KUNG FU PIONEER LEO FONG PASSES AWAY
▸ Leo Fong — martial arts film star, author and pioneer of Chinese martial arts in America — passed away February 18, 2022, at age 93. Born in China, Fong relocated to America as a child, settling in Arkansas. Initially an amateur boxer, he took up judo and jujitsu after moving to California to work as a Methodist minister. Fong went on to train in choy lay fut and sil lum kung fu in San Francisco, as well as taekwondo and arnis.
It was during this period in the early 1960s when Fong became friends and training partners with a young Bruce Lee. In an interview with the Martial Arts History Museum, Fong said that after Lee encountered difficulty in his infamous fight with kung fu master Wong Jack Man, he advised Lee to rely less on his wing chun style. Shortly afterward, Fong said, Lee unveiled his new method of jeet kune
