BRUCE LEE - JUN FAN GUNG FU - JEET KUNE DO

Bruce Lee was born on November 27th 1940 in Chinatown in San Fransisco. He was born in the hour of the Dragon in the Year of the Dragon. Bruce's Father was Chinese and his mother was half Chinese and half Caucasian. Bruce was the 4th of 5 Children. Bruce's Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun Fan however the nurse at the hospital called him Bruce. He also went by the name Lee Shu Lung which means little dragon. Bruce grew up in Hong Kong and was subject to a lot of local street gangs. In 1953 at age 13 he lost a street fight which encouraged him to start training martial arts more seriously. It is said by many this is the last time Bruce got beat up in a fight. In 1958 Bruce entered a Highschool Boxing Championship and defeated the 3 year reining English Champ, Gary Elms. Thoughout the years Bruce defended himself in many street fights against the local gang members and the trouble started to pile up. In 1959 Bruce beat up the son of a local Triad member and his parents became fearful for his life. In 1959 when Bruce was 18 years old he came back to America. He first came back to San Fransisco for a few months before moving to Seattle Washington where he attended college at the University of Washington.

Wing Chun (Also Spelled Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun) is a Chinese Martial Art specializing in close range fighting. The orgins of Wing Chun like many arts are disputed. Many times these disputes can come from practitioners trying to remove legitimacy from one of the founders on linage berror in order to elevate their own status. Regardless of what or who you want to believe our linage comes from Yip Man and his story is what we pass on. Wing Chun was created by a women named Ng Mui who was one of the Legendary Five Elders of the Shaolin Temple and survior of the Destruction by the Qing Dynasty . Ng Mui meet a young girl named Yim Wing Chun who was being forced to marry a bandit. The bandit said he would not force the marriage if she could defeat him in a fight and Ng Mui agreed to train her. Ng Mui being a master of many systems was inspired to create a new system based on her observations of a fight between a snake and a crane. The system which didnt have a name at that time enabled Yim Wing Chun to win the fight and not have to marry the bandit. She latter married Leung Bac-Chou and taught the art to him. He named the art Wing Chun in her honer.

Bruce began studying Wing Chun under the legendary Master Yip Man in 1957 when he was 16 years old. After about one year of study many of the other students found out about Bruce not being 100% Chinese. The Chinese culture was very against teaching non Chinese and most of the students refused to train with Bruce. This sad event of racism could very well have been one of the largest influences on Bruce both physically and mentally. At that point Bruce continued to train but primarily worked in private lessons with Yip Man and his most senior student Wong Shun Leung. Wing Chun is an art that is based on transfer of energy and this is very hard to get in large group settings. Hawkins Cheung (Another of Yip Mans top pupils) is quoted saying that "probably fewer than 6 people in the whole Wing Chun clan were personally or even partially taught by Yip Man" This is a statement that would bring many of todays Wing Chun Instructors claims to question, however that is a different story. The effect of one on one training in Wing Chun with Yip Man or Leung Shun vs. training in a group class taught by one of the students with many people in the class is not comparable. This is the underlying issue behind many Wing Chun vs. Bruce Lee arguments today. Many Wing Chun practitioners chose to try to elevate their status by downplaying Bruce Lee's skill in Wing Chun rather than appreciate that he is the one responsible with making it the well known and respected art it is today. These people point out that Bruce Lee only had a few years of study in the art and did not complete the system. These are all true accusations Bruce did only study Wing Chun for a few years and did not complete the training. I should also note that many high level Wing Chun Instructors have vouched for his ability and one of the most common statements is that Bruce could beat almost anyone 3 hands deep. This is something we hold very close in Jeet Kune Do and a concept we use in our training with many arts. What they meant was that since Bruce didnt know the entire system he may not know every move and every counter but in combat he understood the principals enough that he could hit you or beat you in the first 3 moves or beats. The rest of the system was usually a counter to a counter to a counter etc, but with Bruce it would never get that far because he had already hit you with the basics. Simply put its the idea of mastering the basics and the essence of the art rather than getting lost in memorizing techniques principal that we talk about often.

