Title: Showdown in Oakland: The story Behind the Wong Jack Man – Bruce Lee Fight
Author: Rick Wing
Publisher: Amazon
Publish Date: 2014
Pages: 329
Cover Price: $9.95
ASIN: B00AR0KE1I
Everyone who has done some martial arts knows Bruce Lee. Tons of people started training martial arts because of his movies. And of those not a small percentage has read or seen some version of his biography. In every version of it, Bruce has a duel with a Chinese kung-fu master by the name of Wong Jack Man. Some of the fictionalized biographies tell that Wong is defeated but ends up injuring Bruce very badly. In most accounts of the duel Bruce beats Wong. Though they differ on how easily he did so and how long the fight took. Most accounts agree on two things. Number one, after the fight Bruce changed his philosophy on fighting drastically. Two, the fight was because Chinese masters didn’t want Bruce to teach kung-fu to non-Chinese. This book gives us a new perspective from the previously unheard side of Wong Jack Man.
Content
Through his own research Rick Wing gathered a lot of information. He talked to almost everyone who had been involved in the conflict. His primary source is of course his own teacher Sifu Wong Jack Man. But he has clearly read or listened every account of the fight he could find. As the fight itself can only fill so many pages, even acknowledging the different versions, the author fills us in with everything that happened around it. That includes some background of both Sifu Wong and Bruce Lee, what the Chinese martial arts scene in San Francisco was like at the moment, what led to the fight and what happened after it. It’s a short book but filled with very interesting content.
Pros
The author knows many of the people and culture of 1960s and 70s “Chinatown” and with carefully selected photos, and a keen style for writing in a prose that brings enough details to the scene without losing the interests of the reader’s imagination, at times I felt I was in 1960s San Francisco. I do think it is good that Wong Jack Man gets a more balanced treatment (actually, the treatment of him is greatly favorable, but that is a good counter-balance to years of fictional caricature due to films and Bruce Lee lore). He paints a very different picture of both Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man than what films and other media show. And on a very important note he refutes the idea that the fight was related to Bruce teaching non-Chinese.
Cons
Can’t think of any cons to this book. I only wish there were more accounts of the fight to know what really happened. All we have are contradictory versions that don’t help reconstruct the actual facts. You might argue this book is a bit biased towards Sifu Wong. And that might be true but it’s also true that almost every other version of this story is biased towards Bruce so this balances the scales a bit.
Conclusion
I think this is a must read for any Bruce Lee fan. This is not a book that attacks him in any way. I’d argue the opposite. Rick Wing 
acknowledges both Bruce and Sifu Wong’s skills and knowledge of the martial arts. The book clears every myth on who Wong Jack Man was, and what the actual reason behind the fight was. A fight that was a pivotal moment in the life of Bruce Lee and the history martial arts. And if you like martial arts history, specifically Chinese martial arts in the US there’s a lot of information on the subject. Finally, it provides some very interesting anecdotes that might not really add to the story but are fun to read.
I bought this book to find out more about the fight from a different perspective. I got that and more. so I’ll give it five stars out of five.
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I lived in Buck Ping Yuen 848-K Pacific during the mid 60s-early 70s. Wong Jack Man’s basement studio was right next door, 880 Pacific. As a teenager, I started at ‘White Crane Style’ on Mason St. My Sifu had a metal claw on one of his arms, I’ve forgotten his name. As a ‘Punk Kid’ who was interested in learning martial arts to fight. I was very impatient and thus a poor student who just stuck at Chinese Kung Fu for less than 1 year combined. My Uncle who was born in the same year of Bruce Lee advised that in order to be a competent fighter, Kung Fu training required a devotion of at least ten years to be a decent fighter. As a an immature kid with little patience, who wanted to know how to use martial arts to fight right away, ten years was much too long and unacceptable. I only stuck with Wong Jack Man for less than half a year. During that time, I developed a “Double Kick’ and simple punches I learned through the ‘Rote System’ of learning, practicing sets for what seemed like ‘eternity’. My ‘Horse Stands had gotten pretty strong/firm/stable, but my fighting was skills were minor, I used my creativity to devise my own practical moves. My Uncle said to me that learning Japanese Karate for 2-3 years would enable one to fight. As such, I defected to learn Kempo Karate, and within half a year, knew a tiny bit of fighting technique just enough to be a ‘Cocky Asshole’, including one semester of Judo. I was not involved with any Chinatown Gangs; Wah Chings, Joe Boys, John Louie Gangs and just hung around with the ‘Heads’ Pot Smokers/Drug taking crowd. Although it took three Wah Ching Thungs to jumped me, they tried to recruit me into their gang. I knew most of the fellows back then and had no desire to be a lowly ‘gun carrier’ for the gangs, I regarded myself as General, not a foot soldier. Having graduated UC Berkeley and wrote an autobio; Amazon.com, Books, Titled ‘Thanks Chewie, Bye’ written under pen name; Sean Lee, also buoyed my ego…