Before Bruce Lee

Title: Before Bruce Lee

Before Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet li, Donnie Yen, or Shang-Chi,
there was my brother. Steve. My big brother. Tough, no nonsense. 

Before the Karate Kid or Kung-Fu, Steve was kicking ass in a life of self defense.
Flipping and throwing bullies on their backs.
Talking back. Snapping back. Taking no guff from no one. 

He didn't tolerate racism or micro aggressions.

He was the complete opposite of me.
I was quiet and peace loving. I was the good boy. In my parents eyes and at school.
I didn't fight. I avoided confrontations like the plague. That meant that I ate a lot of sorrow, sh!t, and shame.

When we were little, we moved to a new town and a new school in Massachusetts. I was 6 years old, in 1st grade, Steve was in 2nd grade. We were the only Chinese Asian kids in a school of 500 White faces. To say we stood out from the other students was, like, HELLO, are you blind? 

We already had an enemy in the neighborhood. Barry. He was older, in 3rd grade. He had already started fights with us in the streets and on the bus. He was belligerent. Both him and his sister Belinda. He had another brother Bob and another sister Bonnie. Barry, Belinda, Bob, Bonnie. All the kids' names in his family started with the letter "B."

One day we were at school. It had rained the night before so the ground was wet. Some parts were muddy. Barry swaggered up to verbally attack. Call us bad names. Racial insults. "You bunch of chinks! Go back to where you came from!"  

I took it quietly. 

Steve did not. Not one bit. And he was going to do something about it. 

Steve rushed at Barry, grabbed him and threw him down, judo style. Barry got up, wrestled, and pushed Steve down. Steve popped up quickly, seized Barry and flipped him over into the mud. SPLAT! Yuck! Barry was livid. 

By now the teachers and bus monitors were present and Barry couldn't retaliate. 

We ran toward the waiting school buses. The bus driver opened the door to let us in. it was time to ride home. We jumped in and sat near the front.

I was so proud of Steve. He was a 7 year old hero. 

He was it. Before Bruce Lee. 

Note: the names and descriptions may have been changed for artistic license and security.