One weekend in June 1975, I was doing my usual exercises which involved weightlifting, punching the wall using gloves and other self-defence tactics in my house at Gilgil National Youth Service College where I worked.
In the training room, there were several pictures on the wall of Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee and Pele. And I thought to myself, these were the only sports heroes I had on display; having selected them after studying them thoroughly for many years.
That is why one of the pictures had the writing “The greatest men of all time” inscribed on it. Not that I did not appreciate other heroes – these three men stand out to date and for a good reason.
Kenya is among the few countries in the world to host both Brazilian football icon Pele and boxing legend Ali in 1976 and 1980, respectively.
Having conquered the world in their respective sports, both Ali and Pele had a huge following. Around the world many people continue being inspired by these icons who contributed a lot beyond sports.
I had an opportunity to meet both Ali and Pele, and we discussed a wide range of topics. To meet Pele, I had to be among a few winners in a local newspaper competition. We were given a calendar and a T-shirt, both signed by Pele.
Four years later, I gave Ali the same calendar which Pele had autographed. Smiling, he asked me: “You too have met Pele?” Ali and Pele were good friends, and at one time, they were photographed hugging each other and Ali shouting: “We are The Greatest!”
On the other hand, Bruce Lee made a name for himself mostly through movies like “Enter The Dragon” and “Fist of Fury”, among others. Cinema halls filled to capacity whenever Lee’s movies were screened, not only in Kenya, but around the world.
But there was more to Bruce Lee than just movies. While martial arts fans associated self-defence with Kung Fu, and even described Bruce Lee as “King of Kung Fu”, he had his own ideas.
He developed an expression of martial arts that was personal to him called Jeet Kune Do (JKD) ( translated Way of the intercepting Fist).
“Jeet Kune Do” was coined in 1967 by Bruce Lee in an attempt to put a name to his martial art expression.
Lee wrestled with putting a name to his art as he constantly veered away from any type of crystallisation (and thereby limitation) of its essence, however, the simple need to refer to it in some concrete way won out and “Jeet Kune Do” was born.
This was a revolutionary new approach to martial arts in its time and is the principal reason why Lee is a pioneer of martial artists. Many books and magazines have been written on Bruce Lee – some in cooperation with his family.
Curiousity is human nature. It is little wonder that people always want to watch a fight between the best of the best. Sometimes I try to imagine just what if God brought together the Bibilical giant Goliath and Samson to fight?
Both were very strong men, and their strength came from different sources. My imagination tells me that Samson would have torn Goliath into pieces using his “supernatural power”. Since God is not an entertainer, let us go back to our normal thinking.
Many people, and especially boxing and martial arts fans, wanted to know what Bruce Lee thought of Muhammad Ali. These two who commanded a cult following in the 1960s and 1970s at some point shared similar challenges as they fought racial discrimination.
The Chinese hated Bruce Lee because he was teaching the Americans martial arts. Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, was against the discrimination of the Black people by the Whites and that was partly why he refused to go to war in Vietnam.
Film director Robert Clouse who collaborated with Bruce Lee in “Enter The Dragon” said that Lee had admitted that the legendary Muhammad Ali would have “killed” him in a crossover fight.
Clouse, who worked with Lee on the 1973 cult classic, said that the Hong Kong – American former actor opened up about the outcome of the fight where fans had long asked what would happen if Lee and Ali fought in a blockbuster dream clash.
Clouse wrote in the 1987 book The Making of Enter The Dragon: “Another time Yeung, aka (Bolo) he went to see Bruce at Golden Harvest Studios. Bruce was screening a Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) documentary.
“Ali was world heavyweight champion at the time and Bruce saw him as the greatest fighter of them all. Bruce was following Ali’s movements – right hand and left foot. In short, Bruce was fighting in Ali’s shoes.
“Everybody says I must fight Ali someday,” Bruce said, “I am studying every move he makes. I am getting to know how he thinks and moves.”
Bruce knew he could never win a fight against Ali. “Look at my hand,” he said. “That’s a little Chinese hand. He would kill me.”
Sharon Lee, the only daughter and surviving child of Bruce Lee says her father loved and admired Muhammad Ali and the two had a number of things in common among them; honesty, love for humanity and a determination to scale heights beyond imagination.
While I did not get a chance to meet with Bruce Lee when he was alive (he died on July 20, 1973 when I was preparing for my Form Four examinations at Kianyaga High School, Kirinyaga County), I was able to borrow some of his skills and those I got from Ali’s lightening speed and accurate punches to come up with my own self-defence tactics I called “Hikungkarajumbo”.
It involves body conditioning through serious training, high alertness to detect criminals along the streets and swift attack without alerting anybody.
I go home happy when I know I have saved somebody from pickpockets and phone snatchers. It is a calling that does not seek a salary. Tenda wema nenda zako -meaning do good and go your way.
Part of my pictorial records, photographed at NYS Gilgil in 1975, show Ali, Lee and Pele who were captured well during my live NTV interview soon after Ali died on June 3, 2016 aged 74.
The role of each of these three icons during their careers is well documented and that’s why they continue impacting peoples’ lives. BY DAILY NATION