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George Tan Q&A

The following was taken place in the Temple Discussion on 11/07/00 to 11/12/00 between regular vistitors of this site (Jt, Drunken Master, Little Saint, MPM, Davis Miller, Kevin Thompson, Ranch Hand, Frans, Bob, Medicine Man, David Williams, Hector Martinez, Brad Walker, DaveR, David Tadman, Blairo, Nick Strachan, Simon Leung, Andreas Mertsch and Socrates) with Bruce Lee Historian George Tan.

Temple of the Unknown: Thank you for joining us for discussion.

Will those pics of the other girl that was going for the sister part in G.o.D ever see the light of day? Will you be putting those pics in your book? And is there any footage of that at all?

George Tan: Hi gang, Davis Miller asked me to come on and say a few things about G.O.D. As far as I know, BruceÕs sister is kidnapped, not wife. Betty Ting told me that Bruce intended to have her as his wife in the film, but she wasn't the one being kidnapped. I personally have my doubts as to whether he would have used her at all, but this is from her mouth. Bruce Lee told her this the night he died. Bruce actually held auditions for the role of the sister, of which I have all the shots. (The funny thing is one the gals is auditioning in a bikini-fringe benefits?). Wong Shun Leung told me Bruce wanted him for a tower level, but I believe Taky Kimura was to replace him. It was supposed to be representing the `inner-gate' styles, i.e.-Wing Chun and Tong Long Mantis, which keeps the elbows in,etc.I personally feel this would have been the prime fight scene, since Lee was so wicked in that range. Gotta go. G.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hey George....where did ya go? I'm sure you don't have the time to visit, but it would be nice every now & then...I got a real hard question for ya. Well maybe not that hard but here it goes. In 1974 there was a movie cinema located in Toronto Canada showing the unseen scenes from Bruce's G.O.D. It was NOT advertised as a movie, only as "Unseen footage from Bruce's unfinished movie". In this film they discussed the #1 replacement for Bruce, and he was a professional gymnast at that time. Since then he was NEVER brought up in any documentaries or showed in any interviews. But we were hoping you might know his name. Unfortunately he was never used in the film, but if he had been it would of been dynamic (from what I remember of him anyway)......PEACE

Temple of the Unknown: Nice to see you here. How about hookin' a brotha up with some rare photos you talking about?

George Tan: Hi Gang, Thanks much for having me on. I'm working on some film projects now(unrelated To the`man'),so it's a bit hectic here.The funny thing is that Bruce Lee is always around me. I was doing a film with some rappers in Sept.,and they had Enter on the night before, and they were reciting lines from the movie,etc..Somebody told them about me and we talked about Lee for a few hours. They really enjoyed the anecdotes and stories. It made Bruce Lee more real to them. And when you're in the middle of the story, he IS real. He is alive at that point, and you get a momentary glimpse of the guy. IÕm sure everybody has had an experience where you're talking about someone, and it feels like that person is there. The biggest thrill I get is telling Bruce's friends something they didn't know, or filling them in on a point of Lee's life that they weren't aware of. This opens them up and they tell stories that they have forgotten until then. I have a huge archive of photos, and what I try to do is get the story behind them. Who is that next to him, or in the background,etc. Questions get you answers. Sometimes I'll argue with these folks, just to see what will come out of them. Bring it to a head. I argue with one of Bruce's guys(un named)and he starts yelling all the time. Then he'll call me up 2 days later and still argue! But that stirs the juices,fires them up,and gets answers.I'm going to focus on G.O.D. now,since I've done most of my research on the other movies.I just saw the notes from Dan (that I saw awhile ago)on this Japanese site. I'll be interviewing a bunch of folk about the film on my next H.K. trip,and get them on vid. Everybody should thank Bey Logan for unearthing this footage. I guarantee that nobody else at that company would have. As for my books, IÕm going to do them in chronological order. So Big Boss and Fist of Fury will be first up. Next year is the 30th anniversary of these films. So I'm figuring on releasing the books in the same time frame as they were 30 years ago. This way, we can re-live those days in a way. Fresh and vibrant, and not exactly sure what's behind the next bend. lot of you folks on these forums were too young to have seen the Bruce films when they first came out. It was amazing. The reaction of people. I saw his movies in a lot of countries, and the audience response was always the same. IÕve NEVER seen anything come close to this, except Rambo pt. 2.That was the closest. Chinese Connection was the all time highest grosser for a single week on New York's 42nd st. $110,00 gross. That would be the equivalent today of about $600,00 dollars. Can you imagine that in a single cinema in one week? None of these stars today(or then) can pull that off.NOBODY.I saw Fist of Fury in China a few years back in a video cinema. The crowd was going mental. The police stopped the film and told the audience they would be arrested if they carried on like that. So much respect for the dude.Anyways,gotta head off for now. G.t.

George Tan: Hi Guys,Please stop bickering over this stuff. It's just that-stuff.It won't change your life in the least.Trust me.Trouble starts once you take it past the hobby stage.There's a fellow in U.K. who's wife left him.The reason stated on the divorce papers was-Bruce Lee! Fancy that,a grown man losing the most important thing in his life-his family,over somebody he never met. If you guys want to squabble,please leave my name out of it.Please.I'm a big boy, and I'll handle my own battles, on my own terms. IÕve learned many tings about Bruce Lee, and I'm still learning. I was just on the phone with one of Bruce's guys discussing the Northern Leg/Southern Fist story of Bruce's. I don't know very much about it yet,but I'm `tracking' it now.(By the way, my `tracking' skills have come to use for other projects.So there was a residual benefit to studying Bruce Lee.Still can't get on the subway for free though.)My understanding at this point is that this was the core of what became `Silent Flute'.Another thing I picked up today was that the `rhythm man' in Flute was based on Dan Inosanto.The drums dictated the action for him,so the Coburn character `breaks' his tempo when they meet a second time.(Hey,Carradine's piece of ****e is making some sense now!).I just re-confirmed the `Game' ending from Robert Chan in H.K..I will be speaking to James Tien on my next trip to H.K. NOBODY has access to him but me.I'm not bragging about this.It just happens that his Opera schoolmate is mate's with me,and I have that in.My initial conversations with him will be about Boss and Fist though.I'm going to post a couple of fotos on this site if possible(I'm a computer retard,so don't hold your breaths. And no nicking if I do get some on!). Again, please stop these arguments.They're pointless. I have 2 autographed fotos that Bruce signed for his photographer in H.K. The inscription on both says-Peace,Love,Brotherhood. Bruce Lee These 2 photos were to be the prototypes for a mass distribution campaign to patrons going to see Enter the Dragon.Here's a man who had the world's ear,and this was his message. Comprende' guys? G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Well said George! By the way be sure and ask James Tien about the additional floors since he WAS there with Bruce on each one...Make sure and ask him (as you well know lol) "off the record", because Chow made it perfectly clear that NO ONE is to discuss the footage HE contains.....PEACE

