Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man is perhaps the most famous fight in martial arts history, yet the matchup between the cultural icon and Kung-Fu master remains shrouded in lore and mystery.
YouTubeBruce Lee sparring.
San Francisco’s Chinatown in the early 1960s was something of a mecca for young martial artists looking to be at the forefront of the fighting culture. The burgeoning martial arts community served as a formative teaching ground for many artists on the cutting edge of martial arts.
The fighting culture in the Bay Area was so attractive that a young Bruce Lee decided to move from Seattle to Oakland to open his second Jun Fan martial arts studio. Wong Jack Man was also a popular and well-respected martial artist at that same time. He was the owner of the Jun Fan Gung Institute where he taught Wing Chun.
YouTubeWong Jack Man
However, sometime in 1964, Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man found themselves at opposing ends of the San Francisco martial arts world.
Some rumors say the disagreement between the two sprung from the fact that Lee’s Oakland studio attracted a rather large number of non-Chinese students and Wong was opposed to teaching martial arts of white people. So he proposed a fight with Lee with the ultimatum that, should Lee lose, he would have to close down his studio.
Some others claim that Lee is the one who had issued a challenge to Wong by claiming he could beat any martial artist in San Francisco, and he was only requesting a fight in response to Lee’s boasting. Wong wanted the fight to be public, but, after Lee refused, the two men agreed to a private challenge at Lee’s school with only a handful of people in attendance.
While various accounts place between seven to fifteen people at the fight, only three attendees could ever be confirmed: Lee’s wife Linda Lee Cadwell, his studio associate James Lee, and William Chen, a local Tai Chi instructor.
Getty ImagsBruce Lee tosses a man in a fight scene from Fist of Fury. 1972.
However, because the fight happened behind closed doors, there are several contradicting accounts of what really happened. According to Linda’s version of Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man, Lee won the fight within five minutes:
“The two came out, bowed formally and then began to fight. Wong adopted a classic stance whereas Bruce, who at the time was still using his Wing Chun style, produced a series of straight punches. Within a minute, Wong’s men were trying to stop the fight as Bruce began to warm to his task. James Lee warned them to let the fight continue.
A minute later, with Bruce continuing the attack in earnest, Wong began to backpedal as fast as he could. For an instant, indeed, the scrap threatened to degenerate into a farce as Wong actually turned and ran. But Bruce pounced on him like a springing leopard and brought him to the floor where he began pounding him into a state of demoralization. ‘Is that enough?’ shouted Bruce, ‘That’s enough!’ pleaded his adversary. Bruce demanded a second reply to his question to make sure that he understood this was the end of the fight.”
Wong, however, recounted a different version of events. In his account, he stated that Lee came out as aggressively as a “wild bull.” He was sure Lee “would never say he lost until you killed him,” so Wong chose to fight mostly defensively, not wanting to face the consequences of a life-threatening fight. He claimed that the fight lasted at least 20 minutes and petered out as a result of Lee becoming winded, rather than either one of them delivering a definitive fight-ending blow.
David Livingston/Getty ImagesWong Jack Man (L) and actor Philip Ng, who plays Bruce Lee, attend the premiere of Birth of the Dragon. The film is loosely based on the famous Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man fight. Aug. 17, 2017.
William Chen, who favors a more traditional fighting style and martial art, regarded the Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man fight as a tie. In a version more closely aligned with Wong’s account than with Linda’s, he also recalled Lee’s aggressive nature in the fight, compared to Wong’s more restrained style. He agreed that the fight lasted around 20 to 25 minutes, and definitely did not end with Wong pleading for relief.
Although the real events of the match of Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man will always remain a controversial mystery to everyone except the handful of eyewitnesses, most people agree that it had a large impact on Lee.
Victory or not, the fight served as a catalyst for the icon to reform his entire approach to fighting and led him to develop his own more practical style, Jeet Kune Do, which combined elements of wing chun, taekwondo, wrestling, fencing, and Western boxing.
In an interview with Black Belt Magazine, Lee recounted the fight without naming Wong explicitly:
“I’d gotten into a fight in San Francisco (a reference, no doubt, to the Bay Area rather than the city) with a Kung-Fu cat, and after a brief encounter the son-of-a-bitch started to run. I chased him and, like a fool, kept punching him behind his head and back. Soon my fists began to swell from hitting his hard head. Right then I realized Wing Chun was not too practical and began to alter my way of fighting.”
Now that you’ve read about the legendary fight of Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man, check out these Bruce Lee quotes that will change your life. Then check out these Bruce Lee photos that show his life and career.
