BRUCE LEE -Greatest Martial Artist EVER

[Snail00]

All alleged. IMO, just BS made up by fans. We will never know though.

If that were true, there wouldn't be weight classes.

Yeah thats right it doesnt :lol: :lol:

My fellow country-man kicking what seems to be a larger mass of MEAT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEx2FRrb2A&feature=related

[VT 1010]

All alleged. IMO, just BS made up by fans. We will never know though.

I haven't checked out the Wikipedia article, but there have been at least a few fights supported by first hand accounts, and they weren't just a bunch of fanboys. For a couple of them, there have been debates that seem to center around if he won. Nonetheless, the consensus by those that knew him personally (as in friends and family) is that he had been in several fights--some of whom have witnessed them directly. I don't know why you continue to deny this...

It's not that I'm in complete disagreement with you, AgentONE. Though I'm a huge Bruce Lee fan, I too get annoyed by the "Bruce Lee could kick anybody's ass" comments as well. It's kind of like the old "my dad can beat up your dad" playground argument. It gets old and tiring real fast. In his day, compared to many of his contemporaries, Bruce was way ahead of his time. Nowadays, the gap has shortened considerably and the standards have risen. The conditioning of current professional fighters at the very least equal or (as is more likely the case) surpass his conditioning. In spite of that, Bruce was still indeed a capable athlete, fighter, and impressive martial artist off screen--even by today's standards. Let's at least give credit where credit is due.

I was sparing in pads with a Wing Chun black belt a few months ago (I am Krav level3/5) and though the guy is faster than I am, and landed some hits, they did little to slow me down. I hit him hard enough to make him drop for 5 min. So much for the wicked Wing Chun. The guy was 150lbs 5'10, I am 6ft 220.

I'm not going to get into the _ing __un debate, but I agree that Wing Chun has flaws. Of course Bruce realized this as well, which is why he moved on to Jeet Kune Do. _ing __un worked well on small kung fu men in the confined spaces of Hong Kong. He soon realized that wasn't the case in America with everything being so big.

My fellow country-man kicking what seems to be a larger mass of MEAT!

I think it's clear the other guy wasn't in as good of condition as Cro Cop, seeing as he get winded awfully fast. There may be more power behind those punches, but it takes a lot of energy to move that weight around. If he had better aerobic training though, the results may have been different.

[Agent ONE]

Yeah thats right it doesnt :lol: :lol:

My fellow country-man kicking what seems to be a larger mass of MEAT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEx2FRrb2A&feature=related

Hilarious video, totally entertaining. Bob Sap is a bodybuilder though. Totally different kind of training. Tons of meaningless size. BJ Penn could beat Bob Sap.

Still, they wouldn't have weight classes if skill were everything.

It should also be noted that CroCop is my size which is just about how big and powerful a human can be and still have speed. (Others like this: Tyson, Hollyfield, Velasques...). Sap is too big to be any kind of fighter.

[Ghost Train]

And according to those that have been on the receiving end of his punches (and kicks), in spite of his size, he could still hit very HARD. He may not have the striking force of some today's MMA behemoths, but he still had a lot of force behind his fists. Let's also not forget the one inch punch he helped make famous.

F = ma (Newton's Second Law). Bruce understood that Sir Isaac Newton was the deadliest muthafarta of the 17th century.

[Kyp Durron]

Don't think...FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!

That didn't work too well for Tiger Woods.

-Kyp

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

I was sparing in pads with a Wing Chun black belt a few months ago (I am Krav level3/5) and though the guy is faster than I am, and landed some hits, they did little to slow me down. I hit him hard enough to make him drop for 5 min. So much for the wicked Wing Chun. The guy was 150lbs 5'10, I am 6ft 220.

He should have used the Shoryuken! Silly guy!

Anyway, I belong to the camp that says:

1. Bruce was an incredible athelete and showman

2. Use a time machine, throw him into today's MMA ring without any hints and even a mid-tier MMA professional will likely surprise and beat him.

3. I think he was still talented and hardworking though, so give him time to train in today's environment and he should be top-ranked in his weight class for current MMA.

I messed with different martial arts over the last 30 years and nothing I have seen convinces me that you can overcome size/weight with technique. Guys faster and better skilled than me couldn't do much to me if they were >5kg lighter(ok I am sure many lighter guys out there could kill me but I wasn't exactly fighting professionals). And those bigger guys* clobbered me good.

*I did not use my Dragon Punch/Dim Mak/Fist of North Star/Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique/18 Dragon Slaying Kicks because according to the ancient rules such techniques are not meant for showing off or friendly fights and my Shaolin/Wudang/White Lotus Sect Masters said I was not to hurt people.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Retracting Head Ter Ter

[CoryHolmes]

and my Shaolin/Wudang/White Lotus Sect Masters said I was not to hurt people.

There's always some excuse with you, isn't there?

I do agree with the rest of your post. Bruce might not have survived as-is in a modern MMA fight with all their rules and regulations, but give him some time to train before hand...

[Ghost Train]

MMA, Jeet Kune Doe, Wing Chung ... all inferior to this:

shabbat shalom muthafrackas!

