"THE NIGHT I MET BRUCE
LEE "
It was an unusually dark and tempestuous night, the rain
angrily driving almost horizontally. When the huge drops smashed into the
pavement they splattered into a mist, giving an ethereal quality to the
movement of people rushing toward the recessed doorway of the Dojo.
Actually, I don't remember
what kind of a night it was. I just wanted to try out my creative writing
skills. They need work. I'd better stick with the facts.
What I do remember about
that night was that the advanced class was having its usual great workout,
with Ed Parker at the helm. There was the typical gallery of spectators
watching and being duly impressed.
When the class ended we
headed for the dressing room to change out of our sweaty gi's. When we
returned to the mat area we were still barefooted and loitered there
shooting the breeze. Mr. Parker was in his office taking care of business.
In a few minutes Ed
reentered the mat area with a smaller, younger man following. He
introduced him all around as Bruce Lee and had just about enough time to
tell us that the kid is one heck of a Martial Artist before he was called
back to take another phone call.
This Bruce guy wasn't at
all shy and in a very short time the conversation drifted away from
whatever we had been talking about and he had taken the floor. Soon he was
telling us how he had just returned from Hong Kong where he had been
seeking the truth concerning the Martial Arts. He said that from his
observations of Karate and Kung Fu in the United States it was all
Bullshit. That was his word, not mine. He said, in Hong Kong however, only
ninety five percent was Bullshit. His claim was that he had been able to
go places and see things that we as Occidentals would never have been
allowed. In fact, we wouldn't have made it half way down some of the
alleys they were located in. According to his mathematics, of the five
percent of the Hong Kong schools that were not Bullshit, about half were
sincerely trying but missing the mark and only the other half, was truly
there. So according to Bruce Lee in the year 1962 when he was twenty one
years of age only about two and a half percent of the worlds Martial Arts
facilities were on the mark which didn't make any difference to us because
we couldn't go there anyway. Obviously the Japanese and Korean's didn't
even count. At least they never came up in his assessments.
Now you've got to remember,
he was talking to a group of black and brown belts, most of whom were
older than he. And bigger than he. And devoted to their Art, style, system
and Instructor. I could feel tension in the air but either Bruce didn't
feel it or he chose to ignore it. Then he did some physical things. I
could feel the tension dropping and the respect climbing. He had me feel
his forearm. It was like a piece of metal. I suppose you could have driven
your fingernail into the skin but I really believe, that was about it.
I've never felt anything like it before, or since. "Not magic, he said,
just training."
As the conversation went on
the mood became lighter and more affable until he dropped the bomb. In a
very casual manner he said, "Oh, by the way, I saw you doing something
earlier (during the class) and I was just wondering why you were doing
that". Then he demonstrated what he was talking about. It was part of a
technique Ed was teaching. We all exchanged glances and there was obvious
confusion among us. Anyone who had been watching the class knew why we
were doing that move. In looking back, Bruce played it for all it was
worth, while putting on an innocent air. Finally, someone took the bait
and asked what he meant, why were we doing it? He said "Oh, I just
wondered because it's wrong. That's when the tension came back, big time.
I had known most of these guys for quite some time and knew them well. I
had never see so many faces turn crimson so fast before. But Bruce wasn't
one to let the moment slip away. He seized upon our stunned condition to
show us precisely what we had done and then in painful detail he went back
over it and showed us how it actually violated a principal. It was wrong.
There was no denying it. It wasn't big. It wouldn't ruin your style. It
didn't destroy the system, but it was wrong.
I wish I could remember
what it was he picked up on that night but as I said it wasn't that earth
shattering a thing. It did however, make me think. If that was wrong and
it really did violate a principal, then what else had we been taught that
wasn't quite right? It was then and there I decided to go back over
everything I was doing and reevaluate. And I made a vow that I would
examine, with the proverbial fine tooth comb, everything that was taught
to me in the future . Even at that, things get by you. Take last
newsletters article titled "Then and now" for example. You can never be
too careful. That's one of the reasons Vic and I took so long to put the
System together. Whatever didn't work was thrown out immediately and
whatever was weak followed.
I'll never forget the
argument I had with the Ed Parker, many years later about the technique
called Thundering Hammers. We argued all the way from his West L.A. dojo
to his home in Pasadena, some forty miles. I told him, a forearm across
the midsection wouldn't bend a body over, it would instead have much more
of a tendency to stand it up. The body hinges at the hips not across the
stomach. It takes a shot to the groin to bend a body over and it would be
the easiest thing in the world to simply change the target and allow the
body to take its natural course of action. thereby it would allow the
technique to be finished, the way it was conceived. One thing about our
"arguments", they might get heated but there was never any degree of
hostility, Ed Parker and I both enjoyed making a point. In this particular
case I won a hollow victory. When we pulled up in front of his house Ed
Parker finally said he saw what I was saying and that he was going to
change the technique. He never did. I never pushed it again after that. I
taught it my way and he taught it his way. In fact he was present on many
occasions where I was teaching Thundering Hammers and never said a word,
during or after the class.
I never got the chance to
spend time with Bruce to compare notes. I wish I had taken the time. I
stayed in close contact with Danny Inasanto for years after he became
Bruce's number one disciple.
On a dozen or more
occasions Danny would tell me what Bruce had started doing with his
classes and I would tell him that I had also instituted the very same kind
of training or drill (without any knowledge of what Bruce was doing). Or,
I would tell Danny that we had just started doing something that they
should think about because it's working so well and Danny would say he
couldn't believe it, they had just begun doing the same thing themselves.
I remember a direct quote from Dan. He said "You know Chuck, you and Bruce
really ought to get together. I've never known of two people, who were
more on the same wave length". I wish I had, it would have been fun.
Although we never got a chance to work together, whenever we saw each
other at a tournament or some function, Bruce and I never failed to stop
and talk for a while.
Danny also told me what
Bruce said, when he told him about the things we were doing at our school
and how closely they paralleled his innovations. Bruce said, "He is in the
water... but he is not yet swimming". I got a kick out of that. Several
years later, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending time with Linda
Lee, Bruce's widow. At the time she was married an old friend of mine, an
early Kenpo Black belt. One night when the four of us were out to dinner I
told her what Bruce had said about me being in the water but not yet
swimming. She smiled at that, undoubtedly recognizing her late husbands
verbal style and said, "That's about as good a compliment as Bruce ever
gave".
Rest in Peace, Bruce.
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