Hong Kong August 1974 |
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| On August the 6th. 1974, I made my first trip of many to The Far East with my travelling buddy Tony Hattersley, The destination on the first trip was Hong Kong Island, Kai Tak Airport, and I remember as we were landing it seemed that we were close enough to take the clothes off the washing lines that were hung between the tenement buildings, The next thing to greet us was The Hong Kong Pong of The Harbour as we search for a taxi |
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| We stayed at The Singapore
Hotel on Hennesey Road, in the district of Wanchai, known at that time as
The Suzie Wong Area, and at the night time the place was teeming with
Girlie Bars, American sailors, and the usual Shore Patrol with those long
night sticks that they carried with them, I remember as we passed the shore
patrol we used to up the English accent a bit so as not to be mistaken for
drunken American sailors on shore leave, as there were many a time we had
heard the clunk of wood on bone, later we befriended a couple of sailors
and went on a tour of the Wanchai Area, from The Butterfly Bar on Jaffa
Road, to Pinkey's Tattoo Palour and the usual haunts that the sailors hung
out in, In fact the whole place at night time was like a scene from the
movie The World of Suzie Wong starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan
and I often watch that movie with fond memories, The tall building
on the right hand photograph is The Conneaut
Building all the windows are round and it is affectionately called
"The Building of a Thousand Arseholes"
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| Hong Kong at that time for me was a
new adventure, but Tony had been to the far east before having travelled
from The Seychelles up through India to Nepal, Kathmandu, Burma, and
finally Thailand, and Malaysia, but for me it was the first time in the
far east and Hong Kong had always been a place I had wanted to visit ever
since watching the Bruce lee films at the midnight Chinese Cinema, before
they were released in England, and I couldn't wait to go there.
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From left to right Yiu Min Gwon, His Mother, Tony, and Billy Ma
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The famous Nathan Road, not far from the gym where Bruce use to train |
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A Famous Hong Kong Movie Star of that time talking to Billy Ma
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While we were there Tony and I met up with an old friend Yiu Min Gwon from Manchester's Chinatown in England and we were shown around nearly every well known Martial Arts Club in Kowloon and were introduced to many Chinese Martial Arts Masters. Pop Stars and a Movie Star, and at the Wing Chun School we were offered the opportunity to be trained up to be ambassadors for Wing Chun and take the Art to England, but at that time we had our eyes on Bangkok for the Thai Boxing, and after a two week stay in Hong Kong we left for Thailand |
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Queens Road, Hong Kong Island
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| On or around the 12th of August approximately 3 weeks after Bruce's Demise was on the front page every newspaper around the world, I was about to go an visit his house on the Kowloon Side, Yiu Min Gwon picked us both up early in the morning and took us to Cumberland Road. During our stay in Hong Kong amongst the Martial Arts fraternities there were plenty of theories and rumours about the demise of Bruce, ranging from Dim Mak The Death Touch to The Triads, and it was a common topic of conversation over a few beers and after struggling with the chopsticks in the local restaurant, When we arrived at Bruce Lee's House, it was hard to imagine that just 3 weeks earlier He had walked the very same footsteps, and had walked through the very same door we were standing at now |
| I had lost the photographs taken at that time but Thanks to Tony Hattersley I now have copies of the ones he had, and with the help of Rick and John, friends from Manchester Uni. who had the slides scanned, I have included them here for the guys in The Manchester Jeet Kune Do. Group. |
Click on the Thumbnails for a larger image |
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Wine Tasting This one taken on Hong Kong Island was used for the Hong Kong Tourist Association Brochure |
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From left to right, Yiu Ming Gwon, Billy Ma, and Myself
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The famous plaque on the right hand side of the wall to the front gate |
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From left to right, Yui Ming Gwon, Billy Ma, and good friend Tony Hattersley
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Bruce Lee's House |
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A close up of the front of the house
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The top veranda |
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The path leading from the house to the front gate |
The garden |
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And, my favourite, another shot of the garden showing the Japanese bridge and garden pool |
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These last nine photographs were taken with the permission of Bruce's next door neighbour and the use of Tony's shoulders, I had to stand on those to look over the high wall |
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Steve Powell's Jun Fan Jeet
Kune Do Martial Arts Academy
12, Newton Street, (1st.Floor)
Piccadilly. Manchester. City Centre
Enquiries. Tel. (0161) 998 7062
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