Bruce Lee Interview on the Pierre Berton Show

Bruce Lee was interviewed on the Pierre Berton Show in 1971. The interview starts with the the question of Bruce Lee making films in Mandarin, when he can only speak Cantonese. Surprising, in the early Bruce Lee films the voices are dubbed, as the early Bruce Lee films were first shot without sound.

“To me, a motion picture is motion. You gotta keep the dialogue down to a minimum” Bruce Lee, 1971.

Then they discuss the secret of the success of the Big Boss, namely that it broke the mould because the fighting was real. Bruce talks about how martial arts has deep meaning to his life – and that martial arts have shaped all parts of his life.

Bruce Lee Interview Part 1:

(The interview continues below)

“Martial Arts include all the combative arts like karate, Judo, Chinese kung-fu, Aikido .. some have become sport, but some not, such as kicking to the groin, jabbing fingers to eyes.” Bruce Lee, 1971.

On being asked if he could break five or six pieces of wood with his hand or foot, Bruce Lee replies,”I’ll probably break my foot.”

Bruce then talks about his theory of the “art of expressing the human body”. Combining instinct and control to have harmony, to prevent either becoming mechanical or wild – unnatural naturalness, or natural unnaturalness.

At the end of the video he talks about how style is meaningless, and that he does not teach style. Everyone has two arms and two legs, so for fighting, style is only restrictive.

Bruce Lee Interview Part 2: In the end of this part Bruce Lee talks about The Warrior, and how martial arts is relevant in Westerns, but not the modern world, as now people carry guns.