxing, there is no focus on chi power, everything has to do with muscles.
In Wing Chun, hoever, the focus is on chi power, and there is major emphasis on generating energy from the tan tien.

Could this mix of martial training, taken to the extremes that Bruce took them, result in an imbalance in the body? Could this have resulted in Bruce’s death?

Unfortunately, as with the other theories, there is no proof, and likely never will be, and we all never know. But it is something to consider.

The mix of the martial arts you study is definitely worth considering. Not because of the risk of death (Bruce was a singular and extreme case), but because mixing the various martial arts, and especially without simplifying them through the matrixing process, causes confusion, and results in a slower learned and less effective martial arts.

In closing, the point of this article has been to ask, not to state definitively, and that in an attempt to understand Bruce Lee. It is only through understanding, not through mindless worshipping, that we are going to reap the true benefits of this incredible person’s martial arts and existence.

Take the first step in learning how to Matrix with Matrix Karate. For information that might be more specific to the theories presented in this article examine The Master Instructor Course. Both courses are available at MonsterMartialArts.com

Bruce Lee and the Softer Side of Wing Chun Kung Fu

Bruce Lee and the Two Styles of Wing Chun Kung Fu

Whenever I try to explain to people that there are 2 styles of Wing Chun, anyone that “knows” Wing Chun, tries to tell me that I am wrong, that there is no second style, only the variation being that of Moy Yat and Leung Ting.

The objection stems from the fact that most people do not know that soft-style exists.  There are no “training” videos sold of soft style,  and finding a video on YouTube is next to impossible.

Was Bruce Lee great because he knew the soft side of Wing Chun Kung Fu?

Soft-style was only taught to a select few students, William Cheung learned both soft-style and hard-style. Bruce Lee, Leung Ting, Moy Yat and other famous Wing Chun Stylists either never learned soft-style, or chose never to teach it. Think of it like this, hard-style was taught to the outside world, and they guarded the REALLY good material and kept it only in the family. Because I do not know these individual people, I don’t know the reason their lineages don’t include soft-style, whether they wish to continue the secrecy, or whether they simply weren’t privy to it.

The Tan-sao is a perfect example, of the difference. Hard-style leans and drops it down so it is almost horizontal, soft-style maneuvers the body properly, and keeps the tan-sao up, the eyes just barely able to see over the fingertips.  Bruce Lee threw out the Tan-sao because he said it was worthless, and indeed if the tan-sao is held low, it doesn’t block anything.

When comparing forms, you will observe hard-style people simply lean from one side to the other when performing chum-kil, while soft-style will actually take a full step.

Both of the videos below include Bil-jee, if you watch those variations of that form, you will see many more differences.

 

Some of the key differences between hard and soft Wing Chun are as follows:

• Hard-style relies more on muscular strength, while soft relies on correct body alignment. As sensei says, “if you are leaning, you are falling”.  This is true in all arts, and one of the reasons my Brazilian jujitsu instructor harps on good posture. If you rely on a lean ,you must rely on muscle.
• Hard-style uses a more collapsed forward guard with no forward intention, under the assertion that in trapping your energy is harder to read.  While the energy is indeed harder to read, the guard is easier to blast through. Such a guard and collapse and trap a guard that has no forward intention.

Hard-style Wing Chun is what Bruce Lee was unhappy with when he created JKD.  Even so, he and many others proved it was incredibly effective, even without knowing the “family secret”.

Bruce Lee Website Reveals the Truth About the Little Dragon!

Free Bruce Lee Website Promises to be Significant!

Bruce Lee is the most famous martial artist of all time. He impacted upon America like a Kung Fu fist, shaking all our standards of Martial Arts style fighting and cinema alike.

Bruce’s Martial Art, Jeet Kune Do, would bring elegance to streetfighting, and a sureness of character.

Bruce Lee (The Little Dragon)

His movies would replace the pale chop sockie kung fu flix in a heartbeat.

It is only fitting, then that the most prolific martial arts writer of all time, Al Case, would choose to put up a website dedicated to The Little Dragon. Still in composition, the website is called Free Bruce Lee! And you didn’t even know he was in prison! (He he, snuffle snort–sorry, couldn’t resist).

Anyway, the website already has a handful of articles on Bruce’s life and times, including handwritten letters, articles his martial arts and insane workouts, and even pieces on his actual fights.

