Lot 280

Bruce Lee 3pp Best ALS on Principles of Yin and Yang: "you need your opponent to complete the… whole"

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Bruce Lee 3pp Best ALS on Principles of Yin and Yang: "you need your opponent to complete the… whole"

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000

Current Bid: $11,000

(3 Bids)

June 17, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
Wilton, CT, US

Description:

Bruce Lee
[Los Angeles, CA], [ca. August 1964]
Bruce Lee 3pp Best ALS on Principles of Yin and Yang: "you need your opponent to complete the… whole"
ALS

A lengthy autographed letter from legendary martial artist Bruce Lee (1940-1973) to Bill Evans of Black Belt magazine, in which he discusses an article he's writing. 3pp on onionskin paper, 8" x 10", n.p., n.d. [ca. August 1964]. Signed at conclusion as "Bruce Lee", with a small Yin-Yang sketch near the bottom of page 1. Within, he explains to Evans the symbolism of the seal of the Jun Gung Fu Institute, as well as its importance to the study of martial arts. Letter exhibits light handling creases, with areas of intermittent soiling to margins throughout. Else, near fine.

In full:

"I am sorry to inform you that the articles have to be delayed because I am at present on a tour demonstrating Gung Fu. I've just got back from Los Angeles not too long ago and I'll have to start again in San Francisco. In a week or so I'll have to fly to New York.
However, I'll try to find time in between to finish the article. By the way, there should be a coverage of the last tournament at Long Beach, and when will the next Black Belt be out?
For your information the symbol in the seal of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute is the symbol of yin and yang in which the yin & yang (black [passive] & white [active]) are two interlocking of one WHOLE, each containing within its confines the qualities of its complementaries (not opposite!) Instead of mutually exclusive, they are mutually dependent and are a function each of the other. When I say the heat makes me perspire, the heat and perspiring are just 'one' process as they are so existent and the one could not exist but for the other. Just as an object needs a subject, the person in attack is not taking an independent position but is acting as an assistant. After all, you need your opponent to complete the other half of a whole.
Thus gentleness/firmness is one inseparable force of one unceasing interplay of movement. If a person riding a bicycle wishes to go somewhere, he cannot pump on both the pedals at the same time or not pumping on them at all. In order to move forward he has to pump on one pedal and release the other. So the movement of going forward requires this 'oneness' of pumping and releasing. Pumping is the result of releasing, and vice versa, each being the cause of the other.
This 'oneness' is just a basic idea in the symbol then there are moderation without going to either extreme, the wonder of the ordinary------
In general, however, the idea is that- if Gung Fu is extraordinary, it is because of the fact that it is nothing at all special- it is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of lines and energy. The closer to the true way, the less wastage of expression there is.
Please pardon my incoherence and poor penmanship!"

Lee began teaching martial arts in 1959, coining his style as Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally, "Bruce Lee's Kung Fu"). This was essentially his approach to Wing Chun, characterized by close-quarters hand-to-hand combat. It was during this period where Lee developed his one-inch punch, and studied the boxing techniques of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. Lee sketches the yin yang symbol near the lower margin of page 1, with two arrows in either side representing the endless interaction between "passive" and "active" movement that he describes in length within this letter.

Evans apparently submitted the article in question, unaltered, to his editor, who considered the piece so poorly written as to be unprintable and threw it away. Evans recovered it and in time developed a friendship with Lee, though he never told him what his editor had said of Lee's article.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 10"
  • Medium: ALS

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