So you say that Bruce Lee sucks.....?

[yenhoi]

cyborg horse w/regenerating nano technology.

[Vash]

Bah. There be dark magic in this equine.

[Taiji-Rory]

Sorry Guys I could not be bothered to read through the substantial back log of posts on this particular topic so, I'll just add my two 'penith' worth if no one objects...

I love Bruce Lee I am, what you might call a Bruce Lee fan boy, his fighting is fast and stylish and its a joy to watch, but I think perhaps our Mr. Lee's Gung Fu was not as phenomenal as every one says, Its uncomfortable for me to write this, and I hope I'm not upsetting anyone by expressing my opinion, but he never tested his Gung Fu in middle China, and that’s where the Gung Fu best always come from, I think he was an skilled fighter, highly motivated and charismatic, but his actual Gung Fu skills were mid level in China, merely average.

[SimonM]

but he never tested his Gung Fu in middle China, and that’s where the Gung Fu best always come from, I think he was an skilled fighter, highly motivated and charismatic, but his actual Gung Fu skills were mid level in China, merely average.

Gosh these supreme masters are hiding well then. Why won't any of them spar with me. Over here in middle-china (with Nei Mongu above us, shaanxi to the west, Beijing to the east and henan to the south it doesn't get much more in the middle of China than west-central Shanxi) there are plenty of Bruce Lee fanboys who try to adopt his mannerisms... But I haven't seen any people with really WOW skills here in Lishi. My current Sifu is OK, his Wushu is beautiful, but I don't know who would win in a fight, him or me.

There are good fighters everywhere. There are bad fighters everywhere. Bruce was better than me but I still think he wasn't up to WJM.

[Zaharia]

Anybody that says Bruce Lee sucked should read the 'Bruce Lee Library', especially 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do'! That should set them straight.

[SimonM]

I have - in fact the Tao of Jeet Kune Do was the second martial arts manual I ever read. Honestly it's nothing particularly unique.

[PangQuan]

ya, bruce was one bad motha, but im pretty sure my sifu would pwn him.

[tansaujosh]

how bout every one gives it a rest, he was one of the first great *known* MA'S. we know this from footage documents and other people that knew, learnt and were good frendz with him, their first hand accounts of his effort and capabilty. peace to all you bruce lee inspired people and followers of his ways, to all you people that cant accept him...........grow up. R.I.P. bruce lee let the man rest now.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Like it or not, everyone practicing CMA today has benefitted from BL's contribution to the Arts.. it is unlikely that we would have the same landscape in CMA that we do without his influence.. that is not to infer he was the best ever, that is unlikely, too.. but, he did move CMA into the public spotlight and empowered many people to seek the CMA path.. for that we should simply be grateful.. otherwise it is mostly opinion and speculation, BFD.. he has my personal gratitude.. and, he was a great entertainer..

Be well..

[puma]

Can any of you guys that say Bruce Lee suck do better than he did??
I don't believe ANY OF YOU have been in any movies or influnced the
martial arts community or as many people as he did...THE MAN IS A HERO...
at least he is to me
Have any of you who say he couldn't fight or was just a decent martial
artist fought the man??
Most of you were probabaly children when the man was alive...it's easy to talk
sh.t about the man 32 and a half years after he passed away
As far as i know the man was NEVER BEATEN while he was alive
Created a martial arts system
Probably was the first martial artist that bought cross-training to the
mainstream as well as martial arts itself and influnced millions of people
to study martial arts...regardless of style
Growing up with out a steady father figure in my life he was one of the
few positive things i looked up to and adored...even though i did turn out
to be a mean contemptable *******

[bcbernam777]

I have - in fact the Tao of Jeet Kune Do was the second martial arts manual I ever read. Honestly it's nothing particularly unique.

Actually it was unique in many respects perhaps you do not view it as uniqe because you have "heard it all before" but you would never have heard it if it had not have been for Bruce. However even in saying that the majority of the principles outlined in the book are from Wing Chun any way so I guess in that case there is no originalty as such, it was simply that westerners had not he3ard of this before. So it was unique to westerners, and those outside of the Wing Chun set, but not ubnique to those in the Wing Chun circle.

[SimonM]

because nobody in China listens to Nirvana and I sing it sometimes

Thing is my beef with Bruce runs thusly:

He was a shameless self promoter and despite being a decent fighter he wasn't the "Great Messiah of Martial Arts" that people make him out to be.

See the idea that people should adapt martial arts to their personal experience and needs and the idea that a good martial art was not a static thing but rather an evolving process, they had been kicking around the Gong Fu world for thousands of years. When Bruce entered the scene they had only just started to go out of fashion in favour of the rigour mortis which has sadly paralized many branches of our art.

But because the ignorant Laowai don't know bull about China or about asian martial arts Bruce said that this was a brilliant new concept that he had invented.

Then he went so far as to divorce his entirely CMA roots from himself and rather than saying that he had adjusted Jun Fan WC techniques to make them more applicable he said "this is not Gong Fu, this is Jeet Kune Do"!

All the while he was doing something that better sifus had been doing all along! They just wern't hollywood movie stars and didn't play Kato on the Green Hornet.

That's my beef with Bruce Lee.

Was he a skilled martial artist? Yes!

Was he "the best" then? Hell no!

Is he "the best" today? Doubly hell no!!!

[fiamacho]

I almost cant believe I'm responding to this again. But there are a few comments that have been made I think should be responded to.
First Infrazael. Iron Mike Tyson was great in his early years, but Ali fought and beet, Big George Forman ,and I think Forman was much stronger and hit harder than Tyson.

Siu Lum Fighter, all those K1...no holds barred competition fighters are Young tough thugs, Those kind of men have always been around,I dont think they are anything special, except they are willing to fight for money.and at this time they are somewhat a novelty, as time passes we will see how they stack up.
What set Bruce Lee and Ali, and some others, apart from the mass's is they excelled at what they did beyond all others at there time.
How would they do against some of today's fighters? who knows... we will never really know. But I can tell you on Bruce Lee's behave, the men that he tough, his stile of fighting to, are still today some of the best fighters in the world, If nothing else, that should be a pointer to his greatness.
Bruce Lee had the abilities to teach and do things that others,today can not do.
I would suggest to you, quite trying to knock down his image. Isn't it funny that more than 30 years after his death he is still one of the most known martial artiest in the world.Ide suggest to you that in its self is a true test of his greatness.( to live beyone your own death)

C.A.G.

This is the most intelligent post in the entire debate!!!

[Ultimatewingchun]

"He (Bruce Lee) was way too small to compete in the tournaments of his time although I think he did do a demo at one of Ed Parker's tournaments. People like Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, and Joe Lewis were much bigger and quite frankly much better and could have easily beaten him in the ring." (rfbrown3) (.....post#22 on this thread)


***WHAT BULL !!!

Met Dan Inosanto in 1979 when he spent a week at Moy Yat's wing chun school here in NYC....amoungst other things...Dan said that the beating Bruce gave Chuck Norris behind closed doors was so bad that it was "embarrassing to watch."

That's an exact quote.

And Inosanto has always been a man of integrity. He wouldn't say such a thing if it weren't true.

BRUCE LEE WAS AN AWESOME FIGHTER.


period.

[Phil Redmond]

Those of you that said that Bruce Lee only had that one famous fight are incorrect. William Cheung was Bruce Lee's best friend and introduced Bruce to Wing Chun by taking him to Yip Man's class in HK. In William Cheung's book, "City of Dragons: Ah Hing Dragon Warrior" he writes about the fights they had. They were teenagers fighting for real against grown men sometimes armed with knive and choppers.
PR