That Bruce Lee got in fights is no secret. He grew up in a tough town, was a member of a street gang called the ‘Tigers of Junction Street,’ fought in the Hong Kong Boxing Championships, and, of course, had that famous battle with Wong Jack Man.

The fight with Kung Fu stylist Wong Jack Man is, of course, the most interesting of all Bruce Lee’s fights, as it may be the one that Bruce actually lost, or at least came out on the sad side of a draw. There is MUCH controversy regarding this fight, and of particular interest is the article entitled: ‘Bruce Lee Battle with Wong Jack Man!‘

As has been noted, this website is in the beginning stages, but it promises to be the most valuable Bruce Lee resource on the whole net. It is in depth, written by a writer who lived through those times, and offers the unique perspective of a martial artist who has studied the life of Bruce Lee since 1967 (when the author began martial arts, and when Bruce Lee hit the small screen as Kato in the Green Hornet television series).

Interested readers should click over to Free Bruce Lee.

The Bruce Lee One Inch Punch Real Secret is Not Faked!

Bruce Lee One inch Punch Explained!

(Bruce Lee One Inch Punch article originally published at MonsterMartialArts.com)

The Bruce Lee One Inch Punch has taken on mythic proportions. People watch Bruce Lee movies like enter the Dragon, and then they look into the history Little Dragon, and when they see the famous Bruce Lee Punch their jaws drop and they think it can only be done by a super human.

The fact is, the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch can be done by anyone, if they are willing to understand some basic concepts and do a little hard work. Before we start, however, let me state that when you google Bruce Lee One Inch Punch you will find wikihow, and they will offer a five step explain on the thing. The problem is that the Wikihow description is for a Karate Punch! It’s not Bruce Lees Martial Arts at all!

Bruce Lee could do a push up on one finger, that certainly helped!

And, you will also find sites explaining the thing through an analysis of the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch power through brains scans, and all sorts of other things. You will also find people claiming, in spite of the Long Beach one inch punch video, that the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch video is fake! Can’t even believe their own eyes. Sheesh.

Okay, now you know where not to look, let me give the simple explanation in simple physics.

When you punch you must sink your weight into the ground, and lean slightly forward so that your body weight goes into the punch. Then it is all a matter of martial arts timing.

Yes, it is that simple. But, the one thing that nobody seems to want to understand, or even to say-and this is the real secret behind the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch-is that Jun Fan (his real Chinese name) studied classical Kung Fu!

It was his studies in Wing Chun that enabled him to do many of the things he did.

Now, it is true that it was his amazing work ethic, his 24/7 obsession with martial arts, that enabled him to translate that classical knowledge into something that worked. But the basic knowledge came from Classical Wing Chun Kung Fu.

I know this to be true because it was in my studies of Classical Karate, and I have seen it in virtually all other traditional martial arts.

The problem with people not being able to do what Bruce did is twofold. First, because the martial arts happened so fast in the United States and the world, much of the knowledge was lost, not passed on.

The second thing, of course, is that people don’t have the intense desire that Bruce Lee had.

That said, the simple description you have here is only one, little, teensy piece of the puzzle. It won’t do you any good unless you decide to learn, and commit yourself to studying the Martial Arts.

And, to insure that you are able to do such things as the One Inch Punch, the physics, the ‘secrets,’ have been resurrected and written down and put on video at Monster Martial Arts.

I know some people will tune this out, and think, yeah, scam, but let me explain a simple fact.

In ‘The Punch,’ just to mention one of the martial arts training programs, There are a hundred pages, and these one hundred pages detail the five ways of doing a martial arts punch, and the correct order.

That’s something that nobody knows. A complete step by step sequence of ALL the things necessary to a true martial arts punch.

Most martial arts instructors tell you to hit the bag, or have you strike air, or do your forms, and they never explain the things that are really happening. That’s not learning knowledge, that’s monkey see monkey do, and it will take you a lifetime to get where you are going!

Or, if you are lucky enough to actually find somebody who teaches an authentic and real and true martial arts system, they usually only know one system, or, at the very least, not enough systems to have the full range of knowledge that The Little Dragon had, and which enabled him to do his One Inch Punch.

So a lifetime of sweating and bleeding, and then you have to be pretty lucky and find the right system and not get waylaid by marriage and kids and education and career changes and car accidents and all of that sort of stuff…or just get the book, get the knowledge!…and simply do it!

Remember, the Secret of the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch is not just the simple three steps I have explained here, but the fact that he he had committed himself to learning ALL of the martial arts.

