Bruce Lee Autobiography Parts 1 and 2

Narration. Bruce Lee quotes read by AI.

Read a biography of important events in Bruce Lee’s life using his own words taken from personal letters, press statements, and interviews.

Part 1: Kowloon, Hong Kong (1940-1959)

Part 2: Seattle, Washington (1959-1964)

Part 3: Oakland, California (1964-1966)

Part 4: Los Angeles, California (1966-1970)

Part 5: Pakchong, Thailand, (July-August 1971)

Part 6: Hong Kong (1971-1973)

Part 1: Kowloon, Hong Kong (1940-1959)

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California while his parents were on a year long opera tour of the United States. His father Hoi Chuen Li joined the Chinese opera as a boy and was skilled in singing, acrobatics, and the Chinese martial art of Gung Fu (Letters, page 15; Life, page 12, 16-17, 19).

A boy of two worlds
That I would become an American-born Chinese was accidental, or it might have been my father’s arrangement. At that time, the Chinese inhabitants in the states, mostly migrated from the province of Kwangtung, were very much homesick. Nostalgia was held towards everything that was associated with their homeland. In this context, Chinese opera, with its unmistakably unique Chinese characteristics, won the day. My old man was a famous artist of the Chinese opera and was popularly accepted by the people. Hence he spent a lot of time performing in the states. I was born when he brought along my mother during one of his performances.

Yet my father did not want me to receive an American education. When I reached three months of age, he sent me back to Hong Kong – his second homeland – to live with his kinsmen.

My parents were not real rich, but we never had to worry about food or clothing.

I was born in Hong Kong and spent my childhood here. My father was a comedian and opera star, and my brother Robert was into music, but aside from a few child-actor roles in Cantonese movies. I wasn’t the show businessess sort.
1940-1959 (Life, page 29, 42, 51; Words, page 113, 125)

Troubled adolescence
As a kid in Hong Kong, I was a punk and went looking for fights. We used chains and pens with knives hidden inside. Then, one day, I wondered what would happen if I didn’t have my gang behind me if I got into a fight. I only took up kung fu when I began to feel insecure.

From boyhood to adolescence, I presented myself as a trouble-maker and was greatly disapproved of by my elders. I was extremely mischievous, aggressive, hot-tempered and fierce. Not only my “opponents” of more or less my age stayed out of the way, but even the adults sometimes gave in to my temper. I never knew what made me so pugnacious. The first thought that came into my mind whenever I met somebody I disliked was: “Challenge him!” Challenge him with what? The only concrete thing that I could think of was my fists. I that that victory meant beating down others, but I failed to realized that victory gained by the way of force was not real victory.
1940-1959 (Life, page 29, 42, 51; Words, page 125)

Gung Fu
I began learning Gung Fu at 13 because I wanted to learn how to fight.

I got tired of getting the hell beat out of me. I decided it was about time I learned to whip hell out of the other guy.

When I was 13, I was kind of a juvenile delinquent in Hong Kong and got into a lot of fights in which I learned about Gung Fu. The more I learned about Gung Fu, the more I liked it. Then I went to a special school and trained myself. Later on, I helped teach in the school.

These guys, some of them assistant instructors, gave me a hard time when I first studied Wing Chun. I was just a skinny kid of fifteen.
1954-56 (Words, pages 27, 68, 95; Life page 55)

Footnotes

Lee studied the Wing Chun style of Gung Fu under Yip Man. This began either in 1954 (Letters, page 15) or 1956 (Life, page 53).

Gung Fu is a Chinese martial art which has many styles. The Wing Chun style is an aggressive form of self defense that specializes in trapping range. It teaches not to waste effort, do centerline attacks, blocks to redirect attacks, and to do counter attacks with the blocking hand. There are only straight line attacks and no curved attacks. Approximately 60% of the techniques are for the hand and 40% are low kicks. Attacks by the hands and kicks can be done at the same time. Lee trained with Ip man from 1954 to April 29, 1959 when he left Hong Kong (Letters, page 33).

Boxing championship
Damn it, I couldn’t knock the guy out. He kept backing away, and my punches weren’t penetrating because of the gloves.

win the the inter-school competition (champion) against 3 years champ Garie Elm. Place: St. Georgie School.
March 29, 1958 (Life, page 61; The Man, page 44)

Footnotes

Lee fought and won a boxing match for St. Francis Xavier School. He used Wing Chun techniques including short, quick punches which continually hit the opponent. However, Lee could not knock out the opponent due to the padded boxing gloves (Life, page 61).

