Martial arts legend, Bruce Lee‘s childhood was riddled with harmless mischief, pranks, and street fights. His little misadventures would sometimes bring him under the axe of his family. Hence, he was often to be punished by his father. Moreover, a particular fuss at the Dongle Theatre in Hong Kong persuaded his father to instantly take strict action against little Lee.

In his biography by Matthew Polly, Bruce Lee: A Life, the icon once opened up about his childhood punishment that put a hold on his flourishing acting career. The film industry was run dry of his talent from 1950 until 1953. Here’s what happened.

Bruce Lee received a stern penalty

According to the book, the Little Phoenix’s reckless behavior was going out of hand for his family. He was deriving minimum grades in school, continually getting involved in fights even after strict instructions, and on top of that, his seemingly endless and insensible pranks. His final mishap with a ticket-taker at the theatre once pushed his father, Hoi-Chuen’s anger off the edge. Lee’s father decided to put a stop to his beloved activity as punishment, acting. 

Reportedly, Lee was a talented actor since his young days. His brother, Robert revealed, “Bruce was a natural.” His mother had to push him out of bed in school mornings while visiting the film studio was effortlessly smooth for the icon. Therefore, Lee’s father called for a “movie-acting time-out” till he was disciplined. “Awakened in the middle of the night, he was on his feet and in character right away,” his brother added.

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The consequence of the punishment was a ban from acting in My Son A-Chang’s sequel film. Thus, 1950 saw no other movie releases featuring Lee. After much pleading, he was allowed to act in The Beginning of Man in 1951. However, his behavior apparently didn’t improve which called for another round of banning until 1953. Likewise, his father even restricted him from pursuing martial arts. 

Bruce Lee’s father was against martial arts

The Hollywood star would often get into fights even after being trained in martial arts. One such incident with a Kung Fu instructor once resulted in gruesome results after. Lee went back home with a swollen lip and a black eye. When Robert enquired about it, he said, “These are just surface-level wounds on me! You should have seen the other guy.” 

Furthermore, he added that he bashed the opponent so hard that two of his teeth loosened out of the man. Later on, his dad condemned his actions calling it, “embarrassing the family and wasting his life with fighting.” Nevertheless, Lee didn’t back down on attaining the peak of his craft and promised his father that he shall make a name for himself in the industry. And so he did. 

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Evidently, Lee’s young days were impulsive and reckless. However, his zeal to pursue his talents is what vaulted him to the top. Remarkably, the stubborn and mischievous kid emerged as the Kung Fu legend revered to date.