Reading comprehension and vocabulary Level III

BRUCE LEE - BEST LIFE LESSONS

Bruce Lee had been acting in films since he was 6 years old. His father was a famous Hong Kong actor who
always used to take him on the film sets. Growing up Bruce Lee really developed an interest in dancing. But the
post-war Hong Kong, was full of gangs and Bruce was often forced to fight them. Moreover, he always did like to
fight. In one fight, Bruce took on the son of a popular gang member so, to give their son an opportunity to protect
himself, Bruce’s parents enrolled him in a martial arts class. His street fighting continued and his violent nature
was escalating. Seeing all this, his parents send him to the USA with his friends to escape this violence.
In Seattle he found a job at China Town. In his college, his friends and classmates started taking martial art classes
from him due to the reputation that he had established. On the advice of his students, he started his own school
and then used to charge people to learn from him. It is how he found his future wife, Linda Lee Cadwell.
Soon he was invited to perform at Ed Parker's Karate Championship. He astonished
the crowd with his one-inch punch. Despite of all this, he did not do well financially.
One week after the birth of Bruce and Linda’s child, Bruce’s father passed away. He
attended the funeral and when he came back to America, he was even more
determined to make his family proud.
Later, a hollywood hairstylist who saw Bruce Lee perfom, recommended him to take
part in a new show called “The Green Hornet” where he was quite succesful. But even
after that, he did not find work regularly, and soon, unable to find work as an actor, he
started working as a fight coordinator in films.
The producer of The Green Hornet advised Bruce Lee to start teaching people in their
own homes. He attracted many popular students who later became famous actors, like Steve McQueen and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and became a popular martial arts coach in Hollywood.
When he injured his back while training, the doctors told him that he will never be able to fight again. And how
did Bruce Lee respond to that? He was even more determined to recover and even more active when he got back
to his feet. He biked 15 miles (24 km), ran 3 miles (5 km), did a 1000 kicks and 2000 punches a day to see what
the human body can endure.
When he came back to Hong Kong, he was astonished to see that he had become a
star there. That’s why he later made several successful films in Hong Kong with most
popular film producers of Asia. Soon he had conquered Asia, but still not satisfied, he
wanted to take on the world.
Unfortunately, while shooting for the movie The Game of Death, he collapsed due to
‘cerebral edema’ (swelling of the brain). Although he was perfectly fine after some
time, later he felt a headache, yet again. He went to sleep after taking a pill and never
woke up. He passed away at an age of 32.

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When Bruce Lee was about 28 years old, he wrote
the following letter to himself:

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United
States. In return, I will give the most exciting performances and render the
best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world
fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession
$10,000,000.
I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.
Bruce Lee
Jan. 1969

He achieved everything at an age of 32. Everything that he

hoped to achieve in ten years was achieved in only 4 years
and his net worth also exceeded $10,000,000.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HIS LIFE?

Absolute Confidence
It is obvious that Bruce Lee knew that he would make it. He wrote the letter with complete certainty and from
thereon he trained hard and never gave up. Whether it was the doctors, the producers or the audience, he never
doubted himself and his ability to make it big in life as a martial arts legend and as an actor. His confidence helped
him to achieve in four years what he aimed to achieve in 10 years.

Turning obstacles into stepping stones (=Turning barriers into progress)

 When he was not able to make it early on in Hollywood, he started as a martial arts coach.
 When doctors told him he could not fight, he started out even a tougher training system which is exhaustive
even for a healthy person.
 He didn’t even think about his injured back or the dizziness he felt due to the cerebral edema - he went on to
train 7 days a week.
Finally he got what he wanted in life and has left an indelible imprint in the
entertainment and the martial arts world. There are many things that we can learn
from this legend.

Note: Bruce Lee was a great reader, his house was full of books.
He also wrote some books about martial arts with many deep
philosophical thoughts.

II

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Bruce Lee also loved to draw:

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Bruce ______ (be) born on the Chinese Year of the Dragon, on the Day of the Dragon, on the hour of the Dragon.

Bruce’s Grandfather ______ (be) 100% German.

Bruce’s first martial arts instructor ______ (be) his father, teaching him a bit of Tai Chi.

Bruce ______ (be) a champion Cha Cha dancer in Hong Kong when he ______ (be) in high school.

Bruce ______ (have) bad eye-sight. He ______ (be) near-sighted and ______ (be) one of the first people to try contact lenses.
Due to his poor eyesight he _________ (fail) a basic military physical in 1963 _______ (hold) by the US Army so he _________
(not be) shipped off to Vietnam to fight in the war!

Bruce Lee __________ (not can) swim! Bruce’s younger brother Robert and sister Phoebe ______________ (reveal) that Bruce
actually ___________ (hate) the water.

Bruce Lee __________ (hope) to ‘one day’ fight Muhammad Ali. He __________ (think) of Muhammad Ali as a superior fighter
with his speed and technicality. He ______(use) to watch footage of Ali constantly to learn his style and also adapt some of his footwork
and movements.

Despite never formally studying Karate, Bruce ______ (be) able to perform all of the Karate movements with tremendous accuracy!

Bruce ______ (be) crazily fast. He ______ (use) to demonstrate his speed by placing a coin in someone’s hand. He _______
(will) then snatch the coin and replace it with another before the person _______ (can) clench their fist and stop him.

Bruce Lee __________ (love) to write poetry. According to friends, he __________ (write) it regularly.

Bruce ______ (have) a library over over 2000 books. He _________ (read) constantly, going through books cover to cover,
highlighting sections and always searching for knowledge. He has been known to watch TV, read a book and lift a dumbbell, all at once!

Bruce Lee ______ (be) named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Bruce Lee’s death is still considered mysterious.

Bruce once ______ (say):
“If I ___________ (shell) die tomorrow, I will have no regrets.
I ______ (do) what I ___________ (want) to do. You can’t expect more from life.”

Bruce Lee’s statues:

Chicago, USA Mostar,Bosnia and Herzegovina Los Angeles (Chinatown), USA

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