Conversation with Brandon Lee

This pice is for an audience of all ages. Its purpose is to show describe a conversation between two people.

E: You are Bruce Lee’s son?

Brandon Lee: Yes, I am (laughs). It wouldn’t do me any good to deny it and I wouldn’t want to.

E: Is that how people first think of you when they meet you?

BL: Well, yeah, obviously, when people see my last name, especially martial artists, that’s the first comment I get. Particularly with my father, people identify me with him – especially in the entertainment field. It has been kind of difficult because I’ve always wanted to have my own separate identity.

E: That’s quite interesting. Are your earliest memories of being around martial arts?

BL: Oh, my God, 24 hours a day. I couldn’t escape it. It was everywhere.

E: Would you like something to drink?

BL: No thank you, I was just at home. My wife doesn’t let me leave the house until all the food and drinks on the table are done.

E: You’re quite lucky to have a wife that cooks for you all the time then. But I have been meaning to ask you. Did you think the martial arts lifestyle was normal?

BL: No, I didn’t think it was normal. I knew something was up when I would visit my friend’s homes and they didn’t have martial arts equipment hanging on every wall and swords and knives stacked in the corner of the living room. The garage was so packed with gear that you couldn’t park the car. I didn’t know that a garage was made for a car.

E: Who were some of the people you remember seeing come in and train?

BL: Well, obviously, the original JKD people that everyone knows about. Then Jeff Imada came a little later on when we moved from Carson to Torrance. It was a very intimate group. It was just like family. I have good memories. They were all just like my uncles, you know? I had more uncles than anyone else I knew.

E: Did you play martial arts or just normal kid stuff?

BL: I think we played around a little with martial arts. But that’s all part of childhood. For some reason I always remember the trampoline We would always fight over this trampoline – which was going to be master of the trampoline.

E: Was there a time when you actually started formally training in martial arts, rather than just watching?

BL: Yes. I got beat up at school because I was the wrong color. My eye got scratched up pretty bad and I had blood all over my face, and I came running home. My father gave me a hug, cleaned me up, and told me that I’d survive it. I told him that I wanted to learn some things so it didn’t ever happen again. So we started training privately, and I remember his students coming in and asking what was going on and my father telling them that his son had gotten into a fight that day and it was time she learned to defend himself.

E: Well, our time is up. Thank you for having me over. It was quite a pleasure talking to you.

BL: The pleasures all mine.