By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly
The meticulous workout schedule, detailed diet, and instructive reading material make up a portion of the daily life of Bruce Lee, which went on display Oct. 1 at the Wing Luke Museum in Chinatown. The installment is the third and final exhibit created in partnership with the Bruce Lee Foundation. Shannon Lee, Lee’s daughter, was on hand for the opening of the exhibit to explain the meaning behind the exhibit and its intended purpose.
“A Day in the Life of Bruce” offers a glimpse of the daily rigors of Lee and provides insight on his success against all odds.
“In trying to make my father’s philosophies much more accessible, I thought it would be really great if people could come away with some of the tools on their own,” Lee said.
“The exhibit is very forward-looking and active,” explained Lee. She added that he was very intentional on what he did and how he cultivated his life.
On display are detailed schedules for Lee, including workout schedules, training people (including celebrities such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), as well as carving out time for study and his family.
Several items of Lee’s training equipment are on display, including some made by Lee to help with training. According to his workout calendar, Lee worked out 7 days a week, multiple times a day. He implemented a lot of cardio and flexibility training.
A list of Lee’s daily eating habits is on display, too. It includes what type of things Lee ate and what time he took nutritional supplements. “He was constantly experimenting on himself, “ Shannon Lee said of her father’s diet. She recalls that he was into juices. He also drank tea regularly and put some royal jelly, honey, and ginseng into the tea to maintain his energy levels. Shannon has cultivated the base formula and created “Bruce Tea.”
There are eight stops throughout the exhibition that are rooted with quotes from Bruce Lee. It allows the viewer the opportunity to reflect on their own lives as it relates to Lee’s life.
As with the past two installations, Lee’s influence on popular culture is on display. A pair of Kobe Bryant’s Nike shoes, with the trademark black and yellow, Bruce Lee colors from his “Enter the Dragon” jumpsuit, are on display, as well as a “Bruce Lee DJ” t-shirt known as “Gung Fu Scratch” worn by Robert Downey, Jr. in the movie, “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
There are also handwritten writings from Bruce Lee which relate to his personal philosophies. Some include aspects of his own martial art, Jeet Kune Do. Some include his personal reflections on acting and how to be an actor. In addition, Lee wrote out line by line notes for his fight scene with Chuck Norris in “Way of the Dragon.” It also includes a room of mirrors similar to that in “Enter the Dragon.”
In addition to the goals achieved, there were many obstacles and hurdles that Lee had to overcome. The installment presents a timeline of issues that Lee faced and how he overcame them.
The third and final installment of the Bruce Lee series take a deeper look into the personal life of Lee. The displays reveal a very mindful individual who was detailed in preparation to make sure that he could achieve his goals.
The exhibit includes a social media component. Focusing on the daily life of Lee, a portion of the social media aspect asks visitors to review their own lives and asks how they segment their daily lives. People can share their daily schedules with their friends via social media.
For more information, visit wingluke.org or doyouknowbruce.com.
Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.