"Boards don't hit back."

Some of my fondest memories of time spent with my dad when I was little involve the following things:

• Sunday brunches at the bagel shop
• Antique car shows
• Oldies music (especially songs like Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers)
• Swimming
• Bruce Lee

Epic boss battle

Aside from Robin Williams (who I adored in the movie Flubber), Bruce Lee was probably the first actor who I knew by name. And, since my dad thought he was awesome, naturally I thought he was awesome too. 

I soon realized that he was completely right, and not just in the way that little girls see their fathers as all-knowing demi-gods. 

Fun fact: Most martial arts movies speed up the action scenes to make the moves look faster. For Bruce Lee they actually did the opposite. Just so his moves would be visible, they filmed him at 32 fps rather than the usual 24. 

Naturally, I was super hyped when we got around to Hong Kong cinema in one of my film classes and we started talking about Golden Harvest, the Chinese film production company responsible for bringing many martial arts movies to the Western world and for making Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan household names. It prompted me to run over to the media library and rent Enter the Dragon and boy did I get all nostalgic while watching it. Sure, the plot seemed much cornier and transparent, and the violence more gruesome than I remembered (did this not bother 7-year-old me?). But a few things remained unchanged. Bruce Lee was still incredible to watch and his facial expressions were more amusing than ever. 

Another fun fact: One of Jackie Chan's first film roles was as an extra in Enter the Dragon. I'm pretty sure he gets his neck snapped by Bruce Lee in one of the numerous fight scenes. And I'm pretty sure he bragged about it to all his friends.

However, for the sake of making a point, I think it is most accurate to describe Bruce Lee as a martial artist who made films, rather than an actor who did martial arts. He was an incredible fighter and there are some amazing videos out there of his demonstrations (albeit, the quality is pretty poor) such as the "one inch punch." He was famous for his insane physical feats and for creating his own style of fighting but one thing that is often overlooked was the fact that he was also a philosophy major. After doing some brief research on the topic, I've come to admire how he took his philosophy and applied it to all aspects of his life, including his fighting and his teaching. 

Just some quotes of his I pulled off of wikipedia (read: I'm lazy sometimes):

• "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
• "All types of knowledge, ultimately leads to self knowledge."

When I think of Bruce Lee, I think of a person in perfect balance. He always appeared to possess such a pure understanding of himself and his art. 

Sadly, he passed away at the age of 32 from an allergic reaction to a headache pill. It leaves you to wonder how much more he would have achieved. But like all great people who die in the prime of their lives, we have the bittersweet pleasure of remembering them at their best.

I'd really love to read up more on the topic of his life and his philosophy (mental note to self) and I know there are an insane number of books to choose from. Something else to add to the growing book queue.

But going back to my childhood again... I really have a lot to thank my dad for. He introduced me to many amazing things such as astronomy and martial arts and gave me my love for science and for learning. I really could not have asked for a better dad growing up.

And of course, now movies like Terminator or Blood Sport have a special place in my heart.

This face.

Aw man, this stuff was gold. I'm getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.