How Bruce Lee nearly didn’t learn martial arts

In the mid-1950s, Bruce Lee stepped into a martial arts dojo in his native Hong Kong. Here, he met Ip Man and studied Wing Chun. Eventually, Bruce Lee would become a martial arts legend and use his combat skills to become a global movie star. As they say, the rest is history.

However, it wasn’t always easy for Bruce Lee and there was a very real possibility that he almost got kicked out of Ip Man’s dojo. The reason for this was based on jealousy and racism, as we shall later discuss. Thankfully, Bruce Lee stuck it out and progressed rapidly.

Why Ip Man’s students wanted to kick Bruce Lee out

There were two main reasons why Ip Man’s students wanted Bruce Lee ousted from his gym. The first reason was that Bruce Lee progressed quicker than the other students. Imagine training Wing Chun for years, then within months a young teenager comes and overtakes you. Obviously, this would be hard for your ego to take. Because of this, many of Ip Man’s students despised Bruce Lee which was purely out of jealousy.

The second reason was down to racism. At the time, it was revealed that Bruce Lee had German ancestry on his mother’s side. To this day, a lot of people aren’t aware of this. At the time, many of the students believed that Kung Fu and Wing Chun should be taught exclusively to the Chinese. Sadly, this led to Bruce Lee becoming something of an outcast. Thankfully, he was always known for his resilience and this didn’t seem to affect him.

In fairness to Ip Man, he didn’t fold and throw Bruce Lee out. It’s easy to look back and agree with this ideology – but remember we’re talking about the 1950s. Back then, times were very different and it would have been easy for Ip Man to give Bruce Lee the boot. This isn’t exclusive to China either, many martial arts around the world have been rooted in nationalism during their earlier days.

Ip Man moved Bruce Lee out…kind of

Trying to be diplomatic, Ip Man came up with a solution. Arguably, this was a masterstroke in Bruce Lee’s development and lead to him becoming the legendary martial artist he would eventually blossom into.

Here, Ip Man acted on the complaints of his students but didn’t give them what they wanted. Instead, he sent Bruce Lee to train with some of his best students. Specifically, these were William Cheung and Wong Shun Leung. During this period, Bruce Lee would have intense, private training with these two and understandably, he got even better at Wing Chun than before. In one of his memoirs, Bruce Lee even wrote that Wong was the one to teach him Kung Fu. So, even though he was effectively banished from Ip Man’s main gym, it probably worked out for the best. During his lifetime, Bruce Lee would remain close with William Cheung and Wong Shun Leung.

Bruce Lee returns to Ip Man’s dojo

After a while away from the main dojo, Bruce Lee was eventually allowed to return. After this, he didn’t receive the problems that he’d faced earlier on in his younger days as a martial artist. This may have been due to being more respected as he returned with greater skills than ever.

Ultimately, we don’t know why as it’s not widely documented. Nonetheless, the point is that Bruce Lee would eventually return and continue his training under Ip Man. After a few more years, Bruce Lee then went on to achieve greatness due to his martial arts prowess.

Would Bruce Lee have achieved greatness without Wing Chun?

Imagine if Ip Man threw out Bruce Lee. This would definitely change history and the chances are, Bruce Lee wouldn’t have become known for his Wing Chun. Not only this but he’d have not gone on to develop Jeet Kune Do either. Undoubtedly, Jeet Kune Do took elements from Wing Chun and created its own hybrid style.

In other words, the two martial arts would have been completely different and at the very least, way less popular. With this said, it’s fair to say that Wing Chun may look completely different whilst Jeet Kune Do wouldn’t exist at all without Bruce Lee.

Having said this, Bruce Lee was not a quitter. The likelihood is that he’d have found some kind of Kung Fu style to focus on, or even move into Karate. So, due to his mentality and lifestyle, it’s highly probable that Bruce Lee would have found his place in the martial arts world, just not with Wing Chun.

Conclusion

In summary, Bruce Lee was once an outcast within his local Wing Chun community. This sounds bizarre to even say these days as his status within Wing Chun almost surpasses the martial art as a whole. Still, it’s a good example of how times and attitudes can change.

Thankfully, Ip Man was kind to Bruce Lee and clearly taught him how to become a great martial artist. This eventually led to one of the greatest martial artists of all time whose influence is still felt today.