[GU-11]

DISCLAIMER: Please don't ask me to prove my views with photos, videos or witness testimonials that will stand as evidence in a court of law. I'm merely making the following statements as a personal opinion of the man. I've neither the time nor motivation to search out photos or youtube clips to back up my views.

I will say this much about Bruce Lee.

He was only 32 years old when he died, but even then, he was a continually evolving martial artist. As far as I've read, never has he ever tried to sell himself as "the best martial artist in the world", as he believes in continual learning and readjustment of technique to fit the situation.

In any case, there is NO SUCH THING as the best fighter in the world. In order to become one in all senses of the term, one would have to time travel to the past and future, challenge and win all fighters who ever lived from the stone age to the end of days, before being able to claim that title.

As for his size, he has always been an advocate of weight training and building muscle mass. I have a copy of The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and I don't recall him ever stating that skill alone overcomes brute strength. He's always believed in improving one's strength through weight lifting and other forms of exercise. Undoubtedly, he was a very talented martial artist. But since documented eye witness accounts and even certain video footage can be disputed by skeptics, I'll refrain from calling him one of the best fighters of his time.

My point is this: what he achieved during his short lifetime is probably NOT ALL he could have achieved. I believe this because he epitomizes his philosophy in life and in martial arts as an eternal evolution; to be like water, so to speak. Always changing form and never stagnating.

That's what I think, anyways.

And just to set the record straight, he wasn't the first person to put martial arts in film. He was the first to feature REALISTIC martial arts in Chinese cinema, however. So-called period dramas [the Chinese equivalent of Japanese jidaigeki] have been featuring pathetic special effects and awful martial arts choreography long before Bruce Lee changed it all. Well, some of it was still cheesy and fake [red paint as blood, and leaping up a ten-foot tall tree], but his movies WAY outclassed his predecessors.

***EDITED FOR TYPOS***

Edited February 27, 2011 by GU-11

[areaseven]

Edited March 18, 2015 by areaseven

[areaseven]

[myk]

DISCLAIMER: Please don't ask me to prove my views with photos, videos or witness testimonials that will stand as evidence in a court of law. I'm merely making the following statements as a personal opinion of the man. I've neither the time nor motivation to search out photos or youtube clips to back up my views.

I will say this much about Bruce Lee.

He was only 32 years old when he died, but even then, he was a continually evolving martial artist. As far as I've read, never has he ever tried to sell himself as "the best martial artist in the world", as he believes in continual learning and readjustment of technique to fit the situation.

In any case, there is NO SUCH THING as the best fighter in the world. In order to become one in all senses of the term, one would have to time travel to the past and future, challenge and win all fighters who ever lived from the stone age to the end of days, before being able to claim that title.

As for his size, he has always been an advocate of weight training and building muscle mass. I have a copy of The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and I don't recall him ever stating that skill alone overcomes brute strength. He's always believed in improving one's strength through weight lifting and other forms of exercise. Undoubtedly, he was a very talented martial artist. But since documented eye witness accounts and even certain video footage can be disputed by skeptics, I'll refrain from calling him one of the best fighters of his time.

My point is this: what he achieved during his short lifetime is probably NOT ALL he could have achieved. I believe this because he epitomizes his philosophy in life and in martial arts as an eternal evolution; to be like water, so to speak. Always changing form and never stagnating.

That's what I think, anyways.

And just to set the record straight, he wasn't the first person to put martial arts in film. He was the first to feature REALISTIC martial arts in Chinese cinema, however. So-called period dramas [the Chinese equivalent of Japanese jidaigeki] have been featuring pathetic special effects and awful martial arts choreography long before Bruce Lee changed it all. Well, some of it was still cheesy and fake [red paint as blood, and leaping up a ten-foot tall tree], but his movies WAY outclassed his predecessors.

***EDITED FOR TYPOS***

Well said. I always dream about what he could've accomplished had he not passed on. How's that book, the Tao of JKD? I always wanted to pick it up...

[GU-11]

Well said. I always dream about what he could've accomplished had he not passed on. How's that book, the Tao of JKD? I always wanted to pick it up...

Well, it really puts you inside the man's mind during his period of "awakening". It's hardly a martial arts instruction book, frankly--his wife said as much in the preface, and it's true. Through the book, you'll understand his way of thinking and his philosophy, which IMO, is the greatest thing about Bruce Lee, even more than his ability to kick ass.

[Agent ONE]

...

It's not that I'm in complete disagreement with you, AgentONE. Though I'm a huge Bruce Lee fan, I too get annoyed by the "Bruce Lee could kick anybody's ass" comments as well. It's kind of like the old "my dad can beat up your dad" playground argument. It gets old and tiring real fast. In his day, compared to many of his contemporaries, Bruce was way ahead of his time. Nowadays, the gap has shortened considerably and the standards have risen. The conditioning of current professional fighters at the very least equal or (as is more likely the case) surpass his conditioning. In spite of that, Bruce was still indeed a capable athlete, fighter, and impressive martial artist off screen--even by today's standards. Let's at least give credit where credit is due.

...

I missed this comment back in 11. Yes, he was an amazing artist. I will go even further. If Martial arts is truly an ART, then BL was the man, but if Martial arts is about fighting, then he lived in a day when no fighter was tested like today, so we will never know.