Matthew Polly

I’m not a huge Bruce Lee fan, never had the iconic poster on my wall, but I always enjoy watching him on screen. Like his good friend Steve McQueen he just commanded every frame he was in, whether stood quietly in the background, or in a blur of hyper-energetic action, you can’t take your eyes off him.

Before reading this I only knew the basics of his story, culled from a few magazine articles and a dubious biopic.

This exhaustive detailed telling of his life provides a fascinating show more insight into his short 32 years, and his on-going legacy.

From forgotten child-actor, to restaurant busboy, failed student, to gym owner, personal trainer to the stars, and his eventual emergence as a global superstar, it tells the story of a driven conflicted man searching for inner peace.

It doesn’t pull any punches when discussing Lee’s flaws, but also highlights his loyalty and caring for those he felt were unfairly treated.

One aspect that I’d never thought about was Lee’s approach to race. As an American born Chinese he was never fully accepted by either culture and took it on himself to embrace and teach his techniques and philosophy to whoever wanted to learn irrespective of their background. He was a true multi-cultural man who focused on people not rules. show less

Matthew Polly was always a tall, gangly, wimpy kid, picked on by the playground bullies. By the time he got to college, he had left the playground, but the insecurities continued to nag him. What is a boy to do? Well, if he's into martial arts and Chinese language and culture, he takes a sabbatical during his junior year at Princeton and searches for the Shaolin Temple, of course! In 1992, China was on the cusp of beginning an international force, teetering between its Communist past and show more capitalistic future, and in these days before the Internet, Polly had to scout out just exactly where this iconic hub was located. So begins a hilarious tale of culture shock, kung fu, and memorable characters as Polly spends the next two years studying with the Shaolin monks.

I discovered this book while perusing past Alex Award winners and nominees, the American Library Association's award for books written for adults that also have a crossover appeal to young adult audiences. I was not disappointed. It's full of action-packed fight scenes, a sneak peek into the mysterious world of iron kung fu (especially the spectacle of iron crotch kung fu, in all its horror and fascination), mastering Chinese drinking games, and loads of sometimes gallant, sometimes quirky, sometimes downright insane, but always vibrant characters. I really felt connected to Polly's experience and appreciated his honesty. He's certainly a lot more sensitive to Chinese culture than other laowai (Chinese for "foreigner" or, more specifically, "caucasian"), but he still had a long way to go. He chose this locale due to his deep respect for its tradition, but he still grapples with his own feelings of inadequacy while further complicating things because he sticks out like a sore thumb. He is an imperfect person, but his imperfections were totally human. Only rarely did they get to me--on occasion I resented that this was all possible due to his disapproving but still overindulgent parents (it costed him/them $1400 each month to live in the village, which he later bargained down to around $600) and his questionable conduct with women (he tries to adhere to all other aspects of Chinese culture besides the stigma of Chinese women having relations with laowai). In spite of this, however, the memoir holds up and will stick in my memory for some time to come. It stands as an entertaining look into a country and people that is so often only portrayed for its stoicism and tragedy. show less

A great fun book and a quick read. The author takes time off from college and trains as a Shaolin monk. Lots of stories from his experience, giving a vivid picture of a facet of life from 1990ish China. It's not deep, it's not technical, but it's real and somewhat thoughtful.

This alternates between 4 and 2 stars.

The 4 stars are when we see 1990s Chinese culture through his eyes especially the martial arts aspects. Martial arts movies tend to take the stereotypical parts of the culture and magnify it especially when shown through the lens of an American. This book pulls that back a bit.

The 2 stars are anything to do with women in the book. This is a coming-of-age book but the way he writes about his experiences with women are mainly about him and not as much show more about the women we writes about. Yes, he writes about male-female relationships and some about how they are different in China than elsewhere. But it's the way he writes about what happens that is juvenile. show less