“It’s like police work; real, detective work. I enjoy that.”
Bruce Lee historian and author Steve Kerridge is my guest on this special episode of the show, which is very much a celebration of Bruce Lee’s life and work. Steve is the author of the fabulously detailed book, Bruce Lee: Legends of the Dragon, which outlines the making of the film The Way of the Dragon (1972), in which Bruce Lee acted as director, writer, star, and producer. Along with fellow Bruce Lee expert David Tadman, Steve also produces the regular Bruce Lee Forever poster magazines (which are available to buy from the Eastern Heroes online store). He has a new book in the pipeline, Bruce Lee: The Authorized Visual History. This official account of the life of the martial arts star features rare photography and a foreword by Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee. It will be released later in 2017. Steve has also compiled books on Bruce Lee’s many appearances in Hong Kong film and celebrity magazines, including the titles, Bruce Lee: Golden Movie News Annual, and Bruce Lee: Four Seas Weekly.
As well as knowing pretty much everything there is to know about the late, great kung fu star, Steve is also a distinguished martial arts instructor who runs his own school, the Essex Kickboxing Academy. He has dedicated his life to studying martial arts, ever since he first became obsessed with Bruce Lee in the early 1970s. Steve is part of the original, first-wave of Bruce Lee fans who remembers sneaking into cinemas in the UK to catch a glimpse of their hero, who passed away at the young age of 32 in 1973 after only starring in four complete films. Steve has an archive of rare Bruce Lee material – from audio to magazines and first-edition books from all over the world – and it was an incredible privilege to be able to visit his home office to record this interview. In this podcast, Steve highlights the following books as being great resources for anyone who wants to learn more about Bruce Lee and his life. These books are:
- Wing-chun Kung-fu: Chinese Self-Defence Methods (1973) by R. Clausnitzer and Greco Wong
- Bruce Lee: King of Kung-fu (1974) by Felix Dennis and Don Atyeo
- The Legend of Bruce Lee (1974) by Alex Ben Block
- Tao of Jeet Kune Do (1975) by Bruce Lee
- The Treasures of Bruce Lee (2013) by Paul Bowman
This episode features audio from the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973), and a clip from the opening theme to Game of Death (1978) written by John Barry. You can buy Barry’s complete, original (and brilliant) soundtrack on iTunes. This episode also features snippets from Bruce Lee’s famous English-language interview on The Pierre Berton Show, recorded on 9 December 1971. The full interview is available to watch on YouTube and embedded in this post. Many of the proceeds from Steve’s books goes to the Bruce Lee Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which funds social and educational initiatives. Visit bruceleefoundation.org for more information.
The cover of Bruce Lee: Four Seas Weekly by Steve Kerridge.
A copy of the Bruce Lee Forever poster magazine.
Example pages from Legends of the Dragon Vol. 1 by Steve Kerridge.
Example pages from Legends of the Dragon Vol. 2 by Steve Kerridge.
