Bruce Lee was a legendary martial artist. He mastered Wing Chun and combined it with different styles to create Jeet Kun Do. Apart from that, Lee was probably the first Hollywood icon who introduced Chinese martial arts to the west. A trailblazer who inspired an entire generation of martial arts icons.

Among those icons, Jackie Chan was someone who knew martial arts very well. Chan had worked with Bruce Lee on two films and learned from the master. Jackie once recalled how Bruce also influenced his decision to perform every stunt himself instead of using a stunt double.

Bruce Lee influenced Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan was one of the many stuntmen working on the set of Fists of Fury (1972). “I was just a young guy, and he was a really big star,” Chan recalled. However, Bruce treated everyone equally. Chan recalled he was in an accident during the shoot. In a scene with Chan dangling from a wire, the crew accidentally released the wire too quickly, resulting in Chan hitting the ground too hard.

However, when the scene ended, Chan recalled Bruce rushing to help him. “Bruce Lee picked me up. I went, ‘Wow! He touched me!'” said Chan. During the rest of the shoot, Jackie Chan witnessed Yuen Wah, his fellow China Drama Academy graduate, act as the stunt double for Bruce Lee. While Bruce was a Wing Chun master, he couldn’t perform high-flying acrobatics.

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“After watching stuntmen double for Lee, I decided from then on that I would do everything myself,” said Jakie. When Chan became a star, he always assured the audience could see his face. “You can always tell when it’s a stunt double,” said Jackie Chan.

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While Bruce sometimes required a stunt double to pull off some acrobatics, he did all the on-screen fighting. Chan recalled another incident with Lee while shooting Enter the Dragon (1973). Bruce accidentally struck Jackie in the face with a stick. Not only did Bruce check to see if Chan was doing ok, but he also chose Chan to work on stunts involving water, which paid even more.

Jackie Chan was initially skeptical of IP Man’s protégé

Jackie Chan came to respect Bruce Lee after working for him. However, Chan was skeptical in the beginning. Many Chinese people regarded Bruce as a foreigner and hesitated to accept him. Chan recalled how he felt before watching The Big Boss (1971). “We were prepared to hate the film… but we couldn’t,” said Chan.

Chan also said he felt The Big Boss had everything the movies he was part of didn’t. Jackie Chan stuck to his decision. Although he got injured frequently, Chan never used a stunt double.

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