Martial arts legend Bruce Lee desired to be the jack of all trades. To a certain extent, he was impeccable at everything he did. His fans, students, and even celebrities looked up to him. However, his obsession with perfection was so extreme that he once considered quitting martial arts. It was during the days when he was in a martial art school and he wasn’t happy with his performance.

Lee’s biography, ‘Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly’ revealed that when he took a kung fu test at one of the martial art legend IP man’s place, he achieved a rank that embarrassed him. So he tried harder and failed in several instances that completely frustrated him.

Bruce Lee desired to test his ability in martial arts

While many think that Lee was always the best in whatever he did, it wasn’t completely true. There were times when he was not the best in a room full of martial artists. His biography revealed one such anecdote. When Lee was in America, learning and teaching martial arts, he once desired to test his kung fu skill level against the Hong Kong masters. So he visited many kung fu gurus and most of them discarded him for inducing modern techniques in traditional martial arts. In the process, Lee learned many new tricks and techniques.

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However, his biggest test came against the legendary IP Man. There, Lee had to compete in sticky hands (chi sao) with his martial brothers and teachers. By 1959, when he left the school, he knew he ranked sixth. So he tried hard to be better than others. After four years, he climbed to fourth place, which was after the guidance of his teacher, Wong Shun Leung, or his master, Ip Man, and one of Ip Man’s assistant instructors.

This was highly frustrating for Bruce Lee. His biography revealed, “Bruce, ever the perfectionist, was so frustrated he briefly considered quitting the martial arts completely”.

However, after he cooled down his mind, he made himself understand that he only needed to work harder. Lee decided to train frantically after that.

“How Could I Close My Door on Him?”: Master Ip Welcomed Bruce Lee Delightedly After He Passed a Stringent Test in 1953

Lee’s journey with the IP Man was not a cakewalk. Initially, an instruction from his master left Bruce Lee speechless.

Another interesting anecdote about Lee and the IP Man

Training under the legend IP Man was a dream come true for Lee. But IP Man had already observed Lee’s skills years ago when he was a child. So when Lee visited him, IP Man was happy to welcome him. The Sensei wanted to master Kung Fu, which he knew he could only do under the guidance of IP Man.

However, his biggest shock came when the legend denied teaching Kung Fu to Lee. He asked him to work on his stance more before mastering the famous martial art. This devastated the perfectionist Bruce Lee. However, he could not go against his master and began following his instruction. Soon, IP Man decided to teach him Kung Fu, and that was one of the happiest days in Bruce Lee’s martial arts career.

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