Medicine
At present, I am a student of S.F.X. (F.4). I planned to come to the States next year and finish high school, I intend to take medicine. As I am ignorant on that subject, can you please explain to me the qualifications of being a doctor or pharmacist step-by-step?
November, 1958 (Letters, page 20)

Be like water
My instructor, Professor Ip Man, would come up to me and say, ‘Relax and calm your mind. Forget about yourself and follow the opponent’s movement. Let your mind do the counter-movement without any interfering deliberation. Above all, learn the art of detachment.’

After spending many hours in meditation and practice, I gave up and went sailing alone in a junk. On the sea, I thought of my past training and got mad at myself and punched at the water. Right then at that moment, a thought suddenly struck me: Wasn’t this water the essence of kung fu? I struck it just now, but it did not suffer hurt. Although it seemed weak, it could penetrate the hardest substance in the world. That was it! I wanted to be like the nature of water.
1959 (Life, page 76)

Journey by boat to the United States
Now the boat has pulled out, so I will put away my pen. The reason is because when the boat is sailing, the ocean has become rough with big waves and the ship is very rocky – to the point in the evening there was a dance, but nobody could dance as liquor bottles were falling all over the place.
April 29, 1959, Pacific Ocean (Letters, page 23)

Part 2: Seattle, Washington (1959-1964)

Lee left Hong Kong and arrived in San Francisco on May 17, 1959. His parents sent him to the United States to avoid trouble with the law and to confirm his birthright citizenship. He attended Edison Technical School in Seattle, Washington and eventually met his wife Linda Cadwell (Letters, page 15).

Life in Seattle
I admit that it’s good to practice Wing Chun. To be perfectly frank, I practice quite a lot on it nowadays (the wooden dummy has been shipped to me from Hong Kong already).

At present, I’m still going to the Edison High School, and will be graduated this summer. I plan to go to the University next year, that is 1961.
May 16, 1960 (Letters, page 25)

Martial arts club
I am sorry that I didn’t write till now as I was very busy straightening up my entrance requirements for the University of Washington. Now everything is all right. I am being admitted for the Spring quarter, which will start the 27th of this month.

We have given quite a number of exhibitions, and I have appeared on TV twice with Fook Young.

We might have an exhibition on April 8th for the Highline High School. Right now, everybody is practicing hard for it. I have ten students so far and the club is taking shape. Maybe two more months, it will be open to the public.

I am beginning to teach sparring to the students, and am doing my best to train their kicking techniques. Jesse is still the outstanding one among the students, though he is not so limber in his legs.
March, 1961 (Letters, page 27)

Footnotes

Jesse Glover was his first student. Glover asked Lee to teach him martial arts because no one was willing to teach an African American. Jesse continued to develop what Lee taught him and created a style of martial arts called Non-Classical Gung Fu (NCGF).

Personal lessons
I don’t have the club anymore; in fact, we still owe $80 for it, as everybody is out of a job and couldn’t keep it up. Also, I have stopped teaching as I have to have a part time job to tide me over my financial problem.

The fellows are planning to pay me for lessons which might be able to work out as a part-time job for me.
May, 1961 (Letters, page 28)

Gung Fu institute
My aim, therefore, is to establish a first Gung Fu Institute that will later spread out all over the U.S. (I have set a time limit of 10 to 15 years to complete the whole project).

I feel I have this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. Is is all of these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand.
September, 1962 (Letters, page 30)

Footnotes

He started a martial arts club at the University of Washington (Life, page 113). He had his first public martial arts school in the basement on King Street in Seattle and called it the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute (Life, page 114). He also opened up a second Gung Fu school in Oakland, California and a third in Los Angeles, California (Letters, 15).

Linda Cadwell
To the sweetest girl, from the man who appreciates her.

Linda,

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
October 20, 1963 (Letters, page 32)

Resources:
Letters of the Dragon: The Original 1958-1973 Correspondence, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1998, 2016. Volume 5 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Letters to friends, family, and business associates. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.

Jeet Kune Do: A Comprehensive Guide to Bruce Lee’s Martial Way, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1997, 2020. Volume 3 of the Bruce Lee Library. Excellent and detailed description of Bruce Lee’s martial art before he passed. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.

Words of the Dragon: Interviews, 1958-1973, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1997, 2017. Volume 1 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Interview transcripts of Bruce Lee on a variety of topics including philosophy, martial arts, and his personal life. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.

The life and tragic death of Bruce Lee, aka The Man Only I Knew, Linda Lee Caldwell, Author, Star Books Publisher, 1975. Biography written by Bruce Lee’s wife. It is rare and more expensive than others.
Bruce Lee: A Life, Matthew Polly, Author, Simon & Schuster Publishing, 2019. Highly rated biography of Bruce Lee.

Seattle NCGF website.

James Yimm Lee, Wikipedia.

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