Tired of the Bruce Lee myth: lets look at the facts.....
Ok,
I'm tired of all the retardation going on on this forum about Bruce Lee.
Lets look at the facts and find out what makes him so great.
You people say he could punch through phonebooks and do a one-inch punch and knock someone back 20 feet. Fact: there is videotape footage of him demonstrating his 1-inch punch at a karate tournament. He has a guy standing flat-footed with a chair about 5 feet behind him. He hits the guy and the guy falls back into the chair. Big deal. I could head-butt, knee, elbow, punch, or kick someone that far and I have before.
Many of you disallusioned kung fu friends claim that Bruce Lee was a great fighter, if not one of the greatest ever and that he could easily beat todays top fighters.....the men of No Holds Barred competition like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, or Sakuraba.
fact: There is no documented footage of Bruce Lee ever being in a fight. There are a few eyewitnesses who saw him fight another chinese guy at his Kwoon and the results were unanimous... neither of the fighters was able to finish the other one off.
His Wing Chun brothers claim he got in brawls in Hong Kong, but it was with other punk kids in the back alleys of Hong Kong when Lee was skipping school or was out causing trouble.
When asked if he would fight any of the top full-contact Karate guys of his time, Lee always mumbled something about not being ready, or that he was working on some new technique.
fact: We have all been in brawls in high school, does that make us the worlds best fighters?
Also, Judo Gene Lebell easily put lee in a submission hold and treated him like a rag doll. People witnessed this event. At the time Gene Lebell was around 15 years or so older than Bruce Lee. Imagine what a guy like Sakuraba or Ken Shamrock could do to Lee if both were in their primes.
And lastly you guys say he was a great actor and Kung Fu movie star.
Fact: His acting sucked. He never won an academy award or any type of recognition for his acting for that matter. But I give you this, he was one hell of a Kung Fu star and his movies rock! He was also a great martial artist and innovator, and his JKD will probably live on forever.
-jojitsu27
Just want to clearify a few points...
Hey dude,
I'm far from a Bruce Lee fan, but I do admire his films and work ethic. I defiantely don't think that he'd be successful in MMA as he was trained, but he had the attributes, workethic, and mind set to be successful if he ever trained for it. However, there are a few things in your post that were a bit off the mark, so I figured I'd help clearify them.
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Fact: there is videotape footage of him demonstrating his 1-inch punch at a karate tournament. He has a guy standing flat-footed with a chair about 5 feet behind him. He hits the guy and the guy falls back into the chair. Big deal. I could head-butt, knee, elbow, punch, or kick someone that far and I have before.
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Bruce never claimed to do anything amazing with the one-inch punch. It's the hoards of trekkie-like fans that do. When answering replies in Black Belt magazine to his article "Liberate Yourself from Classical Karate", he points out that it is just something that he liked to do at demo's.
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fact: There is no documented footage of Bruce Lee ever being in a fight. There are a few eyewitnesses who saw him fight another chinese guy at his Kwoon and the results were unanimous... neither of the fighters was able to finish the other one off. [/quote]
True, he never fought in any tournaments, but he sparred and cross-trained with many people from many styles. That was his whole deal. "Jump in the water" Ya know? He was all about fighting and practical applications.
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When asked if he would fight any of the top full-contact Karate guys of his time, Lee always mumbled something about not being ready, or that he was working on some new technique.
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I'd like to know the source of this. I doubt it ever happenned.
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Also, Judo Gene Lebell easily put lee in a submission hold and treated him like a rag doll. People witnessed this event. At the time Gene Lebell was around 15 years or so older than Bruce Lee. [/quote]
Gene didn't submit Lee, but he did treat him like a rag doll. Let's not forget that at his not-so-tender age, Gene would treat most of us like rag dolls. (especially if he outweighs you by 75+ lbs like he did with Lee) Gene has written about it, and I believe the article is still on his website... Oh, he also wrote an article called "Bruce Lee: The Greatest Martial Artist of His Time" for Inside Kung Fu. Obviously he respected Bruce, and he knew him a lot better than any of us. Maybe he's on to something, no?
GinSue- I believe you've used up your forum space allowance for 2001!
;)
... and I think I meant BESIDES his "followers"...
of course anyone who's livelihood depends on BL's legacy is going to give a shining review...
I get what your saying, but
HOW can you even put the man in a list with
1)Shamrock
2)Gracie
3)Silva
???????????????????????????????????????
Bruce Lee was not a professional fighter like these guys, he was an actor and a martial artist.
He would get creamed by fighters of the caliber you mentioned!!!
-jojitsu27
Not a Fan of Bruce, but in all fairness...
I am not a fan of Bruce Lee. I don't see him as an idol. Having said that, it doesn't take away his place in the martial art world.
There are lots we can learn form that man as a martial artist. He single handedly urshed in a new era. Bruce Lee paradigm is the genusis of the Mixed Martial Arts and the Cross Training era. Although Bodhidharma (Shaolin) paradigm is still going strong, Traditional Martial Arts are not without serious reflections and reinventing, i.e. the birth of San Shuo. It is not the first time that people attempted to "Kill the Buddha to become Buddha". Frankly, I am not impressed with Mr. Hess's article. Using sports' perspective, which is partial and mostly physical, to judge a martial artist's ultimate strength, which is more indepth and complete, is hardly an adequate measurement. Personally, I wonder since when moral behavior becomes an important part of sports? If that's the case, we would not have the wild spread substance abuse (performance enchancing or not) problem in the sport community. The Snowboarding kid (Canadian? A disgrace to me eventhough he talked his way out of being stripped of his gold medal) was a farce to testify that there is no such a thing as moral correctness in sports. All I am saying is don't let your likes or dislikes cloud your judgement. Scholarly talk and fancy words are, after all, another personal opinion.
I hear your frustration, Jo, and I hold high value of your opinions. I agree Bruce Lee is but a man, not the demi God. Yet, discarding him as a martial artist and his methodolgy as a valid martial art alternative might narrow your path too much. I have no intention to change anyone's view. Just hoping that we all keep an open mind and learn from either good or bad example.
Mantis108
Contraria Sunt Complementa
You're so mean and bitter, you're one saurkraut!!!
Hahahaha, forgive but i guess you didn't listen to my post, Jo. Can you give me one GOOD reason why you're hating on Bruce?! What, pray tell, the hell are you hating on a human being in the first place? I think you disrespect the concept of live, dogg.
You live, you have fun, you die. It's natural, but you just pushed hating on Lee. Now, again i hold you in high respect, though on the contrary it may seem.
If you hate Bruce so much, why share with other people if you KNOW it's gonna start some major junk, bro. If you were a true Martial Artist, then you would hold respect instead of hate, dogg. that's how life is; without respect, you are going nowhere, my friend. Seeya and please change, man.
Build from the past, live in the present, and ignore the future. What you do now determines what happens later
I don't hate Bruce Lee....
I think everyone here who thinks I hate Bruce Lee or am just trying to bash him in some way are missing my point.
I don't hate Bruce Lee, I don't hate anyone! Hate is not a part of my belief system.
I just don't think Lee was the great God of fighting that many here make him out to be.
If you want to idolize fighters, idolize the real ones like Sakuraba.
Lee was a great Movie Star, Martial Artist, and thinker. Let's leave it at that!
-jojitsu27
Something I wanted to clear up...
