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Lot 142
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Bruce Lee's Personal Fighting / Sparring Face Mask
Bruce Lee's Personal Fighting / Sparring Face Mask
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Description:

Lee Bruce

Bruce Lee's Personal Fighting / Sparring Face Mask

 

Magnificent 11" x 9" Hard green plastic MacGregor Sparring Mask, personally owned and used by Bruce Lee while sparring.  The outer front piece is extremely hard, rigid green plastic with a padded underlayer to cushion even the most fierce blows to the face (although one undoubtably would still sustain a head concussion). The mask has the original leather straps and consists of a full frontal face cover with the original canvas strap which wraps around the back of the head to hold the mask in place when worn. Accompanied by impeccable provenance having been gifted to Herb Jackson directly by Bruce Lee (Jackson was Lee's original back yard student, close friend and confidant, and took an active role in improving Bruce Lee's training equipment), which was then gifted to Jackson's son by descent. The piece will include a  letter of authenticity from his son, Mark Ashton-Jackson.

 

Bruce Lee, (Lee Jun-fan), was a Hong Kong and American actor, film director, martial artist, martial arts instructor, philosopher, and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do, one of the wushu or Kungfu styles. A virtual legend, Lee practiced his own style of Martial Arts but vehemently was opposed to having it considered yet another fixed or patterned martial art. He referred to Jeet Kune Do as "non-classical", suggesting that JKD is a form of Chinese Kung Fu, yet without form. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding thoughts. It was named for the Wing Chun concept of interception or attacking while one's opponent is about to attack. Jeet Kune Do practitioners believe in minimal movement with maximum effect. 

 

In the screenplay of the 1973 Warner Brothers film, Enter The Dragon, when Lee is asked, "What's your style?" Lee replied, "My style?...You can call it the art of fighting without fighting." Bruce believed that kata forms and martial art tournament matches alike (like Karate) were simply "organized despair". He believed that in order to "fully express oneself, one must" "have no limitations" (kata and rigid and non-flowing movements being the limitation). His system was revolutionary, and included all possible forms of strikes: attacks to the groin, finger jab to the eye.

 

The name Jeet Kune Do was often said by Lee to be just a name, and he often referred to it as "the art of expressing the human body" in his writings and in interviews. Through his studies Lee came to believe that styles had become too rigid and unrealistic. He called martial art competitions of the day "dry land swimming". He believed real combat was spontaneous, and a martial artist cannot predict it, but only react to it, and a good martial artist should "be like water"—move fluidly without hesitation.

 

This inspiring face mask was worn by this master while practicing, and will be accompanied by a detailed letter of authenticity and provenance stating "This sparring face mask was given directly to Herb Jackson from Bruce Lee. Heb Jackson was a close friend, student and confident of Bruce Lee. Herb Jackson handed this down to his son, Mark Ashton-Jackson" with the Letter of Authenticity noting " … This item was given to my father Herb Jackson as a gift from Bruce Lee in and around 1968. My father Herb Jackson was a very close friend and confidant of Bruce Lee and was also one of his private backyard students in Los Angeles in the mid to late 1960's. This item was used by Bruce Lee and is documented in many photos and magazines. It was a part of Bruce Lee's training regime and helped better him physically. This item is historical in nature and marks a point in time when Bruce Lee was seeking international fame for this martial arts/film career"

 

As die hard Bruce Lee fans we thought to include and describe his fighting motions below which he would so perfectly display while sparring:

 

Stance:

Seen in many of his movie fight scenes such as in  vs Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee fought in a side southpaw horse stance. His jabs and crosses came from his right hand and followed up with a lot of sidekicks. Instead of a common check seen in Muay Thai, Bruce uses an oblique leg kick to block a potential kick. Bruce Lee adopted other defensive concepts found in many other systems such as slipping and rolling from Western Boxing and forearm blocks found in Eastern martial arts such as Kung-Fu.



Footwork:

Bruce Lee's nimble and agile skipping-like footwork is seen in his movies. This technique was adopted from Muhammad Ali's footwork in his boxing stance. This quick and agile footwork can be achieved from practice using a jump rope as jumping rope imitates this nimble, jumpy action that is a quick way to maneuver your way around and away from an enemy's strikes.



Straight lead:

Lee felt that the straight lead was the most integral part of Jeet Kune Do punching, as he stated, "The leading straight punch is the backbone of all punching in Jeet Kune Do." The straight lead is not a power strike but a strike formulated for speed. The straight lead should always be held loosely with a slight motion, as this adds to its speed and makes it more difficult to see and block. The strike is not only the fastest punch in JKD, but also the most accurate. The speed is attributed to the fact that the fist is held out slightly making it closer to the target and its accuracy is gained from the punch being thrown straight forward from one's centerline. The straight lead should be held and thrown loosely and easily, tightening only upon impact, adding to one's punch. The straight lead punch can be thrown from multiple angles and levels.



Non-telegraphed punch:

Lee felt that explosive attacks with no telegraphing signs of intention were best. He argued that the attacks should catch the opponent off-guard, throwing them off their balance and leaving them unable to defend against further attacks. "The concept behind this is that when you initiate your punch without any forewarning, such as tensing your shoulders or moving your foot or body, the opponent will not have enough time to react," Lee wrote. The key is that one must keep one's body and arms loose, weaving one's arms slightly and only becoming tense upon impact. Lee wanted no wind-up movements or "get ready poses" to prelude any JKD attacks. Lee explained that any twitches or slight movements before striking should be avoided as they will give the opponent signs or hints as to what is being planned and then they will be able to strike first while one is preparing an attack. Consequently, non-telegraphed movement is an essential part of Jeet Kune Do philosophy.



"Be Like Water":

Lee emphasized that every situation, in fighting or in everyday life, is varied. To obtain victory, therefore, it is essential not to be rigid, but to be fluid and able to adapt to any situation. He compared it to being like water: "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend." Lee's theory behind this was that one must be able to function in any scenario one is thrown into and should react accordingly. One should know when to speed up or slow down, when to expand and when to contract, and when to remain flowing and when to crash. It is the awareness that both life and fighting can be shapeless and ever changing that allows one to be able to adapt to those changes instantaneously and bring forth the appropriate solution. Lee did not believe in "styles" and felt that every person and every situation is different and not everyone fits into a mold; one must remain flexible in order to obtain new knowledge and victory in both life and combat. One must never become stagnant in the mind or method, always evolving and moving towards improving oneself.



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