Shek Kin is Bruce Lee’s Bruce Lee
It’s ironic. On the same day that the celluloid Shaolin master, David Carradine, died, an authentic kung fu master and Hong Kong film legend, Shek Kin, passed away. Although martial artists and film goers may know him as Han, Bruce Lee’s evil nemesis in Enter the Dragon, Shek Kin was a pioneer of early kung fu films. Please do not take this lightly: he was truly one of the first martial arts action stars. No doubt, as a child living in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee was thrilled and inspired by Shek Kin’s kicks and punches in the original black and white “chop socky ” films. Shek Kin achieved fame for playing the arch villain in over 80 films based on the Cantonese martial hero Wong Fei Hong.
As Far East editor for Inside Kung fu magazine back in the seventies, I interviewed Shek Kin in 1975 at his apartment in Hong Kong, after the international success of Enter the Dragon. As a point of interest, Shek Kin was in his late 50′s when he fought Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. He was a true master; modest, unassuming and gracious. Here is an excerpt from the end of his interview, in his own words:
An old Shaolin boxing proverb states: “Boxing has no set methods and hitting has no set rules….” Each…nation’s martial art uses basic weapons differently. Power is delivered differently, the patterns of offensive and defensive movements differ and the tactics and strategy differ.…
We should not think in terms of style; we should think in terms of martial arts in general….We should study the best aspects of other systems and better our Kung fu. With this constant exchange of new ideas and the changes that should result from the influences, more and more new styles will emerge as time goes on. Although there will be many new systems, the basics will always be the same…
With the surging popularity of mixed martial arts, Shek Kin’s words sound like those of a contemporary martial artist. Yet they were spoken thirty four years ago by this Grandmaster of Northern Shaolin. As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Nevertheless, Shek Kin was an old fashion traditionalist insisting that the primary goal of kung fu practice is for health and longevity. Self-defense is secondary. Unlike Lee and Carradine, Shek Kin lived a long life. He was 96.
Something for an Evolving Martial Artist to consider. What do you think?
Lawrence Tan
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Those words are really interesting to hear from a man who existed even before Bruce Lee was born. It literally seems like someone is speaking of the JKD concepts. It seems like slowly and slowly as one dwells deeper into the fundamentals of Kung-Fu, I suspect, he will eventually find that the roots of JKD actually are burried in traditional Chinese Kung-Fu, the kind of Kung-Fu, the kind of traditional artists and practioners, the kind of stories, the kind of training that very few seem to know and talk about.
One thing I always wondered if there were so many people who had embraced the reality of combat why it is then that only Bruce Lee is popular. May be he used the media as a very good medium. Even I could have never heard of Huo Yuanjia if back in 1939 no newspaper could have talked about him. I will really love to read the writings of Huo Yuanjia but I don’t seem to find any.
Bruce Lee was the first martial artist to utilize popular media as a spokes person teaching a modern re-interpretation of ancient Chinese wisdom. He created a paradigm shift to the reality of combat, because the real fighting meaning of traditional forms was becoming diluted and lost due to centuries of secrecy. Because of movie exposure, Lee has become the symbolic icon for martial artists. However, in my travels to China, I was fortunate to meet masters with higher stages of skill and understanding. They have no access to media and aren’t interested in fame. They are the unknown real masters. If you delve deeply into the roots of kung fu, you will realize that there is nothing new under the sun, only creative rearrangement.
> because the real fighting meaning of
> traditional forms was becoming diluted
> and lost due to centuries of secrecy.
I did not know that traditional forms have secret real-life combat techniques. I thought shaolin styles are open and everyone is invited to learn their fighting skills. See how many movies and how many styles in them. Take “Snake in the Monkey’s Shadow” e.g., too much of snake style in there. Am I wrong ?
I do believe there are and will be many great fighters who will never come to the light. I still think that Bruce Lee has something because artists like Jet Li and Jackie Chan also possess the skills and they have the whole media upon them but they are always known as actors, not as Martial-Artists (totally unlike Bruce Lee).
Bruce Lee is a ground breaker. Jacky Chan and Jet Li are amazing martial art movie stars. Lee was more. He created his own system. He had a calling and was passionate in proselytizing kung fu and the philosophical roots to the world. As a movie icon, he was able to reach the entire world unlike masters who are deeper into the art but do not have access to media.
Thus, Lee is the father of mixed martial arts.
I appreciate films inspired your love of martial arts. But be careful, kung fu movies are a popularization of martial arts but give a very distorted view of the true nature of martial arts. Martial art movies are comic book expressions of a very profound discipline. Many dedicated practioners only understand the popular meaning of martial arts. The Evolving Martial Artist seeks to penetrate to the roots of the martial way.
>I did not know that traditional forms have secret real-life combat techniques. I thought shaolin styles are open and everyone is invited to learn their fighting skills.
Shaolin martial arts was originally a secret art. The high level teachings were not readily revealed. Although modern Shaolin styles are open to all, most – even in China – do not teach the hidden meaning. The forms are books of knowledge that are a symbolic code. Most martial artist know the form but have not been initiated into the secret keys to decode form. However, genuine Shaolin forms are stylized movementst that conceal real fighting techniques and strategies. Most of JKD theories
are concealed in Shaolin forms – if you are initiated into the secret keys. JKD eliminates forms training and teaches fighting principles and modern training.