The one man who scared Bruce Lee: “Unlike anything I have ever seen”
Bruce Lee is often thought of as Hollywood’s ultimate fighter. Before his sad death in 1973, when he was only 32 years old, he built a legacy by bringing martial arts into mainstream Hollywood movies. Beyond even his own filmography, Lee’s influence was vital in reshaping the action genre and upping the ante of on-screen fights. But still, there was one man who scared him.
In Bruce Lee’s story, acting came first. Born the son of an opera star, he had his first role when he was only a baby as he was introduced to the entertainment industry from the moment of his birth really. From then on, he began building an impressive resume. He was only nine when he got his breakout moment in The Kid, starring alongside his father in an adaptation of a popular comic book.
It wasn’t until he was older and was struggling in school that he got into fighting. Not the most academic student, Lee began taking boxing classes but was soon found getting into street fights. Keen to help their son find a path, his parents encouraged him to train in martial arts. With a way into the film world and now his skill for fighting, the rest was history.
The man he feared, on the other hand, started with fighting. Speaking about Chuck Norris, another Hollywood tough guy, Lee said he was “someone I would never want to be on the receiving end of a kick from.”
Norris began with martial arts, competing in and winning competitions long before he ever considered acting. Over time, he became a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo, mastering three different forms of fighting before later founding his own form, Chun Kuk Do.
Norris didn’t get into the film industry until the 1970s but it was alongside Lee that he got his breakthrough. In The Way of the Dragon, which was written and directed by Lee as well as seeing him star in the lead role, Norris got his on-screen debut. It marked the start of his career, but it also marked the start of a complex friendship between the two men. As they both worked in the same niche, trying to make a Hollywood career out of their ability to fight, it was rife with competition and comparison.
From then on, and still today, there is always the question of who would beat the other in a fight. Norris remembered fanning the flames of that rivalry as he said, “At that time I held the world title, and kiddingly I said to Bruce ‘Well, who wins Bruce?’ and he says, ‘I win, I’m the star of this movie”. I say, ‘Oh, I see, you want to beat the world champion, and he said ‘No I don’t, I want to kill the world champion’”.
Lee fought back, telling press that he’d be able to handle Norris in a fight “almost as a parent would a young child”. But actually, it seems like he would have preferred to not get into a real life fight with the Karate champion as he said, “I must admit, Chuck is a man who possesses skills and abilities unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He is quite the fighter.”
Under the on-screen fights and the public war of words, the two men deeply admired and respected one another. Norris called Lee a “formidable opponent with a chiselled physique and technique.” He packed on the praise, talking about their movie by saying, “I enjoyed working with Bruce Lee in the film. It was a lot of fun, the fight scene is considered the classic martial arts fight scene of all time. So it’s nice to be involved in a fight scene that everyone [loves].”
