
Bruce Lee (Lee Jun Fan, 李振藩, 李小龍; pinyin: Lǐ Zhènfān, Lǐ Xiăolóng; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Chinese American and Hong Kong actor, martial artist, philosopher, film director, screenwriter, practitioner of Wing Chun and founder of the Jeet Kune Do concept. He is considered by many as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, and a cultural icon.
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Lee was born in
San Francisco, California, and raised in
Hong Kong until his late teens. His Hong Kong and
Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional
Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the second major surge of interest in
Chinese martial arts in the
West. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced
martial arts and
martial arts films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world as well. He is noted for his roles in five feature length films,
Lo Wei's
The Big Boss (1971) and
Fist of Fury (1972);
Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Bruce Lee;
Warner Brothers'
Enter the Dragon (1973), directed by
Robert Clouse, and
The Game of Death (1978).
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Lee became an
iconic figure known throughout the world and remains very popular among
Asian people and in particular among the
Chinese, as he portrayed
Chinese nationalism and upheld the
Chinese national pride at a crucial time in history and also of
Asians through his movies which reached every part of the known world. While Lee initially trained in
Wing Chun, he later rejected well-defined martial art styles, favoring instead to utilize useful techniques from various sources in the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy he dubbed
Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist).
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee