
Legacy of the Little Dragon šš»šĀ
Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Bruce Lee,Ā ęå°é¾Ā Lee Siu Lung, the āLittle Dragonā, born Lee Jun Fan,Ā ęęÆč©Ā (November 27, 1940), on the 50th anniversary of his passing on July 20, 1973.
There are few people who have made such a lasting impression on the world as Bruce Lee has. He was a martial artist, philosopher and āArtist of Lifeā who has become a cultural icon that continues to inspire us still.
He would have turned 83 years old this year, and I often wonder how he would have evolved and what he would have accomplished had he survived?
This past weekend, my wife, Tetana and I attended the āBruce Lee’s Wisdom for Riding the Wave of Change – A Conversation with Shannon Leeā
at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattleās International District, on Saturday.
In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Bruce Lee’s Legacy, Shannon Lee, Chair of the Bruce Lee Foundation
(Ā https://bruceleefoundation.org/ ) and Bruceās daughter, offered practical and insightful perspectives on navigating change, shifting our perspective toward wholeness, focusing on redefining our personal wellbeing to tap our potential, and thereby amplifying harmony in our community.

Tetana and I both deeply appreciated the practical insights. It was profound, inspiring and heartfelt.
My wife, Tetana is a licensed mental health therapist, and an Indigenous member of the Colville Federation of Tribes; in the Question and Answer portion of Shannonās talk, she asked Shannonās perspective on how to deal with recent events and developments around intensifying racial tensions and attacks on civil rights and was deeply moved by her response. In her own words, Tetana says about Shannonās āhealing talk that literally left me in tears by the end. I’m looking forward to taking the teachings she shared from her father as well as her own healing journey, and apply them to my own life.Ā š„°
As I listened to her talk, I realized much of what I was teaching my clients in therapy was similar; however, I also realized that I wasn’t also walking the talk that I gave others for their healing journey. In my life, I too, deserve and could definitely use, these very same teachings! Making this connection at the end is what moved me emotionally.šĀ I too deserve to live by these teachings, and so much more. I feel like this has been a significant moment of leveling up in understanding what I need in my own healing.šĀ I’ve had all of this in me waiting to be applied to myself all along.Ā šÆāØļøĀ š„°Ā I’m so grateful to my husband for signing us up to go to this talk, and to Shannon, for her wisdom sharing.ā



We were honored to briefly meet Shannon, and really admire how down to earth and friendly she is, as she signed our copy of her inspirational āBe Water, My Friendā book.
I was honestly starstruck and struggled to maintain my composure. As much as I wanted to stay and talk more, she had other fans to greet before continuing with her busy schedule. Later that evening, she sang the National Anthem at the Seattle Sounders game!



After attending Shannon Leeās talk, Tetana and I toured the Wing Luke museum, and the Bruce Lee exhibit there. We had a delicious dim sum lunch at Ocean Star Restaurant, and enjoyed wandering around Chinatown, before paying our respects to Bruce and Brandon Leeās graves at Lakeview Cemetery.

How Bruce Lee Inspired My LifeĀ
When I was 12 (in 1982), I became interested in Martial Arts. I was an introverted, artistic kid that was fascinated with world mythology, Arthurian Legends, comics and Dragons. My older cousin Troy was studying Taekwondo and defended himself in numerous street fights; I looked up to him and he encouraged me to watch some of his Bruce Lee movies on VHS. Bruce Leeās intense example kindled a spark in me, and changed my life. To be specific, Bruce Leeās example struck such a resonant chord, on a Soul Level, that made me realize that martial arts was my way of life and he helped me discover myself. Soon after, I began studying Judo, and when a Kung Fu Institute opened 3 years later in my hometown, Omaha, NE, I begged my parents to let me join, and Iāve been training martial arts with various teachers ever since. Whatās always inspired me is getting so deeply connected, that skillful refinement leads to ā or gives way to ā the raw expression of Spirit, or Soul. That moment of inspired Grace where we are so completely present and tuned in to Source and flowing from that authentic experience.
That is what I recognized when I first saw the āLittle Dragonā on film, and now, 40 years later, I am rediscovering on a personal level through Shannon Leeās work with the Bruce Lee Foundation, the Bruce Lee Podcast, and her book āBe Water, My Friend.ā
Shannonās own unique insight brings so much practical clarity and focus to her Fatherās philosophy, and itās helping me to refine myself in a personal renaissance.
In my martial arts training over the years, Iāve had the good fortune to meet a couple of Bruce Leeās students, Richard Bustillo and Jesse Glover, and also met one of Bruceās teachers, Fook Yeung, and trained with his top student, Dave Harris, for a couple years before he passed.



I know that Fook Yeung had a very diverse background in several martial arts disciplines (Wing Chun, Southern Mantis, XingyiQuan, TaijiQuan and Bagua Zhang, Monkey Boxing, etc), and Iāve wondered how much this mixed approach influenced Bruce Leeās development of his own martial arts expression as Jeet Kune Do.
My own practice of martial arts, especially the last 30 years, focuses primarily on a system called Bagua Zhang (ā8 Trigrams Palmā), from 3 different instructors, which also focuses heavily on adapting to change and transformation in the moment.
The specific branch I practice, and now teach, is āSwimming Body Dragon Shape 8 Trigrams Palmā
Talk about Being Water! šš
I remember my own Bagua Zhang Shifu, Yang Guotai, as critically opinionated as he was, referenced Bruce Lee with respect on occasion. Interestingly, much of Bruce Leeās deep insights mirror the lessons in Bagua Zhang, which is a system designed to take a martial artistās previous training foundation, and help them become strategically more well rounded, and at advanced levels cultivating Wu Wei, to attune to Source, connect to the archetypal patterns of transformation, and find our own natural expression.

āWe are vortices whose center is a point that is motionless and eternal but which appears in manifestation as motion which increases in velocity in the manner of a whirlpool or tornado. The nucleus is reality whereas the vortex is phenomenon. Hold to the core!ā ~ Bruce Lee ššš«
In the last 3 months, Iāve returned to my initial source of martial arts inspiration, and have been reading biographies about Bruce Lee (the best Iāve read so far is āBruce Lee, A Lifeā by Matthew Polly), and Shannon Leeās āBe Water, My Friend,ā which lead me to the Bruce Lee Podcast, which Iāve been immersed in ā so far listened up to episode #136!

The Bruce Lee Podcast is a practical, applied philosophy discussion and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in improving themselves and overcoming challenges in life. Iāve learned a lot about myself in the process, and has helped me get more centered and focused on my own life path, and cut through some of my own personal obstacles. So, I am excited to catch up to current ā only a few hundred episodes to go! š
I want to finish here by saying thank you to Bruce Lee and his familyā I have have felt such a powerful Soul-Level inspiration and connection to Bruce Lee, his son Brandon Lee and his daughter, Shannon. I extend a special heartfelt thank you to Shannon, for continuing to share her Fatherās legacy, and her own personal insights and loving kindness; it is making a huge difference on so many peopleās lives, including my own, and my wife, and through us, our children, clients, students and friends.
May all your efforts blossom into blessings of joy to Bruce Lee and your family, in this life and in Spirit. šš»š

Accepting New Bagua Zhang Students at the Mace Martial Arts WuGuan! š
Share the Wisdom! šš»
Referral Discounts: $20 Discount off 1 Monthās Membership Tuition fees for referring a new student to enroll in classes, and a $20 Discount to the new Student that you refer for their first month!Ā