George Tan: Hi Lil Saint,Glad you got the message. this bickering is for babies and bitches.If somebody has beef with another,settle it proper.All it takes is patience,and it'll happen. Now,concerning Raymond Chow.Let me explain to you the history of the G.O.D. footage.Lee passes on.Linda Lee makes a public statement that G.O.D. will not be seen by the public to the H.K. press.Cut to a couple of years later.The Lee Estate owns 51% of Concorde Films,the other 49% belonging to Raymond Chow.Concorde has the following in it's library-1-Way of Dragon 2-50% of Enter the Dragon 3-G.O.D. footage. Raymond and the Estate agree to settle up for a flat fee buy out.Raymond buys the 51% of Concorde.Sole owner now.This is around `75 or so.G.O.D. is patched together less than 2 years later,and released in `78.Robert Clouse had dinner at my place a few years back,and told me he saw all the footage of G.O.D.,and wasn't impressed. Raymond held nothing back.There is no mystery or `hidden' footage.Period.It's either lost or misplaced,with the first being the most likely.Raymond couldn't give a crap about G.O.D. out-takes.This guy was making movies with Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck after G.O.D.,and of course Jackie.That's where the bucks are,not in Bruce Lee trimmings. Raymond Chow silencing people?Forget it.I've seen Raymond Chow in person.He's a mouse.Dr. Langford was also Raymond's doctor(as well as Run Run Shaw's),and he even said that Raymond was afraid of needles and stuff.So please wipe the notion from your mind that Raymond Chow is some kind of James Bond style villian,with control over folks.The only thing he's lethal at is golf.G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Hey George PEACE....Whatever I bring to you're attention is merely only DISCUSSION. We have been searching for information for quite some time as well (20 years to be exact), it's just you did one better than us (we never actually conducted interviews, for that we applaud you). As I told James in a private e-mail, most of our contacts were apart of the Jeet Kune Do Club of Hong Kong back in the early 70's to mid 80's (who put out the Bruce Lee magazine series). We also were introduced to various Bruce Lee movie review writer's (based in H.K.) who also feel Raymond has the majority of the footage. They were the source who indicated that George Lucas tried purchasing the footage from Raymond, but Chow quickly denied. If that's not believed by you, than ask Raymond yourself of it's realism. The Yasaku Kurata footage WAS played in different parts of the U.S. & Canada, between many people writing me on the subject & the movie reviewer's statements (which match IDENTICLE). They get into a lot of footage showing Kareem ouside the pagoda fighting (or displaying) scenes with the individuals in the karate uniforms (near a fence they also point out). Ask Chow about the footage he was going to use in "Enter the Game of Death" (before Bruce Le ruined it), apparently Linda brought up "lawsuit" so Chow pulled out what he had of Lee and finished the ENTIRE movie with the replacement. George I hope you don't misunderstand me, I APPLAUD EVERYHING you're doing in fact I can't wait to purchase you're book. It's just that when it comes to Game of Death & unseen footage, I doubt Raymond actually "Lost" whatever was left. You yourself know for a FACT that Bruce Lee makes more money DEAD than ALL the actor's that you mentioned ALIVE.......PEACE

George Tan: Hi Lil Saint,Basically,all your info is incorrect.Let me point out some things to you-

1-Why would Jabbar's character be outside if his eyes are sensitive to light? Have you seen the fotos yourself?I guarantee you haven't.

2-Kurata only met Bruce Lee on the set on `Fist of Unicorn' and on the streets of H.K.. He has absolutely nothing to do with G.O.D. or anything in common with Lee (except for the fact that he also dated Betty Ting)

3-Enter the G.O.D. was made by Bruce Le in Korea. Raymond had never had anything to do with Le, let alone make a film with him.I know Le,and he made that thing in 10 days,with a budget of $50,000.It was all his idea.Not one thing came from Bruce Lee's footage,except the tracksuit and the tower idea.

4-Why and how could Linda Lee threaten him with anything if he owned all of Concorde Films? What you're claiming makes no sense at all.

5-George Lucas buying the footage? Raymond would sell his mama for the right price. This is another myth/rumor. Totally unsubstansiated.

6-Again,I repeat, Raymond has no `hidden' footage. He doesn't even have a photo album of Bruce fotos. The photographer made one for him after Lee passed, and it was stolen. Raymond didn't ask for a replacement.

7-Face the facts-There is no more footage than what Bey Logan found.Be thankful that exists. It's pointless to speculate wildly about phantom screenings across Canada and U.S..I was around the scene then,and nothing like what you're stating exists. The only G.O.D. footage I ever saw was(before G.O.D. was released) in the trailer for a film called `Goodbye,Bruce Lee'.It had Bruce doing Nuncaku for about 5 seconds.The footage wasn't in the film,just the trailer.I have a photographic record of everything shot on G.O.D.,and nothing you keep stating is there. I'm sorry to break your bubble and hopes up,but you'll see I'm correct in the long run. G.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hey George....Peace. I'd rather not get into this with you, because either way we will believe what we want to believe (regardless what the so called "facts" are). To answer you're question "yes" I do know about Kareem's sensitive eyes (the reason Bruce pokes the wholes in the paper windows) what I stated was meant to be implied as (a demo) in which Bruce might have shot himself, most of the actors were displaying their skills outside the pagoda anyway. As far as Little's documentary I am very familiar with it, and Bishop is totally right in what he had told me. There is no mirror at the top that's for sure....It's really not a concern to me who said what & why, all of us TRUE fan's will continue searching for the truth (regardless).....PEACE

Temple of the Unknown: I agree with George about the likelihood of any (and every) thing getting lost at GH. I visited GH several times. And wandered around the lot undisturbed for hours. I've never seen such a giant rat's nest anywhere else, not even in a junk yard. It's amazing that Bey Logan was able to salvage anything. And that happened only because he cared about it. Raymond Chow could not have cared less. The same was/is true for Fred Weintraub and Lo Wei. If you like, I'll be pleased to tell you some stories about having worked with Weintraub. Out of here for now, though. Got to make that phone call to London.

Temple of the Unknown: Hey Davis....I understand what you're getting at, and I do believe you up until a certain point. Unlike James Bishop (who I petty much get along with) I value ALL that is said or mentioned by the both of you. The reason for the persistance is because I seen SOME (not all) of the additional floor's (or footage) that was contained in the original movie. Like I mentioned certain people who got back to me described the footage in the greatest detail (as far as comparison wise). I know that we can't account for what they saw, but we know what we saw, and believe me Davis it matches perfectly. I don't claim to be the next John Little (LOL) and believe me WHO WANTS TO BE (LOL). We just would rather not wait another 20 years for a miraculous dicovery (heh heh) and hear someone say OOOHHHHH look what we found, and then document it and sell it when they can do that now......PEACE

Temple of the Unknown: When I was most recently at GH looking for photographs, Russell Cawthorne, their PR guy, gave me a press package of thirty-six BL pics. This was all they had. Period. Seventy to eight percent of the photos used in 'Curse of the Dragon' were given to me by George Tan. Pretty remarkable, huh? If you haven't heard what Fred Weintraub did to more than forty minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from 'Enter,' ask me to tell you. And when you see George's 'Game' photos, you'll see exactly what Bruce Lee shot. Every single bit of it. Period. And those pics tell quite a story, I promise.

Temple of the Unknown: Well said MR.TAN. At the end of the day Bruce can't make you happy. I have a friend who lived in chinatown for years. He is a Korean . He told me he actually was saving up to get plastic surgery to look more like Bruce!! Ultimatly, Linda, has a right to make a living off of Bruce. Even if this means only releasing some material at the time. If it wasn't for her making Bruce a super hero how many people wouldn't have gotten into Bruce or the martial arts for that matter. I hate it as much as anyone. I want all the material know!! As for Little, I know that Bruce trusted Linda. So whether or not he is genuine, he is what we got.

