An old story alleges that Bruce Lee had a fight with fellow kung fu icon, Sammo Hung, in 1971. Here’s what happened between the two legends.
In the early 1970s, kung fu legend Sammo Hung supposedly had a fight with the biggest name in martial arts, Bruce Lee. Today, Hung has a reputation not just for his acting roles, but also as one of the best when it comes to putting together a well-choreographed kung fu fight sequence, having served as the action director for Ip Man, Ip Man 2, Kung Fu Hustle, and a handful of Jackie Chan’s movies.
Over the course of several decades, Hong Kong actor Sammo Hung has appeared in well over a hundred kung fu films, one of which being Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. In the movie, Hung played the unnamed martial artist Lee had to defeat in the opening fight.
Sometime after that, Hung grew into a martial arts star in his own right, often co-starring in movies with his two longtime friends, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. With the two, the trio of kung fu actors became known as the Three Dragons. During the 1970s and 1980s, Hung headlined a number of martial arts comedies with and without Chan and Yuen, including Enter the Fat Dragon (which was recently remade with Donnie Yen playing Hung’s character), Pedicab Driver, the Lucky Stars franchise, Dragons Forever, and more. With his martial arts skills and comedic talents, Hung is one of the most respected figures in the Hong Kong movie industry.
Back before Hung was a star, he, Chan and the rest of their acting group — referred to as the Seven Little Fortunes — worked as stuntmen for various films.
One of the projects they were attached to was Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee’s second kung fu movie. When filming was underway at the Golden Harvest studio in 1971, Lee reportedly had a short fight with Hung. According to Hung’s account of what happened, it wasn’t really a fight. He said he was discussing kung fu with Lee when the former asked if Lee was “really as fast as they say.” Apparently, Lee took it as a challenge, and said, “do you want some.” Hung, surprised by the question, agreed to see a demonstration. Lee followed up with a fast kick to the face, but didn’t connect. He then asked, “how was it?” Hung promptly responded by complimenting his speed [via South China Morning Post].
Jackie Chan’s comments on the matter were revealed in Matthew Polly’s Bruce Lee: A Life, which offered a slightly different take.
The book explains that the two had some “light contact” in the studio hallway that ended with Hung being impressed by Lee’s skills. In the book, Chan claimed that Hung told him it was an “even” fight and wouldn’t admit if he thought Lee was the better fighter. Chan jokingly added that since there were no witnesses, there’s no way to know what really happened that day.
Regardless of what transpired during “the fight”, it sounds like Lee’s encounter with Hung really was just a friendly test of each other’s skills, which is somewhat similar to what’s been said about the long-rumored Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris fight. Hung maintains that Bruce Lee was – and still is – his hero.