To find the real secrets behind the Bruce Lee One Inch Punch, and all the other amazing things he could do, go to The Punch!

Bruce Lee Workout Increases Strength and Power

Bruce Lee Work Out for More Power!

The Bruce Lee Workout I am describing comes from studies of about Bruce Lee, but is combined with research from other sources. There is data from bodybuilding exercises, weightlifting workouts, and so on.

Mind you, I call it the Bruce Lee Workout, but it comes from a variety of sources. many of which cropped up after his death, or were studies of his workout routines.

Bruce Lee used weight training, diet, and other factors to get this physique

There are three component parts to a Bruce Lee Workout.

The first deals with Bruce Lee Strength training. This is that weightlifting is the third best way of increasing strength. This is because when you weight lift you isolate the muscles. Yes, the muscles get bigger, but since the whole body is not being used, one will not get the tremendous speed of Bruce Lee.

The second principle associated with a Bruce Lee Workout deals with dynamic strength training, sometimes referred to as dynamic tension. This is when muscle works against muscle. This is a type of workout Bruce Lee liked, but didn’t always talk about. There are, however, Wing Chun exercises in which dynamic tension is present, or can easily be put in. The glory in these exercise routines is that the muscles, though they work against each other, do not isolate. They stay in a ‘group mode,’ and so one is able to use these exercises to achieve Bruce’s speed.

Bruce Lee believed in simple Body Weight exercises!

The third Bruce Lee workout principle holds that body calisthenics are the best method for increasing personal strength and power. While the Little Dragon did weights and dynamic tension, he also did Yoga and other body calisthenic exercises.

Tying all of the above together, of course, are things like the Bruce Lee diet, and other fitness concepts.
Thus, to make your own Bruce Lee Workout, one should do a lot of stretching, especially Yoga style. Then do light weight training. Light as one doesn’t want mass so much as definition and efficiency. Finally, the heavy stuff, body weight calisthenics.

Bruce did do weights, but his lack of mass puts them lower on his priorities

And, though many people may object, especially in light of certain Bruce Lee quotes regarding classical martial arts, this author prefers classical martial arts for his body weight calisthenics. It is just more fun to do than simply lifting heavy metal plates, or other similar types of weight training. And, finally, more yoga to cool down and make sure the muscles relax after the work out.

So consider these points when you analyze your own body, what you want to get out of your training, what you think is fun, and then create your own Bruce Lee Workout.

The Bruce Lee Workout was originally posted at MonsterMArtialArts.com.

Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan?

Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan Get Down!

I’ve always wondered who would win the fight…Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. These guys were the ultimate top of the martial arts, die hard fanatical kung fu adepts. And, yes.  I know, Bruce Lee is dead, but what most people don’t know is that they were actually in one movie together, which would have put them at relative ages for a beat down.

Martial Arts Action Hero Jackie Chan!

The name of the movie, for those who are interested, is Enter the Dragon. I had heard that Jackie was one of the nameless monks when Bruce does his flip in the beginning of the movie. And he may have been. But where he is really obvious is during the prison break scene. He is the guard with the mustache. Go on, watch it. A fascinating piece of kung fu cinema history.

Anyway, on Bruce Lee’s side, we have a person who honed himself to physical perfection, who studied the philosophy of the martial arts, who invented his own fighting system.

On Jackie Chan’s side we have a person who went through the Peking Opera. Incredibly tough work outs every day, and mastered multiple styles of Kung Fu.

Now, to contrast these two marvelous martial artists…Bruce knew Wing Chun Gung Fu, but he didn’t master it. Yes, he studied many martial arts, but he comes out behind Jackie Chan in this one.

In fighting, however, the little dragon has it over ‘Big Nose.’  Bruce’s willingness to fight is legendary. From rooftop contests to back alley brawls, Bruce fought any and all. Even during filming of his movies, when he obviously could have stood back and played the star, he preferred to meet any who doubted and make believers out of them.

In the face of this awesome fighting talent Jackie might take second place, except for one thing. In spite of the Little Dragon’s incredible physique, Jackie was actually better at stunts, and, let’s face it, he could take immense amounts of damage and keep going. The outtakes of his movies show him breaking literally every bone in his body, and yet he kept going. Broken leg? Cast it up and jump from a dock to a moving boat. Skull fracture so bad you could see the grey matter? Back on the set in two days.

So, what do you think?

Here’s a poll…

This has been a page about who was the better fighter, Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan.