The Seattle Years
By Taky Kimura
I met Bruce Lee in 1959, when he first came to Seattle. I had
always been interested in the
martial arts, and I had a little experience in judo. One day a
friend of mine came by and told me about a man down in Chinatown
who was performing a martial arts exhibition. My friend told me
"You've got to see this guy. He is just phenomenal."
So I made arrangements to meet Bruce. At that point in time, he
and his students were just training in backyards. in parks, or
wherever they could fine room. They invited me to watch their
work out.
When I got there, they told me to throw a punch at Bruce, or use
any other moves. I felt the force of the wind against my face
after I missed and he counterpunched, even though he didn't come
that close to actually hitting me. I was just a very devastating
and fear some event. I knew immediately that had to [train] with
him, because he war such an incredible force.
Bruce had background in many martial arts systems, but he was
more closer, affiliated with wing chun [kung fu]. Bruce thought
it was very practical in terms of fighting. Plus, it lacked the
wasted motion found in other systems and hat more realism. I
think he based his concepts of fighting on that system more than
others.
When he began teaching wing chun he would modernize it in his own
way Anything that was not realistic, he discarded. He taught us
the things he felt were most practical. He put us through drills
that made us feel like we were going to drop. But he made us
realize that we had to do it with greater determination.
I was 20 years older than Bruce, and at the beginning, he had a
lot of those attributes that typify teenagers. He was a very
energetic person, and always seemed to be in perpetual motion. I
had spent more than five years in internment camps in California
and Idaho [during World War II], and my whole mental attitude was
one of a beaten person. I had a whole different concept of things
than Bruce did. I couldn't be around him too often, because it
just didn't fit in with my mental attitude.
But as time went on, I realized that this young man was endowed
with a very strong understanding of Taoism and Zen. One minute he
could tell you the raunchiest joke you ever heard, and the next
minute he could be philosophizing Zen and Taoism. It would just
blow your mind.
Even though he was much younger than me, I felt he offered
something that I needed. So we became very close friends. Part of
that may be because we are both Asians, and maybe there was a
strong cultural bond between us.
I know that my martial arts ability was far from the reason for
Bruce and I becoming close friends. I remember on one occasion, I
was training with these guys who were all at least 10 years
younger than me. I was working my hardest to keep up with them
and I felt like I was gaining confidence. And I was kind of
looking out of the corner of my eye, to see if Bruce realized
that I was making some progress. Then I heard him say to one of
the guys "He'll never make it."
I have that cultural background that the Asians have—a
certain amount of pride within ourselves —and I think that
automatically took over and it made me work like heck to keep up
with the others. I wanted to prove to him that I could make it.
Bruce was very helpful to me in many ways. He took me from a low
point of self-esteem and made me realize that I was a human being
and that I am just as good as any other person, but yet no
better. I owe him a lot for that.
Bruce left us with another message: that the most important thing
was to live the philosophy that we adhere to. Fisticuffs just
open the door, the upper echelon, of life. The more meaningful
part is the spiritual, philosophical essence of what you are.
Until you analyze yourself and realize what that means to you,
you can't really relate to other people on that kind of a basis.
Because Bruce has done so much to revolutionize the martial arts
and has done so much for the world in general in that regard, his
name shouldn't be muddied up or contorted in any way. We owe that
to him.
I think if Bruce were alive today, he would still be making a lot
of changes. A lot of people have asked me "If Bruce were
alive today, how would he keep up with all the changes in the
martial arts?" He had a keen mind and a real flexibleness
about him. He could look at something and move with it. I know
that if he were alive today, he would still be astounding us with
a lot of ingenious things.
Designed by Ovidiu Semenea
