Have there ever been obtuse martial arts uniforms sold over the years? Yes, there have and the replica Bruce Lee GAME OF DEATH inspired track suit is one of them.
Of all the martial arts uniforms that have been produced, one of the most esoteric and collectible items is the Bruce Lee GAME OF DEATH tracksuit. Younger fans of the martial arts will probably recognize the suit as the one worn by The Bride in the KILL BILL films since it was these action movies that brought back the classic pop culture suit to the public’s awareness. Granted, the suit did not become one worn by anyone in martial arts dojos since the impact of KILL BILL was nowhere near as great as Bruce Lee’s film in the 1970s. Simply put, the films of Bruce Lee created the modern martial arts movie genre and also aided in spawning the success of the martial arts instruction business.
The classic track suit was a yellow full body running suit that was a common design of athletic wear in the 1970s. Lee wore the suit in the film and it was not considered all that odd of an apparel item since tracksuits were commonly worn by runners circa 1972 when the film went into production. By the time the film was released theatrically in 1979 (The unfinished film was released 6 years after Lee’s untimely death) the track suit was long forgotten as an apparel item and was considered a weird martial arts uniform. What made the suit even stranger was the fact that the ‘bad guys’ in the film all wore their own tracksuits that were multicolored. This odd depiction of the simple tracksuit opened the pop culture floodgates to martial arts enthusiasts and replica GAME OF DEATH martial arts uniforms were sold in catalogs in the 1980s. In addition to the yellow track suit worn by Bruce Lee, the lime green tracksuit worn by the bad guys were available as well! Ironically, the lime green suits probably did not sell all that well which makes them of great collectible value to this very day.
While it is doubtful you should walk into your local training hall wearing this novel and unique tracksuit, purchasing one for your own martial arts collection may not be a bad idea. After all, it does look kind of cool.
Related Reading:
