Now most folks don’t know this, and quite a few…especially some modern martial artist, will react with the same horror to the notion that Bruce Lee owned guns that religious fundamentalists do when confronted by evidence of evolution. But the fact remains, Lee owned guns.
Now it is well known that many of his contemporary martial artists and associates such as Ed Parker were avid gun collectors and shooters. Ed Parker was known for his collection of AR-15s even in the late 60s and is often cited as being the one who got Elvis Presley involved in collecting what would come to be known as “black rifles.” Other Lee associates such as Steven McQueen are known to have been NFA collectors. And despite Lee’s martial prowess he is never known to have been dismissive of guns in his films. To the contrary in “Enter The Dragon” he quips the line 'Now why doesn’t someone pull out a .45 and “bang” settle it?" as an alternative to a government agencies complicated infiltration by martial artist assassin scenario. Of course plot constructs had to be such that for whatever reason firearms were not an option in order to prevent the movie from being 15 minutes long. In another film “Return of the Dragon” when threatened by the Mob, Lee inquires about buying a gun for protection. A line that can still make modern martial arts devotees who think “real fighters don’t need guns” cringe.
Now it is not known exactly what firearms Lee owned. Despite his modern “non classical” approach to most things, he tended to gravitate towards the traditional when it came to his weapon collection. It is unlikely Parker convinced him to buy a AR-15 but a few sources suggest he did own a 1911 handgun and a .38 revolver (probably an early S&W). And from my personal collection of rare Bruce Lee photos here is the only “known” photo of firearms owned by Lee.
He bought these two antique rifles in Rome while filming “Way of the Dragon” (released as Return of the Dragon in the US).
And while most people know he was skilled with the nunchaku, most do not know he was skilled with many “traditional” Chinese weapons such as the Three Sectional Staff as seen here in another rare photo.
And while many Lee devotees have seen footage of him doing a one handed, two finger push up almost nobody has seen him doing “thumb” push ups with arms extended above his head. I cannot begin to describe just how difficult this is to do.
And one of my favorite Lee photos (although not terribly rare) is of Lee with his young son Brandon. Many martial artists were dismissive of Brandon when he began making films which incorporated martial arts and stated that he was never a serious student and only recently began his training prior to making films such as “Rapid Fire.” This photo easily disproves that misconception as well.
Well I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the man that was Bruce Lee. And despite having as much reason as any man to think “I don’t need a gun”, Lee was intelligent enough to know what works and what works best when it came to personal protection. And if a guy like Bruce Lee tells you “You might want to get a gun for protection”, then the Sarah Brady “You don’t need a gun” argument becomes that much more ridiculous.
I have read every single piece on Bruce that I can get my hands on and have NEVER heard of him owning or talking about guns. But this makes me a happy camper for sure. I have never seen that first picture either which is awesome man. Where did it come from?
I remember reading an article many years ago speculating what firearms Bruce Lee owned. I believe it was printed in a gun magazine. I’ve seen that photo with the antique rifles, I thought it was pretty cool. The world was a different place then. My cousins introduced us to Bruce Lee after they moved back from Hawaii. They took martial arts while my uncle was stationed there. One of the subjects I was fascinated with but never took up seriously. One cousin was a big fan of Lee as Kato in The Green Hornet which was popular on TV while they were there. I came to admire Lee and would have like to have met him. It was a sad day when he died.
Very cool stuff, Steyr. It’s always interesting when you post this kind of thing. Thanks
I am not so surprised as Lee struck me as practical man. I am sure that he knew every defensive situation required a specific answer, and that might include more than the hand or foot.
And smart enough to know you don’t bring MA to gun fight if you can avoid it. Good on him. He obviously knew MA has it’s place, but a blaster close by dramatically increases ones chances of survival.
Lee’s problem with the mob were a tad exaggerated by some people he worked with after he died in order to cash in on their acquaintance and the Asian media’s love of a juicy story.
When he made films in Hong Kong paying the Triads off was a standard production cost just like in the US if you want to make tall buildings and employ union workers.
There was also a “mob trying to control my life” central theme in what was his last movie (although he didn’t complete it and it was released years after his death by using a stand in and recycled footage from his earlier films) “The Game of Death.” There were also many psuedo documentaries and exploitation films done to cash in on Lee’s fame and death where anyone who ever held a camera or delivered a package to Lee were given “insider account” status to tell their previously unknown story of Bruce Lee.
The Asian mob itself was instrumental in creating and spreading many of the “Bruce Lee lives in fear of the mob” stories to make themselves seem much more prominent. The only time Bruce Lee told the mob to “get bent” was when he was filming “Way of the Dragon” (aka Return of the Dragon) in Rome and he was the actual producer of the film. When the local families tried reaching into his pocket for everything, especially when it came to mafia “families” with little or no actual power, he told all the wannabe gangsters standing in line with their hands out to go fly a kite.
He paid service fees only to those who controlled workers and services necessary to the completion of his film and nothing more. Obviously all the other “mafioso” threatened him with all manner of nasty scenarios but the reality is the mafia families with actual power were already being paid and wouldn’t let some small fry screw up their “big film project” which is bringing in decent money.
The film itself was also about the mob trying to muscle in on a family business and many people got their 15 minutes claiming this resulted in the mafia vowing revenge or vendettas for the insult. But once Bruce left Rome and returned to Hong Kong he left behind any threats real, imagined or created for publication.
It is likely Lee had a defensive firearm while filming in Rome, but that was probably to make sure nobody tried to steal his convertible and things like that than fear of the mob. His greatest concern was probably film equipment going out the back door at night when they shut down for the day.
Interesting stuff! My comment was a general one of course vs. any knowledge of his mob related issues, or lack there of. It’s nice to know that as talented in MA as he was, he knew the value of a good blaster it seems.
I knew that, but the issue was raised (actually by Sam) so I thought I’d give the big picture. Sadly as soon as Lee died virtually everyone that every met him suddenly claimed BFF status and sold their story. By contrast, those who actually were his best friends such as Jesse Glover, Taky Kimura, Dan Inosanto, Stirling Silliphant, James Coburn, Steve McQueen and Joe Hyams were reluctant to talk to the media about him in any context out of fear of being misquoted or taken out of context.
One of the saddest things I saw, after Bruce Lee died, was a campaign promoting Chuck Norris as “The Man Who Killed Bruce Lee”. I heard later that Chuck Norris was very upset about that.
A lot of people were upset with Raymond Chow of Golden Harvest who produced Lee’s earlier films for completing “Game of Death” the way he did, including open casket footage of Bruce Lee’s Hong Kong viewing to help advance the plot line. Chuck Norris objected to the use of the “Lee / Norris” fight scene from “Way of the Dragon” (aka Return of the Dragon) being used despite the fact that Golden Harvest owned the rights.
Other notable vultures include Aaron Banks in the film “Fist of Fear / Touch of Death” done in a documentary style who suggested he knew the secret of how Lee was killed and who did it although he was “reluctant to discuss it on film.” It is probably one of the most offensive film insults to Lee and Banks continued his fine tradition of being a truly reprehensible individual who never missed a chance to try and advance himself through the fame of others far more talented than he was.
Maybe I grew up in an unusual martial arts crowd. All weapons, including firearms was of interest to those I grew up around and trained with. I find it more interesting that someone would think it unusual that Bruce Lee liked firearms.
While most of the 50/60s US generation of martial artists were typically military types who grew up with guns, during about the mid 70s after Lee’s death came the notion of “black belts who could kick guns and knives out of bag guys hands” and other absurd nonsense.
Of course any martial artist who had a realistic approach to anything knew better, but as is often the case they were sometimes outnumbered by the idiots.
They’re everywhere. I helped a semi-well-known author who is always extolling the virtues of Tae Kwon Do (and his black belt) with some firearms details for a book he was writing about a year ago. Nice guy, but very wrapped up in the mystical chop-socky bullshit. He got mugged and got his ass thoroughly kicked in downtown Indianapolis last summer. Couldn’t even describe his attackers, because while he was focused on the one with the gun, the other one crowned him with a booze bottle.
My brother’s kung fu master is a huge advocate of bringing a gun to a gun fight. He does teach the cultural, spiritual, and self-defense aspects of his style of kung fu as well, but is also practical.
The best time to kick a man is when he’s down. When you fight, you fight to win. That includes bringing the right tool for the job.
I wonder if the Chinese martial arts are more in tune with the practical side than the Japanese and the Korean styles?
