Wong Jack Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wong (黃).
Wong Jack Man (黃澤民) is a Chinese martial artist and martial arts teacher, best known for fighting Bruce Lee in a real-life challenge match in San Francisco in 1964.
Wong is a practitioner of Northern Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan. He currently teaches classes at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
[edit] The fight with Bruce Lee
Wong's fight with Lee is controversial, as it was unrecorded and held in private. Lee and his supporters claimed that Lee was fighting for the right to teach martial arts to non-Chinese students in the city, a principle which Wong allegedly opposed (many Chinese martial arts teachers in the area did not recruit non-Chinese students at the time, although it was not a taboo like implied in various falsehoods by Lee fan's or his wife). Wong disagreed with this account, claiming that Lee had originally issued an open challenge during a demonstration in Chinatown to fight any martial artists in San Francisco, an offer Wong allegedly replied to. Wong stated that he then received a note from Lee from a mutual acquaintance, inviting Wong to fight.
Individuals who witnessed the match included Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee's wife), James Lee (an associate of Bruce Lee, now deceased) and William Chen, a teacher of Tai Chi Chuan. Wong suggested he was only slightly familiar with a few of those who were present.
The details of the fight vary depending on the account, ranging from a quick victory for Lee, according to Lee and his wife, to a bout of "at least 20 minutes" which resulted in "a tie", according to Wong and William Chen. Chen claimed, in contrast with Cadwell's recollection, "certainly, Wong was not brought to the floor and pounded into a ‘state of demoralization.’" Chen could neither confirm or deny Wong's claim to have placed Lee in a head lock three times during the fight. Wong was unsatisfied with Lee's account of the match and published his own version in the Chinese Pacific Weekly, a Chinese language newspaper in San Francisco. The article, which was featured on the front page, included a detailed description of the fight from Wong's perspective and concluded with an invitation to Bruce Lee for a public match if Lee found his version to be unacceptable. Lee, however, did not publicly respond to Wong's article.
[edit] References
- Dorgan, Michael. Bruce Lee's Toughest Fight. 1980 July. Official Karate
- Author unknown. Sifu Jack Man Wong [A description of the fight giving both sides]. Undated. Lakungfu.com. Retrieved on January 2, 2006.
