Despite His Unanimous Victory Once, Bruce Lee Was Displeased With Himself

Published 04/26/2023, 4:06 PM EDT

Martial art legend Bruce Lee always had a knack for being perfect at whatever he did. A great example of it is his acting and combating career. Interestingly, the master harbored his perfectionist quality from a young age. In fact, once when the Little Phoenix won a boxing match in his school, he was pretty disappointed with his performance.

Lee’s biography, Bruce Lee: A Life, revealed an anecdote where the master tried his fighting potential in a boxing match in 1958. Despite being a Wing Chun practitioner, Lee pulled off an impeccable match as a boxer.

What made Bruce Lee upset about his performance?

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In Hong Kong, two British schools organized an interschool Western boxing tournament every year. In 1958, when the championship was announced, one of Bruce Lee’s friends convinced him to participate in the tournament. The Wing Chun practitioner had only a couple of months to prepare for the big showdown. In those months, Lee turned to martial artists Wong Shun Leung to find a way to combine Wing Chun with boxing gloves. He advised Lee to use his strong points while fighting.

On March 29, 1958, Bruce Lee faced King George V’s Gary Ellms who had won the tournament for the last three years. When the match began, the Little Phoenix started attacking his opponent with a series of short straight Wing Chun punches. At times, Gary would also retort with powerful moves, but Lee continued to dominate the match.

However, the Little Phoenix was pushing his Wing Chun potential too hard. The crisp and hard-hitting hand movements could not be executed properly due to the thick padding of the boxing gloves. Lee’s friend Steve Gracia, told in the biography, “There were a few knockdowns, but, because of the eight oz. gloves used, they were not that effective.” Ultimately, Lee won the match by knocking down Gary several times with his Wing Chun moves.

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Although, Lee received heart-warming felicitation from his friends, he was disappointed with himself. He was upset about not being able to knock out his opponent. The master told his friends, “My punches weren’t penetrating because of the gloves.” However, after this, Lee swore that he would work harder to achieve enough power to meet his goal.

But that was his last boxing match for the rest of his life. However, there was another fight in Lee’s life that left him more disappointed than his 1958 match.

Bruce Lee had an ugly win against one of his biggest rivals

During the 1960s, Bruce Lee began promoting modern martial art techniques. He strongly believed that the traditional repetitive moves were ineffective in fighting the opponent. However, when Lee indulged in a crucial fight with legend Wong Jack Man in 1964, he was left highly disappointed with his fighting prowess.

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During his battle with Jack Man, Lee noticed that the fight took more time to end than expected. His wife Linda explained in his biography, “The fight, he realized, ought to have ended with a few seconds of him striking the first blows —instead of which, it had dragged on for three minutes.” Shockingly, Lee found himself panting within three minutes of the battle.

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This made the master detest his ‘ugly win’. He realized that he needed to work harder to improve his fighting prowess. Hence, he began devising moves that were fast and effective. Eventually, in 1967, Lee invented Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid fighting style. It encapsulated power-packed moves that were highly self-defense-oriented and focused on reading the minds of the opponents.

Indeed, it was Lee’s impeccable perfectionist quality that improved his abilities at every step of his life.

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Written by:

Muskan Sharma is a sports writer at EssentiallySports, specializing in Martial Arts, NHL, and other American sports. She is a degree holder in Journalism and Mass Communications. Muskan has been able to bring her unique set of skills and sensitivity while covering news stories.

Edited by:

Anupama Ghosh

Despite His Unanimous Victory Once, Bruce Lee Was Displeased With Himself

What made Bruce Lee upset about his performance?

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Bruce Lee had an ugly win against one of his biggest rivals