One of the best movies I saw during my childhood was Fists of Fury starring Bruce Lee. That was circa 1985 and my dad had just bought a Video Cassette Recorder.
I recall that he was the first to buy one in our neighbourhood and we used to have many people visit to watch movies on video cassettes. I also recall that we had The Ten Commandments, The Bible and Sound of Music.
For Yoruba movies, we had Ajagun Nla produced by Akin Ogungbe and a comedy by Papalolo, Aderupoko and Jacob. We used to have a remote control for the VCR that had a long cord plugged to the VCR. Those were the days!
We didn’t have too many options as local TV stations resumed at 4.30 pm and closed by 12 midnight.
One movie that I watched over and over again was Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury. I still remember his picture with both fists drawn on the back of the sleeve of the video cassette. I was fascinated by his skills, his moves and his wit.
Bruce Lee was my first action hero. I adored him as a kid. He looked so invincible that there was a myth around his death.
So, when I saw a book about him at a foreign bookstore a while ago, I snapped it up. I only got the chance to read it during my flight on November 16, 2023 and what a read it was!
The foreword to the book, The Bruce Lee Way, was written by his son, Shannon Lee who was only four years when his dad died. You will usually know a good book from its foreword and this one wasn’t an exception.
Filled with bromides of actual writings of Bruce Lee, the book brings to life his motivation and thoughts about many issues. The book helped to look at the man in a much deeper way.
He was simply incredible—his discipline, his mental strength, his background, his love life and even his beliefs were ahead of his time.
Bruce Lee kept a diary where he wrote his thoughts. He had a library and was a voracious reader. His discipline was out of this world—he practised by throwing thousands of punches a day.
Bruce Lee was more than just an action star. His legacy continues to teach us profound lessons about discipline, clarity of purpose and the power of setting definite goals. Share on XHe was also an incredible father to the extent that he considered fatherhood to be among his greatest achievements. He was deeply philosophical.
One of his greatest sayings was, “I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once but the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.”
My greatest highlight was his ability to set goals. At the beginning of 1969, Bruce Lee wrote an affirmation titled, My Definite Chief Aim as follows:
“I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental superstar in the United States. In return, I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor.
“Starting 1970, I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980, I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.”
He was very clear about what he wanted. His goal was not ambiguous. He also knew he had to give so much to get what he wanted. He died from cerebral edema after sleeping following a headache. He never woke up from that sleep. He was just 32 years old. His legacy still lives on.