Bruce Lee Vs. Wong Jack Man
A few thoughts on 2017 release of the film “Birth of the Dragon.”
After starring in several popular kung fu movies, Bruce Lee was catapulted to superstardom by “Enter the Dragon,” which was released in 1973 – one month after he died.
Along with millions of other fans, I mourned his passing. But I didn’t think about him much again until 1980, when I began research for a magazine article about a legendary fight between him and Shaolin Master Wong Jack Man in 1964, long before Hollywood made Bruce Lee a global icon.
It seemed everybody in the San Francisco martial arts scene had a take on the fight, but many contradicted each other. I was most interested in Wong Jack Man’s account, both because he was my teacher and because he was an intensely private person who had never publicly told his side of the story.
He was initially reluctant to talk about the fight but finally relented. Still, the first few interviews were more like dental extractions than conversations. For 16 years he had felt maligned and vilified by the published accounts of the fight given by Bruce Lee and his wife Linda, while his own account festered inside him like impacted wisdom teeth.
Now his account has inspired the new kung fu film “Birth of the Dragon.” The film is not a biopic of either Bruce Lee or Wong Jack Man. Except for the fight itself, the story is largely fiction but nonetheless conveys some core truths about its two main characters.
Bruce Lee was a talented, charismatic and driven martial artist who pushed himself to the limit – and maybe beyond the limit – in pursuit of domination and stardom. Wong Jack Man followed a different martial arts path, a quiet one of steady improvement and self-cultivation.
If he had not fought Wong Jack Man, Bruce Lee might never have rethought his approach to martial arts and become a kung fu superstar. And if Wong Jack Man had not fought Bruce Lee, we would not have had this film that contrasts two very different paths in martial arts.
Check out the film. But before you do, here’s a chance to read the article that inspired it.