Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, born on this day in 1940, was not only one of the most iconic stars in movie history, he was also one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th Century. Though his life was tragically cut short at just 32 years old, his legacy continues to cast a towering shadow over cinema and sport in 2024. His film & TV work in the 1960s and ‘70s helped popularize martial arts in the West, and influenced future filmmakers like Jackie Chan, John Woo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Quentin Tarantino. Meanwhile, the martial arts philosophy he founded known as Jeet Kune Do remains an inspiration to other martial artists, athletes, and performers across the world. If you’d like to learn more about Bruce Lee’s life, or watch him in action in his most famous films, here are some books and movies you can check out using your Livingston Library card. (Descriptions provided by the publishers.)
Books
Like Water: A Cultural History of Bruce Lee by Daryl Joji Maeda
Bruce Lee embodies the intermixture of cultures that results from transnational flows of people, ideas, and capital. Born in San Francisco and raised in Hong Kong, his life was one of constant shuttling across the Pacific. Rather than being a product of California or China, he was produced by transpacific currents impelled by colonialism, capitalism, and militarism. In his life, career, and films he faced and addressed racism and colonialism. He shattered national, racial, and cultural boundaries in his martial arts practice, personal life, and films. His philosophy of intermixture can be tracked by studying how his fighting style evolved, driven by his ethos of absorbing influences from around the globe. He defied US discrimination against interracial marriage by marrying a white woman and embraced cultural hybridity in raising their children. In Hollywood, he broke ground as an Asian American on television and when racism stymied his career, he revolutionized filmmaking by combining aesthetics and influences drawn from both Hong Kong and Hollywood. Nearly half a century after his tragic death at the age of 32, Bruce Lee continues to inspire people around the globe as a symbol of innovation, determination, and pursuit of justice.
Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee
Bruce Lee’s daughter illuminates her father’s most powerful life philosophies-demonstrating how martial arts are a perfect metaphor for personal growth, and how we can practice those teachings every day. “Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless like water.” Bruce Lee is a cultural icon, renowned the world over for his martial arts and film legacy. But Lee was also a deeply philosophical thinker, learning at an early age that martial arts are more than just an exercise in physical discipline-they are an apt metaphor for living a fully realized life. Now, in Be Water, My Friend, Lee’s daughter Shannon shares the concepts at the core of his philosophies, showing how they can serve as tools of personal growth and self-actualization. Each chapter brings a lesson from Bruce Lee’s teachings, expanding on the foundation of his iconic “be water” philosophy. Over the course of the book, we discover how being like water allows us to embody fluidity and naturalness in life, bringing us closer to our essential flowing nature and our ability to be powerful, self-expressed, and free. Through previously untold stories from her father’s life and from her own journey in embodying these lessons, Shannon presents these philosophies in tangible, accessible ways. With Bruce Lee’s words as a guide, she encourages readers to pursue their essential selves and apply these ideas and practices to their everyday lives-whether in learning new things, overcoming obstacles, or ultimately finding their true path. Be Water, My Friend is an inspirational invitation to us all, a gentle call to action to consider our lives with new eyes. It is also a testament to how one man’s exploration and determination transcended time and place to ignite our imaginations-and to inspire many around the world to transform their lives.
Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly
Following a decade of research that included conducting more than one hundred interviews with Lee’s family, friends, business associates, and even the actress in whose bed Lee died, Polly has constructed a complex, humane portrait of the icon.
Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body by John Little
Learn the secrets to obtaining Bruce Lee’s astounding physique with this insightful martial arts training book. The Art of Expressing the Human Body, a title coined by Bruce Lee himself to describe his approach to martial arts, documents the techniques he used so effectively to perfect his body for superior health and muscularity. Beyond his martial arts and acting abilities, Lee’s physical appearance and strength were truly astounding. He achieved this through an intensive and ever-evolving conditioning regime that is being revealed for the first time in this book. Drawing on Lee’s notes, letters, diaries and training logs, Bruce Lee historian John Little presents the full extent of Lee’s unique training methods including nutrition, aerobics, isometrics, stretching, and weight training. In addition to serving as a record of Bruce Lee’s training, The Art of Expressing the Human Body, with its easy-to-understand and simple-to-follow training routines, is a valuable source book for those who seek dramatic improvement in their health, conditioning, physical fitness, and appearance.
Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living by John Little
“A teacher is never a giver of truth, he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst.” – Bruce Lee
Within the chapters of Striking Thoughts, you will find the secrets of Bruce Lee’s incredible success-as an actor, martial artist, and inspiration to the world. Consisting of eight sections, Striking Thoughts covers 72 topics and 825 aphorisms-from spirituality to personal liberation and from family life to filmmaking, all of which Bruce lived by. His ideas helped energize his life and career and made it possible for him to live a happy and assured life, overcoming challenging obstacles with seeming ease. They also inspired his family, friends, students, and colleagues to achieve success in their own lives, and this personal collection will help you in your journey, too.
Films
Enter the Dragon (1973, directed by Robert Clouse)
Lee goes to the island of a warlord of crime, Han (Shih Kien), who carries on his opium smuggling and prostitution activities under the disguise of a martial arts academy. Determined to avenge the death of his sister (Angela Mao-Ying), Lee penetrates Han’s stronghold and enters a brutal martial arts tournament Hans is staging.
The Big Boss (1971, directed by Lo Wei)
A young kung-fu fighter (Lee) who has sworn an oath of non-violence works with his cousins in an ice factory. The fighter decides to break his oath and avenge his relatives after they are slain by their gangster boss.
Fist of Fury (1972, directed by Lo Wei)
Lee stars as Chen Zhen, a martial arts protégé who returns to his former school in Shanghai when he learns that his beloved instructor has been murdered. To avenge his master’s death, Chen must fight the greatest assassins from a rival school.
The Way of the Dragon (1972, directed by Bruce Lee)
Lee’s only complete directorial film is packed action and epic fight scenes. Lee pays a visit to family members who own a restaurant in Italy. But mobsters who want the land the eatery is built on harass the owners, forcing Lee to defend his family as only he can. Lee, for the sake of his loved ones, must battle a U.S. karate expert (Chuck Norris) in an epic fight at a Roman coliseum.
Game of Death (1978, directed by Robert Crouse)
Lee stars as Billy Lo, a champion fighter and movie star who fakes his death to escape and then expose the crime syndicate that wants to control him. When his fiancée Ann (Colleen Camp) is kidnapped, Billy comes out of hiding and infiltrates the gang’s headquarters, a restaurant where Billy engages in one-on-one combat with a number of increasingly deadly opponents.
—Joe, Adult Services & Acquisitions