20, 1963
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.
In other words, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.
Bruce
Notes
1. It is uncertain to whom Bruce Lee addressed this letter as all that remains is his first draft. However; given that he was in Saint Francis Xavier High School when it was written, and upon checking his daytime diary for November 30, 1958, we find the following entry—“Now I try to find out my career—whether as a doctor or another? If as a doctor I must study hard”—it is safe to assume that this letter was penned during this period of his life.
2. Lee Shiu Loong (or Lee Shiu Lung) literally translates as “Lee Little Dragon” (the surname always comes first in Chinese).This was the “stage name” given to Bruce when he first appeared in Hong Kong films. Bruce’s birth name was Lee Jun Fan, and in his early school years he was called Lee Yuen Kam. At home with his family, Bruce’s nickname was Sai Fon, literally “Little Phoenix.” The English name Bruce was given to him by a nurse when he was born, but he did not use this name until after the age of twelve, when he attended a school where English was spoken.
3. Bruce Lee attended Saint Francis Xavier High School in Hong Kong during 1958, one year before he set out on his return to America.
4. Bruce Lee began to write this letter to a friend in Hong Kong to tell him of his experiences on the boat that was taking him to America for the first time since he was born there on November 27, 1940, some eighteen years earlier. This letter is fascinating in that it serves as a diary of sorts, written on the first day of his voyage, wherein he records his feelings and experiences on what would eventually prove to be a highly significant journey.
5. Choy li fut gung fu is considered one of the most popular gung fu systems in Asia. It is practiced by approximately one-third of the martial artists in Hong Kong and is famous for combining hard and soft techniques, speed, balance, power, and extension. In her book The Complete Guide to Kung Fu Fighting Styles (Burbank, Calif: Unique Publications, 1985), authority Jane Hallander writes, “Not only does the style contain a vast variety of hand and weapons forms, but many of the top full-contact tournament fighters in Southeast Asia are choy-li-fut practitioners, a fact that supports the art’s reputation as one of the most powerful kung fu styles in existence.”
6. Wing Chun gung fu is considered highly aggressive. It focuses on centerline attacks, wasting no effort and using blocks to redirect the opponent’s strikes, so that the Wing Chun practitioner can counterattack with either his blocking hand or the other hand in a very close-in position. Since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, there are no “curved” movements in the Wing Chun style that was taught to Bruce Lee. Sixty percent of attacking techniques are hand techniques and the other forty percent consists of short low kicks, hand and foot techniques being delivered simultaneously. Wing Chun was the only martial art that Bruce Lee studied formally. which he did under renowned Wing Chun grandmaster Yip Man from 1954 until Bruce departed from Hong Kong on April 29, 1959.
7. A famous Chinese saying denoting a person who gives direct and frank opinions.
8. Bruce’s older brother.
9. Melvin Dong was a friend during Bruce Lee’s teenage years in Hong Kong.
10. Bruce’s parents had contacts among overseas Chinese in the performing arts.
11. Shatin is an area in Hong Kong’s New Territories.
12. “National Art” is another name for “gung fu.”
13. Hawkins Cheung was one of Yip Man’s senior Wing Chun students, who trained at Yip Man’s kwoon in Hong Kong while Bruce Lee was training there in the 1950s.
14. The name of the recipient of this letter is unknown. This first draft was found in one of Bruce Lee’s earliest notebooks from Seattle, written while he was completing his high school requirements.
15. “Dianne” was evidently one of Bruce’s classmates at Edison Technical School.
16. Ed Hart was Bruce Lee’s second private student in Seattle. The letters to Hart were written by Lee while Hart was in New York for several months.
17. Jesse Glover was Bruce Lee’s first student in America.
18. The Tso family and Bruce Lee’s family were close friends when Bruce lived in Hong Kong during the 1950s, and they remained friends throughout his life. Mrs. Tso, Pearl’s mother, was like a second mother to him, and he often sought her advice, In fact, he wrote her frequently to inform her of his progress in America. The two friends exchanged letters and postcards, some of which were brief and aphoristic, while others, such as the letter reprinted here, were much more soulful and in-depth.
19. “Linda” is Linda Emery. who would become Bruce Lee’s wife on August 17, 1964. This letter was written just five days before their first “official” date, which, as she recalls, took place on October 25, 1963.
*Notes for Part One begin on page 32.
Part 2
FROM GUNG FU TO GREEN HORNET
(1964-1966)
1964
To Taky Kimura1*
Process in Learning Gung Fu
The point where to rest being known, the object of pursuit is then determined; and, that being determined, a calm unperturbedness may be attained too. To that calmness there will succeed a tranquil repose. In that repose there may be careful deliberation, and that deliberation will be followed by the attainment of the desired end.
Wishing to cultivate oneself, one first rectifies his heart (mind).
Wishing to rectify his heart, one seeks to be sincere in his thoughts.
Wishing to be sincere in his thoughts, one first extends to the utmost of his knowledge—such extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things.
Remark: It cannot be when the root is neglected, that what should spring from it will be well ordered.
A rectified mind is a mind immune to emotional influences—free from fear, anger, sorrow, anxiety, and even fond attachment—when the mind is not present, we look and do not see; we hear and do not understand; we eat and do not know the taste
