Did Bruce Lee use strings for his stunts?

Answer 1

No; Bruce Lee's family lineage, carried a long tradition of Beijing opera going all the way back to the Tang dynasty. Bruce Lee's paternal ancestor, once entertained one of the Tang emperors. It was either the Tang or the Ming, I'm not sure which but I DO know for sure, that as entertainers, as artists of the art of Beijing opera, or rather Chinese opera because Beijing was not the capital yet, the Lee family was highly regarded, it was not until Bruce Lee himself, that the family was known for opera, NOT martial arts. The reason Bruce Lee was a masterful entertainer, was because each of his movies, had 400 years of Chinese opera tradition behind them, WHICH, he blended with a lot of western elements. Now, what this has to do with your question; some of the most arduous training in China, is not exclusive to Martial Arts. Some of it, belongs to the art of Chinese opera; because they narrate many Fairy Tales of supernatural beings, and creatures, and because to make it "seem more real" they did not like relying on props a whole lot, agility, acrobatic training has always been very important to the art. In fact, Jackie Chan was hired because of his background in Chinese opera, originally, NOT his martial arts skills. The training is extremely brutal, and children being mercilessly beaten with bamboo rods for making the smallest mistake, is a practice that even today, is not at all uncommon. Whether Bruce Lee himself endured such a regiment is not known, but, we can take a wild guess, that judging from the man's arrogance, he never endured bamboo swattings as a child. Now what I do know, what IS known, is that Bruce Lee's training in Chinese opera began, even before his actual schooling, because it was the family trade. He was already a competent acrobat, and Chinese opera actor, by the time he took up Wing Chun. All those beautiful backflips you see Lee doing? All those perfect, gorgeous mid-air summersaults that seem almost unnaturally smooth? The reason Bruce Lee could do that, is because he had been training in Chinese opera acrobatics since the age of 4. If you wish your son to be "the next Bruce Lee," these are the requirements you need; 1) He needs to train in Chinese opera, from the age of 4, the earlier the better. 2) When he is 14, he has to take up both Wing Chun Kung Fu, as well as western boxing. 3) Next, he needs to earn a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, for "fancy and showy" kicks he will need for his movies. Combined with his Chinese opera acrobatics, he is GUARANTEED to put on a great show, in addition to being a competent martial artist. Bruce Lee was a master showman, and a highly ranked expert martial artist. However I do not consider him a master; an incident involving the filming of Enter the Dragon, involved his FRIEND and sparring partner Bob Wall. You remember that scene where the character O'Hara broke a beer bottle, and tried to stab Bruce Lee's character with it right? During the shooting, Wall accidentally cut Lee, immediately Wall said "my god Bruce I'm sorry!" nevertheless, Lee lost his temper, and unleashed a vicious side thrust kick so powerful, that the men who caught Bob Wall's fall, had their arms broken by the force. It was the grossest abuse of martial arts I had ever heard of, that is why I do not consider him a "master." By all accounts the man had a very bad temper; if he perceived the SLIGHTEST disrespect from anyone, he would run to his car, or into his house if his wife wasn't around, and begin to lace up sparring gloves and tell the "offending" person "alright lace them up!" That is hardly the behavior of someone you would call a "master." Also, let me tell you a little story, it involved a test of skill involving the now old (if not dead) 10th Dan Karateka, Hirokazu Kanazawa. At the time, both Lee and Kanazawa were martial artists seeking to make names for themselves. Lee in entertainment, and Kanazawa was struggling to establish his Karate schools here in the U.S. While there (this was the 60's), Lee met both Kanazawa, and Hidetaka Nishiyama (R.I.P.). When Lee fought Nishiyama, he handily, soundly, and easily defeated him, and, at first he was not too impressed with Karate. However Kanazawa, a student of Gichin Funakoshi himself, challenged Lee basically saying "Nishiyama is not as skilled as I am; why don't you try me instead!" So the two had a test of skill. In the end, Lee won, but only by a very narrow margin. Part of the reason Kanazawa's Karate school took off, and the reason Shotokan took off in the U.S., is because Kanazawa's Shotokan skills were the ONLY martial art, that made a good showing against the monster that was Bruce Lee. Kanazawa came close to winning on so many occassions during that match that, impressed, Lee adopted some Karate techniques into his Jeet Kune Do. He also respected Karate's "no nonsense" approach. So, what does this have to do with anything, regarding whether Lee is a master or not? Kanazawa maintains, to this very day, that in the 1960's, he was not even 1/4 as skilled as his teacher, Gichin Funakoshi. Now, he has stated, and admitedly by his own words has said that, flattering himself, NOW, he is only HALF as skilled as Gichin Funakoshi ever was. Now, if a 1/4 as skilled student of Funakoshi's came close to defeating Lee, that probably means that in a test of skill, Bruce Lee would have stood no chance against the likes of Funakoshi. What few of Funakoshi's students survive today, state that the man's skills in Karate were prodigious, saying "you could not hit him unless he let you hit him." Even as an old man, even close to death, he was every bit as fast, powerful, and clean in his techniques, as he was in his 40's. If we can use Funakoshi's example as a measure, then by that standard Bruce Lee can not be called a master, it also helps to explain why most Japanese are not TOO impressed with him. If Kanazawa, who was only a student, came close to defeating Lee, how would he have done against someone as skilled as Funakoshi, someone Kanazawa himself has stated numerous times, had skill that he himself could never even approach? Lee and Funakoshi were as different as night and day, and, the truth is, had he known him, between Funakoshi and his counterpart and "rival" Motobu Choki, Bruce Lee would have likely gotten along better with Choki, who held similar views as Lee and, like Lee, often got into brawls. 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