invaluable to me in terms of understanding what he
was trying to do. Being able to put a physicality into
the physical movements and the philosophy has been
extremely grounding, and it helped me to think and to
make that jump from the theoretical to the doable in a
lot of ways.”
Clearly, this is reflected in Shannon Lee’s work on Wa r-
rior. If she has her way, her father’s legacy and philoso-
phy will continue to flow for generations to come.Dr. Craig D. Reid is one of Black Belt’s contributing editors.“Bruce Lee” is a registered trademark of Bruce Lee Enter-
prises LLC. The Bruce Lee name, image and likeness are
intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC.Legacy Preservation
Twenty years ago, Shannon said in an interview that she
was practicing martial arts as a way to better understand
what her father went through to reach the level to which
he rose. Then she dabbled in film to develop an apprecia-
tion for his other passion.
Today, Shannon Lee is more rooted in her own iden-
tity. Mother, singer, actress and matriarch of her father’s
legacy, she exudes a confidence that comes from know-
ing herself, and she gleams with the intent to maintain a
spiritual connection with her dad.
“I’m in a constant relationship and evolution with my
father’s life and body of work,” she said. “I was never on
the path with martial arts like my father was in terms
of it being such a huge part of his life. The training was
Bruce Lee Universe
When Shannon Lee isn’t working on Warrior, she’s focusing on other ways to spread her
father’s message. “I’ve written a book that’s coming out at the beginning of next year: Be
Water, My Friend,” she said. “It’s about my father’s philosophy, telling some of his stories, my stories and how to use and benefit
from his philosophy in your life.”
The Bruce Lee podcast has moved into a new season, she added. “I hope everybody listens to our conversations about
applied philosophy.
“And we’re growing Camp Bruce Lee. This summer, we’ll have one in Culver City, [California], and at Seattle’s Wing Luke
Museum. It’s for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. We teach them a mind/body/spirit approach to life, introduce martial arts for
body movement, physically create confidence, and talk about his philosophies and the spirit of harmony and how to work together.”AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 § BLACKBELTMAG.COM 41