Our Wing Chun training comes from Sifu Singh and his Teacher Sifu Ben Der. Sifu Ben trained at Yip Mans School at the same time as Bruce and attended the same high school. The two were friends and Sifu Ben provides us with a lot of knowledge of who Bruce was at that time period as well as what his skill level was. Because he trained at the Academy at the same time his knowledge of what was being taught is extremely valuable. Sifu Ben is a disciple under Kennith Chung who was the Top Pupil of Leung Shun (Yip Mans most senior student and teacher of Bruce Lee) Sifu Ben has training under Yip Man, Leung Shun, and Kennith Chung making him one of the top Wing Chun Instructors in the world today. Several of our Instructors and Students Including Clay Pratka, Beverly Pratka, Gunnar Davis, Keith Van Ness, and Joe Holik have had the privilege of training Wing Chun with not only Sifu Singh but with Sifu Ben Der Directly

It was during this time he began to teach martial arts. His first student was a Judo Practitioner named Jessie Glover. This was the beginning of Bruce's Rebellious nature as Jessie was a Black man and at this point Chinese martial arts were not allowed to be taught to non Chinese. Bruce opened his first school in Seattle called the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. Taky Kimura became Bruce's first Assistant Instructor at this time and assisted with the instruction at the Academy. The name at that time represented the school not the art. At first Bruce simply taught Wing Chun and as he modified things and added in some basic boxing and kicking techniques and at this point started to call the art Modified Wing Chun. Later as he reaserched and expanded his knowlege further he realized he could no longer call what he was teaching Wing Chun as it was know so different. This was the point in which he realized he had created his own art and he adopted the school name calling the art Jun Fan Gung Fu meaning Bruce Lee's Kung Fu. In creating Jun Fan Gung Fu Bruce reference 26 different Martial Arts however it is important to understand that he didnt pull from them all equally and in some cases simply borrowed an idea or concept.

The Primary arts that are evident in Jan Fan Gung Fu are - Wing Chun, Western Boxing, Fencing, and Savate/Norther Shaolin Style kicking. . In 1964 Bruce moved to Oakland California and opened his second academy with James Lee who became the second Instructor to be certified by Bruce. James Lee was a respected martial artist in the area and was responsible for introducing Bruce to Ed Parker. Ed Parker is known as the Father of American Kempo and was the organizer of the Long Beach International Karate Tournament. Later that year Ed Parker asked Bruce to do a demo at his upcoming tournament. This was a monumental moment for Bruce as it led to his discovery by Hollywood. This is also were Bruce first meet Dan Inosanto who was a student and assistant Instructor for Ed Parker at the time. 1964 is also the year of the legendary fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man. This fight is the cause of much controversy as is much of Bruce Lee's life and it seems the less of Bruce's disciples are around to defend him the more people come out of the shadows with "Their" versions of the story. According to James Lee and Bruce's other desiples the fight happened because the Chinese community insisted that Bruce stop teaching non Chinese students. If he lost the match he was supposed to shut down his school and if he won they would leave him alone. As they tell the story the fight was over quickly and ended with Bruce dominating Wong. Regardless of controversy Dan Inosanto talks about Bruce reflecting on this fight and crediting it with some of the major evolution in his training as well as the art most notably the emphasis on physical fitness and conditioning. As the story is told Bruce beat Wong but became very winded in the process and was unhappy with his performance. In 1967 Bruce opened his 3rd and final school in Los Angeles Chinatown with Dan Inosanto as his assistant Instructor. In 1968 the Term Jeet Kune Do was coined by Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto to describe the process of discovery and philosophy. Jun Fan Gung Fu remained the art and Jeet Kune Do represented the experience and the personal expression.In 1970 Bruce Injured his Back doing a workout, not from a kick to his back as it is often incorrectly shown. This Injury lead to several months of down time. It was during this time that the majority of writings we have from Bruce were done. The work of this time period was latter gathered and compiled to create the TAO of Jeet Kune Do. Bruce died on July 20th 1973. At the time of Bruce's Death he had only certified 3 people. Taky Kimura held the 5th Rank Instructor Level in Jun Fan Gung Fu. James Lee held the 3rd Rank Instructor Level in Jun Fan Gung Fu. and Dan Inosanto held 3rd Rank in Jun Fan Gung Fu, Jeet Kune Do and the Tao of Chinese Gung Fu. Dan Inosanto is the only person to be certified in all three of Bruce Lee's System and the only person certified in Jeet Kune Do.

WING CHUN - THE NECLEUS OF JEET KUNE DO