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Thought some might find this interesting!
Any time I’m out of action - even for a day or two - I find myself watching Bruce Lee films. Probably as it heightens the difference between my own situation and the near-perfect physical control he was well known for.
Following an email I received the other day I grew a little curious as to the nature of the back injury he sustained during his weight training. Watching any of the work he did following ‘recovery’ (he suffered chronic back pain for the remainder or his life) it’s hard to believe he injured himself at all.
Here’s what seems to have happened :
On Aug 13, 1970 Lee was performing Good Mornings with 60kg / 135lb - his bodyweight at the time - and was completing his first set of 8 (he usually did 2 sets) without sufficiently warming up when he heard a loud popping sound, and dropped the weighted bar. For several days he tried heat treatments and massage, until the steadily increasing pain forced him to seek medical advice.
He had severely damaged a 4th sacral nerve (diagram of spinal nerve locations), and it was unlikely that he would ever be able to kick again; in fact walking unaided was in doubt. He was forced to rest, and for the next six months he spent most of his time either lying or sitting up reading from his extensive library. During this time he also designed a bed which would afford him greater comfort in his injured state.
Eventually he resumed teaching and training, not because he was fully healed, but simply as he felt he had given himself enough time and was unable to refrain from his active life any longer. He would suffer chronic back pain for the remainder of his life, and began taking marijuana as this helped numb the pain. In his films from this point on he used a stunt double for somersaults (seen in both Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon).
Any time I’m out of action - even for a day or two - I find myself watching Bruce Lee films. Probably as it heightens the difference between my own situation and the near-perfect physical control he was well known for.
Following an email I received the other day I grew a little curious as to the nature of the back injury he sustained during his weight training. Watching any of the work he did following ‘recovery’ (he suffered chronic back pain for the remainder or his life) it’s hard to believe he injured himself at all.
Here’s what seems to have happened :
On Aug 13, 1970 Lee was performing Good Mornings with 60kg / 135lb - his bodyweight at the time - and was completing his first set of 8 (he usually did 2 sets) without sufficiently warming up when he heard a loud popping sound, and dropped the weighted bar. For several days he tried heat treatments and massage, until the steadily increasing pain forced him to seek medical advice.
He had severely damaged a 4th sacral nerve (diagram of spinal nerve locations), and it was unlikely that he would ever be able to kick again; in fact walking unaided was in doubt. He was forced to rest, and for the next six months he spent most of his time either lying or sitting up reading from his extensive library. During this time he also designed a bed which would afford him greater comfort in his injured state.
Eventually he resumed teaching and training, not because he was fully healed, but simply as he felt he had given himself enough time and was unable to refrain from his active life any longer. He would suffer chronic back pain for the remainder of his life, and began taking marijuana as this helped numb the pain. In his films from this point on he used a stunt double for somersaults (seen in both Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon).
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