Forget Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Lee had only praise from martial arts community – what Jackie Chan, Wong Kar-wai, Chang Cheh and others said about him

Bruce Lee has been talked about ever since he first appeared on American television in the late 1960s. Nationalist or narcissist? Chinese hero or Pacific Man? Fighter or philosopher? All have been weighed up by critics and colleagues down the years.

Legendary martial arts director Chang Cheh, writing in his memoirs: “Bruce Lee was the disciple of Ip Man. Besides receiving a modern education, he was especially gifted. He was a wing chun adept, but he did not confine himself to one school, to one style, which also explains his extraordinary achievement. Quite a few practitioners of wing chun do not approve of him, and I find this too narrow minded.”

Jackie Chan, talking in the documentary My Story: “In everything I did I was trying to imitate Bruce Lee ... even in talking, raising the leg, kicks ... the expression of my eyes. The way that he used to carry that wooden plank on his back as if he was invincible. I was 18 or 19 years old and people may not believe me. Each time I went to the cinema, I saw them imitating his shriek. I did the same thing. But if I did the same shriek, I wondered, how would I get famous myself?”

Tsui Hark, talking to Lisa Morton: “What he brings to the screen is speed and real power. What we had seen before, especially in Hollywood productions, was a bit silly – it’s silly to see John Wayne grab a guy’s collar, talk a lot, and then swing his fist, and the guy is still waiting for him to hit. Bruce Lee skipped all of that, he kicked ass. That’s something we really like ... The audience was very excited to see something realistic, powerful and different.”