‘Be water, my buddy’: Bruce Lee followers fondly bear in mind his life philosophy 50 years after his dying

By Associated Press

HONG KONG: Fans of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who broke unfavourable stereotypes round Asian males in movies, gathered in Hong Kong this week to commemorate their idol’s dying half a century in the past, remembering his legacy and his life philosophy on persistence.

Lee, who was born in San Francisco however raised within the Asian monetary hub, was well-known for his martial arts expertise and his battle in opposition to racist portrayals of Asians on massive and small screens within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s.

He died on the top of his fame as a consequence of an allergic response to painkillers when he was 32.

The fiftieth anniversary of Lee’s dying on Thursday drew followers to exhibitions in Hong Kong on his life and profession.

They additionally laid flowers at his statue on the Avenue of Stars, a vacationer attraction modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the Kowloon shore of Victoria Harbour.

A government-run museum organized a camp for college students to find out about Lee’s legacy by introducing them to Jeet Kune Do, the martial arts model that Lee invented and practised.

The museum additionally screened his movies.

Many of Lee’s supporters stated his philosophy impressed them since they had been younger, though many solely discovered about him and his works after his dying.

Sophie Uekawa, a translator, stated she was initially interested in Lee’s muscular physique and easy strikes on TV.

But she was later impressed by his phrases, together with about how sad circumstances finally move.

When Uekawa was bullied by schoolmates in secondary faculty, Lee’s quotes helped her endure emotions of helplessness.

It may be stated that he’s my saviour, Uekawa stated.

Lee started his profession as a baby actor within the Nineteen Forties and began studying Chinese kung fu when he was 13.

He moved again to the US in 1959 and studied philosophy on the University of Washington.

The celebrity fought arduous in opposition to racist stereotypes within the US leisure business the place Asian males had been usually portrayed as servants, unskilled staff or evil geniuses in Hollywood.

Lee finally went again to Hong Kong and made hits like The Big Boss and Fist of Fury.”

His final movie, Enter the Dragon, was launched six days after his dying and have become his hottest film.

He was one of many first Asian actors to realize Hollywood megastardom and fanned a kung fu craze that swept the world.

W Wong, the chairperson of a Bruce Lee fan membership established almost three many years in the past in Hong Kong, stated the group’s demographics are altering as members get older and that it has just one member in his 20s.

We face issues in passing on our work, Wong stated, though the group nonetheless has some 600 members.

An teacher at a martial arts institute in Hong Kong’s Jordan district says greater than half of the studio’s Jeet Kune Do college students got here to study the martial arts model due to Lee.

Teacher Ricky Fong stated adaptability is essential in Jeet Kune Do and life and pointed to one in every of Lee’s most well-known sayings: Be water, my buddy.

The phrase was continuously utilized by protesters in Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy motion to explain their guerrilla technique of shifting fluidly throughout the town.

One of Fong’s college students, Adrian Li, stated he admired Lee’s martial arts expertise and philosophy.

He added that Lee’s eagerness to continue to learn has influenced him deeply.

Not be bounded by something. One can study loads,” he stated.

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