George Tan: Hi Kevin,linda didn't make Bruce Lee a super hero.Bruce Lee did it himself,no help needed.Want to hear something funny?One of the leading factors in keeping Bruce Lee's name alive was those Bruce Li\Le\Lo,etc. films. No joke.They saturated the world market right up until Game of Death came out.And they were a tremendous success worldwide.Put it this way- Bruce Lee,The Man,The Myth grossed $75,000 init's opening week on 42nd st.This tied the gross for....Enter the Dragon!!To this day people confuse events in that movie for reality.Sadly,this(and the other Li bio-films) are more accurate than `Dragon'.I helped the screenwriter of `Dragon',Mr. Ed Khmara,in 1989 at the request of Universal.I introduced him to tons of people-Peter Lee,Bolo,you name it( Bolo,by the way,was to play Bruce `karma' in Ed's original story.Lee would see this figure at key stages of his life,but only for a moment,and each time he would be getting closer.At the last stage,Lee lies down and Bolo comes to him in his dreams.Lee then tells him to get it on,winner takes all,and of course Lee loses the battle).Anyway,Ed goes back and writes his draft.Universal calls me asking for copies of any Bruce Li films I have.So I send them over thinking that they're looking for what not to do.Instead these folks were getting ideas on how to add more action! I told Linda before that if you want to add action,re-create his film fights.In the end,Ed walked away from the film,cuz it lost it's integrity.Ditto with me from the scene.I was so angry at that film.Not one true scene in the whole flick.Not one!But what can you do? G.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George,

About a week ago, we were talking about the bruce lee vs Chuck Norris fight in the colliseum, do you know if thaey used the REAL colliseum or a studio???

I HEARD that he were refused access for filming but sneaked in, which I thought strange as the fight scene took 2 days to choreagraph didn't it???

George Tan: Hi Chris,the Coliseum fight was shot at Golden Harvest.It took more like 5 days to shoot. Chaplin Chang told me that they had to sneak in at early morning to get there shots.Later that day a `real' film crew came to shoot some film,and he remembers thinking what a great catering table they had. As for my martials arts training,I've trained with Moy Yat in ving Tsun,I started training in J.K.D. with John Ladalski in Hong Kong in `84,then I trained with Jerry Poteet in `88(I also produced and directed a video instructional series with Jerry and Fran Joseph).Alot of what Jerry showed me didn't gel until much later.And Howard Williams from Oakland. Also Jesse Glover and Ed Hart,but more with Jesse. I've been with Jesse for quite awhile(he's family to me. I named my 2nd son after him, since he doesn't have kids of his own).in the last few years I've been boxing.Joe Lewis is my teacher there,as well as what I call advanced JKD.I trained with a strictly boxing teacher named Don Walhelm,who's claim to fame was fighting against Foreman in his first pro fight.I couldn't hang with him for long though.Once you get a taste of Joe's teaching abilities,you can't go to anybody else.One teacher led me to another though.Sifu Moy's Tsun prepared me for Jesse.I could also apprecite Bruce's genius when I had a basis of comparison.Jesse modified my stuff immediately.I had no foundation for what Ladalski was showing me,so I had to start from scratch,but he prepared me for Poteet, and he for Howard Williams and Bob Baker.they in turn prepared me for Joe Lewis,who I can say without any doubt is the premire martial artist on the planet to learn from.I suggest to anybody out there to go to one of his seminars and get with it.Boxing is the ultimate in reality training.there is nothing more disturbing than a dude standing in front of you with the sole intent of cleaning your clock.You can see it in his eyes.His moves are directed to your destruction.What's really scary is that there's no hate or malice there.Just like a shark attacking you. Nothing personal.Once I got that into me,my whole fighting abilities improved.I put that mind set into everything I did. I really believe Bruce Lee would have been so much better if he had gone to a boxing gym and honed his skills against experienced guys who fought all the time.Bruce Lee always rose to a challenge,and this would be no exception.One thing you have to know about getting into boxing for the first time-you will get lit up like a Christmas tree your first few times around.Every martial artist who's gotten into it has had their clock cleaned-Joe,Benny, Wallace,you name it.But you adjust and improve.I almost forgot-Davis Miller also taught me alot about boxing. He moves exactly like (a small version) of Ali.He doesn't look it,but he'll mess you up. Let me get back to the Bruce/Chuck fight.Alot of the moves in that fight were drills Lee used to teach. The back and forth with the kicks.The slip-slip- punch moves were all part of the program. Later G.T.

Temple of the Unknown: What made you become so interested in Bruce Lee???

I became interested just by watching wotd, In the past two years I've watched the docs and read Fighting spirit although i'm sure that book isn't truthul about everything and I made my site and now I just love the guy, got my 2001 calender the other day in fact.

Been watching a couple of docs earlier and saw you on curse of the dragon, well cool doc, you strangely enough look like a replica of my cousin, great guy.

Nnyway, thanks for the info George and take care.

George Tan: Hi Chris,I went to see a Bruce Lee movie cuz it was the rage then.All the kids in school were talking about kung fu films,so I went,and the rest is history.Look like your cousin?He must be a handsome dude!`Curse of the Dragon' was not very good.Fred Weintraub really screwed it up.He couldn't find his ass with both hands.That thing has played on cable t.v. all over the world.Shocking. It's hard to believe Fred has been in the film biz so long without being arrested or something. I remember Adrian Marshall telling me he went to see Silent Flute with Linda Lee,and they had a promo for another Fred epic called `Gymkata'. Adrian was going to sent Fred a note telling him to rent the film to film schools so the students can see what not to do when making a movie. Later. g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George,

I bought your Poteet tapes back in the 80's which got me to train with him as well.

I am wondering, I have some ENTER outtakes but am wondering if you know how much exists of this? I can verify 10 minutes but am not sure if it is quite as much as the 5 hours reported.

I have spoke with Jon Benn who said that there was a film crew shooting on the set of WAY and wondering if you know of any "behind The Scenes" footage. I have pulled some of these shots below from an older magazine and these look much more like frame blow ups from 16mm than print film.

And last, what is your take on the trailer for FISTS that was reported to be a trailer with Bruce and his "slicked" hair?

What have you found in your "tracking"?

George Tan: Hi Ranch,Did you enjoy the poteet tapes?They were the first to come out detailing the real JKD,with no additives or preservatives. On Enter,I only know about some 8mm footage from Ahna Capri,which is wonderful.Bey Logan told me that he found some stuff,but I don't recall how much.You can forget about the 5 hours. The 10 minutes you are talking about could be Bey's stuff.There is no behind the scenes on Lee's first 3 movies.The H.K. movie industry would only print what was relevant,and trash the rest.Golden Harvest started saving everything after Lee passed(they have untold hours of Jackie for example).The photo you showed is not a blow up.This came from a newspaper or magazine archive.By the way,that's a rare shot cuz it's in color.All my shots from that day are b/w.A 35 or 16mm blow up has alot of grain,and this shot is too sharp. There is no Fist of Fury trailer with lee's hair slicked back.No film was shot that day,only fotos.Many people from that shoot have told me this. g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: I like the start of all the docs especially the legend one, thats my fave.

Whats your fave one George???

George Tan: Hi Chris, My favorite docu is ....... Death by Misadventure of course!Seriously,I like B.L. the man and legend.It has many good things in it.And more important,you can FEEL Lee's presense.G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: And Raymond Chow's, too. What a son of a biscuit to be following BL's fresh corpse and wife and children and family all over the globe with a camera crew. Genuinely sick.

Temple of the Unknown: It's not everyday that we have George Tan on this forum, so I want to take full advantage of this.

These may be silly questions but, I think it would be nice to get some answers:

1) What happened to the other Boss in "Big Boss"? (the guy who deals with Tony Liu at the beginning of this film, later he dials '336' to call in for more thugs to fight off workers...), he just vanishes and never appears again? I mean, he was responsible for the deaths of those first two guys? Was there a cut?

