Striking Distance: Bruce Lee and the Dawn of Martial Arts in America

· U of Nebraska Press
5.0
2 reviews
Ebook
272
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

In the spring of 1959, eighteen-year-old Bruce Lee returned to San Francisco, the city of his birth. Although the martial arts were widely unknown in America, Bruce encountered a robust fight culture in the Bay Area, populated with talented and trailblazing practitioners such as Lau Bun, Chinatown's aging kung fu patriarch; Wally Jay, the innovative Hawaiian jujitsu master; and James Lee, the Oakland street fighter. Regarded by some as a brash loudmouth and by others as a dynamic visionary, Bruce spent his first few years back in America advocating for a modern approach to the martial arts, and showing little regard for the damaged egos left in his wake.

The year of 1964 would be an eventful one for Bruce, in which he would broadcast his dissenting worldview before the first great international martial arts gathering, and then defend it by facing down Wong Jack Man--Chinatown's young kung fu ace--in a legendary behind-closed-doors showdown. These events were a catalyst to the dawn of martial arts in America and a prelude to an icon.

Based on over one hundred original interviews, Striking Distance chronicles Bruce Lee's formative days amid the heated martial arts proving ground that thrived on San Francisco Bay in the early 1960s.



Ratings and reviews

5.0
2 reviews

About the author

Charles Russo is an award-winning journalist who lives in San Francisco. Shannon Lee is the daughter of Bruce Lee and CEO of Bruce Lee Enterprises.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.