UFC’s Valentina Shevchenko says Bruce Lee is the ‘prophet’ in the church of martial arts
- ‘Bruce Lee inspired millions of people like me to start to train,’ says Shevchenko, as ESPN 30 for 30’s ‘Be Water’ returns spotlight to Hong Kong legend
- ‘He was 100 per cent the man of martial arts in his philosophy, in his life, and in his movies’
The storied career of UFC’s flyweight champion Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko started in her native Kyrgyzstan and took her through successful stints in taekwondo, Muay Thai and kick-boxing before she found fame in MMA.
But the 32-year-old has this week revealed she had always considered herself as someone who was simply following in the footsteps of the kung fu master Bruce Lee.
“If in the future somewhere in the world a church of martial arts is founded, Bruce Lee would no doubt be the prophet in there,” is how Shevchenko describes her regard for her hero.
Lee’s life and times are back in focus this weekend as ESPN screens Be Water on Sunday (US time), the latest documentary to try to unravel some of the mysteries that still seem to shadow the man’s life. Many factors have combined to ensure that air of intrigue still lingers, almost 47 years on from his death.
ESPN said the film would provide a “visual tapestry, capturing Lee's charisma, passion, philosophy and wonder of his art”.
During his 32 years on Earth, the martial artist and movie star liked to espouse his theories on combat, and on life, and such teachings have continued to inspire and educate fighters – and people in general – everywhere, including his “Be Water” speech, most famously revealed on a Canadian television talk show in 1971.
“Empty your mind … be formless … shapeless like water … now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup … you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle … put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot … water can flow … water can crash … be water, my friend,” is how it goes.
Shevchenko (19-3) is sidelined after surgery to fix a non-specified leg ailment, but is looking ahead to a future that may well include bouts against the UFC’s current bantamweight and featherweight star Amanda Nunes (19-4), of Brazil, as well as its Chinese strawweight champ Zhang Weili (21-1).
Speaking to the Post in the lead up to ESPN’s screening of Be Water, Shevchenko revealed she had first come across Lee as a child when she happened upon a television screening of his hit Way of the Dragon (1972), the star’s international breakthrough. Made for around HK$130,000 it grossed an estimated US$27 million in international box office receipts.
“Up until now it’s still one of my favourite movies,” Shevchenko said. “It’s his flexibility, speed, and the way he moved like a cat does. Bruce Lee was 100 per cent the man of martial arts in his philosophy, in his life, and in his movies.”
Shevchenko’s links with the Far East run deep. Her reputation as a fighter grew thanks to her exploits on the Chinese domestic kick-boxing scene, as well as kick-boxing and Muay Thai events in South Korea and Thailand. In her previous incarnation as a Muay Thai champion, Shevchenko faced – and beat – Poland’s future UFC strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk three times. Shevchenko has also been a regular visitor to Asia through her continuing connection with the Tiger Muay Team that operates out of Phuket, Thailand.
Shevchenko said she had taken inspiration from the way Lee used his “body and spirit” almost like an art form of its own. She revealed she had previously walked in Lee’s footsteps – and hopes to do so once again.
“Last year we travelled to San Francisco and walked all the places and the streets where he was training,” she said of Lee, who lived in that city as a young boy and again in his late teens through to his mid-20s.
“We walked through the Chinese district where he was born and now I want to do the same in Hong Kong, when I visit there. Bruce Lee inspired millions of people like me to start to train.”