2) From what you know, was there a romantic link between Nora Miao and Bruce Lee? Where is Nora Miao now?

3) I did an interview with Bob Wall, and he stated that Bruce Lee's next film after "Enter" was gonna be a buddy-cop movie starring Bruce Lee and Bob himself? Any fact on this? It was gonna be called DRUG CARTEL or something.

4) What's the reason for using so many Bruce Lee doubles for "Game of Death?". Even for the face shots?

5) What is your take on Bruce Lee's death? Brandon Lee's death?

Thanks in advance, can't wait to see what you have to say.

George Tan: Hi MPM,Your questions aren't silly.Let me answer them - 1-The other `Boss' is actually assistant director Chang Chor.He told me in `89 that the work load was too much and his character wasn't that essential mid way through the film.He wasn't a fighter,so Lee's character couldn't just pummel him.It wouldn't look right.But he was there from day 1,as you'll see in my first book next year.Mr. Chang has passed on,but he did do a foreword for me in `89.By the way,his son was assistant camera man on `Fist of Fury'.

2-Nora and Bruce were close is all I'll say.She also dated Robert Lee a few years before doing the Bruce movies.

3-I would take most of what Wall says with a grain of salt.There's no evidence to his claim anywhere.4-G.O.D. had 3 doubles- Tong Long,who did the fights(he was a Korean kid who was very talented.He also starred in Tower of Death).Yuen Biao did the flips(he was Jackie and Samo's classmate and co-star on many films.He knew Bruce).And the `face' double was a hairdresser from H.K.,whose name I forget.He wasn't a martial artist.Why did they use so many doubles?Because that what it takes to do Lee right!

4-I did a documentary on Bruce's death,so try and check it out.It'll be coming out in the U.S. in the next years,with more material than the original release. g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: What is your connection with Adrian Marshall?

Can you tell us what Mr. Marshall is doing now?

I understand that he was the "main man" some years ago, and got lots of buiseness deals going on regarding Bruce.

Can you elaborate on this?

Thanks,P.S. why don`t I get an answer on the "saw in the head scene"? (see previous posts.)

George Tan: Hi FJ,The saw in the head scene exists only in photos.Assistant director Chang Chor told me that they couldn't make it work for film. I knew Adrian from the early `80's,when Roy McCaree had optioned rights to make an animated Bruce feature.I remember first speaking to him in `83.I then met Adrian at Larry Hartsell's place in `87 or `88 when I started my books.We talked regularly on the phone until `93.He was very generous with his time.There are some things I can't discuss,since he told me in confidence(it's nothing mysterious or anything like that). He was also my liason to linda Lee,who I spoke to a handful of times.I believe Adrian is retired or semi retired now.He did alot of work to insure Bruce Lee's name wasn't infringed. All those Bruce Li bio films in the `70's had to pay a licensing fee to use his image and name. He also hooked me up with Janet Yang at Universal Studiios to help on Dragon. I supplied them with things like the Pierre Burton interview,demo footage,etc. At one point they considered reenacting Long Beach `64 to the letter,but decided not to in the end. Anyway,Adrian was a cool guy. g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George,

Would like to use this terrific oppurtunity to ask an insider like you a couple of BL / GOD questions:

1. Can you tell you us about the dialogue in GOD (Bruce /Inosanto, Bruce/Jabbar, Bruce/Tien and Yuan, Bruce / Lazenby, Bruce / ??)

2. The old pics from the 70´s show Bruce in a suit fighting the Karate guys (outside of the Pagoda?) Is there any footage of that?

3. You posted that you have seen over 100 pages of the GOD script. Are the GOD outakes (like the one in Legend doc. where we see the scene numbers, date etc.) that have surfaced matching the script? Or was Bruce winging it HK style?

Thanks a lot for your input.

George Tan: Hi Bob,I don't know the dialogue in the footage.Bey logan would know this.The `outdoor' shots were not filmed of Bruce. I haven't seen 100 pages of G.O.D. notes/script.What I did see is on this Japanese site now(Staycool).I saw these in `84 or so.I'm currently documenting my info and will video tape any interviews I do for the record.There's alot of doubting Thomas's out there,so it's best to present any info direct from the people who said it.I had someone doubting Unicorn Chan!That's arrogance personified.Dude is trying to tell me that the folks I speak to might not be accurate,lying, or have some sort of agenda.Bull****! These people aren't getting paid,and couldn't care less about this info.It means nothing to them. So,the interviews will be filmed,and I have 99% of all the photos shot of G.O.D. to show as proof.All the better for the fans though!

Temple of the Unknown: Hi

I was wondering if you got around to my question about Dr.Wu? Has he published any of his research?.

Can one contact him or Dr.Langford?

Is your new Death by misadventure to be released on vhs or dvd?

I think its the best modern bio on video today.

Down to earth man. Way to go.

George Tan: Hi MM,I haven't spoken to either Dr. in a few years.I'll be ringing them to say hello fairly soon.I don't know too much about Dr. Wu's research,except what he had briefly told me. Death by Misadventure will be available on both on vid and DVD.I've heard so many theories on Bruce's death that it's mind boggling.The real annoying thing is that his `collapse' in May `73 was treated as a matter of exhaustion or something stress/work related.This man was at death's door.He would have died had they not treated immediately as they did.Another thing that I want to clarify is that he had complained of a killer headache nearly 24 hours before he passed.I'll have clarify in the new edition that the man felt like he had a nail in his head.Dr. Langford's card was found on Bruce's person,which would indicate to me that he was planning on calling him sooner than later.The theory that Equagesic killed him doesn't explain why he nearly died a couple of months earlier. The only connection between the two incidents was the unrefined cannabis found in him.The other thing I can't explain to a layman is the Hong Kong way of `passing the buck'.I think Dr. Langford did an admirable job.Let me give another example-one time I saw a triad scuffle taking place in the middle of a side street. 2 officers reached the corner of where this was happening,clearly saw what was happening,and calmly turn and walked away without missing a beat in their conversation.They had no intention of stopping this fight,and they weren't going to call for back up,lest they admit they were negligent in their duties. To be the one responsible in making the admission that Bruce Lee,the most famous man in the history of the country would be unheard of. Raymond and linda's naive attempt to cover up his where abouts was so small minded. Had they let the truth come out,nobody would make such a huge deal of it.This secrecy created a powder keg.By the way,there is an upcoming exhibit in H.K.,and Betty will have a couple of items of Bruce's for display.Things like his pants and stuff.She also gave a pair of Lee's running pants to Chow Sing Chi,a very famous comedic actor in H.K.What were his pants and things doing in her apartment? There were a few loose ends that I didn't include in my first cut,but will include as special features on the DVD.Later.

Temple of the Unknown: Are Jerry's videos which George Tan and Ranch hand mention still available for sale?

And if so, where? Does Jerry have a website?

I just got Patrick Strong's tapes. Interesting stuff.

George Tan: Hi Guys,My partner Toby is planning to release Jerry's tapes in the U.K. next year.Toby is also a producer on the series.The Bruce covers alone will be make the tapes worth buying. Gotta go.G.t

Temple of the Unknown: Thanks for replying George. I really appreciate it. Your video on Bruce I believe answered what many people had suspected for many years. I am currently a medical student, and when I discuss the circumstances surrounding Bruce's death with world-renowned physicians, they wholeheartedly agree with Dr.Langfords' conclusion that the equagesic verdict was ludricous or in his words, one had to used a ouija board to come that conclusion. What is your opinion of Unsettled Matters regarding Bruce's use of Steriods and other matters regarding the Lee estate?

