Bruce Lee is still recognized in America as the person who made Martial arts cinema popular With his lightening fast fighting style. Bruce Lee created the spark that caused the wildfire like spread of eastern style fighting into western culture. The country he was raised in has not held him in such high regard in past years. He has received little to no recognition for his works in the film industry or teaching martial arts and helping to cast such a positive light on it. The location of the New Orleans home where he practiced the skills that lead to his amazing ability to perform his own stunts has been renovated and is the office of a local attorney whose maritime practice covers most of the gulf states. Fans who visited that location report that the legal team there are well aware of the connection to Bruce Lee because they are big fans evident by the posters in the main hall. Quite amusing to consider that his popularity includes even lawyers, but that’s just another source of humor. Maritime lawyers practice the law as it pertains to navigable fresh waters ( rivers / canals / the Great Lakes waterway) in the United States, as well as to open waters such as in the Gulf of Mexico or along the coastal seaboard of the US.

My uncle is a Bruce Lee fan and had made a pilgrimage to San Francisco where he was born. Man, was he disappointed with what he found!

That said Hong Kong is coming to view Bruce Lee in a better light. The city is starting to recognize him for some of his accomplishments with a new exhibit about short lived but amazing career of the very first martial artist to attain global fame. The government has produced a documentary and a multimedia exhibit was unveiled recently including a new statue on the Avenue of Stars. Some say that it is long overdue & a step in the right direction but more should be done to honor one of the cities own.

Bruce Lee died at the very young age of 32. In in that short time he accomplished as much as any other martial artist in know history. Some would say that he turned martial arts cinema into what it has become today. That is very under debate in some circles because many people still believed he should have never revealed the detailed secrets about the arts that he did not people who were not of their culture. Some viewed this as a huge travesty. It can be argued that the mixed feelings about him is the exact reason for Bruce Lee’s missing recognition.

It was Bruce Lee’s effort which eventually led to Asian actors being cast in leading roles as the good guy in major Hollywood productions. Without his works they would most certainly have been restricted to the bit parts they were normally cast in for some time more should he not have emerged when he did.

The exhibit included more than just the statue which many felt was nice but not enough. There is also a 3D Hologram of Bruce Lee which unleashes his famous kicks and punches on a real punching bag which in turn begins to swing. Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon helped to unveil the new exhibit & has been raising fund to open a similar exhibit in Seattle where the star is buried. Many feel that the legacy of Bruce Lee is lacking here in America as well and hope to be able to erect a permanent memorial, more suited to Bruce Lee himself, in the future.