?Will Fight to Make a Name?: Bruce Lee Received Contrasting Reactions From His Father and Ip Man After Winning a Martial Arts Battle Once

Bruce Lee?once predicted to his father that he “will fight to make a name,” and that’s what he did. Lee is known worldwide for his excellent martial arts skills. Moreover, he is also given the credit to spread the popularity of martial arts all around the globe. But once, even his father didn’t support the rough games he was caught in. In the biography of Bruce Lee, the author, Matthew Polly, has revealed an incident where the martial arts legend was given two completely contrasting reactions from his father and the Ip man.

In this article, we will re-live the incident that Bruce Lee went through during his teens. Let us have a look at it.

The victorious fight that resulted in Lee’s father’s anger

Bruce Lee always had a spark in him. However, he needed a little push to know what he was capable of. During his teens, Lee and a good number of students used to learn Wing Chun under a teacher, Ip man, who is also known as the grandmaster of the art. As the master, he used to organize friendly fights between his students to evaluate and give them a better perspective on the art.

As mentioned in his biography, Bruce Lee: A Life, Lee once fought against another student named Chung. Although he took up the challenge, Lee got on the back foot in the first round as he got well beaten up by his opponent. As Lee knew his father wasn’t a supporter of fights, he decided to quit after the first round, as his eye already swelled up. However, as his cornerman and the referee, Wong told him that his abandoning would result in his defeat. And that was another thing which Lee never approved.

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Moreover, Wong also gave him a brief motivational speech to pump him up. He said,??You are capable to fight on. Your opponent is wheezing now. If you withdraw, you will regret it. Whether you win or not is not important, but you must try your best. If you fight on, you will win.??And that is what happened. When Lee got back to the fight, he neither over-attacked nor got to close his opponent. What he did was wait for the right moment and, as it arrived, he poured a series of punches into his opponent’s face to end the fight.

When Bruce Lee’s father didn’t approve of the way his teacher did

Despite beating his opponents till his teeth were broken, Lee was scared, as his face had some bruises. And if his father spotted them on his face, he knew it won’t end well. Although the servants gave him ice and he tried to make it vanish before his father sees him, it didn’t happen. And as his father watched the bruises, he “blew up.” Moreover, “he cursed his son for embarrassing the family and wasting his life with fighting.”?

Lee also had something to say to his father. He said, “I?m not good at studying. But I?m good at fighting. I will fight to make a name.”?On the other hand, when the news reached Ip Man, he got happy with the way Wong handled the situation, and told him,??If some day Bruce achieves something in the martial arts, it is because you didn?t let him quit after the first round.?

Bruce Lee was never a poor fighter, he just needed that push Wong gave him. And as Ip Man said, Wong’s persistence, which he taught Lee that day, might have made a big difference in his career. Although there were contrasting reactions to his win, Lee was certain about what to do in life, and because he continued his hard work on the skills, he eventually became a legend.

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