Bruce Lee Vs Wong Jack Man - Here Is All You Need To Know About The Biggest Fight Of Chinese Martial Art

Bruce Lee whose original name was Lee Jun-fan was a martial artist, martial arts trainer along with an actor and film director. Bruce Lee is also accredited for founding the martial art “Jeet Kune Do” which is one of the wushu or kung fu styles.

Bruce Lee was 16 when he started getting trained in Wing Chun under Yip Man in 1957 after he lost to many rival gang members. However, due to his involvement in the street fights and as police were also keeping an eye on him, his parents decided to send him to America from Hong Kong. He moved to America and started teaching martial arts in 1959.

1Bruce Lee moved to Oakland from Seattle

In the 1960s, the Chinatown of San Francisco was a great platform for the young martial artists and Bruce Lee also decided to open his second Jun Fan martial arts studio in Oakland. Soon, his popularity in the region increased and there were many non-Chinese students also who joined his institute. 

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2Chinese community against Bruce Lee

However, it is being said that the Chinese community didn’t like that Bruce Lee was teaching non-Chinese people the secret of Chinese martial arts. As per Lee, an ultimatum was issued to him by the Chinese community ordering him to stop teaching non-Chinese students. But when he refused to obey them, they challenged him to have a fight with Wong Jack Man. It was decided that if Bruce Lee lost the match, he will have to shut down his institute and if he won, he will be allowed to teach anyone. 

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3Reason for fight seems controversial

This reason of the fight is a little controversial as Wong Jack Man already had a martial art institute in Oakland even before Bruce Lee opened up his own and there were a good number of non-Chinese students in Wong’s institute. As per Wong, he never discriminated against white or non-Chinese students and he requested Bruce Lee for a fight after Bruce Lee boasted in Chinatown theatre that he can beat anyone in San Francisco. 

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4Who is Wong Jack man?

He is a Chinese martial artist and trainer, he taught T'ai chi chuan, Northern Shaolin and Xingyiquanat at the Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. Born in Hong Kong, the Grandmaster retired in 2005. The fight between him and Bruce Lee is considered as one of the biggest fights of the Chinese martial arts. 

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5Fight between Wong Jack Man and Bruce Lee

There is no doubt that the fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man is among the most famous and biggest fights in the history of martial arts but there are many aspects of this fight about which not much is known and different people have given different accounts.

Wong wanted the fight to be public but Bruce Lee had objections to it so it was decided that a private fight will take place at Lee’s school in the presence of few people.