Did Bruce Lee take his training seriously?

"While Bruce was in Hong Kong filming in late 1971 or early 1972, he had his weight equipment
and training gear shipped to him," says Ted Wong, who met Lee in 1967 and trained with him for
more than six years. "He wanted to stay in shape. So we packed his bags, but we did not send any
clothes because he said he could buy them cheap in Hong Kong. We just packed training
equipment. When he saw all the bags filled with training equipment, he laughed and said, ‘Now I’m
going to be able to do lots of training.’"
And train he did.
"Bruce considered training number one," says Wong. "He was constantly training. When he
watched TV or went to the movies, he conditioned his knuckles. When he was driving, he worked
the hand grips. If he walked to a bookstore and came to a hill, he always ran. He never wasted
time."
Why was this man so obsessed with training? Several reasons.
First, according to Lee, training was important because you couldn’t perform up to your capabilities
if you weren’t in shape, Wong recalls.
"Lee felt you had no business being in the martial arts if you weren’t in shape," says Wong. "If you
weren’t in shape you couldn’t be 100 percent efficient."
Second, he had lofty goals.
"He wanted to be the best," says Wong. "He wanted to be the best martial artist."
And no one could dispute that he was.
Lee’s Thoughts on Strength
To get in excellent shape, Lee felt you needed strength, Wong notes.
"He considered strength training very important," Wong says. "He was constantly looking for ways
to improve, including weight training and isometrics."
Although Lee felt strength was important, he did not believe bodybuilding was the answer, Wong
says.
"He felt it was important to have definition, but he did not feel you had to overboard," Wong says.
"He did not feel it was necessary to develop large muscles. On the other hand, strength and
definition enhanced certain functions, such as kicking and punching."
And Lee’s conditioning entailed more than hand grips, sit-ups, weights, running and conditioning
drills.
"A lot of the time he read books and analyzed different arts," Wong says. "He had a keen eye and an
analytical mind. He did a lot of researching."
While you may never develop Lee’s skills, you can certainly train the way the "Little Dragon" did.
Following are a few of the exercises Lee used to develop power.