George Tan: Hi Doc,Bruce never used steroids.I don't know where that came from.The alot of unconfirmed or erroneous info in the Bleecker book.One example is that Lee hit Raymond Chow 2 days before he died,and that Robert Lee witnessed it.He wasn't even in the country at the time. This can easily be proven by looking at the H.K. funeral footage.No Robert.He's at the Seattle airport when Linda arrives though,with mama Lee in tow.Robert is shadier than a palm tree.Nothing but trouble.He's milking every angle on Bruce.Pathetic.Peter LEE won't have anything to do with him.(By the way,Peter was my guide on the docu.He didn't give me answers,but confirmed what I found and guided me in the right direction.He said my docu was dead on accurate.)As for the Lee Estate, just take a gander at Dragon-the Linda Lee Story to see where their head is at.I myself did not get along with Linda in the few conversations I had with her.Don't get me wrong,I was thankful that she spent her time talking to me,but our philosophy and outlook were polar opposites,to say the least.Especially on the JKD situation in the late `80's.I knew a ton of guys who got taken for serious bucks to train in JKD,and all they got was `Concepts'. That's not JKD.When I told her that Dan Inosanto was doing seminars and getting paid,her reaction was `Dan gets paid for seminars?!'.She didn't have a clue,and she'd get miffed at me,the messenger.One time I asked her point blank if Bruce Lee taught sticks,silat or Thai boxing at any time,and she had to admit no.She had this `boys will be boys'line(and attitude).I know of 3 guys out of N.Y. who got taken for 80k.Another kid was taken for 15k.He had to sell his car to pay off his debt.He was a kid-20 years old.And he got nothing resembling Bruce Lee's JKD.The guy who connected me with Jerry Poteet called Jerry up and told him he was going to clip me for at least 5k when he was through.This is a very prominent name in the JKD world.This same guy called Linda and told her that we were doing things behind her back by making the JKD series.She calls up Jerry and `confronts' him-`Why didn't you consult with (name withheld) before you made these tapes?'Jerry's reply was why should he consult with ANYBODY on doing his thing.(By the way,I was talking to Adrian Marshal the whole time).This guy who `ratted' Jerry literally left town after he made the call to Linda.We know this cuz Jerry went to his apartment right away to have a `talk' with him,but dude was gone for the weekend. I'm using this as an example to answer your question on the esate and it's politics.And have no doubt,there are politics. g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: George, I got a little confused with you talking about your (new?)Death By Misadventure DVD. Will this be a new one, other then the version I own on VCD from Sunny Film Entertainment? And is it the same DVD that is currently available in the UK? Will the new DVD contain more info?

George Tan: Hi Frans, The DVD will be full of new stuff. I don't know exactly what,but I will be talking to the doctors again to get more detailed info.this can be a special section on the DVD. To put it in the content of the docu would slow it down,so a seperate section is the answer. g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Collecting Lee memorabilia to me is a lifelong passion, but being unable to share it with the masses is a dissapointment. After all, what's the uses of collecting and not displaying!

Is there a site where we can view Lee collections from other parts of the world? Japan probably has the best collectors, Brad Walker has a site but it simply doesn't cut it when it comes to displaying Lee merchandise in style. George Tan has been called the "King" of collecting Lee memorabilia but where are the pictures to share in the enjoyment? I would be willing to send photos of my personal collection if anyone is willing to create a site for this purpose. Let's share with the world the excitement of collecting BRUCE LEE MEMORABILIA!

George Tan: Hi Hector, I'm not that kind of collector.i have a pretty good collection,but it's put to shame by guys like Richard Torres and Brian Lucey.Brian's collection was staggering. dozens of boxes.There are 2 books on memorabilia from Japan.Have you seen them? There's a couple of things missing,but not much.I'm starting a site next year,and I'll put some collectibles on.Good idea man! Later g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hello Mr. Tan,

I have only heard of you and watched your fine video documentaries on Bruce Lee up to this point.

My name is Brad Walker and I am the proprietor of "Kung Fu King Collecor". I've been a fan and collector for over 28 years now of Bruce Lee.

A few questions...

I am told by several other collectors that you purchased hundreds of photos of Mr. Lee from Golden Harvest Studios in the early 1980's. This seems to make sense as you published many of these photos in the French "Karate" special magazine "Bruce Lee's 50th Birthday" issue from 1990. This still remains one of the greatest Lee publications with superb photos.

My questions...Will you be publishing the "Tracking the Dragon" book series that was advertised through Inside Kung Fu during the late 1980's?

Will you make available any of the photos that you have (unpublished set-shots, of course)?

Is there more footage to the HK TV-B demo that you included in "Death By Misadventure"? Also, is this footage still owned by Samuel Chang and is this the same person who released Bruce Lee posters in the 70's (Sai M. Chang)?

Are there more photos from the morgue? Not that I wish to see them, but I wonder how many photos may have been taken and for what purpose?

There are now rumours of many other footages of Bruce appearing. Do you know anything about such footages?

1) HK TV-B apparently has all of the footages intact from Lee's appearances 1971-1973.

2) Rumours of Super 8mm films from ETD (not Ahna Capri's film).

3) Super 8mm films from "Way Of The Dragon"

4) A British interview done by the BBC on the set of ETD?

I would like to correspond with you and possibly trade info, etc. Please contact me personally if you are interested. Please visit my web-site to get an idea of what my Bruce Lee hobby is all about.

Finally, although I can understand the Lee family's disturbance with your film, "Death By Misadventure", I do not understand why they insist Bruce died of natural causes (i.e. an allergic reaction to equagesic). Even as a lad of only 12 years when Bruce passed, I suspected foul play just on what info was released in the media. I honestly feel that Lee died of poisoning from the hashhish he was getting from Betty. Furthermore, I think that Raymond Chow was somehow involved---either directly or indirectly. Why did he wait so LONG to get Lee to a hospital on the night of July 20?

By the way, what personal affects of Lee does Chow still retain? Footages, costumes, clothing? You may not even know the answer here but I thought I would ask.

Thanks for your Bruce Lee contributions over the years and I anxiously will await any more films or videos that you make available.

Sincerely and in Good faith,

George Tan: Hi Brad,I'll try to answer your questionsas best I can. The first Tracking books are for this time next year.Big Boss and Fist of Fury will be first.I'll be doing them in chronological order,right up until 2003.So you can say they'll be 30th anniv. editions.The image the Estate is presenting is fake,and telling the truth about the dude is no big deal.If you look at the posts this has,you'll notice some serious backlash.`Nuff said.I do know of some 8mm footage aside from Ahna's,but it's tough tracking the dude down.There's no more TVB stuff.Sorry.There's no 8mm Way stuff that I've run across.I studied all the fotos for a camera in the background,but nada. There will be tons of behind the scenes fotos.Each book will have 200-400 unpublished shots.The French mag was nice.Not all the fotos were mine in those mags though.Karate/ Bushido has their archive of the standard stuff.i plan to post some shots here once I can figure out how to do that.. Raymond doesn't have anything left of Bruce's.He's not that sort of guy.Betty didn't give Bruce his weed.Read my earlier posts if you have time to fill you in.Later. g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George. You say in your last post that there is no more TVB footage. What about the proposed documentary that Robert Lee is doing that will have this footage. Also i have heard that TVB will be releasing a VCD next year of all the footage. Is this all BS?

