Like Wally Jay, Bruce had a strong intuition of when someone knew what they were talking about through their technical vocabulary and body language and both soon recognized each other’s authenticity. Wally volunteered one of his students, who happened to be his most senior student and the biggest and strongest among them, to perform a demonstration with Bruce. They faced off and Bruce beckoned the student forward. As fast as the barrage of attacks came, Bruce reacted instinctively and immediately with multiple blocks and counterattacks. The judo man’s strikes had travelled barely halfway to their target before they were deflected.
Wally was impressed, realizing that Bruce was just playing and could have easily finished the student off. Diplomatically, Wally eased any tension by shifting the subject to talk of the rest of his tour, but Bruce had noticed something Chinese about Wally’s features and interrupted to ask about his ancestry. Wally was quick to confirm Bruce’s observations and the conversation took a new direction. They agreed that most Westerners still thought the Chinese were good at ping pong, and that was about it. As Wally left it was clear that a friendship had begun.
Source: Bruce Lee and Wally Jay
Wally was impressed, realizing that Bruce was just playing and could have easily finished the student off. Diplomatically, Wally eased any tension by shifting the subject to talk of the rest of his tour, but Bruce had noticed something Chinese about Wally’s features and interrupted to ask about his ancestry. Wally was quick to confirm Bruce’s observations and the conversation took a new direction. They agreed that most Westerners still thought the Chinese were good at ping pong, and that was about it. As Wally left it was clear that a friendship had begun.
Source: Bruce Lee and Wally Jay