JKD
Bruce Lee Lives On, Even After His Untimely Death In 1973
Man, on this day exactly 37 years ago in Hong Kong, the most influential martial artist and martial arts movie star died at the young age of only 32.
The world knew him as Bruce Lee, aka Little Dragon. He was born in San Francisco in 1940, but he and his family moved (back) to Hong Kong while he was still very young.
And even though it’s been almost four decades since he passed on, Bruce Lee still lives on in so many ways, because he has been able to touch millions of people through his acting and teachings.
I for myself can honestly say that it was Bruce Lee on the big screen that got me hooked on martial arts (in my case Shotokan karate for starters).
This post is not intended to be about me or even to re-hash Bruce Lee’s biography, but what I would love to hear your stories and experience about getting started in martial arts, self-defense training and how Bruce Lee affected your life.
I will leave you with this video clip as a tribute to honor Bruce Lee’s life and accomplishments:
Greetings! Enjoy The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
This sure was another exciting week at The MartialArtsReporter.com!
And here it is “The Week In Review”.
I hope you enjoy your Sunday and find the time to take in all the video clips in their entirety.
Celebrating The Life Of Brandon Lee, Who Would Have Turned 45 Today
Get A Great Lower Body Stretching Workout In Only 3 Minutes!
Here’s An Upper Body Stretching Workout In Just 3 Minutes!
Boxing Insights From My Filipino-American Barber
Jeff Imada, The Genius Behind Great Action Movies
We Will Never Forget 9/11 American Hero And Judo Champion, Jeremy Glick
I hope you come back tomorrow for a new post.
Take care. Stay safe.
Jeff Imada, The Genius Behind Great Action Movies
When you talk about movies like Rush Hour, Armageddon, Lethal Weapon 4, The Bourne Ultimatum, Gone In Sixty Seconds, The Last Samurai, The Fight Club, just to mention a few, I am sure the action-filled scenes are the first thing that come to mind.
And when you think about it, some of the most popular movies became box-office successes due to the spectacular stunts and fight scenes displayed on the Big Screen.
Without the stunt and fight professionals, who by the way usually aren’t household names like those of the celebrities on the Red Carpet, many movie productions would never turn out the way they do.
One of these professionals, who deserve more credit for what they do and someone whom I truly admire, is Jeff Imada.
And yes, the movies I listed above were strongly influenced by Jeff Imada. He either did many of the stunts or coordinated them! Man, this guy must have been in hundreds of great movie productions. It’s absolutely mind-boggling!
Beyond Tinseltown, Jeff Imada is highly recognized and revered on the martial arts circuit for his mastery of Jeet Kune Do (JKD) and Filipino Martial Arts (FMA).
Born in 1955 in Southern California, Jeff Imada started studying martial arts at the age of 15. So, let’s see, that would have been 1970.
That makes it already 40 years of solid martial arts training experience and what I haven’t mentioned so far in this post:
Jeff Imada is a master student/protege of the world-famous, Guro Dan Inosanto. Remember him?
Jeff was also a very good friend of Brandon Lee, back in the day. Later on, he was the primary fight choreographer in Brandon Lee’s successful movie, ‘The Crow’.
He has been a stuntman, stunt coordinator and fight choreographer in countless movie productions that have become financial box-office hits, also because of his ingenuity and professionalism.
I was reminded of him just some time ago after I heard about ‘The Book Of Eli’ starring Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis.
In one of the many interviews promoting this movie, Denzel mentioned Dan Inosanto (remember him?) and Jeff Imada in connection with training for the fight scenes.
He’s bringing it, so you better be ready!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6VP3_WMSo0[/youtube]
Celebrating The Life Of Brandon Lee, Who Would Have Turned 45 Today
Happy Monday, everybody!
Where did the weekend go? I dunno.
I have been thinking about posting something about Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon Lee.
Now, get this: I was planning on posting about him today, February 1, and during my research I find out that today would have been his birthday.
This cannot be a coincidence!
Brandon Lee would have turned 45 today. And here again somebody who left us on this planet way too prematurely.
He was a very aspiring movie star and according to acclaimed movie critic, Roger Ebert, after watching Brandon Lee’s performance in “The Crow“, Brandon Lee clearly demonstrated that he might have become an action star, had he lived.
I totally agree with Roger Ebert.
You might remember that Brandon Lee was accidently shot and killed on March 31, 1993 at the age of only 28 while filming “The Crow“.
This is really sad, also because he was scheduled to get married to his fiancee, Eliza Hutton, on April 17.
Brandon Lee definitely had the looks for the Big Screen, but he was more than just another pretty face. After acquiring acting skills at the world-famous Lee Strasberg Academy and being part of a theater group, he was able to put it all together with his martial arts expertise that he was taught by Guro Dan Inosanto.
Before starring in The Crow, which became a box-office hit after his untimely death, Brandon Lee actually performed in a number of productions such as Kung Fu: The Movie, Kung Fu: The Next Generation, Legacy of Rage, Showdown in Little Tokyo, and a movie that I really enjoyed at the time it was released in 1992, Rapid Fire.
I know that a lot of people have focused on the final fight scene or showdown, but I really like the initial fight scene, because you get a pretty good idea of how Brandon Lee applies a lot of the JKD principles his father defined and how he uses any type of tool, weapon or whatever he can get his hands on to save his character, Jake Lo.
Besides the impressive fighting skills he put on display in the 5 min. clip below, I also admire his philosophic perspective he so thoughtfully selected for his wedding invitations:
“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless…”
Celebrating The Life of Brandon Bruce Lee, February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9todJoNt7Bk[/youtube]
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