a bearded hero named Ah Sahm (played by wing chun
expert Andrew Koji) flashed a trademark Lee pose, then
ended a fight with a racist San Francisco immigration
officer with a side kick that resembled the kick Lee used
to nail someone who was holding a body shield in Way of
the Dragon.
When another scene showed Ah Sahm wearing a white
T-shirt, I knew it was safe to say that Bruce Lee is back —
in a time-lee fashion!
Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee serves as Warrior’s
executive producer, and she agreed to this interview so
Black Belt readers can get the full story on the series.
“Everyone has a unique experience watching my father
because he was such a unique human being,” she told
me. “He has a palpable, dynamic energy signature,
and when you watch him move and speak the way he
does, you can feel it. Even now, that energy signature
is expansive, loaded with possibilities, and it explodes
with power, enthusiasm and grace. It lights a fire within
you. To think anybody can recreate that in their per-
formance — I don’t think it’s possible. What is possible
is to take that energy signature and paint it across the
screen and story.
“We didn’t want Andrew to pretend to be Bruce Lee. ItIn March 1973 ,
two weeks after my
doctor said I’d be
dead within five years
from cystic fibrosis, I
saw Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss at a drive-in theater in Ves-
tal, New York. During his opening fight, Lee — dressed in
a white T-shirt with buttons from the chest up — took on a
lunging thug with a knife. Our hero then executed a pair
of the fastest kicks in cinematic history.
Inside me, it was as if a switch had been tripped. No
longer was I depressed and waiting to die. Now I desper-
ately wanted to live so I could learn how to do what Lee
did so expertly on the silver screen.
After buying every bit of media and memorabilia I
could find, I dove into the Bruce Lee universe. I learned
that after The Green Hornet was canceled in 1967, he’d
penned a script for a TV show. Warner Bros. subse-
quently turned it down because company execs figured
that American audiences wouldn’t accept a Chinese
leading man. Later, a few magazines reported that the
concept had morphed into the Kung Fu series, which
similarly snubbed Lee.
Fast-forward to April 2019: While channel-surfing, I ran
across a Cinemax series called Warrior. In the episode, Photos Courtesy of HBO/David Bloomer
38 BLACKBELTMAG.COM § AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019