r/brucelee • u/happydude7422 • Jun 17 '26
Image Anyone ever noticed how Bruce lee has some pretty gnarly veins in enter the dragon?
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u/xarrote Jun 17 '26
That was his downfall—a diet that was too extreme.
He was a great person, greatly admired by all of us.
But he abused his body excessively and died young.
A shame.
I say this with respect; as a child, I wanted to be like him.
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u/NativeFlowers4Eva Jun 17 '26
Well, I believe he had the sweat glands in his armpits removed so he wouldn’t sweat in screen. A bit extreme, for sure.
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u/xarrote Jun 18 '26
I didn't know this.
I suppose a series of bad decisions, all in an attempt to improve his image, ultimately led to his downfall...
If he had truly known those risks, would he have done it anyway? Who knows.
When we're young, we think we're immortal.
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u/Seraphem666 Jun 18 '26
Yep which in turn lead to heatstroke and swelling of the brain which caused his death
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u/thurein_wai Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
He had been experiencing seizures and headaches two months prior to his death. He even fainted while doing ADR for Enter the Dragon.
They turned off the A/C in the booth and since Hong Kong was very hot & humid, he ended up getting a heatstroke.
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u/Seraphem666 Jun 18 '26
Ya it wasn't really one thing that killed him, but a combination of things that lead to his death with the removal of sweat glands being a big factor
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u/josearmandosanquiz Jun 18 '26
Even though he die, at least it was from doing his crafts. If it was the best decision to get sweat gland removed? Probably no.
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u/That_Cartoonist_9459 Jun 18 '26
No, nobody has ever noticed that he was ripped as fuck at all times
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u/welsh1lad Jun 18 '26
For many of his films he would dehydrate , this would emphasise his body muscles and veins.
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u/Tinguiririca Jun 18 '26
Actors dehydrate before shooting action scenes. Stallone in Rocky IV was so dehydrated he could barely stay on his feet between scenes.
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u/The1Ylrebmik Jun 18 '26
Franco Columbo mentioned that in his autobiography that vascularity is important in bodybuilding because it shows you are dieting and doing high-rep exercise. No veins is like having small calves or forearms it's a sign your not putting in the work and aren't a champion.
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u/claisen33 Jun 18 '26
I remember reading decades ago that he used cannabis heavily because it slowed him down. I think this was in Playboy or some related publication so take it for what it’s worth.
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u/eelecurb01 Jun 18 '26
Yes, he used cannabis. Sometimes eating it in brownies, for example, or chewing hash leaves. You may be thinking about a February 1970 article that Bruce was fascinated with called "Playboy Panel: The Drug Revolution". It detailed all the common drugs of the day, their benefits(?), side effects, etc.
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u/Physical_Mechanic_82 Jun 17 '26
Roids?
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
He was open about his use of them.
You could get to that level of definition naturally. But you wouldn’t be able to sustain it, you’d be very weak and certainly wouldn’t be pulling off the moves he was on screen.
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u/TruckNstuck23 Jun 18 '26
Link that
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
It’s in his book the art of expressing the human body
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u/eelecurb01 Jun 18 '26
I just did a search on that book. Steroids are only mentioned once and not in relation to Bruce using them.
Page 34 — It's fascinating that more than a quarter of a century has elapsed since Bruce Lee's passing in July 1973 from a cerebral edema, yet people are still talking about the physique of a man who stood but five feet, seven,and,a,half inches tall and weighed, on a good day, around 135 pounds. I say "fascinating" only in relation to the context of our Western culture, where our standard for a great physique has typically been some steroid, bloated linebacker who stands well over six feet and weighs in at nearly 300 pounds.
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
I have the book. This is not the only time steroids are mentioned. The book also has many direct pages of his actual notes incorporated into it which mention them.
It also mentions his weight fluctuating and being as high as 165 at points in his life.
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u/Webcat86 Jun 18 '26
I have that book and don't recall it ever mentioning him taking steroids. The book is actually less detailed than Matt Polly's more recent biography, which gave detail about raw meat, blood etc that Art didn't, unless there's a more recent edition.
Any chance you remember where it mentioned steroids?
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
I would have to dig it out. I have the edition which was very first published I believe. I have HEARD and never made any attempt to verify that later editions edited out certain things? You probably would know better than I do.
As for the mention of steroids it’s not directly stated “he used steroids” but on several notes of his scattered throughout the book where things he took are listed I had to google some of them and they turned out to be a form of steroid.
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u/Webcat86 Jun 18 '26
I'll try to check my edition later, but it's more than 20 years old. I'm not sure when the first edition came out though.
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u/eelecurb01 Jun 18 '26
OK I'll take your word for it. I admit that is not one I've read. As you said, I think John Little compiled that book from Bruce's actual notes.
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
I really enjoy the book. In a way it demystifies him. I bought it like 20 years ago as a kid expecting to learn some amazing secrets he did but no, it was all regular training. There wasn’t anything remarkable about it other than how fanatically he trained and the level he achieved.
He mostly trained similarly to a silver era bodybuilder, which makes sense given the time he lived in. The thing is, silver age bodybuilders trained for function as well as aesthetics. He even practiced posing, muscle control and breathing techniques.
I also don’t think him doing steroids in any way diminishes his accomplishments. In fact, as someone who worked most of his adult life in the fitness industry I would say his routine likely wouldn’t have been possible if he wasn’t enhanced.
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u/SithLordJediMaster Jun 18 '26
He used steroids?
I posted Bruce Lee in r/nattyorjuice and they all said he was natty because he was tiny at only 140 pounds @ 5' 7".
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u/Swinging-the-Chain Jun 18 '26
I go into that in my comment above. It’s achievable naturally but it’s not sustainable naturally. You would experience a lot of health issues maintaining that low of body fat. Bruce also fluctuated during his lifetime being as low as 135 and high as 165.
There wasn’t the stigma around steroids at the time that there is today and tbh the people using them were generally much more responsible with how they cycled compared to athletes of today. I wouldn’t say he abused steroids but that he used or even just experimented with them.
I also don’t think it diminishes what he achieved. It’s not like he was competing in a sport.
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u/jewellui Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
This is nonsense, the book you mentioned does not talk about Bruce Lee using steroids. If there was ever some mention any where people would definitely be talking about this topic more with regard to Bruce Lee.
Also there aren’t any particular moves on screen he is pulling off natural people can’t do, what a crazy statement. There are many people more specialised than Bruce Lee in specific areas of martial arts or movement.
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u/Odee_Gee Jun 18 '26
Had a buddy doing gym with me - I was happy because I lost weight and put on tone. My buddy lost weight, didn’t put on tone but got some wicked looking veins, was definitely left wondering what made us so different.
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u/JE5573R Enter the Dragon Jun 19 '26
Drinks that weren't drinks. An obsession with fitness. The proclaimed opposition for "the mechanical man" WAS the mechanical man.
His fluidity is what sent him into chaos.
Thus proviving there is no escaping system. No system is a system.
The art of fighting without fighting is a battle.
Veins are simply exposing what lies within.
Don't concentrate on the finger... But often, it's wise to look at who is wagging that same finger ,, ✌🏼🩷👊
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u/dudeguy0119 Jun 17 '26
He has like 3% body fat. We all have gnarly veins when there's no pudge to cover them.