With the Concepts of JKD in mind, there really is no base art or style if you really think about it. There is only what works and what doesn't, where you get it doesn't matter as long as it works. Those that study JKD under a JKD instructor are basically using those instructor's experiences as a guild post. Most JKD instructors often study other arts on there own, in fact most hold ranking in a number of other arts, one of the instructors I trained with, an original Bruce Lee student, not only was certified by Dan Inosanto, but was also certified with the Olympic Training Center as a coach and official with USA Boxing, and a Kru in Muay Thai, recognized by the Council o Grandmasters of the Philippines as Ninth degree Black Belt (Grandmaster) in Doce Pares Eskrima, not to mention a blue belt in BJJ. Many spend years researching other systems from Savate, to Muay Thai, to Judo, to whatever interests them. Hell, Burton Richardson went all the way to Africa to research tribal fighting systems. I stopped officially studying under a certified JKD instructor just over a year or so ago and have been researching things on my own, but whatever it is, BJJ, Muay Thai, Shooto...I still consider it my own personal favor of JKD. What you guys are failing to see is that you need to stop seeing things as this style or that style and maybe just look at it as what works for you and what doesn't. One of the problems with JKD that messes it all up, is that Bruce and then his followers had to call it something.-ED
"The grappling arts imply most fights end up on the ground...take them there. The striking arts imply all fights start standing up...keep them there. The mixed martial arts imply any fight can go anywhere...be ready and able to go everywhere."-a mix martial artist
GSD is right...yall are missing the point!
JKD is not about rejecting any particular style or worshipping the ground Bruce Lee walked on. It is simply about finding your own path through your own experience and being open minded to any approach. To the day of his death bruce had great respect for ANYONE regardless of style who had an open minded, realistic no nonsense approach to fighting and the martial arts. If he was as adamantly against anything having to do with classical styles (as most of you seem to think) then why would he continue to work with and associate with his old wing chun brothers such as Hawkins Cheung? Because Cheung, much like Bruce, is not concerned about the showy facade and ritualistic BS and politics that surrounds the martial arts community. All he is concerned about is what works. And why did Bruce have a long association with Ed Parker? Because unlike many other blind sheep classical martial artists, Parker was extremely open minded and wanted to do whatever he could to further the knowledge level and development of effective martial arts. Ed Parker did a lot to increase knowledge about different martial arts in his day, much like Dan inosanto has done recently. So you see, its not the style that matters....it's the APPROACH. Many people were offended by the way Bruce openly pointed out weaknesses in various styles. They thought to themselves, "who the hell is HE to tell me what's wrong with the techniques I've been practicing for my entire life?? He's an idiot!" THAT, my friends, is the problem right there! Styles are created by men so ultimately, none of them are perfect and are bound to have shortcomings. By criticizing certain techniques or practices, Bruce was not trying to be arrogant or disrespectful (although he may have come off that way) but was merely exercising the attitude of objectiveness and constant improvement that he felt was essential to martial arts training. The problem with many traditionalists is that they have such absolute faith and contentment in one style that they fight progress and continued development beyond their acquired comfort zone. Bruce saw that with many of them (especially in the Chinese martial arts community) if their style is faced with a limitation, it becomes THEIR limitation. Some people simply refuse to accept the fact that the one pure, traditional, unchanged for a thousand years style of MA that they've dedicated 30 years of their life to simply doesn't have ALL the answers and that ultimately, the truth is found through unlimited personal research and open mindedness. That is what JKD is supposed to be about.
I personally do not deitize Bruce. I never said that he was a fighting god or that he'd mop up the floor with Frank Shamrock and Vanderlei Silva. And I do not think that he was infallible. in fact i'm quite certain he made many mistakes and i don't necessarily agree with everything he said or did. I simply respect his vision of training and admire him for his work ethic and contribution. As for being dedicated to one style all your life...who the hell cares? Bruce was dedicated to training like a fanatic. Just because he did it his own way and used many influences instead of being strictly a wing chun man doesn't mean that he wasn't any good.
"Shoot Wrestling's effectiveness stems from the way it gears its grappling toward taking a kickboxer down and its kickboxing toward keeping a grappler off. Combined, they are a pretty good mixture."
-Erik Paulson