Also do you still have contact with Toby Russell?

Are you doing any Hong Kong movie related stuff apart from Bruce?

George Tan: Hi D.R.,I've talked repeatedly to TVB and they claim there's nada.Raymond Chow was on their doorstep before Lee's body was cold.What can I say?I REALLY hope I'm WRONG!But I wouldn't get my hopes up mate.Robert Lee has been saying he's going to do a docu for decades now.He's got some footage that belongs to Linda of Bruce and Jabbar on the G.O.D. set.This is B/W vid that Lee shot.You've probably seen it on some Jap. vids from eons ago.Adrian showed me a letter requesting the footage back from him.He had `borrowed' it from Linda and showed portions on some talk show or something.He returned the `backyard' footage,but not the G.O.D. stuff.Grab your torches(like the ending of Frankenstein) and demand it's release! Write your congressmen! Later G.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Actually Robert filmed the Game Of Death and the Backyard footage. He still has the master copies, which I have seen. He gave Linda copies of both when they were getting along. He did it for projects she was doing. Both those film footages were taken from Robert's camera, that he still has. The Gme footage ended up in Japan because Robert was friends with Ken Kizoma, I think that is the spelling. Behind Roberts back he put in his own documentary. Actually Robert has the nice clear copy without any blurr.. Robert has quite a lot of stuff.

George Tan: Hi A,You are mistaken about the footage being shot or belonging to Robert Lee.The camera it was shot with was Bruce Lee's.he kept this footage from linda,and if he attempts to release it he will be sued.This is according to Adrian Marshal.Robert Lee was nowhere near the backyard sessions or the G.O.D. set.Don't take my word for it,ask ANYBODY who was there. I know he's the bro' of the man,but dude is bad news.You'll find this out sooner than later.Take him with a grain of salt is what I'm saying. Later. G.t

Temple of the Unknown: I respect your opinion, I guess you never know for sure. I have been close to Robert for a number of years now and have seen some great footage and have heard some great stories. I usually check my Information twice or three times. I hvae been around many conversations with Robert and Linda along with others, so pretty much everything I have said has come from everyones lips. Even Linda had told me that the camera that shot the Game footage was Roberts and in fact Robert was back in Hong Kong moving some personal items back to the states. You are right though, I can't say for sure if Robert took the footage. But I will tell you this though. He has the a very clear copy of the footage like I have never seen. He has been pretty honest to me, I do have respect for him. But like me, I am sure you know a lot about other things that have happen that know one really knows about. I have a question for you, you use to sell all those great movies and Footage on Bruce and different Martial Art movies. Can people still purchase from you?

George Tan: Hi David,You're a few years too late on getting anything like that.Again,take Robert with a grain of salt.The dude is not 100%. Ask anybody who was around when that footage was shot and they'll tell you he was not about. I'm sure he has a crystal clear copy of things(that aren't his).Adrian Marshal left a paper trail,so if he tries to release this footage he'll have legal troubles.It's hard to believe this cuz he's the dudes brother.I'm good friends with Peter Lee,and he has little to nothing to do with him.My understanding about the Lee family/Linda Lee relationship is it's shaky at best.Linda did help Robert and Bruce's mama alot during the `70's though. Whatever you do,don't flash cash to the fellow.Later. g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Got ya. I guess there is so much going on.

When are you going to do the mini series HA HA.

I am always cautious. I spoke to Adrian Marshall a few times and he agrees in what I have been saying as far as it was Roberts footage and Camera, but I guess you never know. I used to work for Sammo Hung on Martial Law along with his wife Mina. He had told me some pretty powerfull things also surrounding Bruce's death and why prettyy much all the Stunt guys did not like Linda much. Does Peter keep in touch with his sissters because their views are the same as Roberts. I have had meetings with all of them. In fact Robert should be getting me in contact with Peter in the next week or so for an interview(HOPEFULLY). CAn you you tell me what Peter's view on Bruce's passing was, or is that top secret? Thanks for your INFO.

George Tan: Hi A,I haven't spoken to Peter in quite a while.I don't believe he fraternizes with the other family much.He was actually in New Zealand when I spoke to him last.Let me know if you reach him,and send him my best.By the way,his answers are somewhat guarded,so go slow and easy,or he'll clam up.He's really sharp though.Let me know if you can't reach him and I'll see if I can find him for you. Later. g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: About Bruce Lee's challenges while in HK,there are a series of photos of BL in an apparent challenge match with an extra on the set of ETD,do you know the sorce of these shot or as some have suggested it being from film footage,could you tell us what realy happened on the set? also there was a supposed match with a Thaiboxer on the set of "Big Boss" while filming in Thailand,if it's true then do have a name of this boxer and what really happened. There were alot of stories regarding challenges; the Japanese airport attack,the Mongolian wrestler,the HK boxer,the extras on the set of ETD,the guy who jumped his fence,could you give a dose of reality and set the record staight. I really enjoy you honest and straight up posts,JT should give you and Davis Miller a separate page for stories and anecdotes on Lee. Thanks for your time,

George Tan: Hi Blairo,The only challenges I know are about the fellow who jumped his stone fence,and Bruce Lee sided him in the ribs.The other was a hairdresser(no joke)who Bruce actually took the time to dust.Everything else is B.S., especially the Thai boxer story.The airport story was something Lee told Unicorn Chan.I don't know his reasons for it,but it's unsubstansiated.Here's one many of you aren't privvy to-He once front kicked a guy in Oakland ,who came to the school there.howard Williams told me that lee did a straight up front kick and popped the guys nose open. That was it.Alot of the H.K. stuff isn't true though.The Enter stories are more about impromptu sparring than fighting,except the kid in the Bob Wall anecdote.You have to understand somthing about alot of the extras on the set of Enter-most of them were Triad boys,and they LOVED Bruce Lee.They would have (literally)killed somebody if he asked them to.There were guys offering to kill Bob Wall after that bottle incident.I'm not talking about the stuntmen,but the dudes who are standing there(Refuse found in waterfront bars!). g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: So Bruce lied on the phone with Dan Lee when he says he fought a thai boxer?

George Tan: Hi Nick,Bruce doesn't say he fought anybody in his phone call to Dan Lee.He says he SAW Thai fighting there.If he had fought a Thai fighter and won, Golden Harvest would have made a big deal out of it for publicity on Big Boss. G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Apart from Jeff Chin owning the Blue Silk Suit worn in "Enter The Dragon", does anyone know what became of Bruce Lee's clothing worn in his films like "Boss" "Way" and "Game" ? I know that Lee was buried with the outfit he wore in "Fist of Fury" but what about the Brown silk suit he wore in "Enter"? and the Blue suit he wore in "Way" as well as the white top he wore when fighting Bob Wall in "Enter"? I am extremely curious about Lee's Yellow "Jet Set" suit he wore in "Game" as well as those wonderful yellow sneakers. Who is the lucky collector with these items if at all someone has them? would someone tell me? I know that Dan Inosanto owns the Boxing gloves Bruce used in the opening of "Enter" as well as the training pads from "Way" but what about Lee's yellow nunchaku from "Game"?I almost forgot to mention Lee's silky B;ack pants from "Boss", where are these treasures?

