8 thoughts on “Looking at Bruce Lee’s Influence on the World 40+ years after of his Death”

1. I admit I am old enough to have had two teachers who had trained with Bruce very briefly and some of Bruces core students like Paul Vunak and Rich Bustillo. I also had a teacher or two that had teachers who just spent one day training or doing something interesting with him that all have their own opinions of the legend. First off, I admit that when Bruce was at his peak, Arnold the Terminator was also blazing his way down the hall of fame and I was more focused on what Arnold was doing because guys like Arnold got the girls attention…fast! But girls had no interest in Bruce Lee movies. None! So for me, that settled that. (smile) At least while a teenager,anyway. So when I finally started getting into martial arts, Bruce was already passed, and I can say I have heard everything you can think of about Bruce. But as I see for his 40th memorial all his famous quotes plastered all over twitter and facebook, as if Bruce knew everything about life, as if he was a God, I must say that if one thinks really hard about it…chances are that if you die at age 32 from a brain anurism. you were doing something really wrong in your life. Can we all agree on that? If Bruce trained naturally and got that ripped just from good eating(which he didnt) and he died with no drugs in his system( he did not)wouldnt it be safe to conclude Bruce went totally psycho with his training? People have died from exhaustion,you know. It is rare but I am sure there are documented cases all around the world every year. I believe it was lack of moderation in any way that really killed Bruce. I believe if Bruce did not have to sleep, he would never do it. I’m actually surprised he had time for kids. And God bless him for his devotion to Martial arts. Most of us could not gather up half the energy he had if our life depended on it, which HIS did! The buddhists in india believe all of us are born with a certain amount of heartbeats our heart can handle before it gives out, so our death is fairly pre-determined at birth according to them. This makes sense. What if Bruce used up his allotment much, much too quickly that his “exercising” turned quickly into over training which turned into what I call ‘rabid dog” thinking. Meaning you get so wound up with something you cant shut it off. Like hatred for someone is a good example or a palin old fist fight where someone gets killed because one of the fighters just kept hitting the guy over and over long after he was unconscious as he became like a “rabid dog.” To a certain degree all great fighters need that to make it. Look at Ed Parker who introduced us to Bruce. He died at age 56. Never smoked or did drugs and always stayed in shape. How do you die at 56 of a heart attack? You exhaust your heart, that’s how.

   I hope some of you who dont dismiss me as a nut case will start to ponder things like “Hmmmm…Isnt it kind of starange that tai chi msters who train for hours a day also like a pro fighter, never die of heart attacks? Guys who practice soft styles where your heart rate does not stay in an aerobic state very long usually live the longest. In my experience from listening to old masters talk about their teachers who also were old masters…the old chinese gung fu guys with their pointy white beards like you envision sitting on a mountain meditating half of the day ..well according to what my teachers tell me,they did exactly that! As they got older and then older, they realized they could never make up for a young mans speed with more training, so they trained slower and with more precision…which is often much, harder to do mentally. So many of these Pa-kua and tai-chi and even the harder style masters, would train 7 days a week..but for 20-30 min a day as they hit their eighties, and maybe 20 min a day as they got into their 90’s. Could you imagine Bruce ever training 20 min when he didnt feel well? (smile) Not unless he couldnt walk! I say the book Unsettled Matters written by Bruces closest friend who also became Linda Lee’s lover after Bruce passed, said exactly what Bruce had in his system which caused his death. It wasnt vitamins! Here is a hint: People who put this drug in their system are by nature perfectionists and often have a huge compulsion to speed up results, especially in sports. I’m sure you can guess what class of drug i now refer to. So as wise of a man Bruce was, he like so many wise men before him lived an obsessive, compulsive life in which there was no off switch. Now, if you added another 20 yrs to Bruces life, would I trade places with Bruce. hell yes. But nothing is worth dying at age 32 for, is it? Bruce said “Dont waste time, as life is made up of time.” But maybe he took his own advice a bit too far. I wonder if Bruce had to practice slowing his speech down whenever he spoke in public because guys like Bruce are often manic as hell and talk like a high pressure hose. But we never saw that. he always seemed to speak perfectly. maybe too perfectly. Anyway, after learning to really admire this man after I got into the arts in my 20’s, I could see Bruce looking at schools today and seeing how every single teacher taught completely different, Bruce might have made up a standard curriculum to teach by, just like regular universities. he would then be able to time a student after 1 year as to approximately what his level would be like after 1 year of training and how long it would take that student to reach each level after that. I believe Bruce would have done something like that and brought more uniformity in teaching, while at the same time having much more eclectic styles emerging at the same time. I strongly believe that Bruce would have done one major thing, and that is, shorten the time it takes to learn real street fighting as he himself would have had many a bout as MMA and UFC type fighting started to grow right after his death. Ahhhhhh Bruce, if you only lasted 12 more years.And even then he’d be a baby by martial arts standards at 44! I think Bruce Lee would have done something about violent street gangs and opened centers around the country for youth to train for free, get out all their frustrations and hatred on a bag not a body and get funded by his rich actor friends to do it!

   I ask a question to you all, some of my own teachers told me they asked themselves over and over : What would Bruce have become had he lived 20 more years? What would Martial Arts have developed into, in 20 more years of Bruce’s potential discoveries? His untimely death may be a greater loss to the entire world than we all could imagine.

2. Bruce Lee made a difference in my life! Check out my short film Enter the Tiger on my website http://www.chuckycurrie.com I am a World Champion Black Belt Grand Master, a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame and Masters hall of Fame. Check out the short film, Action speaks louder than words!
   Grand Master Chucky Currie

3. i am sorry of their death

4. I, am NOTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-AHA-AHA-AHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. i am sorry really sorry for there death to but this guy that’s laughing is mean am i right really mean would you be sad if your family or mom died and we laughed. SO STOP

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