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Bruce Lee's Classic Films

by Dan Inosanto

Fists of Fury (a.k.a. The Big Boss)

Each of Bruce Lee's films contained an object lesson in combat. Bruce used Fists of Fury to illustrate his approach to mob or mass fighting. If you study the combative footage, you will notice that he begins by viciously attacking the first man. The object is to take the leader or best fighter out as viciously as possible to intimidate the group psychologically. Tasting his own blood with a nonplused look of total disdain is another ploy to intimidate. If you are lucky, the group will disband demoralized. If not, you must next try to zone off to the side and create separate one-on-one situations where you are fighting one man at a time.

He also tries to show the film public that you must be a well-rounded fighter with a good repertoire of kicks, punches, throws, sweeps and locks. You must also learn long-range, intermediate range and close-quarter fighting. If you are strictly a long-range kicker and you get into a grappling situation without grappling techniques - you are finished.

In the final fight scene he emphasizes that no matter how proficient you are with empty hands you must learn to go against a weapon, because everyone doesn't fight you empty-handed. He takes several cuts to show that sometimes you have to sacrifice to get someplace. Forget about winning or losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life! Do not be concerned with you escaping safely - lay your life before him!

The Chinese Connection (a.k.a. Fist of Fury)

With the surprising box-office success of Fists of Fury behind him, Bruce added more of himself to each succeeding film. In Chinese Connection, he added the disguises he used in his boyhood films, the high kick from Marlowe, the nunchaku, and he introduced the first in a series of non-orientals (Bob Baker - "the Russian wrestler").

The high kick used to take out the "no dogs" sign in Chinese Connection, the lights from Marlowe, and the villain's office in Return of the Dragon measured between 7 and 7 1/2 feet high. This came from his repertoire of "incredible feats" like the sleight-of-hand coin trick, the explosive side kick, the "Hulk" expanding chest, the one finger push-ups and his unstoppable eye jab.

The Chinese Connection was highly theatrical and made a statement about morality. When he pulls out the nunchakus to fight, he is doing something to equalize the situation. The nunchakus become the equalizer when he is fighting more than one or fighting an opponent armed with a sword (I personally would rather have the sword). Notice he never uses a weapon until the odds are against him. He throws the weapon away to fight the leader since he was one-on-one and fights him on equal terms.

He also feels fighting for your beliefs is correct, illustrated by the "Sick man of Asia, no dogs or Chinese allowed" confrontation. In the end of this film, where he jump kicks at the firing squad, he is showing that even though they kill him, his spirit is still up. Or in his own words, "You may take my body, but you will never kill my spirit. You may be able to kick my ass, but you can never kick the ass out of my spirit or take away my indomitable will to survive."

Return of the Dragon (a.k.a. Way of the Dragon)

Return of the Dragon was a total Bruce Lee production, including writing, directing, producing, picking locations, and using bonafide martial artists, like Chuck Norris and Bob Wall. This film started Chuck Norris on the road to the box-office success he enjoys today.

Bruce used everything in this film, including the "kitchen sink." The man holding the air shield for him was actually his personal cook. The impact of his devastating kick is not over-exaggerated one bit. I have heard from a very reliable motion-picture mogul that Ryan O'Neal has a bad back because Bruce once propelled him into his own trailer via an air shield he was holding.

The combative lesson in this film shows how to systematically debilitate your opponent. In the Norris fight, Bruce took away his legs - the base. The knee-shin kick was one of the first targets he taught in class. If you take away the legs, a man can't continue because a man with no legs is a stump. You take away the arms and he can't hit. So even Muhammad Ali without arms and legs can't hurt you.

Early in the Norris fight, Bruce was too rhythmic and too classical. He was going to Norris' rhythm. He soon got out of that tempo or rhythm and showed as much by dancing around. He took over and commanded the rhythm. Control the rhythm by intimidation. Bruce called it "the movement to get respect."

Enter the Dragon

Enter the Dragon was the most lavish of all his films thanks to Warner Bros' input of writers, talent and money. What I didn't understand was how they overlooked two areas in which Bruce sustained injuries - the use of real glass bottles instead of "break-away glass" and the use of an un-defanged snake.

The story line was better and I'm glad they set the scene by disqualifying the use of guns in this modern-day epic, since no martial artist can compete against a telescopic sight attached to a high-powered rifle. Bruce said as much: "Why don't you just zap him with a .45?" Not often mentioned was the fact that Bruce was into guns and fast drawing. He owned and practiced with a quick-drawing rig that once belonged to Sammy Davis, Jr.

Because of the "big studio" control, Bruce had less to say in this film than in the others. Fortunately they did leave him alone to choreograph the fights and to show off his weapons knowledge through the nunchakus (tabak toyok), staff and double sticks (sinawali). Throughout all his films you will notice that he goes from long-range to intermediate-range to grappling range. In the fight between John Saxon and Bolo, Bruce showed that you must be ready to use any means to overcome an opponent. John Saxon overcame a stronger man (Bolo) despite his hold over him (straight elbow lock) by merely biting him. The combative lessons here would be: know all combative ranges; be able to pick up anything (snake, staff, double sticks, nunchakus); and be able to use it.

The Game of Death

Bruce's original concept for The Game of Death was to educate the film public by making people aware that there are many different types of martial arts and that each martial arts has a value in a certain environment. That's why he used me for the Filipino martial arts (weapons); he used a Korean guy to show what Hapkido is about (feet); and he wanted to use Taky Kimura as a Preying Mantis/Wing Chun stylist to show the close-quarter system of trapping. Finally he chose Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to illustrate the unknown style, to show how you must adapt to someone who has a 1 1/2 foot reach on you.

Bruce Lee Filmography