George Tan: Hi Hector,I have asked all over for Bruce Lee's G.O.D. gear,and nobody can answer this! Not even Linda!Ditto on his other stuff.I have a couple of pairs of his shoes myself,but the movie worn stuff is M.I.A..I asked the wardrobe folks at Golden Harvest back in `85,but they were also clueless.I'm talking to a couple of people in H.K. about some items,like the staff he used in Way of the Dragon and a couple of other items.You'd figure the G.O.D. suit would be easy to spot! Later G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: And as well as books and merchandise, you can lump the Nucleus members and their students into the equation - try telling the students that they've been shafted and are learning poop. I'm pretty sure they can think for themselves as to what's useful or not. ( by the way, Jesse goes to those Nucleus Con-ventions pretty often..Oops, the fool! Wanna tell him your truth? Guessed not. )

Hey, just a another perspective from someone who likes the 'Little' books and most definitely i'll buy George's money-makers as well - unless he gives them out for free!!

George Tan: Hi Simon, Ever ask Jesse what he thinks of the Nucleus crew?I have.Know why he goes?Not for them,but for his friend Bruce Lee.He went to the last gig cuz some of his students were curious.And that curiousity lasted for less than a day.After that it was on to the lovely sights of Vegas(Viva!).Let's see if Jesse goes again.Know why he hasn't `joined' the club? Ask him.He's very honest and open.By the way,I'm planning on bringing Jesse and maybe Joe Lewis to do seminars in H.K. and the mainland.The stuff the folks have been getting there is beyond pitiful.Time for the real deal.My first JKD insructor,john Ladalski currently teaches in H.K..I'll post info on this site in a bit.Later. G.t. P.S.- Free books?What is free?Never heard that word before!

Temple of the Unknown: Dear Mr. George Tan,

I'm a guy from Germany and a friend of Jesse R. Glover. In two weeks I host a seminar for the Scotish JKD teacher Thomas Carruthers who is a student of Jesse, Howard Williams and Ted Wong and I'm really looking forward to see some of the real stuff. I know you met a lot of students from Bruce, and as you maybe know there is a lot of debate about Bruce's relationship to Wing Chun, as Germany is the capitol for Wing Chun in the world. Some always argue about Bruce's background in Wing Chun and its importance. What would you say? By the way, what do you know about Mr Mito Uyehara's story that Bruce sparred with two of Yip Man's students in the early 70s? For the other readers, the story was published in Mr. Uyehara's book "Bruce Lee - the incomparable fighter" Thanks a lot and looking forward to hearing from you.

George Tan: Hi Andreas,Wong Shum Leung told me he moved around with Bruce in `73,and wasn't impressed.On the other hand,I don't think Bruce Lee was trying to hurt Wong.They were doing what's called `exchanging of ideas' in Chinese.The story would be different if it was real combat.The absolute best person to discuss Bruce's relationship with Wing Chun is Jesse Glover.Although I must say that Bruce Lee told him some stories that Wong said were fibs or stretching the truth concerning him beating the senior Yip Man students in chi sao.We'll never know now though.I've heard many tales of Bruce Lee fighting Wing Chun men after he bacame famous,but these stories are false.By the way,Bruce Lee had a good relationship with Yip Man,and even asked him to film the 3 forms,but Yip Man refused. The Wing Chun clan didn't go to Bruce's funeral except for Wong,who went as a friend and not as a representative of the clan.Do you know the `Kaiser'in Germany?Tell him hello from me if you do.If Keith had focused his sights on JKD instead of W.C.,the history books would be written differently!By the way,I'm currently planning a Yip Man documentary.Many stories and information!I'm a student of Moy Yat,and he has many unpublished things.Another person to speak to about Bruce and Wing Chun is John Ladalski,who has lived in H.K. since `78.He's an instructor under Dan Inosanto and studied with Wong in `79 or so.Good luck on your seminar.Hi Andreas,there are many stories in Mito's book that can't be confirmed.Bruce Lee did make up some stories,normally to prove a point about something.So I wouldn't be surprised if Lee told Mito these things.I seriously doubt Mito would make these stories up himself. That doesn't mean they're true though. G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Given some of the comments by Jesse Glover and Danny Innosanto about the core of Bruce's personal art it is without a doubt Wing Chun. Other direct students say the same thing. It certainly isn't Muay Thai or Silat or TKD now is it. Germany certainly is the capital of Leung Ting's Wing Tsun. KK is a marketing/franchising genius. As to Yip Man students, there were a ton of them. Many who were teenage kids whilst in Hong Kong. You have to wonder how much time did they actually get hands on with Yip Man? In his later years? Probably not much at all...look at the fact that Moy Yat used to pride himself on being the same way. Yet what many aren't aware of is that a lot of these guys were 14-15 year olds doing SLT and watching some of the big dogs go at it in class. Nowdays of course they have all transformed into ex-private students of Yip Man. Yip Man must have died from exhaustion of non-stop teaching of private students eh? What many don't stop and think about were the very first generation of Hong Kong Yip Man students. These guys were adults and many already were accomplished masters from famous lineages in other styles. These were the guys that Yip Man had publically demonstrate Wing Chun to the public for the first time in Hong Kong. Guys like Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu and Tsui Shan Tin. A couple of whom lived with Yip Man for 5-6 years pushing him hard to get the art from him. I have the photos of them (Leung Sheung & Lok Yiu) doing just that, presenting Yip Man's Wing Chun to the public for the first time. I'll be putting them up on my website in the near future. Then you had the rowdy teenage punks like Wong Shun Leung, William Cheung, Victor Kahn, Bruce Lee, Hawkins etc. who used to go out looking for trouble and testing their hands out. As the art flowered in HK, there became more and more students and senior students and that meant Yip Man didn't have to interact as much with many of the students at the classes he was teaching. Ever see photos of Yip Man in his later years? He was ghastly looking. The later years were not kind to him. So, to get back to your question, it would be which "senior" students did Bruce work out with? I wouldn't be surprised if he knocked around various people. Often times these guys were not in good shape and just used footwork and chung choy to make quick work of things. Beyond that they would probably have inferior cardio. Bruce had Chung Choy down, and footwork and more, plus cardio. Heck, when Wong Shun Leung first showed up to check out Wing Chun, HE knocked around some of the students there, then Yip Bo Ching and some others showed up a little while later and cleaned his clock royally. Given Wong's previous background as a boxer and his subsequent gong sao, you know that he wouldn't have gone with Wing Chun himself if he couldn't have been bested by it. I've seen some folks trash some of the Wing Chun guys in regards to their showings in the professional tournaments in the region way back when. What a lot of folks seem to not realize is that Wing Chun was not these people's day jobs. Most were just bus drivers, restaurant workers, on the "low" end of the economic food chain. One guy who pleaded to go to a certain tournament had never been on an airplane or travelled out of HK. Getting to go was his only opportunity to travel for the first time in his life. He showed up in Singapoore (or was it Macao) and got his clock cleaned. Not the personality to get in a ring in public and duke it out for people. Not the temperament to train in roadwork or exercise before facing a Muay Thai guy. What is going to be the result? You are going to lose.

George Tan: Hi David,I am a Moy Yat student and actually travelled on my first trip to H.K. with him and his family.He was treated with the utmost respect from all the Chun folk.Yip Man left him many things,including his photo albums. I'm currently working on a Yip Man docu(two years now),and have even gone to Foshan(Futsan)and met with Yip Man's second oldest student.Lon Gi,who started training with Yip Man at 12.Are you ready for this-Yip used to be chubby!The other thing that blew me away was that he spoke English!hey David,let me throw an idea your way-what would you think of a Wing Chun masters seminar?I'm talking about a U.S. and European seminar weekend with seniors like Yip Chun/Ching,Moy Yat,Victor Kan,etc.They would go a seminar in the U.S., and one in Europe,let's say U.K..What do you think?Later

George Tan: Hi everyone, If you are a H.K. resident and are interested in proper JKD training,then I suggest you contact Mr.John Ladalski.He started training with Dan Inosanto at his Torrance school back in the mid-`70's.John hooked me up with quite a few of Bruce's people back in `84 and his stuff is the real deal.His students are damn good fighters(his student Benjamin killed a guy in the ring with one punch. Sad, but reality).He taeches sticks also,but that's seperate from the JKD.His e-mail is vincent108@yahoo.com. He's currently in Thailand helping me on my Big Boss project, but will be back on Nov. 17th. Good luck and good training. g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Did Keye Luke ever meet Bruce Lee face to face?

