Bruce Lee honored in China
by Andrew Kimura
In mid November of 1998, I accompanied my father to Beijing China. We went to attend the Chinese Wushu Association’s 40th Anniversary celebration, where Bruce Lee was to be given an award signifying his accomplishments in martial arts. We went on behalf of Bruce Lee’s family and the JFJKD nucleus. When we arrived in China it was obvious that the veil of communism was now partially lifted, however the curtain remains intact, and the remnants were apparent. Athletes at Beijing’s Sport University still practice under the Communist flag, and at the ceremony an award was given to a man known as the father of Chinese Martial Arts, who some years before was responsible for convincing the government to allow the practice of Martial Arts to resume. While secret practice was likely conducted, this meant the arts could be practiced openly for the first time, since the communists had disallowed it some years before.
We were greeted at the Beijing airport by Professor Hong, an official in the CWA and our contact person in China. Accompanying him was Miss Chan, a former student of Professor Hong. A graduate and now teacher at the Beijing Sports University, Miss Chan was our guide. We drove to the office/Headquarters of the CWA, where we met four men; Mr. Walter Leung (Leung Man To) who was writing a book about Bruce, Mr. Tsui Sheung Tin (Chu Shong Tin) generally known as the ‘King of Siu Nim Tao’ and also the second surviving most senior student of Grand Master Yip Man, Mr. Siu Yuk Men (former chairman of the Ving Tsun Athletic Assoc.) and Mr. Henry Pang (Pang Kam Fat) a former schoolmate of Bruce Lee™, as well as the other people from CWA.
Henry Pang studied at St Francis Xavier with Bruce Lee™ and started to learn Wing Chun one year after Bruce began practicing the art. According to Lewis Luk, it was said that Bruce, Henry and Hawkins Cheung (Cheung Hok Kin) always practiced Chi Sao inside the bathroom during recess time. After school they would join their seniors Wong Shun Leung and William Cheung to further practice their Chi Sao on the rooftop.
The next day we went to the Olympic Sports center to attend the shooting of a video. The video featured the Wing Chun Masters from the Hong Kong VTAA. The CWA was sponsoring this video as one in a continuing series of all martial styles practiced throughout China. We watched as the Masters performed the first three forms of Wing Chun. Later that evening we met with a movie star/Bruce Lee™ imitator, who is known in China as “Dragon” and “The China Bruce Lee.” A demonstration was given by some of his students, that bared little resemblance to JFJKD. “Dragon” allegedly has over 100,000 students and discussed with us his plans to promote Wing Chun and JKD in China. My father then explained, having borrowed a paper bill from one of our Hong Kong friends, that whatever he planned should come from the heart and not from love of money while waiving the bill in the air in front of “Mr. Dragon.” The following morning further shooting was required for the Wing Chun video. I was fortunate enough to be used as a dummy, on which the techniques from three forms were applied in combat situations. Later that afternoon we visited the Beijing Sports University, which offers a four-year degree in Wushu Martial Arts.
As I mentioned earlier, our guide Miss Chan, of the Beijing University, now teaches the use of the sword to the children at the University. The University itself is divided into six schools: physical education, biological science, health and rehabilitation, sports training, sports administration, and martial arts. All schools provide four year, full time programs leading to a bachelor degree. The annual tuition is approximately 120,000 to 250,000 RMB (the people’s money) and scholarships are available. The University was originally established in November of 1953. The former name was the Beijing Sports Institute but was upgraded to University status in 1993. It is now the only University in China that is dedicated 100% to physical education. The University has about 3,000 students, 200 professors and 176 lecturers. Foreign students can be accepted. The curriculum of the school of martial arts include: Education Science, Principals of Physical Education, Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Physical Psychology, Martial Arts, Fundamental Theories of Martial Arts, Chinese Martial Arts History, Chi Kung Science, Healing and Massage and Sports Methodology. The degree is known as a Bachelor of Physical Education. An advertisement was run in Black Belt magazine about this university.
Later that evening came the Grand Event, the CWA 40th Anniversary Ceremony. According to Professor Hong, this was the first time in the history of the CWA that they organized such an event. It was also the first time that such awards were given. Bruce Lee™ was the only overseas Chinese to receive an award. This also signified a formal recognition of Bruce’s contribution to the Martial Arts by the Chinese Government. It is ironic that Bruce never set foot in his motherland of China. It is even more ironic that because of the Communist suppression of information, not many people recognized the name Bruce Lee. Furthermore, those who did know him by his American name had no clear idea of who Bruce was outside his movies. Communism has left China backward in many ways; it is a land of contrast where on one corner there is a highrise apartment building and on that same corner a man with a donkey cart selling coal for fuel. Nevertheless China is a fascinating and beautiful place where the ancient exists along side the modern, one seemingly oblivious of the other.
Our thanks to Lewis Luk for his support with this article, as well as all our endeavors in China pertaining to JFJKD. Without him our trip and this article would not have been possible.