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Friday, March 29, 2024

Midmorning With Aundrea - October 8, 2020 (Part 3)

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Midmorning With Aundrea - October 8, 2020 (Part 3)
Midmorning With Aundrea - October 8, 2020 (Part 3)

(Part 3) The daughter of legendary Asian martial arts superstar Bruce Lee looks back on his life and legacy.

Bruce lee starred in a series of big screen hits, like "fist of fury" a "the way of th dragon."

Through his work, lee fought to change the way asians and asian- americans were portrayed áon screená in the u-s.

His daughter, shannon lee, talks about her new book, exploring his álessá well- known side, as a philosophical thinker.

Bruce lee : "my last name i lee.

Bruce lee.

I was born in san francisco 1940.

Narr: in the mid- 1960s, bruce lee did a screen test for the television show, the green hornet.

Screen test: "an you went to college in the united states?"

Lee: "yes.

Screen test: "an what did you study?"

Lee: "philosophy.

Narr: lee, who landed the part as kato, the gung fu fighting sidekick in the series, wanted to understand the philosophy behind the martial arts that would soon make him a global star in films like enter the dragon: nat sot : it is a like a finger pointing a way to the moon.

Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.

Mason: "when yo were growing up, did you think of your father as a philosopher?"

Lee: "i guess not a much as i do now&" narr: lee's daughter, shannon, shares his principles in the new book, "b water my friend, the teachings of bruce lee," mason: "he reall kind of planned his own life."

Lee: "yes.

Yes.

Mean-- it seems kinda corny to say this, but, you know, he was a man of action, like, literally, right?

Like, he was a martial artist and an action film star, but he-- he, like, fully put into action his goals, his dreams, his life.

He trained&not just his body but his mind."

Narr: in 1969, lee wrote out by hand what he called "m definite chief aim."

...to be the highest paid asian super star in america... declaring "i wil achieve world fame."

Mason: "it seem almost clairvoyant.

Lee: yeah.

Yeah, but he really believed in-- in putting your mind on what you want, you know, and-- and not thinking of things as impossible" narr: the book's title comes from lee's most famous philosophy.

Bruce lee : "empty your mind be formless, shapeless, like water.

Now you put water into a cup it becomes the cup.

You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.

You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.

Now water can flow, or it can crash.

Be water, my friend."

Narr: shannon lee was just 4 when her father died from severe brain swelling in 1973.

But it was only after another tragedy, when her brother brandon died at 28 of an accidental gun shot on the set of "the crow" twen years later, that shannon was introduced to hundreds of pages of her father's writings& lee; "and i wa fresh at the time off the grief of my brother's passing.

And i was so very, um, i was in need.

// even though i don't have these really vivid long form memories of him.

I have a very vid sense of what he felt like, what his energy was like.

And then to match that with these words - it was - it was really a beautiful gift."

Nats: hk democracy protestors narr: lee's words are still providing fuel to people all over the world.

Mason: "you father's been an inspiration in-- in some of the protests in hong kong."

Lee: he has.

And, in fact, this notion of being like water is something that i know the protestors have been-- adopting // completely on their own, by the way.

// mason: "you mus be proud of that."

Lee: yeah.

Yeah.

For sure.

Narr: the streets of hong kong were swarmed with mourners when lee died there in 1973 at age 32& mason: you do remember the funeral in hong kong.

Lee: especially just sort of the overwhelming sense of it.

It was so chaotic.

// i'm looking at my little four-year- old face, and i'm just so overwhelmed and shut down.

// mason: "what d you think when you see that little girl?"

Lee: 10:38:43 ooof!

I have ultimate-- compassion for her.

And actually, it helps me to have compassion for myself as an adult, quite frankly.

Because i see that the ways in which i've struggled with being shut down at times in my life& stems from the loss of my father."

Mason: "..when yo lose your dad at four, you spend-- time, in a sense, trying to find him again.

Lee: "uh-huh mason: : "it must b comforting in-- in many way to have these writings of his."

Lee: "oh m gosh&it's like him being able to speak to me& mason: "you ca still hear him talking to you?"

Lee: "yeah definitely.

Definitely.

And i really mean it when i say he's still raising me."

Anthony mason, cbs news.

Just ahead, a salute to rock legend eddie van halen.

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