Much has been said the synthesis of the Kung Fu pilot (from the 70s). Did Bruce really have a role in formulating the pilot or is this an urban legend?

Do you guys know Bruce Thomas?

George, when can we expect your new version of Death by Misadventure to be out?

Thanks for coming this more sedate forum guys.

George Tan: Hi MM, I don't know if Luke met Lee or not. The Kung Fu pilot had no input from Lee. Bruce Thomas's book is re-hashed and made up stuff.Jesse Glover was seriously considering suing his ass,cuz he made things up about him. That book is poor.Dude got 100k for that rubbish!I'll probably have `Misadventure' for next year,and it'll be in all shops across the U.S.,and places like Amazon Books.The distributor is doing some other Bruce related DVD's that I might help them on. One is the first Bruce exploitation film-The Dragon Dies Hard.I might do commentary and stuff for it.It's a good film to sound off of.By that I mean I can make corrections and such by using the scenes in the film to compare fact with fiction(I'd love to do audio commentary for Dragon-the Linda Lee Story).Later G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: How come you don't get your own website going? Even for a busy guy like you are, maybe you can get one going and update with new news once a month or so? That would be great!

Temple of the Unknown: I would say that the strongest area in my collection is the wonderful and always dsireable Bruce Lee film "soundtracks" I can boast by saying that I have (62) a combination of LP's and EP's but what would be considered to be the rarest of them all? The ones I cherish the most is my copy of the Hong Kong version of "Enter The Dragon" (Green cover with photo of original Hong Kong poster) and the "Way of the Dragon" (Hong Kong version). I am especially fond of my Green Hornet T.V. Score but I've seen it a number of times on ebay. But which is the rarest one of all?

George Tan: Hi Hector, My guess would be the Thai soundtrack to Big Boss.NOBODY I know or have met has this.Question-Do you have the Video Gems version of Return of the Dragon?It's letterboxed. Later.g.T.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George! Incredible! a Thai version to "Big Boss"? It must have been a Tai "Underground" produced soundtrack being that no one has it. Soundtracks are produced by the masses, but when it is released in "Limited" quantities (200-500) then it would be expected to hear "No one has it" when mentioned, especially after 30 years! George, is there a picture of this LP in the Japanese "Super Collection" Books? Do you have this interesting piece? As far as the Video Gems release of "Way" I recall seeing it during the early 80's and then again I saw it recently on EBAY! Is this video rare and desireable? I currently have multiples of the Lee soundtracks (Original, not these horrible "Basement" produced re-issues. I have the following for trade if interested: Way of the Dragon, Way of Life, Fist of Fury (volume 1) Enter the Dragon (White Double LP) Enter the Dragon (Roadshow single LP) My Way of Kung FU (Tam Version) Official adventures of the Green Hornet (Lee, van williams photo cover).

What is the rarest piece in your "Treasures"?

George Tan: Hi Hector,I don't have a favorite piece. You've got alot of albums man! I used to listen to them when there was no video around as a kid.I like the Big Boss LP cuz the music is quite good.G.O.D. is cool too,but I found it a bit repetitious.The same song in different tempo's,etc.Covers are the coolest though.Later g.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Hi George! Will we ever see a Bruce Lee auction in NY? Please forgive me for being so bold as to ask you this question: How did you ever come across Bruce Lee's "Shoes" and "School Notes"? The only thing I got back in the days was a "Poster" and a free "Flip Book" ! I know that Beverly Hills held some sort of auction a few years ago but what about the greatest city in the world? George, you know that the fans here in NY are probably the most explosive of all!! Could I ever get a pair of socks or a handkerchief once used by the "Little Dragon" ?

George Tan: Hi Hector,I got the shoes from a spot called `Star Wares' a few years back.The Univ. stuff was from Jesse and Ed Hart.I also have some gung fu books and textbooks he left at Ruby Chow's.All you need is some scrillah and you're in the game bro.I have to honestly tell you that in the end it's just stuff though. An auction you say?Don't discount that notion man.I'm getting some things from H.K. when I go there again,and I'll probably auction it off for the owners of the stuff.I have a few autographed fotos also. My favorite is an envelope that has the original title for G.O.D. and has the N.G.(no good) transparancies from that film.And it's signed three times by Lee on the back. I'll keep you posted on the auction man.Later G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: It's funny how some people seem to hit it off with each other and others don't. I've noticed that quite a few of Bruce's friends were "fire" signs (Aries =Linda, Leo = Dan Inosanto, Sagittarius =Ted Wong, Jerry Poteet, Bruce (all 3 have birthdays around the 27th November). "Fire" signs are also quite compatible with "Air" signs (James Lee was an Aquarian).I was wondering if anyone else has noticed/experienced Astrological compatabilities.Personally, I'm an "air" sign and find I get on well with Gemini, Libra, Aquarius and the "fire" signs.Just wondering what sign you are George, Fire perhaps?,you seem to get on well with Davis but he's mellower, he's probably an air sign. On second thoughts though,with your nothing for free comments George, you could be a "dollar" sign.

George Tan: Hi Soc, Isn't it past your beddie time...sorry, by now you must have developed nite vision for better forraging!You are dead accurate on my sign!Are you staying on the site long,cuz I'm thinking of calling it a nite and watching the Lennox fight.I'll hover about if you're here. G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Thanks for you time,I have 3 questions.

1/I'm just curious to know what you would say is the one item you have on BL that stands out?

2/Do you have footage that is unreleased of BL?

3/ "Death by Misadventure" in my opinion was spot on not like the other "jesus like stuff" released,what was the circulation worldwide on that compared to the others like "Legend"ect?

George Tan: Hi Blairo, I can't say what my favorite Bruce thing is. I've got some of his school books and test papers.I've got 1000's of unpublished fotos,so I can't say.They're all special in some way.I've got some unreleased stuff,but nothing ground breaking.Alot of childhood films I bought back in the day.I will probably do something with those next year.Most folks don't watch them,but I think they're charming. And they give an insight into Lee somehow. Misadventure was around most of the world,except Germany.That's a huge market.A couple of the major studios have approached me to distribute the film,but I'll do it myself. The best distribution was in U.K..Nice job. The docu played on H.K. t.v. and was a ratings bonanza.But overall,it hasn't gotten the distribution that Curse or Legend got,at least not yet.The DVD world opens up so many possibilities now.Later. G.t.

Temple of the Unknown: Don't mean to be kissing ass or anything but we all appreciate you hangin out here and answering our questions. Usually, when or if a authorized Bruce lee historian comes on here, they post one thing then take off. Like, Bey Logan was in here a few months back and he just didn't have the time I guess.

Temple of the Unknown: Thank you Mr. Tan for joining us here in the forum. And for sharing with us. Hope to see more of you soon.

George Tan: My pleasure. G.T

All of the questions and answers were compiled by JT

If you'd like to visit George Tan's Tracking the Dragon Website, CLICK HERE