During the ending of World War 2 there was luck for Bruce's father, one of the first industries to recover was the entertainment industry. Not long Lee's father was back on the road earning a living as a working actor. Often Bruce would accompany his father to film shoots and eventually was given a role in a film- The Beginning of a Boy- at the age of 6 years old. Shortly afterwards, in the same year, he appeared in "The Birth of Mankind" and "My Son Ah Chuen". At the age of 8 years, Bruce appeared in another film entitled "Fu Gui Yun" meaning "Wealth is like a Dream". In this film Bruce got a new nickname of Siu Lung which meant “little Dragon.” This nickname would remain with Lee for the rest of his life. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in over 20 films- the most famous of which being The Orphan, a 1958 Hong Kong classic in which he played the role of a juvenile delinquent. Even by his own admission, Bruce was exactly the same character offscreen, as the sort of gang-thug he had played in The Orphan. Years later, in 1967 he told Black Belt magazine, "I was a punk and went looking for fights". Bruce was a disappointment at school as well. Once his mother, semi-jokingly, stated that "by the age of 10 that was as far as he could count!" After Chinese primary school, Bruce entered La Salle college- an English speaking Catholic institution which could neither hold Lee's interest and his presence at class! He was eventually expelled for disruptive behaviour, and his parents responded by immediately enrolling him in another Hong Kong catholic college by the name of St Francis Xavier. There was no improvement there either. So, like many other Hong Kong Chinese kids, Bruce Lee spent much of his early years on the streets as a self confessed trouble-maker. Years later he explained, "Kids in Hong Kong have nothing to look forward to. The whites have all the best jobs and the rest of us had to work for them. That's why most of the kids become punks... Kids in slums can never get out". During this period of his life, Bruce often found himself involved in street fights. Sometimes he would arm himself with a toilet chain, though more often than not he would just use his fists and feet. One day Bruce ran home from school and complained to his parents that he was being bullied. He then asked his parents if they would allow him to take Kung Fu lessons as a means of learning to defend himself from the bullies. His father was already a practitioner of Tai Chi, but Bruce found this to be too slow for his liking and he was also only interested in learning how to defend himself. Eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, his parents agreed pay for Kung Fu lessons from Sifu Yip Man- a grand master of the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu. For several years Bruce Lee attended Yip Man's school of Wing Chun, rapidly growing in proficiency year by year. Bruce Lee was slight of build, and the fluid, economical style of Wing Chun seemed to suit him well. Within only a few years Yip Man had not only succeeded in training Bruce Lee in the physical aspects of the martial arts, but he also changed Bruce Lee's mental focus and Lee was now becoming increasingly interested in the philosophical aspects of Kung Fu. Martial arts and street fighting, however, were not Bruce Lee's only pass times as a teenager. When Bruce Lee was 14 years old he enrolled for dancing lessons and later went on to become the Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong! This unlikely departure from Lee's violent world was perhaps as strong an indication as any, that deep down Lee truly yearned for a life that would be somehow involved in realm of artistic expression and entertainment. With every passing year Lee's focus on the martial arts grew more intense. Lee, however, never forgot his street fighting days and remained extremely mindful of the fact that in a real self defence situation there would be no graceful bows, nor any respect for ancient rules. By around the age of 18 Bruce Lee started to gradually form his own ideas about what made an effective style. He was convinced that the key to being successful in a modern self defence situation was to eliminate the element of surprize by remaining completely adaptable. Lee's time under Yip Man came to a sad and abrupt ending when in early 1959 a challenge was issued to the students of Yip Man's school by the pupils of a rival Kung Fu school. The two groups met on the rooftop of an apartment block for what was meant to be a good-willed, non contact contest. However, the event quickly turned into an ugly and violent affair. During a sparring match, a boy from the rival establishment (the Choy Li Fut School) gave Bruce a black eye. Bruce responded to this by delivering a series of devastating straight punches and high kicks in a fit of uncontrolled rage. Although the boy escaped with only a lost tooth, his parents complained to the police and Bruce Lee soon found himself under arrest. Shortly afterwards, Lee's parents agreed that the only wise thing left to do would be to send Bruce away from Hong Kong out of harm's way. And so, Bruce Lee was sent back to San Francisco, the city of his birth. As his Chinese name predicted, he did indeed return again.
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