Truth Unfolds: Real Reason Bruce Lee Stopped Teaching Kung Fu in 1970

Bruce Lee‘s implausible genius differentiated him from anyone. Though he ended up being that amazing actor in Enter the Dragon, Lee initially started off in the U.S. as a kung fu teacher. The time was 1960 when the soon-to-be action hero earned money from his martial arts school. But unfortunately, he had to shut it down in 1970. Though some thought his advancement as an actor attributed to this, that’s where it gets controversial.

Evidently, his successful career had nothing to do with shutting his school down. In fact, there are two versions of the real reason behind it. Keeping the curiosity intact, let’s get to know the basis of the action.

Linda Cadwell’s version

After putting a stop to his career as an actor in Hong Kong, Lee came to the U.S. to start something new. He enrolled himself at the University of Washington to open a school for teaching Kung Fu. After a little time, he became popular and, besides the kids in his school, Lee started giving private training to James Coburn, Steve McQueen, Roman Polanski, and more. But this created a negative impact on the Chinese community there. As was evident from Cadwell’s book Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Know, Lee’s trainers, who taught him Wing Chun wanted him to stop.

The Little Phoenix denied it. He couldn’t agree with the restrictive idea of the masters not teaching the non-Chinese American people about their culture. And that decision led to combat between Lee and Wong Jack Man. According to Linda’s words, Lee was the one who called for that confrontation and it took place at a very hidden spot. The deal was that if Lee wins he will continue, but if he doesn’t he will have to shut the school down. Though the result remains unknown, people guessed about the actor’s triumph as the institution was still there.

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This reason still needs justification. Although Lee contributed his part to the popularity of the format, he got his fair share of controversies.

Bruce Lee’s biography winds up the controversy

According to Matthew Polly’s book, Bruce Lee: A Life, although the martial artist opened a school to teach Kung fu, he suddenly stopped it. Evidently, the actor didn’t want to teach his form of martial art, Jeet Kun Do. According to him, it was more of an idea rather than a sport in itself. Thus, it needed guidance and not teaching.

Unlike the ancient masters of Kung Fu, the Fist of Fury actor envisioned it as something open-ended. He wanted to eradicate a narrow-minded and unnecessarily restrictive approach. Thus, he took the decision to stop the legacy in 1970. Even after his death, Lee’s advocates requested his students not to teach Jeet Kun Do.

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Though the reasons are yet to be justified, and he had to shut down his center, Lee made a sizable effort to pass on the tradition, even before he became a successful martial artist.