Bruce Lee's mysterious death

Bruce Jun Fan Lee (李振藩; pinyin: Lǐ Zhènfān; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Chinese martial artist, philosopher, instructor, martial arts actor and the founder of the Jeet Kune Do combat form. He is widely considered to be the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century and a cultural icon.  When he was 32, Lee took a painkiller for a headache, laid down for a nap and never woke up. 

There are a wide range of theories on how Lee died.  Medical authorities all agreed that it was caused by a cerebral edema (a swelling of the brain caused by a congestion of fluid). But what caused the edema became a matter of speculation from an allergic reaction to being drugged.  Some believe that Bruce was cursed. In his 1996 book ‘Bruce Lee; Fighting Spirit’ Bruce Thomas includes a chapter called ‘The Shadow’ which includes statements made by Bruce’s family and friends telling of his battles with a black shadowy figure in his sleep which held him down – a typical symptom of sleep paralysis.  He described to friends and family about having battled in his sleep with a ‘black shadow’ which he said held him down for several minutes and the effort of fighting it left him drenched in sweat.

Lee was supposedly haunted by personal demons as well.  He had premonitions that he would die at half his father's age of 64 (which he did at 32). In fact, he died just three and a half months prior to his father's death. Brandon Lee (Bruce's son) also died at a young age when a prop gun was accidentally loaded with a live bullet; the same way that Bruce's character faked his death in Game of Death. 

Lee's phenomenal fitness meant he was capable of performing many exceptional physical feats. The following list includes some of the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.

• Lee's striking speed from three feet with his hands down by his side reached five hundredths of a second.
• Lee's combat movements were at times too fast to be captured on film at 24 frames per second, so many scenes were shot in 32fps to put Lee in slow motion. Normally martial arts films are sped up.
• In a speed demonstration, Lee could snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind.
• Lee would hold an elevated v-sit position for 30 minutes or longer.
• Lee could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks.
• Lee performed one-hand push-ups using only the thumb and index finger
• Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.
• Lee could break wooden boards 6 inches (15 cm) thick.
• Lee could cause a 300-lb (136 kg) bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a side kick.
• Lee performed a side kick while training with James Coburn and broke a 150-lb (68 kg) punching bag
• In a move that has been dubbed "Dragon Flag", Lee could perform leg lifts with only his shoulder blades resting on the edge of a bench and suspend his legs and torso perfectly horizontal midair.

Although Bruce Lee's death is a tragedy, he remains a legend even to this day.