Li Xiaolong, the quest for “no style” pt. 1
68 years ago, on the year of the dragon, a boy was born in San Francisco's Chinatown. His family, originally from Hong Kong, was comprised of an actor father and a well connected mother. The father's decision to return to their hometown with the baby would forever alter the history of martial arts. Despite his family's relative affluence, the boy's young life was riddled with violence: first, the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese during World War 2, which lasted almost four years, then brutal gang warfare, in which street fighting was a daily occurrence. His growth was of a peculiar nature; although bright and imaginative, he lacked the patience for studies that most Chinese parents try to instill in their children. Instead, he developed a love for fighting, dancing, and acting. The boy thrived in the chaos that was post-war Hong Kong, a creature of this violent era. At age 18 he was a champion boxer in his high school, prodigal cha-cha dancer, and a prolific child star. By age 19, he had a contract on his life after beating an upper-echelon gang member. His family at once sent him to the U.S., both as a punishment and to save the boy's future.
Lǐ Xiăolóng returned to San Francisco, his birthplace, with a meager $100 in his pocket. He would later become known as Bruce Lee, founder of Jeet Kun Do, and the father of modern mixed martial arts.
Bruce Lee
Lee's early training in Wing Chun, Tam Toi, Wu Style Tai Chi, boxing, and fencing had given him a thorough understanding of the formal underpinnings of fighting. His experience was derived from both sanctioned competition and the no holds barred street battles of his youth. However, after a fight with another Kung Fu master, in which Lee defeated his opponent in three minutes, the young martial artist decided that the styles he had trained with were too rigid to be applied to real combat. Thus he began to question the very foundations of his training, critiquing modern martial arts as such, and embarked on the journey to achieve the "no style" style.
