![]() ![]() “He had his own way about everything he did and was always determined to follow his own path, no matter what.”Īs was his want, Elms was one day traipsing alone through mangrove swamps looking for native flora when he stumbled upon a covert American military listening post. “I’m sure you could not meet anyone quite like him,” recalls Lorraine Barclay. But he continued to loom larger than life in the eyes of his extended family. To all public intents and purposes Elms over the same period simply faded from view. This attitude, and style, eventually shook up the world of cinema through global hits such as Way of the Dragon (1973) and Enter the Dragon (1973) which helped turn Lee into an icon before his tragic death via cerebral edema in 1973, aged 32. Such an attitude later drove Lee to create his own brand of kung fu – jeet kune do – and to encompass many forms of combat in the way he trained, and taught. In the end, it was a unanimous points victory to Lee, and no pride lost for Elms.īy all reports, Lee took no great pride in the victory, frustrated at not being able to knock Elms out and vowing never again to be constrained by rules and regulations he found stifling. “He was knocked down several times, but rebounded each time and did not seem to be any worse for wear.” “Gary was amazingly resilient,” recalls Clausnitzer in Bruce Lee: A Life. Reports from witnesses make it sound like an odd contest, with Lee throwing hybrid wing chun kung fu and boxing combinations, and struggling with the gloves, and Elms trying to stick to what he knew best - the established rules of the ring. ![]() Though rumors that followed the bout would claim a knockout victory to Lee, the reality is that he seems to have bullied Elms around the ring – knocking his opponent to the canvas three times across three rounds – but Elms kept coming back, and he kept attacking. Photos said to be of a young Bruce Lee in a boxing match. He had carved out his own reputation in school boxing circles, representing the British expatriate boys of King George V School, the sworn enemies of Lee and the predominantly local lads from St Francis Xavier’s.Īuthor and martial artist Matthew Polly tracked down some of Elms’ schoolmates when (exhaustively) researching his Bruce Lee: A Life, including one Rolf Clausnitzer who recalls his friend as being “one tough nut.” As it did to Gary Elms.Įlms was much like Lee in that he was a middle-class kid who seemed always ready to rumble and would take on any comers. The bright lights of Hollywood would soon be turning Lee’s head, but back in 1950’s Hong Kong, his glory days as a child star had faded and he was then just another young man trying to find his way in the world.īoxing no doubt offered him a challenge. Lee had by that stage found trouble with the law, too, and it would later be on the pointed advice of local police that his family shipped him off to Seattle, for his own safety more than anything else. Related: Bruce Lee, and Hong Kong’s infamous rooftop fight clubs He was running with local gangs and getting into scraps both in and outside the grounds of St Francis Xavier’s College, while trying to hide his misadventures from the martial arts masters who were attempting to fine-tune Lee’s natural skills and curb his natural enthusiasm for a contest. Even as a young student, Lee had built up a reputation as a hot head on the streets of Kowloon – and beyond. Looking back, it now seems to have been simply a matter of time before Lee would enter the fray. Western-style boxing was the only combat sport not frowned upon by Hong Kong authorities in the 1950s, following a colonial-era crackdown on martial arts that the city’s British overlords basically used to help keep the locals under control. ![]() Instead it seems Elms was simply focused on forging his own path in life, one that now shows him to be quite the unique individual in his own right. “Gary wasn’t much for going over the past,” explains Barclay. Members of the Elms clan say Gary Elms was never really known to have shared the experience or even reflected on how he might have watched Lee’s rise from Hong Kong to Hollywood. “I think anyone who met Gary will tell you he was a unique individual,” recalls his sister Lorraine Barclay.Įlms passed away on Januand he took all memories of the fight with Lee with him. A news clipping showing results of Bruce Lee’s boxing match with Gary Elmsīut slowly, over the years, more facts have been unearthed and now a full picture can be painted not only of the fight itself but of the mysterious young man who stood across the ring from Lee long before he became a legend. ![]()
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