?Your Patients Would Lose All Their Teeth?: Bruce Lee Was Mocked by His Friends for Wanting to Become a Dentist Once

As multi-talented as Bruce Lee was, the star considered multiple career choices at one point in his life. Before dreaming big about martial arts and stardom, the legend thought of other paths he could pursue. One of them was something along the lines of medicine, health, and wellness.

According to his memoirs,?Bruce Lee: A Life, the star once wrote about how he needed guidance in the medical profession. He considered medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry as his options. However, his friends didn’t have kind words to offer when he presented one of his considerations.

Kicks and flips aside, when Bruce Lee wished to become a dentist

Lee would often record his thoughts and views in his journal. In 1958, he declared that he needed a proper direction for his career. The legend set forth with medicine being his primary option and toyed with the idea of making a living out of something else. Nevertheless, he needed some guidance since he didn’t know a lot about medicine as a career path.

He wrote to a family friend back then who was studying in medical school, to get a gist of how the path would look like. While the response was never recorded, Lee went on to consider two more options along the same lines: Pharmacy and Dentistry. He enquired about pharmacy along with medicine, but the prospect of being a dentist was still open to the legend.

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When Lee put forth the idea in front of his friends, however, the response wasn’t pleasant. His circle found it ridiculous, that the man who knocked out teeth with his kicks and punches wanted to fix them. One of his friends, Hawkins Cheung, laughed, “You, a dentist? Your patients would lose all their teeth”. Choosing and sticking by a career was never easy for Lee, who re-considered martial arts at one point as well.

Lee’s break and facing failures

In 1960, the star took a break from acting, wanting to coach students in Kung Fu. However, four years later, when he changed his mind, the film industry didn’t welcome him with open arms.

While the cinema world rejected him, colleagues ignored him, and he didn’t land any roles, the martial arts world was equally brutal. During his break, when he competed at his teacher, Ip Man?s school, he couldn’t beat one of his other teachers no matter how hard he tried. The legend questioned martial arts as a career but eventually settled down with acting. And now, he’s one of the pioneers of his combat form.

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